Shenango End Season With 28-6 Victory Over Summit Academy

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Shane Lux | October 25, 2025

Herman – In a bittersweet afternoon, the Shenango Wildcats concluded their 2025 season with a 28-6 victory over the Summit Knights.

While leading 7-6 at halftime, the WPIAL released its playoff brackets. Shenango found themselves on the outside looking in, but the Wildcats still came out in the second and rolled with three consecutive touchdowns.

Though they are outside the postseason, head coach Jimmy Graham sees the season as a success and looks forward to 2026.

“We’ve had some growing pains through the season,” said Shenango head coach Jimmy Graham. “We’ve had some ups and downs, and numerous injuries to try and overcome. But we have outstanding senior leadership. We told them at halftime that this could be the last half of football this season. We didn’t know that at the time, but they came out and executed. I’m proud of these guys.”

The Wildcats overcame a sloppy first half that saw them get stopped on a 4th-and-4 at the Knights’ 8-yard line to open the game.

Then they drove to the 1-yard line, where quarterback Caleb McConnell fumbled the ball into the end zone for a touchback in the second quarter.

Summit Academy went on to take a 6-0 lead when Syamir Newkirk connected with Demetris Crosby for a 73-yard touchdown on the next snap.

“We came out a little slow in the first half,” Graham said. “Maybe if we had come out and been ahead 21 or 28 points at halftime, we could have been in consideration for the playoffs. But it is what it is. The chips fell the way they did. We’ll work hard in the offseason and get ready for next year.”

Despite briefly trailing 6-0 with 1:48 to play in the first half, Shenango drove 70 yards in six plays, capped off by Niko Desalvo with 37 seconds on the clock. McConnell’s extra point put the Wildcats up 7-6 at intermission.

Late in the third quarter, Desalvo finished off a 7-play 69-yard drive with a 5-yard run—the first of three consecutive touchdown drives to put the contest away.

Niko Desalvo rushed for a game-high 130 yards on carries.

“Everybody played great,” Desalvo said. “We have around 20 guys on our team, but we come out and fight. It was a tough first half, but we came out ready to play in the second half. It’s all the line; if I don’t get the blocks, I don’t do anything. All the credit to those guys.”

Earlier in the third stanza, the Wildcats were stopped on a 4th-and-goal at the 2-yard line when Landyn Albertini was stopped for a 4-yard loss.

In the fourth quarter, Caleb McConnell tossed a pair of touchdown passes of 27 yards to Trey Ross and 6 yards to Michael Kessler.

McConnell completed 11 of 15 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns.

Shenango’s defense also limited the Knights to negative 39 yards rushing and 156 yards in the game.

The Wildcats conclude their season at 4-6.

“They’re a great group of kids,” Graham concluded. “They came in as freshman and were with me for all four years. I don’t know that I’ve had a group that came in and stayed all four years like these guys have. We’re disappointed we didn’t get more wins, but our competition this year was stout. These guys played tough every week, including against Laurel, Neshannock, and Fort Cherry.”

Demetris Crosby led Summite Academy with five catches for 93 yards and a touchdown. The Knights finish their season at 1-9.

Game Highlights

Shenango 28 Summit Academy 6

Score by Quarters

Shenango – 0 7 7 14 – 28

Summit Academy – 0 6 0 0 – 6

Scoring Summary

Second Quarter

SA – Demetris Crosby 73 yd pass from Syamir Newkirk, (pass failed), 1:48 – 1-73

S – Niko Desalvo 4 yd run, (Caleb McConnell pat), 0:37 – 6-70

Third Quarter

S – Desalvo 5 yd run, (McConnell pat), 1:49 – 7-69

Fourth Quarter

S – Trey Ross 27 yd pass from McConnell, (McConnell pat), 10:48 – 2-42

S – Michael Kessler 6 yd pass McConnell, (McConnell pat), 4:24 – 6-62

Individual Stats

Rushing: S – Desalvo 19-130, Landyn Albertini 9-46, McConnell 5-2, Tommy Lacko 1-3. Totals: 34-181. SA – Khalil Ollie 3-10, Newkirk 12-(-35), Lamarion Allen 1-4, Crosby 1-(-18). Totals: 17-(-39).

Receiving: S – Dominic Dando 3-47, Michael Kessler 3-27, Jasyn Williams 2-46, Albertini 2-36, Ross 1-27. SA – Crosby 5-93, Daeshawn Christian 1-3, Ky’Zir Rowan 2-14, Ollie 3-51, Aveair Harrison 3-34.

Passing: S – McConnell 11-for-15, 173 yards, 2 TD. SA – Newkirk 13-for-22, 175 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, Crosby 0-for-2, Rowan 1-for-1, 20 yards.

Interceptions: S – Albertini.

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