FOX CHAPEL — A search for answers turned up more questions for Seneca Valley.

The Raiders fell behind early, were unable to set the tempo and sustained a 41-12 football defeat at Fox Chapel Friday night.

Following a sloppy loss in Week 1 to rival North Allegheny, SV coach Don Holl had high hopes against the Foxes.

“The guys came to work in practice this week,” he said. “They worked hard to execute the gameplan and I thought we got better.”

That improvement in practice quickly turned into frustration Friday.

Fox Chapel won the coin toss, but deferred to the second half. After an initial first down, the Raiders were forced to punt.

“Seneca Valley has a big and physical offense with a lot of playmakers,” said Fox Chapel coach Eric Ravotti, “but we had a good (defensive) gameplan and were ready to play.”

The Foxes' strategy on offense and more importantly, their execution, proved just as lethal.

On his team's second play from scrimmage, Vaughn Carrington took a pitch off the right side, cut inside a key block on the flank and raced 59 yards for a touchdown just 2:11 into the game.

“We only gave him a few carries last week (in a 35-7 loss to North Hills,” said Ravotti of Carrington. “We wanted to establish the run with him tonight.”

Fox Chapel succeeded in doing that, as the 6-foot-2, 215-pound senior rumbled for 141 yards on 18 carries against Seneca, including 133 yards in the first half. He picked up a big first down to set up Fox Chapel's second score — Sean Chitambo's 10-yard run that made it 14-0 early in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, SV's offense encountered many of the same problems that plagued it against North Allegheny. On their second drive, the Raiders failed to convert on a fourth-down play from the Foxes' 25.

In the second quarter, Chitambo jumped a slant route and intercepted Corbin Kessler's pass at Fox Chapel's 29.

The back-breaker came on SV's next drive when a blocked punt set the Raiders up with a first-and-goal from the three-yard line.

Before the offense even snapped the ball, SV was flagged for illegal substitution, pushing the ball back to the 8. Three consecutive running plays yielded a combined two yards and on fourth down, Kessler fielded a low shotgun snap and his knee touched the turf to thwart the scoring threat.

“Give them (Foxes) credit, they made some outstanding plays,” said Holl, “but we just didn't execute.”

With the ground game already off and running, Fox Chapel's passing game began to contribute. On just his second completion of the game, quarterback Billy Urso found tight end David Brown for a 17-yard scoring pass with just 29 seconds left before halftime.

Fox Chapel (1-1, 1-1) was ahead 31-0 when the Raiders finally scored, a 19-yard pass from Kessler to Eric Mrkonja early in the final quarter. Will Briscoe added an eight-yard scoring run late in the game.

The Foxes' victory gives the team confidence.

“This is what's been inside these kids all along,” Ravotti said. “The players just needed to believe in themselves. I'm so proud of them.”

The Raiders (0-2, 0-2) will try to get on the right track in a home game against Norwin next Friday.

“We're a pretty good team that's playing bad football right now,” said Holl. “I need to look at things objectively and go from there.”