McCANDLESS TWP — The Seneca Valley football team had its security blanket start to unravel 13 minutes before it took the field to play North Allegheny Friday night at Newman Stadium.

Everything else fell apart just before 10 p.m.

Undone by turnovers and mental mistakes, the Raiders’ season was halted with a 27-26 loss to the Tigers.

Seneca Valley either needed to beat the Tri-County Five Conference champion North Allegheny or have Canon-McMillan beat Mt. Lebanon to make the WPIAL Class 6A playoffs. The Blue Devils, however, made the second part of the equation quickly moot.

Mt. Lebanon scored its first touchdown at 7:17 p.m. on its way to a 31-0 victory. But Seneca Valley senior linebacker/H-back Chris D’Appolonia, who caught a 34-yard touchdown pass and recorded a big sack in the third quarter, said the focus was never on the other game.

“This was our only focus,” D’Appolonia said. “We knew this was a win and we’re in situation, we put all of our effort into this. No one was checking scores at halftime. We were worried about getting the job done here and we couldn’t get it done tonight.”

Seneca Valley’s struggled in the second half.

Leading 26-14 in the third quarter, turnovers sent Seneca Valley’s lead slipping away into the night. Khiryn Boyd intercepted Raiders quarterback Graham Hancox on a flea-flicker attempt. The Tigers turned that drive into a 5-yard touchdown run by Boyd that cut the lead to 26-21.

“It started out the way we wanted it to,” Butschle said. “The things that plagued us all year, mistakes and presnap penalties plagued us and continue to plague us. We didn’t recover from the things we needed to the way we needed to.”

Seneca Valley’s next drive ended when Hancox was stripped of the ball on fourth-and-long.

A long pass to Boyd would quickly move North Allegheny into Raiders’ territory.

Evan Lyon then scored on a fake reverse that went 5-yards for a score that put the Tigers ahead 27-26.

“It was unbelievable,” North Allegheny coach Art Walker Jr. said. “We’d get a stop, get a score. They were in a must-win situation, we thought they would get a little nervous. Things would get tight. It was a great team win in the second half, everyone came together.”

The Raiders made some tough mistakes after a fast start. Seneca Valley (6-4, 1-3) capped its first drive with a 45-yard touchdown pass from Hancox to Luke Lawson.

After forcing a three-and-out from North Allegheny, the Raiders marched down the field quickly again. Hancox paid off the eight-play, 62-yard scoring drive with a four-yard touchdown run.

That’s when the Raiders’ bad habits briefly appeared. After Hancox was flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for spinning the ball after his touchdown, Seneca Valley kicker Jacob Adams missed the extra point.

North Allegheny (9-1, 4-0) scored on the ensuing drive when Andrew Gavlik went three yards for a rushing touchdown. The Tigers surged ahead after forcing Seneca Valley to fumble the ensuing kickoff.

North Allegheny would turn the fumble into 9-yard touchdown catch by Boyd. However, Seneca Valley used a 1-yard touchdown run by Hancox and D’Appolonia’s score to take a 26-14 lead into halftime.

But the Raiders couldn’t find a way to score again.

“I feel like at the end of the day, we never got to see our full potential,” D’Appolonia said. “I feel like there were a lot of self-inflicted wounds. This group of guys is amazing, but we never got to see what we could do.”

It was a tough way for Butschle to see the season end. Seneca Valley had run off a five-game winning streak in the middle of the season, but two losses to end the season sent the Raiders tumbling out of the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

“I love these kids,” Bustchle said. “I’m heartbroken for them. I feel like we’re a good team and we’re out of the tournament.”

Seneca Valley 13 13 0 0-26

North Allegheny 7 7 7 6-27

First Quarter

S — Luke Lawson 47 pass from Graham Hancox (Jacob Adams kick), 7:16

S — Hancox 4 run (kicked failed), 3:26

N — Andrew Gavlik 3 run (Nick Van Winkle kick), :03

Second Quarter

N — Khiryn Boyd 9 pass from Logan Kushner (Van Winkle kick), 10:40

S — Hancox 1 run (pass failed), 7:33

S — Chris D’Appolonia 34 pass from Hancox (Adams kick), 2:09

Third Quarter

N — Boyd 5 run (Van Winkle kick), :57

Fourth Quarter

N — Evan Lyon 5 run (pass failed), 7:47

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Seneca Valley, Wayne Pirt 20-121, Sean O’Shea 9-49, Grahm Hancox 14-7. North Allegheny, Andrew Gavlik 21-110, Rourke Kennedy 1-8, Evan Lyon 1-5, Aidan Buggey 1-5, Khiryn Boyd 1-5, Logan Kushner 7-(-8).

Passing: Seneca Valley, Graham Hancox 10-20-151-1. North Allegheny, Kushner 17-22-219-0.

Receiving: Seneca Valley, Luke Lawson 5-59, Chris D’Appolonia 1-35, Jacob Wetzel 1-34, Sean O’Shea 1-10, Wayne Pirt 1-9, Aiden Lyczek 1-5. North Allegheny, Khiryn Boyd 5-90, Nicolas Varlotta 4-60, Rourke Kennedy 3-42, Tyree Alualu 1-13, Aidan Buggey 1-2.