McKEESPORT — Red-zone opportunities don't come often against McKeesport.

When Seneca Valley did venture deep into Tigers territory Thursday night, the Raiders couldn't capitalize.

SV managed to get inside McKeesport's 10-yard line twice in the first half, but it came away with no points.

The defensive stands helped the Tigers to grab a 20-6 victory on their home turf.

The Raiders finally got on the scoreboard when backup quarterback Jordan Brown found Jordan Glaser in the right corner of the end zone for a 21-yard scoring play with 48 seconds left in the game.

Aaron Tanda's extra-point attempt sailed wide and his onside kick was recovered by McKeesport's Wayne Graves.

Brown entered the game after Raiders senior quarterback Donny Holl was injured late in the first quarter.

"It's his knee," said SV coach Don Holl.

The Raiders (2-2) moved to midfield on the first drive of the game, but Donny Holl's swing pass intended for Troy Witt was intercepted and returned 48 yards for a touchdown by McKeesport defensive end Branden Jackson.

After forcing SV to punt, the Tigers struck again, getting a 51-yard run from Sam Gooden before the senior tailback scored from 9 yards out.

Zach DiBeradin's extra-point attempt failed, but the Tigers (3-1) led 13-0 four minutes into the game.

"With Seneca Valley coming a long way for this game, we wanted to jump on them early," said McKeesport coach Jim Ward. "We were able to do that and with our crowd, that's a big advantage, mentally."

SV's defense answered the call on its next series, forcing a Tigers punt.

The Raiders took over at McKeesport's 42 and drove to the 7-yard line in five plays.

But an illegal shift penalty on SV, coupled with a sack of Brown on third down, forced the Raiders to go for the end zone on a fourth-and-goal play from the 13.

A trick play landed the ball in Witt's hands, but he was quickly wrapped up short of the goal line.

Early in the second period, SV again took over in Tigers territory.

A 13-yard pass from Brown to Forrest Barnes, followed by a personal foul on the Tigers, put the ball at the 6-yard line.

But McKeesport forced an incomplete pass on fourth down.

"One of the staples of football is scoring in the red zone," said Coach Holl. "If we score in the red zone, we win. But we couldn't do that tonight."

Jamarr Patterson scored on a 14-yard run early in the third quarter to put the Tigers up 20-0.

Gooden was the offensive star of the game, rushing 21 times for 177 yards and the one touchdown.

But Coach Holl admired his defense's performance.

The Raiders gave up 371 rushing yards, but only a pair of touchdowns, to a talented McKeesport offense.

"I know our guys missed some tackles, but they fought their butts off tonight," said Coach Holl. "The effort was there."

McKeesport 20, Seneca Valley 6Seneca Valley 0 0 0 6 — 6McKeesport 13 0 7 0 — 20SV M11 First Downs 1529-49 Rushes-Yards 48-371116 Passing Yards 1112-21-1 Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 3-8-1165 Total Yards 3824-2 Fumbles-Lost 4-35-35 Penalties-Yards 14-115

First QuarterM — Branden Jackson 48 interception return (Zach DiBeradin kick), 8:57M — Sam Gooden 9 run (kick failed), 8:00

Third QuarterM — Jamarr Patterson 14 run (DiBeradin kick), 10:23

Fourth QuarterSV — Jordan Glaser 21 pass from Jordan Brown (kick failed), :48

Individual StatisticsPassing: Seneca Valley, Donny Holl 6-10-37-1, Jordan Brown 6-9-79-0, Tyler Mayo 0-2-0-0; McKeesport, Eddie Stockett 3-6-11-1, Bryant Harper 0-2-0-0.

Rushing: Seneca Valley, David Hall 3-20, Donny Holl 3-12, Troy Witt 2-(-4), Forrest Barnes 10-(-1), Jordan Brown 10-15, Mike Martin 1-7; McKeesport, Sam Gooden 21-177, Jamarr Patterson 2-15, Eddie Stockett 2-1, Donte Patterson 8-91, T.J. Neal 4-24, Bryant Harper 7-38, Kevin Johnson 1-(-1), Youri Whindleton 1-14, Delmingo Batch 2-12.

Receiving: Seneca Valley, Troy Witt 5-38, Jordan Glaser 3-28, Forrest Barnes 3-18, Oliver Philogene 1-32; McKeesport, Sam Gooden 1-(-8), Kevin Johnson 1-13, Ja'Quan Clark 1-6.