In the second game of the season, Avonworth lost a starting quarterback but gained a coach.

Tyler Fatigante went down with a broken collarbone that put his senior season in jeopardy. He traded in his shoulder pads for a whistle and helped coach the quarterbacks and the scout offense.

Being at all the practices also kept Fatigante ready in case he would be cleared before the end of the season.

"His senior leadership is second to none," Avonworth coach Jason Kekseo said.

"He never missed one practice during his injury. We called him 'Coach Fat.' He always had a whistle and he always stayed involved. I am honored to be able to coach him."

Fatigante got that clearance before the season finale against North Catholic in a game that would decide the Eastern Conference championship. On senior night Kekseo called on him to start the game for the first drive.

After a sluggish first half, Kekseo called upon Fatigante again to lead a late rally. He did just that, forcing overtime and helped lead his team to a win and the conference title in the first overtime.

"I am a senior and I felt like it was part of my job to make all the practices," Fatigante said.

"I had no idea I was going to start the second half [against North Catholic]. I was out there stretching and an assistant coach came up to me and asked if I was ready. I didn't feel rusty. If anything, I was just nervous because there was so much on the line."

Backup quarterback junior Tom Turnbull helped lead the Antelopes to an undefeated regular season and Fatigante has picked up right where he left off. The No. 2 seed Antelopes are 11-0 and headed to the Class A semifinals Friday night against Monaca at Moon High School. It is the first trip to the semifinals in school history for Avonworth. The last time Avonworth was in the WPIAL finals, 1959, there was no playoff system.

"It is an unbelievable feeling being here with Kekseo for six years," Fatigante said of his coach since seventh grade.

"I have been here at Avonworth my whole life and for a lot of years, they were just a bad football team and Kekseo came in and he brought a good attitude.

"My senior class expected success in our senior year. Being Avonworth, people are expecting you to lose eventually and people expected us to choke, but we haven't. Those people are starting to follow us now."

Standout senior running back Khiry Watts was a man on a mission against North Catholic after the Trojan defense bottled him up in the first meeting between the two teams. Watts helped Avonworth to a 14-0 lead on touchdown runs of 57 and 43 yards and he finished with 154 yards on 13 carries.

"Khiry was running angry, he thought he had something to prove," Kekseo said.

"He was a focused kid. He played on defense and he lit it up there, too. It was huge for him because once he gets going, he is almost unstoppable. Once he gets his confidence, he becomes a Division I running back."

This game will mark the third meeting between Avonworth and a team from the Big Seven conference this season. It defeated Western Beaver, 27-12, and Neshannock, 35-6, in non-conference games to open the season. Western Beaver is the only team to defeat Monaca this year.

"[Monaca is] a solid football team and has a lot of good athletes," Kekseo said.

"When you hear Monaca, you think tradition and then you throw in athletes such as Tony Reda and Zach Garber and you got one heck of a football team."

Strong defensive play has continued to be a staple of this Avonworth team. In the regular season the defense held five opponents to single digits and in two playoff wins against California and North Catholic, the defense has only yielded a pair of touchdowns.

Kekseo credits his defensive coaches, coordinator Derek Johncour, and his step-father, Joe Zeglowitsch, who coaches from up in the booth, for the strong defense this year.

Zeglowitsch was a former City League coach at Oliver for 18 years before retiring in 2006.

"People say this is a Cinderella story but I don't think it is at all," Kekseo said. "I think it's a change of attitude and we are earning this. We worked hard to get here.

"These kids have maintained their focus and positive leadership goes along way. Everyone has bought into it."The game

• What: Avonworth (11-0) vs. Monaca (10-1).

• When: 7:30 p.m. tomorrow.

• Where: Moon Area High School's Tiger Stadium.

• The skinny: An interesting WPIAL Class A semifinal. Monaca's lone loss was to Western Beaver in a game in which its starting quarterback was injured. The last time Avonworth went this deep into the WPIAL playoffs was in 1959.