PUP high school football game of the week: Aliquippa at Montour (Week 8)

Each Wednesday, the PUP high school sports staff will preview the game of the week.

Between the hash marks

Who: Aliquippa (5-1, 3-0) at Montour (7-0, 3-0)

Where: Montour High School

When: 7 p.m. Friday

The coaches: Vashawn Patrick (Aliquippa); Lou Cerro (Montour)

When they last met: Quentin Goode passed for 272 yards and two touchdowns and Tikey Hayes ran for 100 yards and three touchdowns to push Aliquippa to a 42-18 win against visiting Montour last Sept. 15.

On deck: Aliquippa hosts Ambridge, while Montour hosts West Allegheny.

This and that: It’s a showdown between the top two ranked teams in WPIAL Class 4A, as No. 2 Montour hosts No. 1 Aliquippa. At stake is the Parkway Conference title and likely the No. 1 seed in the WPIAL playoffs, which begin in two weeks. … Aliquippa handed Montour its only loss of the regular season a year ago. Will the Quips do it again? Aliquippa has won three games in a row since a 21-13 non-conference loss at Class 5A Penn Hills. The Quips have scored at least 42 points in all but one of their wins and average 38.3 points per game, which ranks second in Class 4A. Meanwhile, Montour boasts the No. 1 scoring defense (10.8 ppg) and No. 3 scoring offense (37.1 ppg) in the classification. The Spartans have been especially dominant over the past three games, outscoring their opponents, 147-27. … Aliquippa continues to be led by the two-headed rushing attack of Tikey Hayes and Sa’Nir Brooks. Hayes has rushed for 529 yards on 61 carries and has scored 10 touchdowns, while Brooks has collected 464 yards on 69 carries to go along with eight touchdowns. Hayes has rushed for 6,415 career yards, which ranks eighth in WPIAL history. Quarterback Marques Council, a first-year starter, is 41 of 81 for 721 yards and eight touchdowns. His favorite receiver has been Arison Walker, who has 15 catches for 193 yards and two touchdowns. … Speaking of first-year starting quarterbacks, Montour has one of those, too. Trey Hopper has been terrific in replacing Jake Wolfe, as he is 84 of 138 for 1,844 yards and 20 touchdowns. He has thrown for four touchdowns in four of Montour’s past five games. Andrew Alston (36 catches, 583 yards, 5 touchdowns) has been Montour’s most productive receiver, while Daniel Batch has been a big-play threat with 13 catches for 504 yards (38.8 yards per catch). Batch has a team-high nine touchdowns. The ground attack has been led by Caden Halajcio, who has rushed for 670 yards on 133 carries and has scored three touchdowns. … Defensively, Aliquippa’s top tacklers have been Cleaster Longmire (80) and Tekoah Gilbert (56). Gilbert has registered a team-best four sacks. … Cole Midili (64) leads Montour in tackles, with Amirr Gary (50) and Kaleb Platz (49) not far behind. Montour has collected 16 interceptions, with Alston and James Bundridge picking off four apiece. … Montour has won 10 consecutive games at home, its last loss coming in 2022.

Expert picks (records in parentheses)

Brad Everett (5-3): Aliquippa 27, Montour 24

John Santa (4-4): Aliquippa 21, Montour 20

Steve Rotstein (3-5): Montour 24, Aliquippa 20

On the radar

Woodland Hills at Franklin Regional, 7 p.m. Friday

Woodland Hills (6-2, 4-0) is one of the hottest teams in Class 5A. The Wolverines have won five straight and another win here would give them their first conference title since 2015. Cam Walter and Scoop Smith continue to be one of the most productive quarterback-receiver duos in the area, and that has helped the Wolverines average 35.6 points per game during the win streak. Their latest win was a one-point triumph against Gateway, a team which Franklin Regional edged by two points last month. A lot is on the line for Franklin Regional (6-2, 3-1) in this one, too. The Panthers can clinch a playoff berth while also keeping their Big East Conference title hopes alive. Kyle Dupill (1,378 yards, 13 touchdowns) ranks among the WPIAL’s top rushers.

Southmoreland at Elizabeth Forward, 7 p.m. Friday

Forty-five years. That’s how long it has been since Southmoreland last captured a conference title. But if the Scotties win Friday, they will be partying like it’s 1979. Southmoreland (7-1, 3-0) and Elizabeth Forward (5-3, 3-0) are currently tied for first in the Class 3A Interstate Conference. Both teams have won four straight. Southmoreland freshman Anthony Smith has thrown for 10 touchdowns in the past three games and has 21 on the season, one of the top marks in the WPIAL. Elizabeth Forward has been strong defensively as of late, surrendering just 9.5 points per game during its win streak. The Warriors rallied to beat Southmoreland, 31-24, a season ago. Charlie Nigut had all four EF touchdowns and has a team-best 19 this season.

Monessen at Bishop Canevin, 7 p.m. Saturday

These teams have just three combined losses, all of which have come to No. 1-ranked teams. Both have lost to Class 1A Black Hills Conference rival Fort Cherry, while Canevin also fell to Class 2A No. 1 Seton LaSalle. Neither of these two will claim the conference crown, but the winner could go into the playoffs as the most dangerous team that didn’t win a conference title. Canevin (5-2, 3-1) is ranked No. 3 and Monessen (7-1, 3-1) is No. 4. Monessen’s Ty Kershaw ranks among the WPIAL’s rushing and touchdown leaders (1,141 yards, 25 touchdowns), while Canevin’s Kole Olszewski is near the top of the district in passing (1,487 yards, 17 touchdowns). It has been a while since these teams last met, the most recent meeting coming in 2013.

PUP ‘underdog’ to watch

Penn Hills (Plays at North Hills at 7 p.m. Friday)

This is a good matchup of hot Class 5A Northeast Conference teams — North Hills (7-1, 3-1) has won four straight and Penn Hills (4-4, 2-1) four of five — that we don’t fully know how good they are considering they have one combined win against a team with a winning record (Penn Hills’ 21-13 win against Aliquippa). North Hills’ only loss came at No. 2 Pine-Richland, 29-24, while Penn Hills fell at Pine-Richland, 31-21. North Hills is strong defensively, giving up 38 points over its past four games. Only Pine-Richland has scored more than 17 points against North Hills this season. But Penn Hills has been piling up the points and could pull the mini upset with big games from quarterback Jay’mere Ellis and running back Naytel Mitchell.