After back-to-back defeats in the WPIAL Class 3A championship game — including a shutout loss in last year’s final — Avonworth decided to flip the script in 2024.
Powered by a punishing defense and a stout offensive line, No. 5 Avonworth dominated No. 2 Central Valley from bell to bell on its way to a 17-0 win Saturday at Acrisure Stadium. One year after failing to score a point against Belle Vernon in last year’s title game, it was the Antelopes (11-3) who pitched the shutout this time around.
Talk about poetic justice.
“That was our first shutout all year,” said Avonworth coach Duke Johncour. “To pitch it here, it’s pretty special.”
Both teams rebounded from a rocky start to the season to reach the championship game, with the Warriors (7-6) stumbling to an 0-3 start before winning seven of their next nine games. Meanwhile, the Antelopes have won nine out of 10 after back-to-back losses against Class 4A powerhouses Aliquippa and Thomas Jefferson dropped their record to 2-2 through four games.
“A lot of people put us to bed early,” said Central Valley coach Mark Lyons. “I couldn’t be more proud of this group, from the beginning to the end.”
The championship game served as the second matchup this season between the Western Hills Conference foes, with Avonworth sweeping the season series after scoring a 21-14 win in the first meeting on Sept. 27.
“The defense played lights-out,” Johncour said. “The offense moved the ball well enough and made enough plays to put points on the board, and that was the recipe. Minimize turnovers and mistakes, and we came out on top.”
Senior running back Nico Neal did most of the heavy lifting for the Antelopes, carrying the ball 23 times for 102 yards and a pair of touchdowns while also recovering a fumble late in the fourth quarter to all but clinch the victory. The Avonworth defense put a lid on the Warriors’ high-powered rushing attack led by sophomore Jance Henry and senior Mason Dixon, as Dixon finished with 33 yards on 10 carries while Henry rushed for just 10 yards on six attempts.
Antelopes quarterback Carson Bellinger attempted only two passes while spending most of the game watching from the sideline, with Johncour instead deploying Neal as a Wildcat quarterback for most of the evening. The strategy paid off, as Neal and younger brother Luca Neal took turns pounding the ball up the middle while steadily wearing down Central Valley’s defense.
“The more touches [Nico Neal] gets, he starts to wear on you,” Lyons said. “We wanted [Bellinger] in the game. That was our objective. If the quarterback was in the game, I think we would have had the advantage. We just couldn’t get him in the game enough to get them in that third-and-long situation.”
Avonworth couldn’t have asked for a much better start than what transpired, as multi-sport standout Cooper Scharding returned the opening kickoff across midfield and into Warriors territory. The Antelopes made sure not to waste the opportunity, running the ball right down Central Valley’s throat.
After 10 consecutive carries by the Neal brothers, Nico Neal capped off the opening drive with a 2-yard TD plunge to give Avonworth a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
“We were itching to get back here,” Nico Neal said. “Just being here for the last few years, playing with my brother, I just really wanted to get back out here and finish the job, and we did it.”
After a failed fake punt by the Warriors on their first possession, the Antelopes again took over with great field position inside Central Valley territory. This time, the Warriors kept them out of the end zone, but a 32-yard field goal by Calder Mahan on the first play of the second quarter made it a 10-0 advantage for Avonworth.
Central Valley moved the ball across midfield on the ensuing drive, but the Antelopes again forced a turnover on downs. Later in the half, the Warriors drove the ball inside the 30, only for Avonworth’s defense to come up with another huge fourth-down stop to preserve its 10-point cushion going into the break.
“It feels great,” Luca Neal said. “Absolute perfection and execution on defense. Nothing is better than a shutout. Defense wins championships.”
An uneventful third quarter saw both teams trade punts back and forth, then the Antelopes finally strung together another scoring drive in the final quarter, as Nico Neal scored on a 2-yard run for his second TD of the game to give Avonworth a comfortable 17-0 lead. Then, with Central Valley attempting to put together a last-gasp drive, the Antelopes forced a fumble, and Nico Neal dived on the loose ball to seal Avonworth’s shutout.
“Winning this, it’s for the kids. It’s not about me,” Johncour said. “It’s about these guys and all their hard work and all their efforts. I’m just so excited and happy for them. The fact that they put all this hard work in and it paid off, and we’re sitting here today with smiles on our faces.”
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
