The difference was easy to identify.

As simple to see as the North Allegheny players breaking away, running full-bore through the Seneca Valley secondary time and again.

Last night, North Allegheny was faster than Seneca Valley.

Much faster.

Light years faster.

Forty-two points faster.

Seneca Valley's defense spent its time in vain, attempting to track down the Tigers, who spent their time making things into a veritable track meet, as North Allegheny (3-2, 1-0) ran past the host Raiders (3-2, 0-1) for a 56-14 victory in the WPIAL Class AAAA Northern Six Conference opener.

"When we got guys out in the open," North Allegheny coach Art Walker said. "Well, they showed what they could do."

They showed exactly what they could do -- from their very first offensive snap.

The overflow crowd of more than 7,000 fans at NexTier Stadium got an appetizer into what would become the main course on North Allegheny's first play from scrimmage, when sophomore running back Alex Papson sped through the Raiders' secondary untouched for a 53-yard score.

Papson gained 210 yards and scored four touchdowns on 20 carries. Running through expansive holes punched by linemen Ryan Schlieper, Tom Ricketts, Mike Vuono and Ben Balzer, Papson rocketed out of the gate, gaining 133 yards on his first five carries and scoring twice in that span.

"It was the exact start we wanted, it was great to get the momentum going our way," Papson said. "The offensive line was opening up those holes for me, I saw open field and just went for it. ... All game long, those guys were getting off the ball, opening holes for me and ... I went untouched. That is exactly what you want coming from your offensive line, because it lets you get out there and use your speed."

By the end of the first quarter, North Allegheny utilized its glaring speed advantage to stretch the lead to 21-0 on a 33-yard touchdown catch by Wes Henderson and another Papson run -- this one from 43 yards.

"[Speed] was definitely something we knew we had on them coming into this game," Papson said. "And we really just played the way we practiced all week. We practiced with that intensity and we played to that intensity."

Seneca Valley -- and standout quarterback C.J. Brown in particular -- made a bit of a game of it in the second quarter, cutting it to 21-14 when Brown hit Evan Hetzel from 2 yards for a score, and Brown then ran 13 yards for a touchdown.

Even though Brown finished with a respectable 168 yards passing and hit on 16 of his 31 passes, it was nothing more than a mirage.

North Allegheny stepped on the gas again, pushing it to 35-14 at halftime on a 24-yard run from Jared Congedo and a 45-yard pass play from Mike Locke to burner Brian Austin, the defending WPIAL 100-meter champion.

"He just flat-out outran our cornerback," Seneca Valley coach Ron Butschle said of the Austin touchdown. "There is not much we could do about that. Except tackle him before he caught the ball maybe? They had the state 100-meter champion out there catching the ball for them. We didn't have the state 100-meter champion trying to catch him."

Papson added a 13-yard score in the third, then capped his night with a 14-yard scoring run early in the fourth before backup running back David Humphrey scored the final North Allegheny points on a 2-yard run as the mercy rule was already invoked with under 5 minutes left.

From start to end, front to back, it was speed -- and more to the point, Papson's speed -- that turned Seneca Valley into a team that came in with thoughts of maybe being the best team in the conference into one that got humbled in front of its homecoming crowd.

"He's a mature kid," Walker said of the 5-foot-9, 165-pound Papson. "He has a great demeanor and a great work ethic. He also has a very unselfish attitude."

Walker forgot one thing -- Papson also has some lightning quick legs.

Just ask Seneca Valley.