WPIAL, PA football scores Week 6: North Catholic routs Knoch, Freeport wins in comeback and more results, highlights
Welcome to the second half of the PIAA high school football season. Otherwise known as Spooky SZN.
Playoff races are heating up, and we’ve got you covered from all corners of Butler County’s Week 6 slate.
Eagle reporters will be at four games tonight — Butler at Hollidaysburg (Altoona Mirror), Knoch at North Catholic (Scott Giebel), Smethport at Moniteau (John Enrietto), Fort LeBoeuf at Slippery Rock (Derek Pyda). 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.
Bookmark this page for the latest from Week 6.
North Catholic is clicking after third straight win, routing Knoch
Butler overmatched against Hollidaysburg in third straight loss
Despite Liam Allison’s 2 TDs, Moniteau “wasn’t us” in loss to Smethport
Slippery Rock looks to “correct some things” after loss to Fort LeBoeuf
Roundup: Freeport storms back to win in thriller, Karns City no longer unbeaten
Check back regularly for the latest in-game scores as they’re reported on social media.
Thursday, Oct. 1
Keystone 63, Union/A-C Valley 7
Friday, Oct. 2
FINAL — Hollidaysburg 52, Butler 12 (WBUT radio, Hudl)
FINAL — Freeport 17, Mt. Pleasant 14 (Hudl)
FINAL — Central Clarion 43, Karns City 14 (ExploreClarion)
FINAL — North Catholic 42, Knoch 6 (WISR radio, North Catholic Sports Network YouTube)
FINAL — Smethport 40, Moniteau 15 (Hudl)
FINAL — Hempfield Area 41, Seneca Valley 14 (Hudl)
FINAL — Fort LeBoeuf 42, Slippery Rock 13
FINAL — Cornell 59, Summit Academy 6 (Hudl)
Saturday, Oct. 3
1 — Mars at Shaler (NFHS Network, requires subscription)
Follow along here for updates and highlights from tonight’s games, starting around kickoff at 7 p.m.
9:55: Slippery Rock will slide back to .500 after this one
It’s been a rough two-week stretch for the Rockets, who are going to lose in a second straight rout after winning three in a row in blowouts. But they’ll be 3-3 with a lot of region play left to go.
9:28: Rory O’Shea catches one more TD for SV
Raiders keep it a little closer. The Raiders connect on a touchdown pass around 10 yards to Rory O’Shea to make it 35-14. Less than five minutes to go in this one.
9:21: Spoke way too soon
Seneca Valley’s drive stalled inside the 10, and Hempfield ripped off a 90-plus-yard touchdown run I believe on the next play and extends the lead 35-7. That’ll probably do it for the Raiders.
9:17: Looking around the rest of the county ...
Karns City’s undefeated start is coming to an end. Central Clarion got the ball back after scoring to make it 43-14. There is five minutes left in this one, and it’s just a matter of time.
Seneca Valley has strung together a few nice passing plays on this drive and is at the 5-yard line. Theoretically the game is still within reach, down 28-7 with 7:24 to play, but it’s going to take a huge effort.
Smethport and Hollidaysburg are just putting the finishing touches on routes of Moniteau and Butler, respectively. Butler did put together a solid drive to get on the board a second time.
9:15: Freeport takes the lead!
A huge 10-point run for the Yellowjackets has made the his whole new ballgame. After King’s TD pass, Freeport forced a Valley punt and returned it from the 38 into the red zone. While the offense couldn’t capitalize on the short field, kicker Judah Thompson drilled a 26-yard field goal to make it 17-14.
The Yellowjackets are the only remaining local team in play to win their game tonight.
9:08: Freeport ties it up on long ball!
I couldn’t see who caught it, but Danny King lofted a pretty deep ball on a skinny corner route as his receiver got a step on the DB, hauled in the well-placed pass and raced for a 62-yard touchdown to make it 14-14 in the fourth quarter.
9:06: A spark of life for Karns City after wild punt return
Bryce Galan duck, dodged, dipped, dived and dodged (and broke a few tackles) to return a Central Clarion punt about 60 yards for a touchdown. KC still trails 36-14 with just seven minutes left to play, but the Gremlins needed SOMETHING and got it.
9:04: Baggetta gets Butler on the board to avoid a shutout
The Tornado’s senior “weapon” took a handoff 53 yards for a touchdown. Butler could not get the two-point conversion, but the Tornado avoid the shutout. They are still about to drop their third straight.
9:02: More bad news pretty much everywhere
Lucas Himes is tearing apart Moniteau tonight and just scored another TD on a 4-yard run to make it 40-15 Smethport.
Down south, Hempfield just answered Seneca Valley in quick succession with an impressive drive, scoring on a short runa nd converting the two-point conversion to make it a 14-point lead.
About the only remaining local team in good shape is Freeport, down just 14-7 in the third quarter and about to get the ball back.
8:54: Seneca Valley not done yet
The Raiders finally put together a complete drive at the end of the third quarter, and they finished it off with a TD run of about 5 yards from Josiah Edwards. That cuts into Hempfield’s lead and makes it 13-7.
8:45: Moniteau trade scores in third quarter
Liam Allison ripped off a 61-yard run down the left sideline for the first Moniteau score since the first quarter. That answered a Smethport 19-yard TD pass from Maddox Dickerson and makes it 32-14.
8:32: Central Clarion pulling off a stunner
This is a shocker. Karns City looked untouchable through the first half of the season, but the Wildcats are taking the Gremlins to task right now. Another long drive ends in a red-zone touchdown run and a 36-7 CC lead. KC’s undefeated start is close to coming to an end.
8:30: Anthony Greene scores again for NC
That’s two straight touchdowns for the Trojans running back, who makes it 42-0. This TD was an 11-yard run.
8:26: Raiders player taken off field after injury
Tough to watch. It looked like on the livestream Seneca Valley’s Ryan Fuchs, according to our roster, was crunched between two Hempfield defenders on a kickoff return to start the second half and did not move as soon as he hit the ground. Trainers and medical personel were on the field quickly, and he was eventually put on a stretcher and taken to an ambulance. The delay was about 10 minutes.
8:19: North Catholic keeps the pressure on to start the second half
It didn’t take long at all to trip the running clock. Anthony Green took a handoff and ran it in 86 yards to the end zone just 26 seconds into the second half. NC made the extra point to make it 35-0. And this one will be under a running clock the rest of the night.
8:13: Recapping North Catholic’s first half
The Trojans lead Knoch at the half 28-0 on the following: a pick-six, then a 2-yard rushing TD by Nate Swisher, then a 40-yard punt return by Will Waskiewicz, and an 8-yard rushing TD by Swisher again.
8:07: Disaster for Freeport late in the half, Moniteau and Slippery Rock falling behind more
The Yellowjackets were in the red zone threatening to extend their lead, but a Valley DB stepped in front of a curl route Danny King was throwing to and the DB took it 95 yards for a touchdown. Valley converted a two-point conversion to lead 14-7.
Around the same time, Smethport scored again on a Lucas Himes TD run to make it 26-7 over Moniteau late in the half.
Slippery Rock is trailing by two scores after the Bison’s Dom Walters has thrown for three TDs.
7:57: Danny King flips one in for a Freeport TD
A playaction fake out of shotgun exposes Freeport’s QB to an open pass rusher, but he got the ball off just quick enough for a short TD pass. That came after Mt. Pleasant scored on the previous drive. I think I can read enough of the scorebaord to see 7-6 ’Jackets.
7:55: Smethport pulling away from Moniteau
Jude Kiski scored on a 14-yard run, and Smethport converted the two-point conversion to go up two scores on the Warriors.
7:50: Raiders goal-line stand almost holds up
Hempfield Area leads 10-0, but it took three tries inside the 5 to punch in a short touchdown. Some really good short-yardage defense by Seneca Valley, but ultimately it wasn’t quite enough.
Butler County teams could use more of that defense right now. Butler, Karns City and Knoch are all down big as halftime is drawing closer.
Not helping the Knights’ cause against North Catholic is Max Wiley is injured and a freshman, Kai Kay, is in at quarterback. Tough spot for the Knights, who were 3-0 to start the season and are on the verge of falling to 3-3.
7:41: Butler and Karns City are in trouble
A rare mistake from Cole Johnston results in a pick-six and a Central Clarion 21-7 lead. I believe this is the largest deficit the Gremlins have faced all season.
Butler is not in better shape, down 22-0 after a Will Dunaway interception gets turned immediately into a long Hollidaysburg touchdown, and a two-point conversion.
7:38: Looking for a Freeport score? So am I
Sorry for the folks watching Freeport updates. I cannot read the scoreboard on the Hudl feed from Valley. They have a camera on the scoreboard, but they didn’t balance it and the board is nothing but bright light. Between multiple games on multiple screens, it is difficult to to watch every play here as well and track the score. We will update as soon as we can.
7:35: An odd shot from Hollidaysburg’s broadcast team at Butler
So I’m watching the Hollidaysburg Hudl broadcast, and for some reason the color analyst decided to draw a line between Butler having “15,” by his math, coaches on the sideline and the Tornado being down 14 points. I get being a homer in a local high school broadcast, but “that’s another story,” as he’s said several times tonight.
7:30: Owen Kaufman ties it up for KC, Smethport evens it up with Moniteau
A little counter action opens up a lane and Kaufman took it 53 yards for a game-tying touchdown. There’s the big-play offense we’ve come to expect from the Gremlins.
Smethport’s Maddox Dickerson punched one it from 4 yards out, and Moniteau stopped the two-point conversion, so it’s 7-6 Warriors here in the first quarter.
Up in Slippery Rock, per Derek Pyda, the Bison have done a good job bottling up SR standout running back Aden Shay. He’s got just 14 yards on seven carries so far after one quarter.
7:25: In an early surprise, Central Clarion takes the lead
Cole Johnston took the first carry a LONG way on the first play of the game, and Karns City looked to be in business. But a lost fumble and a punt stalled the Gremlins’ first two drives, and Central Clarion finally took advantage after the second and punched the ball in on a QB sneak to make it 7-0.
7:22: Slippery Rock falls behind to start
Dom Walters threw a 72-yard pass to Xavier Blose to give Fort LeBoeuf a 7-0 lead over the Rockets, per Derek Pyda.
7:20: Liam Allison goes the distance, gives Moniteau early lead
In a big game for the Warriors, its Weston Cook hitting Liam Allison for a huge 63-yard TD pass to put Moniteau up 7-0 in the first quarter. Derek and I are split on who will win this game, but if Moniteau wants to make the District 9 playoffs this year, this is the kind of coin flip or slight upset game it needs to win to really help its cause.
7:16: 2 drives, 2 turnovers for Knoch
Right after forcing a turnover against North Catholic, the Knights give it right back when I high snap sailed over QB Max Wiley’s head and was recovered by the Trojans. That’s two turnovers on two drives for Knoch, which trails 7-0.
7:09: Butler, Knoch fall behind early
Hollidaysburg marched down the field and scored on its opening drive to take a 7-0 lead over the Tornado. And North Catholic already leads Knoch without touching the ball on offense thanks to a pick-six.
6:59: We’re ready to go on another fall night!
It’s senior night at Moniteau, among the highlights to start Week 6. And Central Clarion-Karns City has kicked off before 7 p.m. (never a problem for those of us on deadlines).
I’ll be providing updates once again tonight here, so stay tuned.
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 6 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: Butler County football midseason MVP, surprises, storylines with John Enrietto
