WEXFORD - The Seneca Valley Raiders are no strangers to losing.

But the team's latest defeat is the most bitter pill coach Ron Butschle has had to swallow.

Leading archrival North Allegheny 13-7 late in the third quarter, the Raiders fell victim to three turnovers in the final 14 minutes of play, as the Tigers pulled out a 21-13 win on a rainy Friday night at Newman Stadium.

"Last week (a 49-14 loss to Shaler), things went so bad for us right from the start of the game and I became numb to it all by the second quarter," said Butschle. "There were a lot of positives for us tonight, but that just makes this loss harder to take."

The first turnover came after the Raiders forced the Tigers to punt from near midfield late in the third quarter.

Running back Lee Layton was back deep to field the kick, but he let the ball bounce before trying to gain possession.

The ball caromed off his shoulder pad at SV's 12-yard line.

A scramble for the football ensued before NA's Sean Simon recovered for the Tigers at the Raiders' 7-yard line.

"(Layton) decided to field the ball off the bounce," said Tigers coach Art Walker, Jr. "I think the ball ended up hitting his shoulder pad. When it's rainy and the turf is wet, sometimes those things are going to happen."

Four plays later, Billy Knight scored from a yard out on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Justin Runkel added the point after and the Tigers held a slim 14-13 advantage.

"The muffed punt is the kind of play that we have to eliminate," said Butschle. "And it certainly swung momentum back to their side. But I'm not going to say it cost us the game. There were a lot of plays that didn't go our way tonight."

The Raiders still had plenty of time to move back into the lead, but the Tigers' pass defense stepped to the fore.

Seneca Valley's next two drives were stopped when NA grabbed interceptions on passes by quarterback Kevan Smith, the first by defensive back Nick Henderson in the Tigers' end zone on a third-and-eight play from NA's 9-yard line.

"It was nice to see our defense answer the call late in the game like that," said Walker.

In between the two interceptions, Knight extended the Tigers' lead to 21-13 with a 65-yard run with just over six minutes remaining in the game.

Seneca Valley's defense, much maligned entering Friday's game, stood tall in the first half.

The Tigers' first three drives included 38 plays, though NA was able to manage just seven points during that span on a 4-yard pass from Adam Neugebauer to Henderson early in the second quarter.

"I'm proud of the way our defense played tonight," said Butschle. "(NA) had a couple of long drives, but they were kept alive when we got some unlucky penalties called on us."

The Raiders evened the score when Smith fired a 10-yard scoring strike to Zach Duggan to cap a nine-play, 80-yard drive with 1:10 left in the half.

Smith gave his team the lead in the third quarter with a 19-yard scramble for a touchdown, though Ryan Scheller's point after attempt was blocked.

The loss officially eliminates Seneca Valley (1-6, 0-5) from playoff contention for the third consecutive season.

After opening the conference schedule with three straight defeats, NA (3-4, 2-3) has now reeled off two consecutive victories.

"Everything's on a week-to-week basis for us right now," said Walker. "Next, we have Shaler and they're a good football team. It's still a learning process for us at this point."