Blocked Extra-Point All The Difference In One-Point Road Victory For North Hills Over Plum

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Isaac Graves | October 4, 2025

A divisional matchup on Friday night ended in a low-scoring, single-point victory for the road squad.

The North Hills Indians traveled to Plum Senior High School to take on the division rival Mustangs. North Hills came in looking to grab their second win in the last three weeks, while Plum, on a three-game losing streak heading into this matchup, was looking to get back on track and secure their first victory since early September at Gateway.

The game started slowly for the home team, having little to no offensive progress at any point during the first half. Plum head coach Matt Morgan was seen trying to fire up his team multiple times throughout the first quarter. On the opposite end, North Hills had an opening drive with a few splashy plays that ultimately led to an early touchdown by running back Israel Armstead.

The words by Matt Morgan seemed to help as the Mustangs’ offense came out flying to start the second quarter. Running back Elijah Jackson, who had an excellent night overall, picked up the first score for the Mustangs. The Indians made very little progress on their following drive, which left the Mustangs to march down the field and produce a second-straight scoring drive. But after running back CJ Hart brought it in, the defining moment happened. Kicker Austin Kolankowski sent it up, only to have it blocked. The touchdown from Hart were the last points put on the board by the Mustangs for the remainder of the night.

But that wasn’t obvious from the start of the second half, as the Plum defense capitalized on a loose ball early in the third quarter, but failed to do anything with it. The Indians’ defense took advantage of every opportunity and managed to secure three takeaways in the second half. The first one came less than a minute after their own offense had given up the ball, as linebacker Joseph Lutz got a hand on it and took it 65 yards to the end zone for the scoop and score. The extra point pulled North Hills ahead by one point.

Mustangs quarterback John Nonnenberg threw an interception with just over three minutes left in the third quarter. Indians’ defensive back Michael Waters secured the ball for the second takeaway of the penultimate quarter.

The Mustangs got some life back early in the fourth quarter, after they turned it over on downs, but the Indians fumbled on the very next play, leaving the Mustangs to take back over in Indians territory.

The game ended with a few quick drives by both teams, but with just over a minute to go, the Indians capitalized on their third takeaway of the second half. They managed to hold on to the ball for the remaining minute and closed out the game with a 14-13 victory on the road.

North Hills improves to 2-5 with the win, while Plum falls to 2-5 with the loss and now extends their losing streak to four games.

Plum will be on the road next week for their second straight division matchup against the Fox Chapel Foxes. North Hills will be back home next week for their second of three-straight division games against the Shaler Titans.

Photos Captured by Ryan Thielet.

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