LEETSDALE — Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic coach Patrick O'Shea's head coaching debut hit a snag as the Trojans dropped their opener against the Quaker Valley Quakers, 55-21 at Chuck Knox Stadium on Friday night.

Quaker Valley quarterback Ricky Guss had a hand in six of the Quakers' eight touchdowns, as he ran for three and threw for three to lead Quaker Valley to victory.

After a sluggish start for both teams, the Quakers struck first with less than a minute left in the first quarter, as Guss connected with Isaiah McNair on a 47- yard pass to give Quaker Valley a 7-0 advantage.

The Quakers extended the lead less than two minutes later when Quinn Hill blocked a punt and raced 45 yards to the end zone. The 2-point conversion made it 15-0, and Quaker Valley never looked back.

North Catholic answered on their next possession when Zach Rocco hit Joe Meinart on the first of two touchdowns that the duo would connect on in the game.

Quaker Valley, however closed the first half by scoring touchdowns on their final two possessions of the half to extend their lead to 31-7 at the break.

O'Shea was impressed with the Quakers.

“Their team speed was just too much for us,” O'Shea said. “They have a very fast defense that gave us problems.”

The second half was more of the same as Quaker Valley outscored the Trojans 24-14 to make the final score 55-21.

Quakers coach Jerry Veshio, who was making his first appearance on the football sidelines in 31 years, was impressed with his team's debut.

“They are a very cerebral team,” Veshio said. “We stress that the game has to be 100 percent mental as well as 100 percent physical.”

Rocco had 184 yards passing to go with his two touchdown passes for the Trojans, while Joe Meinart caught four passes for 80 yards.

For the Quakers, Ricky Guss led the way with 167 yards passing and 125 yards on the ground.

Despite the loss, O'Shea is optimistic.

“I am very proud of Zach Rocco for his performance tonight, and also the way the kids handled adversity when they got down by a large margin,” he said.

CW North Cath. 0 7 7 7 — 21

Quaker Valley 7 24 12 12 —55

First Quarter

QV — Isaiah McNair 47 pass from Ricky Guss (Ethan Moore kick), :43

Second Quarter

QV — Quinn Hill 45 blocked punt return (Hill pass from Guss), 10:45

CWNC — Joe Meinart 14 pass from Zach Rocco (Max Kunzmann kick), 8:02

QV — Hill 37 pass from Guss (Hill pass from Guss), 6:00

QV — Guss 1 run (Taylor pass from Guss), :09

Third Quarter

CWNC — Meinart 57 pass from Rocco (Kunzmann kick), 8:57

QV — Guss 27 run (pass failed), 6:20

QV — McNair 23 pass from Guss (pass faikled), 5:01

Fourth Quarter

CWNC — Rocco 1 run (Kunzmann kick), 7:38

QV — Guss 6 run (pass failed),. 5:47

QV — Isaac Guss 38 run (pass failed), 4:38

Individual Statistics

Rushing: VWNC, Joe Meinart 6-13, Jack Cassidy 7-8, Alex Dudash 2-5, Cameron Branch 2-(-3), Pierce Khoury 1-(-5), Zach Rocco 10 _-6). Quaker Valley, Ricky Guss 18-125, Jordan Taylor 11-77, Isaac Guss 3-50, Matthew Von Kaenel 2-19, Isaiah McNair 1-08, Smith Johnson 1-1, Ethan Moore 1-(-4).

Passing: CWNC, Zach Rocco 10-18-181-2. Quaker Valley, Riocky Guss 8-15-167-3, Ethan Moore 0-1-0-0.

Receiving: CWNC, Joe Meinart 4-80, Nikhai Hill-Green 2-34, Rtyan Maziarz 1-19, Tyree Brown 1-19, Jack Cassidy 1-17, Justin Howell 1-6. Quaker Valley, Isaiah McNair 5-112, Jordan Taylor 2-18, Quinn Hill 1-37.