Peter Bonnet will soon be educated in the waging of war.
The 6-foot-6, 300-pound Avonworth senior left tackle will ship off to Annapolis, Maryland, next year to play football at the U.S. Naval Academy where he will be trained to fight for the United States on the high seas.
On Friday, though, Bonnet showed just how dangerous he already is with his feet firmly planted on enemy soil.
Avonworth came to Aliquippa and physically dominated the host Quips in the trenches on both sides of the football to emerge with a 23-7 victory at Heinz Field.
“Our line room, the whole mentality is, ‘The team runs on us,’” Bonnet said. “If we’re not coming in with that mentality that we’re going to move these guys, then why even show up? We came in with that mentality today.
“We knew w]hat we were going to accomplish and it’s the score we expected.”
Junior running back Dimitri Velisaris carried the football 33 times for 167 yards and two touchdowns to pace the Antelopes offensive attack, while senior quarterback Carson Bellinger was rarely harassed in the pocket, completing 7 of 12 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown. Senior wide receiver Luca Neal also caught four passes for 110 yards, as part of a performance that included a 53-yard third-quarter scoring strike from Bellinger.
“They blocked their rear ends off,” said Velisaris of his line. “They really punished them. They were good. I would say the majority of it was behind Bonnet’s big butt, but it was all over I would say, though.”
The Antelopes (3-0) defense, which has conceded just one touchdown in each of its games this season, was equal to the task.
Aliquippa’s explosive offense was held to just 71 rushing yards and Quips (1-1) quarterback Marques Council was frustrated for much of the contest. The senior completed 8 of 21 passes for 134 yards and a scoring strike to wide receiver Josh Lay, who had five catches for 94 yards.
Council was intercepted three times, once in the first half by Avonworth’s Jaden Jones and then twice in the red zone in the second half by Antelopes defensive backs Cooper Scharding and Achilles Heinhold.
Scharding’s interception stalled a promising Quips drive on a third-down play from the Antelopes’ 6-yard line in the waning seconds of the third quarter, while Heinhold stalled Aliquippa’s next offensive possession with a pick in the end zone in the fourth quarter.
“That’s a really good team that we beat tonight,” Avonworth coach Duke Johncour said. “[Aliquippa coach] Mike [Warfield] does a great job. I think we won in the trenches tonight, and we got the better of them.”
It was the first time the Quips have lost at home since Beaver County rival Central Valley handed Warfield’s team a 21-12 loss in 2021.
“They outplayed us,” Warfield said. “Their coach outcoached me. I give him all the credit. They were well prepared. They knew exactly what we were going to do, and we just didn’t make the right adjustments. I take full blame for that.”
Avonworth took control of the contest from the start.
After Calder Mahan made a 34-yard field goal to hand the Antelopes a 3-0 first-quarter lead, the teams traded possessions until Velisaris broke free for his first score, a 15-yard scamper into the end zone with 1:08 left in the first half.
Trailing 9-0, Aliquippa responded and appeared to take back momentum, as Council led the Quips on a scoring drive, which culminated with a 25-yard scoring strike to Lay as time expired in the second quarter.
“We got some momentum,” said Warfield of his team’s 9-7 halftime deficit. “When you’re playing two teams it’s a game of spurts. They had their run early. We got our run at the end of the half. Then they came out the first possession of the second half and scored.”
Valisaris opened the second half with a 6-yard touchdown run with 9:23 left in the third quarter before Bellinger’s touchdown pass to Neal made the Avonworth lead 23-7 with 6:07 left in the third quarter.
“It feels great especially from last year,” Velisaris said. “I was pretty beat up last year, and I didn’t really play all that much and good. I think coming back and playing healthy, it feels really good.”
For Bonnet, the Antelopes’ ability to dominate both sides of the line of scrimmage goes back to the preseason.
“It was just relentlessness,” he said. “From the start of the summer, we have been in there grinding; weight room, running every day. It really showed tonight. They think they’ve got a great strength program. I’m sure they do. Ours is unmatched. The stuff we do in the summer prepares us.
“Everyone was getting a push off the ball and getting pressure when they needed to,” Bonnet added. “Everyone stepped up and had a hell of a game.”
And Avonworth may just be poised to make some history.
The Antelopes won their second WPIAL Class 3A championship in six seasons in 2024 and dropped a heartbreaking 36-33 decision to Northwestern Lehigh in the program’s second PIAA title game appearance.
“I think this is the best [team] we’ve had,” Bonnet said. “I think this is the one that’s going to take us and get us over that state championship hump.”
John is a copy editor and page designer at the Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jsanta@unionprogress.com.