Previewing the WPIAL football semifinals featuring Beaver Valley teams
Three Beaver County high school football teams – Aliquippa, Beaver Falls and South Side – are still alive in the WPIAL playoffs.
They play semifinal games at 7 p.m. Friday with a trip to Acrisure Stadium, site of the WPIAL championship games, on the line.
Here’s a look at the three semifinals featuring teams from the Beaver County Times coverage area:
ALIQUIPPA vs. MARS
(at North Allegheny)
This game features an Aliquippa program that holds the record for most WPIAL championships (19) and a Mars program that has yet to win a WPIAL title.
That being said, before Eric Kasperowicz was hired as Mars coach in 2022, he led Pine-Richland to four WPIAL titles (2014, ‘17, ‘18, ‘20) and two state championships (2017, ‘20).
And since Mike Warfield was hired as Aliquippa’s coach in 2018, he’s led the Quips to three WPIAL championships (2018, ‘21, ‘22) and two state titles (2018, ‘21).
So, this game features two of the WPIAL’s best coaches.
Last week, the top-seeded Quips improved to 10-0 with a 37-29 win over ninth-seeded Latrobe. In that game, Aliquippa led 25-7 at halftime and had to hold off the Wildcats’ furious second-half comeback attempt. For only the second time all season, the Quips didn’t win by double digits.
As usual, Aliquippa running back Tikey Hayes led the way by rushing for 246 yards on 25 carries. When Latrobe got as close as 25-22 in the fourth quarter, Hayes responded with a 75-yard touchdown run.
Hayes, a junior, ranks ninth in the WPIAL with 1,438 yards. He also now has 5,176 career rushing yards, which makes him the third back in Quips’ history to reach 5,000. The others are Dravon Henry (5,454) and Chico Williams (5,417).
The fourth-seeded Fighting Planets (10-2), which won the Greater Allegheny Conference, advanced to the semifinals with a 24-14 win over Central Valley. In that game, Mars jumped out to a 17-0 lead and then held on for a 10-point victory.
Like Aliquippa, Mars also leans heavily on its running game. The Fighting Planets are led by senior RB Evan Wright who rushed for 131 yards and two TDs against Central Valley. Wright ranks third in the WPIAL with 1,799 yards and second in touchdowns scored with 33.
A player who could play a big part in the game is Mason Childress, who punts and kicks for Mars. Last week in the win over Central Valley, Childress gave the Fighting Planets a 3-0 lead by booming a 42-yard field goal. As a punter, he punted six times and on four of those punts, pinned Central Valley back at its 6, 9, 15 and 16-yard line.
The Aliquippa vs. Mars winner advances to the WPIAL 4A championship game against the winner of the McKeesport (10-1) vs. Montour (10-1) semifinal.
WASHINGTON vs. BEAVER FALLS
(at Dormont Stadium)
Of the 12 teams still alive in the chase for a WPIAL championship, 11 have at least nine wins. The lone exception is Beaver Falls (7-5), the lowest seed still alive. The 10th-seed Tigers hope to become this year’s Cinderella story in the WPIAL.
BF has already knocked off No. 7 Keystone Oaks, 20-7, in a game played at Dormont Stadium, and No. 2 Neshannock, in a 14-13 thriller.
In that win over its Class 2A Midwestern Conference rival on Neshannock’s home turf, special teams paved the way to victory.
Trailing 7-0 at halftime, Beaver Falls blocked a punt deep in Neshannock territory that led to the Tigers’ first touchdown, a 3-yard run by running back Da’talian Beauford. Then with just 1:57 left to play, BF linebacker Brixx Rawl blocked a punt that was scooped up by DB Michael Blackshear and returned three yards for a touchdown that cut Neshnanock’s lead to 13-12. Beauford, lining up in Wildcat formation, then ran for the game-winning two-point conversion.
Ironically, on Sept. 22, Beaver Falls lost at Neshannock, 27-26 in overtime, when its late two-point conversion failed.
In the win over Neshannock, Beauford led the Tigers with 139 rushing yards.
So now, the resilient Tigers get No. 3 Washington (11-1), which tied for first place in the Century Conference with McGuffey.
Last week when Washington beat No. 6 McGuffey, 18-7, running back Eddie Lewis didn’t play due to a hand injury. In his absence, RB Jahvon Woods scored on short TDs runs while quarterback Tristan Reed threw for 107 yards including a 20-yard TD pass.
The Little Prexies have been dominant this season with 10 double-digit wins. They’re especially tough defensively, ranking fourth in the WPIAL in fewest points allowed at 9.2 points per game.
The Washington vs. Beaver Falls winner advances to the WPIAL 2A championship game against the winner of the Steel Valley (9-1) vs. Mohawk (10-2) semifinal.
SOUTH SIDE vs. CLAIRTON
(at Peters Township)
As top-seeded South Side (12-0) continues its quest to win a second WPIAL title in school history, it faces a Clairton program that’s won 14. Only Aliquippa (19) has won more.
As has been the case all season, the Rams were not severely tested last week in 48-21 Class 1A quarterfinal win over No. 8 seed Greensburg Central Catholic. South Side led 42-7 at one point in the second half. The Rams, the Class 1A Big 7 champs, have racked up 12 straight wins of 26 points or more.
It’s been well documented that with its trademark Wing-T offense, South Side doesn’t throw often although QB Brody Almashy has thrown for 958 yards and 14 TDs. But the Rams do run the ball with authority with Almashy and running backs Ryan Navarra and A.C. Corfield each getting their share of carries and yards.
Navarra, a linebacker who earned Big 7 Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors last year, has rushed for 1,301 yards and scored 25 TDs. Navarra's 25 TDs rank fifth in the WPIAL.
Corfield has rushed for 1.073 and scored 13 times. Almashy has rushed for 620 and 18 TDs.
South Side, which advanced to the WPIAL semifinals last year, has gone 23-2 over the past two seasons.
This week against fourth-seed Clairton (10-2), South Side figures to get its toughest challenge of the season.
The Bears lost their first two games and were outscored 54-0 in those games. But they lost to Westinghouse (10-0), a Class 2A program that won the Pittsburgh City League championship, and to Washington (11-1), which plays Beaver Falls on Friday in the 2A semifinals.
Since then, Clairton has stacked up 10 straight wins enroute to winning the Eastern Conference and opening the playoffs with wins over Big 7 Conference teams, 44-7 over Laurel and 18-6 over Union, last year’s WPIAL 1A champ.
Clairton has talented athletes at the skill positions including QB Michael Wright, who’s thrown for 1,692 yards and 19 TDs with only three interceptions. RB Drahcir Jones has rushed for 1,489 yards -- that's eighth best in the WPIAL -- and scored 15 TDs, while WR Zaemere Correll has 32 receptions for 625 yards and eight TDs.
South Side last played in a WPIAL championship in 2018 when it lost to Steel Valley in the Class 2A final.
The Rams are trying to win the second WPIAL championship in school history. In 1999, the Rams finished 15-0 after winning WPIAL and state 1A titles.
The South Side vs. Clairton winner advances to the WPIAL 1A championship game against the winner of the Fort Cherry (12-0) vs. Bishop Canevin (10-1) semifinal.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Previewing the WPIAL football semifinals featuring Beaver Valley teams
