All year long, fans on both sides of the state eagerly anticipated a looming PIAA Class 4A championship rubber match between Aliquippa and defending champion Bishop McDevitt as if it were almost a foregone conclusion.
Not so fast, said District 2 champion Dallas.
While the Quips (13-0) held up their end of the bargain by beating McKeesport to claim a third consecutive WPIAL title before blowing the doors off District 4 champion Selinsgrove in the state semifinals last week, there will be no championship trilogy after all. That’s because Dallas (15-0) stunned the entire state by snapping McDevitt’s 26-game winning streak in a dramatic 26-23, double-overtime victory in the Class 4A Eastern region final last Friday.
Now, instead of Aliquippa-McDevitt: Round III, we get Aliquippa-Dallas: Round I — and you won’t hear any complaints from the Quips.
“Looking ahead? I wasn’t, but maybe the kids were to a degree,” said Aliquippa coach Mike Warfield. “We’ve got to play Dallas.”
It won’t carry quite the same historical significance or larger-than-life feel that a rubber match between the Quips and Crusaders would have, but this is still a mouth-watering matchup between two undefeated teams with a ton of talent. For Dallas, this is the Mountaineers’ first state championship appearance since getting mercy ruled by Thomas Jefferson in the 2019 Class 4A final, 46-7, and only their third all time. A win would bring Dallas its second state title and its first in 30 years.
As for Aliquippa, there will be no shortage of historic milestones on the line at 7 p.m. Thursday at Cumberland Valley High School in Mechanicsburg. For one, the Quips have never completed an undefeated season in their long and storied history — a history that includes an unmatched 20 WPIAL titles and four PIAA championships. They had a chance to do so for the first time last year, but McDevitt had other plans, vanquishing Aliquippa by a score of 41-18 to avenge a 34-27 defeat from the 2021 Class 4A final.
Speaking of those four state titles, the Quips are currently tied with Clairton for the second-most all time among WPIAL schools. A win on Thursday would move Aliquippa into a tie with Thomas Jefferson for the most state titles won by any WPIAL school, with the Quips currently holding a record of 4-5 all time in PIAA championship games.
Warfield is responsible for two of those state crowns, and a win would put him in exclusive company with a third state championship in only six seasons at the helm. Only Thomas Jefferson’s Bill Cherpak (5) and North Allegheny’s Art Walker (3) have more state titles than Warfield among active WPIAL coaches. Walker, of course, could win his fourth on Saturday night.
While Aliquippa no longer has to prepare for a third showdown with Crusaders star quarterback Stone Saunders, Mountaineers QB Brady Zapoticky is no slouch. The junior has thrown for 1,910 yards this season, and Warfield sees him as the No. 1 threat for his defense to prepare for.
“We definitely have to stop No. 11. I think how he goes is how their team goes,” Warfield said. “He does sit in the pocket and throw it, but he can run when he needs to. They do roll him out sometimes or give him quarterback keepers. We’re going to have to keep all 11 eyes on him.”
Dallas also features a solid junior running back in Dylan Geskey, who has rushed for 1,473 yards this season. Warfield views senior receivers Zach Paczewski and Nicholas Farrell as two dangerous weapons on the outside, and he also came away impressed with the play of the Mountaineers’ offensive line. So, unlike last week’s matchup with Selinsgrove, when slowing down 2,000-yard rusher Tucker Teats was the Quips’ main priority, Aliquippa won’t be able to simply key on one or two players on Thursday night.
Although Dallas boasts a talented offense and a lights-out defense, it was the Mountaineers’ special teams that propelled them to victory against McDevitt last week. To recap, Dallas blocked a punt that was recovered for a touchdown, blocked an extra point in regulation, blocked a field goal in overtime and recovered two onside kicks in the shocking upset victory. On top of that, kicker Rowan Laubach made a pair of field goals, including the game-winning 26-yarder in the second OT to set off a wild celebration and send the Mountaineers to the state finals.
Warfield is well aware of Dallas’ special-teams prowess, and he said extra time this week will be spent preparing for anything unorthodox the Mountaineers might throw at them.
“Their kicker is impressive,” Warfield said. “On the kickoff team, he kicks it hard on the ground. It’s like a golf shot. He can put it where he wants to put it. So we’ve got to be prepared on the kickoff team. They come off the edge hard on extra points and field goals.
“There’s nothing to lose at this point, for them or us. Everything is on the table. We’ve got to be aware of that.”
While many believed last year’s Aliquippa team might have been one of the best in program history, there’s a chance this year’s team could be even better. The Quips are led by senior quarterback Quentin “Cheese” Goode, senior linebacker and Pitt recruit Cameron “Cam Bam” Lindsey, senior wide receiver-defensive back and Yale recruit Brandon Banks, and arguably the best one-two punch of any backfield tandem in the country in junior Tiqwai “Tikey” Hayes and senior John Tracy.
Hayes (6-1, 200) is a Penn State recruit who really needs no further introduction. “Tikey” already ranks No. 14 on the all-time WPIAL rushing leader board with 5,665 career yards in less than three full seasons, and he’s currently up to 1,908 yards and 20 TDs on the year. As for his backfield mate, the one known as simply “JT” might just have the most jaw-dropping highlight package of any back in the WPIAL — and he has carried the ball fewer than 100 times on the year, turning 90 rush attempts into 729 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Tracy (5-9, 180) already had one historic performance earlier this season, tallying five touchdowns via five different methods — one rush, one reception, one fumble return, one kick return and one punt return — in a 53-0 win against Chartiers Valley on Oct. 20. He may have topped it last Friday by rushing for 270 yards and four touchdowns on 15 carries in the win against Selinsgrove — including two awe-inspiring TD runs — combining with Hayes to rack up more than 400 yards on the ground.
“Some of the things he does in games are dynamic. But some of the things he does in practice are jaw-dropping,” Warfield said. “He really understands the game, though. He’s a very intelligent kid, and he’s very thoughtful. … He’s the total package. He’s small in frame, but inside that frame is a lot of juice and a lot of power.”
Tracy may never get the credit or recognition he fully deserves, but his impact on Aliquippa’s program will stand the test of time long after he graduates. Despite never receiving a full workload, he now has 2,219 yards rushing and 38 total TDs in his career.
And as if that weren’t enough, Aliquippa has the added luxury of turning to Lindsey (6-2, 210) as its RB3 if Hayes and Tracy need a breather. The fearsome linebacker rushed for a pair of touchdowns in the Quips’ 35-21 win against McKeesport in the WPIAL Class 4A title game, and he added a third score on a fumble return TD. For the season, Lindsey has rushed for 305 yards on 46 carries while scoring eight TDs.
Elsewhere, Banks is nearing a return to full strength after missing several weeks with an injury sustained in Week 8 against Chartiers Valley, and there’s no doubt the team will feed off his presence as the team’s top shutdown cornerback while doubling as a big-play receiver (20 receptions, 459 yards, 3 TDs).
“Just having Brandon Banks, on the offensive side, the playbook is so much more wide open,” Warfield said. “He didn’t play last week. I took the chance of giving him some extra rest, and he practiced very well yesterday, so he’ll definitely be out there Thursday.”
Finally, at the center of it all stands record-setting senior quarterback Quentin “Cheese” Goode, Aliquippa’s all-time leader in career passing yards and touchdowns who holds a career record of 39-2. Goode is having his best year yet for the Quips, with 1,815 yards passing and 25 TDs to only four interceptions. His older brother, former Aliquippa star quarterback Darrien Fields, is in his first year as the team’s offensive coordinator, and his younger brother Qa’lil Goode is a sophomore receiver-defensive back. Qa’lil made a crucial interception in the WPIAL title game and has also spent time at quarterback when his big brother gets pulled with a big lead late in games.
Now, with only one game left in the only season the three brothers will get to spend together as part of the same team, there’s nothing they would love more than to go out on top while bringing the Quips “one for the thumb.”
“For [Dallas] to defeat the defending champions, we’ve got to come with our A-game,” Warfield said. “[We’re] playing to make history. I think we’re not going to run from that. We’re not superstitious. It’s just a matter of getting prepared and knowing your assignments and going out and playing our game, and letting the chips fall where they may.
“What I don’t want to do is be crying like we were last year when we were leaving. We’ve just got to make sure our preparation meets the moment.”
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
