Beaver Falls comes up short in bid for state title game appearance
NORTH FAYETTE TWP. — After winning its last three playoff games by a total of five points – including a WPIAL Championship in the final minute – the Beaver Falls High School football team had learned to never give up.
Even as the Tigers trailed Westinghouse by a touchdown three and a half minutes into the fourth quarter of the PIAA Class 2A state semifinal at West Allegheny’s Joe DeMichela Stadium, a trip to the championship seemed well in sight.
This game, though, it was the Westinghouse Bulldogs that provided the late fireworks and prevailed 28-8.
“I thought we were going to punch one in and win,” said a dejected Beaver Falls coach Nick Nardone. “I thought we were going to win and I feel terrible for the team. The kids played well.”
The Tigers showed their resilience and never-say-die attitude early. The undefeated Bulldogs scored on their first possession, traversing 66 yards in just four plays and taking just 1:22 off the clock.
Beaver Falls, though, responded with a four-play scoring drive of its own, covering 63 yards with Michael Blackshear scoring on a 42-yard pass from Kadin Brickner. Da’Talian Beauford scored on the two-point conversion to knot the score at 8-8.
Although Beaver Falls continued to move the ball effectively all game, it would be its last score. The next three Tigers drives all ended within the Westinghouse 20-yard line as Beaver Falls built a lead in yards, but not in points.
When Westinghouse quarterback Khalil Green scored on a 28-yard run on third-down-and-one with 2:51 left before halftime, the Bulldogs had a lead they would never surrender, taking a 15-8 lead into halftime.
On the opening drive of the second half, Westinghouse fumbled, Beaver Falls recovered and drove to the Bulldogs’ 5-yard line but were stopped on fourth down.
The closest Beaver Falls got after that was the Westinghouse 37-yard line while the Bulldogs engineered a 16-play, 92-yard drive, scoring when Green threw an 18-yard pass to K’shawn Hawkins that was tipped by a Beaver Falls defensive back before Hawkins caught the rebound.
Two plays later, Josiah Collins returned a Beaver Falls fumble for a 23-yard score and the WPIAL Champions’ fate was sealed.
“We couldn’t finish drives,” said Nardone. “Westinghouse made plays and I tip my hat to them but, right now, I feel like this was a game we lost.
“This group of seniors was a special group and I feel blessed for the chance to coach them.”
That group of 15 seniors went to four straight WPIAL Championships and won two of them. In this game, Beauford was the game’s leading rusher, Kadin Brickner passed for 152 yards and Da’Sean Anderson was the Tigers’ leading receiver with three catches for 60 yards.
Winning the WPIAL gold medal just a week earlier was now just a memory for the seniors and their teammates. Eventually, it will be a better memory.
“It’s going to be a while to get over this one,” said Nardone.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Beaver Falls comes up short against Westinghouse, 28-8, in PIAA semis
