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Shenango survives 4th Quarter heroics from Northgate to remain undefeated

 
Tagged under: District 7, Gameday Hub, pfn

| September 19, 2026

For three quarters, the Shenango Wildcats played their physical style of football and did pretty much whatever they wanted to build a 22-0 lead over the Northgate Flames, leaving the home crowd at Alumni Field with little to cheer about.

But out of nowhere, the Flames mounted a fourth-quarter comeback that included two onside kick recoveries and two touchdowns to cut the lead to 22-14, leaving Northgate with the ball and a chance to tie with 7+ minutes left in the fourth quarter.

“We had to battle adversity,” 2027 Shenango RB/DB Jasyn Williams said. “In the past we would’ve shut down, but in this game, nah.”

Shenango’s defense finally got off the field after a turnover on downs, and Williams capped off his big night with the longest play of the night for their offense – a 43-yard rushing touchdown to help secure the victory. The Wildcats would hold on to win 30-22.

For most of the game, however, it was Northgate’s defense that stayed on the field, trying to solve the Wing-T offense, something the Flames are all-too familiar with in the Big 7 conference. Shenango did not attempt a pass all night and consistently moved the chains, rushing for 276 yards total.

The Wildcats elected to receive and bled the first 8+ minutes of the first quarter. Jasyn Williams converted one of a few key 3rd-and-longs on the night to set up Shenango inside the 5-yard line, and two plays later, fullback Nick Lyons found wide-open space on a pitch for a walk-in touchdown. The aggressive decision to go for two early on paid off and gave Shenango an 8-0 lead.

 “Shenango punted one time in their first two games and had zero turnovers,” Northgate Head Coach Chris Lucas said. “The wing-t is a very tough offense, but we made them work to drive the field. That’s a dang good team and they have a new coach who’s doing a great job.”

The only stop for the Northgate defense was when 2028 QB/LB DJ Smith ripped the ball away from Jasyn Williams recovered by sophomore linebacker Carter Wiand, who stepped into a bigger role with 2027 LB/TE and team captain Christian Tamburri out with injury.

Additionally, sophomore RB/DB Jah’Sye Helms was out with a neck injury but is expected back next week.

“The guys that filled in stepped up and played very well,” Lucas said. “That’s another thing that was positive; now we know we can rotate those guys in.”

The Northgate offense went backward on the ensuing drive, and a punt return from midfield by 2027 WR/K/S Caleb McConnell put the Wildcats back in business at the Flames’ 25-yard line. 3 plays later, QB Niko Desalvo followed his blockers for a 4-yard rushing touchdown.

While Northgate finally moved the ball past midfield on the drive before halftime, sophomore DE John Adamo’s sack (he had three on the night) led to a turnover on downs. A consistent theme of missed throws and dropped passes on several open opportunities crushed the Flames’ passing game and proved the difference in the game. Northgate’s run game struggled to get going throughout the night as well, leading to obvious passing situations.

“The last two weeks he’s been under fire with the pass rush,” Lucas said about DJ Smith’s overall performance at quarterback. “We did some different things with our pass protection this week, but in the first half he was still thinking of the last two weeks.”

“We watched some video at halftime, and he came out a different player, and that’s what you do when you’re a great player.”

Early in the fourth quarter, Smith finally got into a rhythm. The Flames marched down the field, and after passes over the middle to sophomore TE/DB Zechariah Ross and 2027 WR/FS Johrdon Hairston, Smith ran it in from a yard out to get the Flames on the board. After missing last week’s 21-7 loss to Brentwood, Hairston once again proved his importance to the Northgate offense, catching 11 passes for 150 yards.

Then, pandemonium began. 2028 kicker Sam Stiteler perfectly pooched a ball where no Wildcat was near on the left sideline, and the Flames recovered.

On the ensuing drive, Smith rolled right on 3rd-and-8 and found 2028 WR/DB Samir King in the end zone, who collided with his own teammate, 2027 WR/DB Billy Hurley, as they both went for the ball. Stiteler added the key extra point to make it a one-score game.

Recovering one onside kick in a game is hard enough, but with Sam Stiteler, anything is possible for this Northgate special teams unit. Stiteler bounced the ensuing kickoff exactly 10 yards, then tracked it and fell on it to recover his own kick.

This performance came after Stiteler scored the Flames’ only points last week on a fake punt, throwing a long touchdown pass to 2027 TE Noel Aranda.

“He’s such a weapon,” Lucas said about Stiteler. “Coach Lew [Lewis Clark Sr., special teams coach] draws those plays up, and we practice them.”

But Northgate’s offense couldn’t keep the momentum going. A big loss on a first-down pitch to 2027 RB/CB Savian Baptiste put the Flames behind the sticks. Northgate’s only big gain came on a pass from Smith over the middle that Samir King dropped. The Flames went 4-and-out and turned it over on downs.

Jasyn Williams took over from there and exploded for a walk-in 43-yard touchdown run for the Wildcats.

“Coach Casey [Hilton] brought in a whole new mindset for everybody here,” Williams said about his first-year head coach, who got the job after being an assistant at Wilmington. “It’s more of a winning culture.”

Another long drive for Northgate, capped by two DJ Smith short runs, cut the lead back to 8, but with under two minutes to go, the Flames couldn’t get a third onside kick recovery, as senior David Pringle fell on it to secure the victory.

Coming out of the gate slow is something Chris Lucas knows Northgate will have to fix going into next week, but he is hopeful their second-half momentum in the loss will carry over to two important road section games over the next two weeks, where their defense will continue to face that wing-t offense.

“It was the first time I heard them verbally talk about how they believe in themselves,” Lucas said about his postgame huddle with his team. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of a team. We’ve never been down that much and fought to the end.”

Shenango (3-0, 1-0) will continue its quest for a section title as it faces Rochester at home next week. Northgate (2-2, 0-1) travels to Hookstown, PA, to take on the winless South Side Rams (0-4, 0-1). The Flames have not beaten South Side this decade since being in the Big 7 Conference.

 
 
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