PIAA high school football Week 3: Final scores, recaps from Butler, Karns City, Slippery Rock, more
We’re entering the start of region and section play for some Butler County football teams.
Karns City visits Punxsutawney in the first of those clashes in Week 3 of the PIAA football season Friday night.
Eagle reporters will be at four games tonight — Butler at Meadville (Derek Pyda), Apollo-Ridge at Freeport (William Pitts), Titusville at Slippery Rock (Aidan Treu) and Chartiers Valley at Mars (John Enrietto). Follow this page for updates and scores from those games and all the rest throughout the night. Eagle sports editor Jake Merda Adams will post updates and highlights along with scores from kickoff to the final whistle.
And after the action is over, you can find all our game coverage and photos from the field.
If you still want to get caught up on every team ahead of the season, check below for our 2026 previews — including for soccer, volleyball and more.
Bookmark this page for the latest from Week 3.
Will be adding all of our coverage from tonight’s games here later tonight.
Deacon Simko, defense lead the way again in second straight Butler shutout win
Danny King rules the night in leading Freeport in comeback win over Apollo-Ridge
Aden Shay’s career night lifts Slippery Rock in rout of Titusville
Chartiers Valley outguns Mars passing game in Planets’ third straight loss
Check back regularly for the latest in-game scores as they’re reported on social media.
Friday, Sept. 11
FINAL — Butler 23, Meadville 0 (WISR Radio, Hudl)
FINAL — Freeport 35, Apollo-Ridge 30 (NFHS Network, requires subscription)
FINAL — Karns City 42, Punxsutawney 24 (YDL Sports Network YouTube)
FINAL — Knoch 34, Ambridge 20 (WISR Radio)
FINAL — Chartiers Valley 38, Mars 24 (Hudl)
FINAL — Lakeview 28, Moniteau 20 (NFHS Network, requires subscription)
FINAL — New Castle 43, North Catholic 7 (New Castle Facebook)
FINAL — Seneca Valley 42, Penn Hills 6 (Penn Hills YouTube ... updated link, also on Ch. 208)
FINAL — Slippery Rock 47, Titusville 14 (Hudl)
FINAL — Redbank Valley 26, Union/A-C Valley 2
FINAL — Sto-Rox 74, Summit Academy 0
Follow along here for updates and highlights from tonight’s games, starting around kickoff at 7 p.m.
10:06: Unbeaten teams stay unbeaten, and winless teams still searching
Games are pretty much over (we’re just waiting to get a result from Union/A-C Valley), and Butler, Freeport, Knoch, Karns City and Seneca Valley all won to remain perfect on the young season. But Mars and Moniteau lost competitive games and head into the weekend 0-3.
More to come on all 11 Butler County games ASAP.
10:03: Freeport jumps ahead late and holds on.
The Yellowjackets are back in business, scoring with less than 2 minutes to go to lead 35-30. And as I type this the clock hits all zeroes. Freeport improves to 3-0.
9:38: Self-inflicted wounds could cost Freeport
There’s time, but down 30-29 in the fourth quarter, Freeport’s chance to start 3-0 is at risk against Apollo-Ridge. Per reporter William Pitts, penalties have cost the Yellowjackets in the third quarter. They at one point led 29-20. After A-R’s go-ahead field goal, too, the ’Jackets fumbled away the next kickoff.
9:36: Cole Johnston stamps out Punxsutawney
My county MVP and No. 1 fantasy league pick ices it for Karns City, breaking off a long TD run with less than 3 minutes to go to make it 42-24 Gremlins. KC is going to be 3-0 in a few minutes.
9:35: Butler, Seneca Valley wrap up wins to stay unbeaten
That’s a second straight shutout win for Butler, which puts away Meadville 23-0 to improve to 3-0.
Seneca Valley is 2-0 after blowing out Penn Hills 42-6. Defense, offense, special teams, trickeration ... the Raiders had it all working.
9:26: Somebody try to stop Aden Shay!
Per Aidan Treu, Slippery Rock’s Aden Shay with his ... fourth? ... TD tonight on one of those football bounces, catching a pass off a defender’s helmet and racing 86 yards for another TD that puts SR up 47-14 late in the third quarter. Game is now in the fourth quarter.
Watch this ridiculousness:
9:20: Karns City gets huge insurance TD late
Bryce Galan ends a bit of a scoring drought for these explosive Gremlins, punching in a 1-yard TD with less than 8 minutes to play. That capped a long drive, and an important one, by giving KC a 35-24 lead.
9:19: Knoch is 3-0 after an impressive win
The defense was bending, and Ambridge smelled blood, but Knoch’s offense ran out the final 10-plus minutes of the game to lock up a 34-20 win and a 3-0 start. What a turnaround for these Knights since last year’s 0-10 campaign.
9:17: Final from North Catholic, a shootout at Mars continues
It was never close, and the Trojans fall to 1-2 after a 43-7 blowout loss at New Castle.
Mars is trying to stay within range of Chartiers Valley, with mixed results. Brady Brennan caught a 78-yard TD pass to make it 31-24 CV early in the fourth quarter, but CV responded with an Easton Staab 81-yard TD reception to make it 38-24 over Mars.
Per reporter John Enrietto, QB Owen Weagraff now has 401 passing yards.
9:10: Kevin Shriver sprints to the end zone to ice Butler’s lead
He has sprinter speed and got to put it on display. Kevin Shriver breaks off an 80-plus-yard TD run to put Butler up 23-0 mid-fourth quarter. That should just about wrap things up for the 2-0 Tornado.
9:02: Seneca Valley having some fun out there!
Oh oh! A double-reverse! The Raiders go with some trickeration, and it almost got blown up deep in the backfield, but Rory O’Shea made enough of a move to shake one defender then got outside enough to take it a little over 10 yards into the end zone. It’s 42-6.
9:01: Ambridge is making it interesting against Knoch
The Knights defense is starting to struggle a little and has given up consecutive scoring drives. Knoch still leads 34-20 (checking on score) with 10 minutes left, but this was almost a blowout at halftime.
8:57: Catching up on action in Mars
John Enrietto is having some fun watching this game, it sounds. It’s all passing, all night, but Chartiers Valley is pulling away from the Planets in the second half after Owen Weagraff ran in an 8-yard TD early and then hit Zach Efthimiades for a 27-yard TD pass to make it 31-14 Colts.
8:49: Nicco Baggetta scores for Butler, Seneca Valley returns a punt for a TD
Trying not to jinx things, but four of Butler County’s five unbeaten teams are well on their way to remaining undefeated. Butler’s finally starting to put some points on the board, with Nicco Baggetta taking a screen pass and breaking contain for a 15-0 Butler lead. Seneca Valley is piling it on Penn Hills thanks to a 55-yard punt return TD to take a 35-6 lead. Raiders’ Week 2 game got stormed out, so they are cruising to a 2-0 start.
8:42: Long delay in Punxsutawney due to injury, Butler extends lead
Not sure what the injury was, but a Chucks player after a run play was down and the ambulance was called onto the field. KC leads Punxsy 28-21 after about a 15-minute delay in action.
Also up north, but a bit more west ... Deacon Simko opens Butler’s second half with a 59-yard pick-six to give the Tornado a 9-0 lead after the PAT was blocked. That’s some much-needed cushion right now in one of the few low-scoring games tonight.
8:29: Second halfs kicking off, so here’s some Slippery Rock info
Aden Shay caps a huge half with a 33-yard catch and 5-yard TD run to make it 34-7 Slippery Rock. Per reporter Aidan Treu: “SR D-line getting great pressure. Peyton Reich has been a thumper defensively. When Titusville does [get to throw] downfield (Hunter Martin has made a 1 or 2 good-looking deep throws), SR DBs are just making plays on the ball.”
8:17: Some stats from Mars-Chartiers Valley
As John Enrietto described it, it’s a “big passing game” so far. CV QB Owen Weagraff is 10 of 14 for 185 yards and a TD. Mars' Nate Walker is 8 of 22 for 148, 1 TD.
8:11: Incredible pass by Nate Walker cuts Mars’ deficit to just three at the buzzer
That’s the best pass I’ve watched on a livestream this season. On the final play of the half, down 17-7, Mars QB Nate Walker, starting after coming in off the bench last week, RIPPED a 40-yard pass up the seam into the end zone for Kellan Garvin, who skied for it in traffic and brought it down. Huge boon to go into the half trailing just 17-14 now.
8:10: Some thoughts from Meadville with Butler up 3-0 at the half
Per reporter Derek Pyda: Butler committed three false start penalties on the drive that led to the field goal. QB Nicco Baggetta has 89 yards on 10 carries and 43 more through the air. And the Tornado defense has held the Bulldogs’ run game to 15 carries for 47 yards.
8:03: Ethan Rouleau extends Knochs’ lead; Petras throws another SR TD
The Knights are cruising, up 34-7 on a 36-yard TD run by Ethan Rouleau, who is closing in on 100 yards rushing for the third straight week.
And after a Mitchell Stadtmiller pick, Slippery Rock turns the opportunity into a John Petras TD pass to Logan Schlobohm. Titusville blocks a second PAT attempt to hold SR to 27-7.
7:55: Seneca Valley big defensive play, another huge run for Slippery Rock
The Raiders look good right now against Penn Hills. This time it’s the defense getting in on the action, forcing a fumble on a QB sack at about the 15-yard line that a defensive lineman returned those 15 yards, diving into the end zone for a 21-6 lead.
And Aden Shay is going to need a lot of oxygen. Minutes after his 70-yard TD run, he just busted one 97 yards by hitting the A-gap and shedding a few tackles for another long touchdown. Splash plays all night for Slippery Rock, up 21-7 after a two-point conversion.
7:52: Big kick puts Butler on top finally
A false start penalty pushed the attempt back 5 yards, but the Tornado go a big 34-yard field goal from Alex Morris to take a 3-0 lead late in the second quarter.
7:46: Freeport, Karns City, Slippery Rock all punch it in
Been a lot of points early tonight, and that’s only from the games I can follow in five screens and two radio streams. Let’s rattle off a couple more.
First, Freeport ties things up on a Danny-King-to-Bryson-Paga screen pass that Paga takes 42 yards for a score. That was 1:15 into the second quarter to tie it up 7-7.
Second, Cole Johnston (my No. 1 fantasy league pick this season!) broke off a long TD to give Karns City its first lead of the night 21-14 midway through the second.
And third, on Slippery Rock’s very next offensive play after the Petras-to-Reich 71-yard TD pass, it’s Aden Shay breaking off a massive 70-yard rushing TD to give SR a 14-7 lead.
7:39: Knoch extends lead on Mosby’s TD, Mars gets on the board
Ashton Mosby hit the edge and turned on the jets, sprinting to the end zone to give Knoch a 27-0 lead in the first half.
Elsewhere, Mars has cut the deficit in half on an 11-play, 71-yard drive capped by Jameson Garvin’s 6-yard run up the gut. That’s more like it.
7:35: Seneca Valley another short TD, Knoch gets a blocked punt to take over
The Raiders have driven deep into the red zone on two drives and come away with two 1-yard rushing TDs and a 14-0 lead in the second.
Meanwhile, the Knights (2-0) are cruising against Ambridge and just got a blocked punt from all-county linebacker Carter Beres.
🏈 End of 1Q SV 7-0 and driving w/ ball on Indians’ 20-yd line. @DPyda @TribLiveHSSN @PGVarsityXtra @WPIAL_Insider @AJWPIAL @Big56Conference @PaFootballNews @mwhiteburgh pic.twitter.com/VgRxjVPKQn
— Seneca Valley Sports (@SV_Sports) September 11, 2026
7:33: A bunch of tie games early, including in Slippery Rock
It’s been a defensive effort for Titusville and SR (can’t say the Rockets because they both are ...) so far, per reporter Aidan Treu, with Titusville getting an interception at one point. John Petras hit Peyton Reich on a short pass, and Reich did the rest of the work for SR’s TD, a 71-yarder.
Here’s the replay:
7:26: Bryce Galan ties it up for Karns City
The Gremlins knot things up 7-7 with the Chucks after RB/WR Bryce Galan sheds some tackles on a handoff in the red zone and breaks free for a touchdown with 0:35 left in the first quarter.
7:23: Follow us on Instagram for some highlights from Titusville-Slippery Rock
Backing up a little bit, here’s the opening kickoff from the Rockets’ home game. Our social media editor, Gricel Hernandez, is at Slippery Rock providing highlights from the game all night.
7:19: Tough start for Mars against Chartiers Valley
The Planets trail 14-0 early after Owen Weagraff (6-yard run) and Noah Hines (56-yard catch) scored for CV, per reporter John Enrietto. Planets are trying to get their first win this season.
Farther north, Karns City takes possession down 7-0 after Punxsy put together a long scoring drive.
7:09: Seneca Valley scores on Wildcat keeper, while disaster strikes NC
Rory O’Shea took a snap from the shotgun and punched it in for a 1-yard Seneca Valley TD to give the Raiders a 7-0 lead early. Covered 80 yards in about three-and-a-half minutes.
But over in New Castle, a Will Toprani interception is returned the other way and the Trojans trail 7-0 early.
7:06: Butler game to start late
It is homecoming for Meadville tonight, so the Tornado’s game will kick off in a bit. Every other game has started. Seneca Valley is rolling, down at the 1-yard line right now.
6:59 p.m.: Welcome to Week 3 of the Butler County football season!
We’ve got several big games this week. Four Butler Eagle reporters are out at various football fields ready to bring updates and highlights from tonight’s games, and I’m sitting in Command Central with livestreams and radio broadcasts from nearly all of them.
We’ve got five teams trying to stay undefeated: 2-0 teams Butler, Freeport, Karns City and Knoch, and 1-0 Seneca Valley.
Plus, Mars, Moniteau and Summit Academy are all shooting for their first wins of the season.
Each week the Butler Eagle sports staff will preview everything you need to know ahead of Friday night’s games. Missed anything this week? Catch up with our analysis here:
Week 3 staff picks: Who did Eagle reporters, Scoop predict will win?
Leaders: Top QBs, RBs, WRs and Eagle Trophy race so far
Standings: WPIAL, District 9 and District 10 standings and schedules
Eye on Sports: Who goes No. 1 2026 fantasy football Butler County draft?
