In a showdown between two of the top three teams in Class 4A on a picturesque Friday night, history was hanging in the balance at Mars Area High School.
With the mighty Aliquippa Quips coming to town, the No. 2 Planets hoped to hand No. 3 Aliquippa its second consecutive regular-season loss — something that has not happened to the Quips since 2008. And for the first three quarters on Friday, it sure looked like Mars (3-1) and its punishing defense were going to bring an emphatic end to Aliquippa’s 17-year streak without back-to-back defeats.
Not so fast.
Anybody who knows anything about WPIAL football knows that the Quips are never out of a game until the clock strikes zero, especially with Mike Warfield back on the sideline as head coach after a one-year leave of absence. And with the clock winding down in the fourth quarter, Aliquippa (2-1) seized full control of the momentum and never looked back, scoring a trio of late touchdowns to escape with a hard-fought 19-6 win.
“I think it was two good defensive teams,” Warfield said. “They scored on one long pass. The kid made a great throw and a great catch. … I was just proud of the kids. They didn’t blink.”
Standout senior Gabe Hein got the scoring started with a highlight-reel 44-yard TD grab from Colin Yurisinec, putting the Planets on top, 6-0, just before halftime. The Quips threatened to break through in the third quarter with their first points of the game after driving the ball down to the 1-yard line, but Mars’ defense stood tall with a goal-line stand.
The Planets couldn’t repeat the feat the second time around, though, as Aliquippa tailback J.J. Work powered his way into the end zone for a 4-yard TD run with a little more than 10 minutes to play. Then, with just 23 seconds remaining, Work scored his second TD on a 9-yard scamper to give the Quips a 13-6 lead.
Moments later, senior Qa’lil Goode raced into the end zone with a 43-yard pick-six to put the finishing touches on the comeback win.
“We had to make sure we were doing the little things,” Warfield said. “We’ve got to take care of Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday first. If we do that, [Friday] will take care of itself.”
For Warfield, it was especially encouraging to see his players rebound from a tough 23-7 loss last week in Aliquippa’s home opener against Class 3A No. 1 Avonworth, but there’s certainly no shame in that result. And to take down a team like Mars that had won back-to-back games in defensive slugfests against Class 5A foes — with both coming on go-ahead touchdowns late in the fourth quarter — it was only right for the Quips to give the Planets a taste of their own medicine.
“We’re senior-heavy. But our seniors, a lot of them don’t have a lot of game experience,” Warfield said. “Now they have to take over and lead. We’ve had some guys in front of them. But now they have to be the leaders. … It’s just a matter of us needing to keep improving and keep trying to get better each week.
“It’s just one game. It’s just four quarters. We’ve got a lot of football to be played.”
BEAVER BATTLES BACK TO BEAT HOPEWELL IN THRILLER
In what will surely go down as one of the wildest games in recent WPIAL history, Beaver scored a trio of fourth-quarter touchdowns to climb out of a 20-point deficit in an action-packed 51-50 triumph to begin Class 3A Western Hills Conference play against No. 5 Hopewell (3-1, 0-1). Junior Marino played the hero for the Bobcats (2-2, 1-0), recording nine receptions for 216 yards and a TD to go with a game-winning 40-yard pick-six. Travis Clear passed for 391 yards and a pair of scores in the win, while Vikings quarterback James Armstrong had a game for the ages in the defeat, passing for 346 yards and rushing for 263 while scoring six total TDs (four passing, two rushing).
SCOOP SMITH SHINES AS WOODY HIGH BOUNCES BACK
Fans who showed up early to the Wolvarena for the Class 5A Big East Conference opener on Friday were surely not disappointed, as No. 5 Woodland Hills (2-2, 1-0) and No. 4 Penn-Trafford (3-1, 0-1) wasted little time trading touchdowns back and forth before the host Wolverines pulled away for a 49-21 win. Electrifying senior Scoop Smith put his jaw-dropping speed on full display with a pair of kick-return TDs for Woodland Hills, both in the first quarter, while Taylor Reid finished with three rushing TDs in the win.
ANTELOPES TRAMPLE THOMAS JEFFERSON
In a mouth-watering matchup between two top-ranked teams and defending WPIAL champions, Class 3A No. 1 Avonworth gave a not-so-warm welcome to Class 4A No. 1 Thomas Jefferson in an eye-opening 41-14 home win. Following a 95-yard kick-return TD by Tyler Eber on the opening kickoff for the Jaguars (3-1), it was all Antelopes the rest of the way, as Avonworth (4-0) secured its second consecutive win over a Class 4A powerhouse after knocking off Aliquippa last week, 23-7.
NORTH ALLEGHENY MANHANDLES HEMPFIELD
With a pair of unbeaten teams facing off to open up Class 6A Quad-County Conference play in the PUP’s Game of the Week, No. 2 North Allegheny (4-0, 1-0) blew the doors off No. 3 Hempfield in a 56-13 home win. The Spartans (3-1, 0-1) managed to keep things close early on, but the Tigers ran away with this one in the second half behind a powerful rushing attack led by junior quarterback Brady Brinkley and senior tailback Luke Rohan.
PUP BITES
• Arguably the most compelling story in the area so far this season, Class 1A No. 5 Jefferson-Morgan kept its perfect record intact by scoring nine touchdowns in the first quarter on its way to a 63-6 mercy-rule win at Mapletown. All-purpose dynamo Deakyn Dehoet rushed for 84 yards and two TDs on just three carries while catching three passes for 51 yards and a score.
• Not to be outdone by his fellow blue-chip outside linebacker Reston Lehman, Peters Township senior and Stanford recruit Lucas Shanafelt snagged an impressive one-handed interception before returning it 33 yards for a TD in a 31-14 win over Trinity for the Class 5A No. 2 Indians. Lehman, a Pitt recruit, had his own highlight-reel pick-six for Peters Township two weeks prior in a 35-0 win against McKeesport.
• A highly touted junior quarterback, Oobi Strader, showed off his arm for Class 5A No. 1 Pine-Richland by completing 14 of 27 passes for 331 yards and three TDs in a 48-6 win over visiting North Hills. In four games this fall, the dual-threat QB has now passed for 901 yards with 13 total TDs (11 passing, two rushing).
THREE STARS
*** — Da’Ron Barksdale, Steel Valley. Coming off a disappointing loss last week, Barksdale put the Ironmen on his back against defending WPIAL Class 2A champion South Park, carrying the ball 14 times for 165 yards and three TDs to go with a 19-yard TD reception and a 35-yard score on a fumble return in a commanding 56-7 win.
** — Ryan Messina, Elizabeth Forward. Although the Class 3A No. 4 Warriors came up just short in a 27-24 loss at Class 5A contender South Fayette, don’t place any blame on Messina. The senior quarterback totaled 486 yards of offense (323 passing, 153 rushing) with three total TDs in the narrow defeat.
* — Ethan Hellmann, Upper St. Clair. A four-year starter under center for the Panthers and the leading passer in the WPIAL entering Week 3, Hellmann put together arguably the finest performance of his career against Hampton, completing 15 of 17 passes for 297 yards and five TDs in a 62-3 blowout win.
SIGHTS AND SOUNDS
SCOREBOARD
Class 6A Quad-County Conference
Central Catholic 57, Mt. Lebanon 0
North Allegheny 56, Hempfield 13
Norwin 56, Seneca Valley 13
Class 5A Big East Conference
Gateway 34, Kiski Area 31
Latrobe 13, Franklin Regional 7
Woodland Hills 49, Penn-Trafford 21
Class 5A Northeast Conference
Penn Hills 49, Fox Chapel 14
Pine-Richland 48, North Hills 6
Shaler 27, Plum 20
Class 3A Allegheny 7 Conference
Freeport 58, Deer Lakes 7
Highlands 42, East Allegheny 15
Imani Christian 72, Valley 0
Class 3A Western Hills Conference
Beaver 51, Hopewell 50
Central Valley 49, McGuffey 6
North Catholic 49, Quaker Valley 0
Class 2A Allegheny Conference
Shady Side Academy 42, Ligonier Valley 6
South Allegheny 28, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 6
Steel Valley 56, South Park 7
Class 2A Century Conference
Keystone Oaks 28, Sto-Rox 0
Seton LaSalle 61, Charleroi 14
Washington 35, Waynesburg 14
Class 2A Midwestern Conference
Ellwood City 21, Mohawk 15
Freedom 42, New Brighton 0
Western Beaver 36, Beaver Falls 8
Class 1A Big 7 Conference
Shenango 56, Northgate 20
Class 1A Black Hills Conference
Cornell 18, Burgettstown 13
Fort Cherry 44, Chartiers-Houston 14
Monessen 13, Serra Catholic 6
Class 1A Eastern Conference
Brentwood 42, Springdale 0
Clairton 43, Greensburg C.C. 0
Jeannette 61, Frazier 19
Leechburg 27, Riverview 18
Class 1A Tri-County South Conference
Avella 18, West Greene 6
Beth-Center 35, Carmichaels 6
California 8, Bentworth 7
Jefferson-Morgan 63, Mapletown 6
City League
Westinghouse 76, Perry 0
Non Conference
Albert Gallatin 40, Northern Garrett, Md., 24
Allderdice 40, Uniontown 0
Aliquippa 19, Mars 6
Apollo-Ridge 42, Carlynton 0
Avonworth 41, Thomas Jefferson 14
Bethel Park 41, West Mifflin 7
Canon-McMillan 31, Armstrong 21
Chartiers Valley 62, Baldwin 12
Derry 13, Burrell 7
Hollidaysburg 33, Butler 6
Indiana 48, Laurel Highlands 7
McKeesport 20, Belle Vernon 7
Montour 41, Knoch 8
Moon 21, West Allegheny 3
Mount Pleasant 28, Ambridge 27
New Castle 53, Yough 0
Peters Township 31, Trinity 12
Ringgold 33, Greensburg Salem 13
South Fayette 27, Elizabeth Forward 24
Southmoreland 24, Blackhawk 17
Spring Mills, W.Va., 52, Connellville 0
Upper St. Clair 62, Hampton 3
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
