WPIAL Football Report: Week One

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Western Pennsylvania is home to some of the best high school football in the United States. The WPIAL is well known for producing many of the greatest players in the history of football, including George Blanda, Mike Ditka, Aaron Donald, Tony Dorsett, Bill Fralic, Ty Law, Dan Marino, Joe Montana, Joe Namath, and Darrell Revis among the most legendary.

The WPIAL Football Report is your resource for the Aliquippa Quips Report, weekly picks, and rankings by Class, all brought to you by local sports writer Mike Drakulich (@PghSportsNation), who also covers Pitt Football and the Pittsburgh Steelers for NGSCSports.com.

Aliquippa Quips Report

WPIAL Championships (20) | PIAA Championships (5)

The #1 ranked Aliquippa Quips face off against the Belle Vernon Leopards this Friday night at The Pit at Heinz Field. Kickoff is at 7:00 PM.

It’s going to be a great opening game featuring the defending WPIAL Champions of both 4A and 3A facing off.

Belle Vernon returns nine starters in their return to playing in 4A after playing the last two years in 3A.

Senior tailback Kole Doppelheuer returns after rushing for 832 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Can the Leopards find the gaping holes left by Quinton Martin, who rushed for 1,202 yards and caught 54 passes for 753 yards, and quarterback Braden Laux, who threw for 1,733 yards?

The Quips will be lead offensively by senior running back Tiqwai “Tikey” Hayes, who had over 2,000 combined yards last season, and carrying the ball at an incredible 9.1 yards per carry. Junior Marques Council will start at quarterback, and will present defenses with his dual threat capabilities with a strong arm and running ability. Council will have a bevy of weapons to throw to, including Arison Walker and Josh Lay, who will have to make up for the losses of Demarkus Walker and Brandon Banks.

Expect the Aliquippa defense to be as formidable as usual, with Hayes and Walker roaming the secondary, as well as Larry Moon, Jr., who has offers from Alabama, Notre Dame Ohio State, Oregon, and Pitt. Jamar Allen and Justus Starks will present problems at linebacker.

It was a chaotic off-season that saw head coach Mike Warfield take a leave of absence, with Vashawn Patrick taking over for the time being. The WPIAL tried forcing the Quips into Class 5A, where a team of 40 something players would be going up against 70-90 plus weekly on the opposing sidelines.

So much for being advocates of player safety. The Quips, pretty much a Class A team enrollment-wise, are choosing to play up in 4A, but the lackeys running the WPIAL always seem intent on sticking it to this storied program that always finds a way to be successful, no matter what the situation brings.

Know this, these kids from Quip fear no one. They’d play teams in Class 5A or even 6A without blinking an eye, but sometimes common sense needs to be displayed by the adults in charge, and the competitive disadvantage numbers-wise would be ridiculous, to say the least.

Furthermore, the WPIAL, instead of trying to stick it to Aliquippa, should focus their efforts on getting ALL of the Championship Games to be played at Acrisure Stadium, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pitt Panthers. The biggest hurdle seems to be the WPIAL renting out Acrisure twice, which would work perfectly if they would play three games on Friday, and three games on Saturday.

That stadium was built by this area’s tax dollars, so at the very least, the Steelers should help out in making sure all teams have the joy and experience of playing their most memorable game at Acrisure, not in the middle of the boonies at Norwin High School.

Beaver Valley Beat the Expert Picks

In honor of growing up reading the Beaver County Times and waiting with excitement each week to enter the contest in picking the local games against great writers like Ed Rose, Mike Prisuta, Mike Bires, Andy Nuzzo, and John Perrotto to name a few…

Friday, August 30th

Imani Christian over Beaver Falls

Aliquippa over Belle Vernon

Beaver over Blackhawk

Cornell over California

Central Catholic over Pine-Richland

West Allegheny over Chartiers Valley

Clairton over Serra Catholic

Freedom over Rochester

New Castle over Hopewell

North Allegheny over Gateway

Quaker Valley over Keystone Oaks

Laurel Highlands over Ambridge

Montour over Moon

Riverside over Northgate

Woodland Hills over Penn Hills

Fort Cherry over OLSH

Thomas Jefferson over Central Valley

South Side Beaver over Western Beaver

Steel Valley over Washington

Saturday, August 24th

Summit Academy over New Brighton

Last Week: 10-10

Overall: 10-10

Week One Rankings

North Allegheny (1-0)
Central Catholic (0-1)
Canon-McMillan (0-1)
Norwin (1-0)
Mt. Lebanon (0-1)

Peters Township (1-0)
Pine-Richland (1-0)
Upper St. Clair (1-0)
North Hills (1-0)
Moon (1-0)

Aliquippa (0-0)
McKeesport (0-1)
Montour (1-0)
Mars (1-0)
Thomas Jefferson (1-0)

Central Valley (0-1)
Avonworth (1-0)
Beaver (1-0)
Imani Christian (1-0)
Elizabeth Forward (0-1)

Washington (1-0)
South Park (1-0)
Steel Valley (0-1))
Ellwood City (1-0)
Seton-LaSalle (1-0)

Clairton (1-0)
Fort Cherry (1-0)
South Side (1-0)
Neshannock (1-0)
Bishop Canevin (0-0)

About Post Author

Mike Drakulich

From Midland, "The Basketball Capital of Pennsylvania", located 35 miles NW of Pittsburgh along the Ohio River. This former steel town was home to storied athletes such as Dave Alston, Norm Van Lier, Simmie Hill, and the legendary 1965 Midland High School Basketball Team. There's nowhere on earth that is more dedicated to its sports teams like Western Pennsylvania and the city of Pittsburgh. The passion and pride of Pittsburgh's fan base is second to no one. From the NFL, NHL, MLB, NCAA football and basketball, to W.P.I.A.L. high school sports, "The City of Champions" has it all! As Editor of Pittsburgh SportsNation, Mike Drakulich provides top notch opinions and coverage of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Pitt Panthers football & basketball, Robert Morris Colonials basketball, and Duquesne Dukes basketball, as well as all sports teams that represent Western Pennsylvania, including WPIAL High School Football. For a refreshing view of sports, mixed with humor and uncensored opinions, check out Pittsburgh SportsNation today on Facebook, Twitter @PghSportsNation and videos with over 1,000,000 views on YouTube!

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http://ngscsports.com

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Mike DrakulichYour source for Pittsburgh sports!

From Midland, "The Basketball Capital of Pennsylvania", located 35 miles NW of Pittsburgh along the Ohio River. This former steel town was home to storied athletes such as Dave Alston, Norm Van Lier, Simmie Hill, and the legendary 1965 Midland High School Basketball Team.

There's nowhere on earth that is more dedicated to its sports teams like Western Pennsylvania and the city of Pittsburgh. The passion and pride of Pittsburgh's fan base is second to no one. From the NFL, NHL, MLB, NCAA football and basketball, to W.P.I.A.L. high school sports, "The City of Champions" has it all!

As Editor of Pittsburgh SportsNation, Mike Drakulich provides top notch opinions and coverage of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Pitt Panthers football & basketball, Robert Morris Colonials basketball, and Duquesne Dukes basketball, as well as all sports teams that represent Western Pennsylvania, including WPIAL High School Football.

For a refreshing view of sports, mixed with humor and uncensored opinions, check out Pittsburgh SportsNation today on Facebook, Twitter @PghSportsNation and videos with over 1,000,000 views on YouTube!