Aliquippa captures 5th PIAA title after dominant defensive effort in 60-14 win over Dallas

MECHANICSBURG — For the second time in three years, Aliquippa captured the PIAA 4A Championship as the Quips used a strong defensive effort to defeat Dallas 60-14 Thursday night at Chapman Field.

After last season’s heartbreaking defeat to Bishop McDevitt, Aliquippa captured its first state title since the 2021 season and did it going undefeated going a perfect 14-0 for the first time in program history capturing its fifth PIAA title.

“It is definitely special going undefeated to the state championship,” Aliquippa head coach Mike Warfield said after Aliquippa’s state championship victory. “I said to the team after last week's game that we are going to get this championship. I am not superstitious and we are not going to worry about what happened last year possibly happening again. Sometimes you have to walk with your chest poked out and that is what we wanted to do tonight and that is what we did.”

Over the course of the Quips run to the PIAA State Championship Game, Aliquippa has been dominant on the offensive side of the ball having its way in most of the games throughout the season. Even though the offense was once again humming on a chilly Thursday evening, it was the defense that showed out and made the splash plays that would help set the offense up for success throughout the course of the game.

It was a rough night for the Mountaineers offense and special teams as the Quips were swarming all over the field making life difficult for Dallas quarterback Brady Zapoticky and the special teams unit.

QaLil Goode was a force defensively in the secondary for the Quips as the sophomore defensive back picked off Zapoticky three times in the first half of action.

Goode’s first interception came midway through the first quarter of play as he picked off Zapoticky on a third and long which Aliquippa then turned into points later on its offensive possession following the interception.

The sophomore would strike twice in the second quarter of play as on another third and long play for the Mountaineers, Goode jumped out over the middle and returned the ball deep into Dallas territory.

He would cap off his impressive first-half showing with an 87-yard pick-six as Goode picked off Zapoticky again with less than 90 seconds to go in the first half of action as he bobbed and weaved his way through the defense.

“I was over on top of the route, then I saw the ball and I undercut it and caught it,” Goode said. “After that I let my blockers get in front of me and I was gone from there.”

Overall for Aliquippa on defense, the Quips forced six turnovers on the evening as five of the six turnovers came off of an interception while one came off of a huge Mekhi Green hit on Nate Malarkey which jarred the ball loose late in the first half of play.

In years past, the Aliquippa defense was known for its defensive line, but tonight it showed the athleticism of its defensive backs who made the big plays throughout the contest.

“We did not have the bulk and the beef that we had on the defensive front last year but we did it a different way,” Warfield said. “We did it this year with more physicality and more speed. There were some people that had concerns with how we were going to perform without the big three up front but the kids showed up tonight.”

Besides the defensive effort, the offense was rolling as the Quips had 574 total yards throughout the game.

The Aliquippa offense started out fast and furious as it put up the first 16 points of the contest unanswered through the first six minutes of game action.

“We knew that we could not start slow against a disciplined Dallas team,” Aliquippa running back Tiqwai Hayes said postgame. “Their coach was telling them that we were going to run right because we weren’t going to run left so we had to come out fast and be more disciplined.”

With Penn State head coach James Franklin in attendance, Hayes, the Penn State commit put on a huge showing for the Nittany Lions head coach as he rushed for 222 yards reaching the end zone three times in the winning effort.

Aside from Hayes, the Quips rushing group contributed 406 yards on the ground. John Tracy averaged 16.9 yards per carry while rushing for 135 yards while Cameron Lindsey broke off a number of big gains of his own rushing for 58 yards and one touchdown.

The Quips end their season bringing yet another state championship back home to Aliquippa thanks to a complete team effort on both sides of the ball.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Aliquippa captures 5th PIAA title after dominant defensive effort in 60-14 win over Dallas