The Drive Leads Aliquippa Past Jeannette for AA Crown

By: Bruce Markey
Saturday, November 26, 2011 | 10:42 PM

Third time is the charm for Aliquippa’s Mikal Hall as a last-minute drive gives the Quips a 14-7 victory over Jeannette in the Class AA championship game.

Aliquippa adds a 14th WPIAL title to its all-time best trophy case in its 100th season.

There were a lot of significant, milestone, some would even say lucky numbers for Aliquippa (13-0) on Saturday evening at Heinz Field in a 14-7 defeat of Jeannette (12-1). It was the 14th WPIAL title in school history, still the most ever. It came in the Quips’ centennial season, one which saw them go undefeated for a 12th time during the regular campaign. It was the third straight year Aliquippa quarterback Mikal Hall started the big game on the North Shore, and it turned out to be the charm. Some might play 0-0-2-9 in the lottery since that is how much time was left on the clock in the second and fourth quarters when the Quips scored their touchdowns.

But in the end, the numbers which may be most talked about in the years to come are 10 and 96. That would be the number of plays and yards covered on the winning drive with Aliquppa trailing 7-6, staring at 3:01 left on the clock with no timeouts.

Make no mistake, though. this was a defensive struggle from the word go with the top-seeded Quips having allowed a mere eight points per game coming in while the Jayhawks were giving up just 12.5. The first quarter was scoreless with each team achieving just one first down. The defensive struggle continued into the second quarter until Jeannette got the ball moving on a 15-play, 63-yard drive starting at its own 15. The Jayhawks got as deep as the Aliquippa 10, but a 15-yard personal foul would force them to settle for a 39-yard field goal attempt by Seth Miller which fell short.

The Quips then turned around and put together a seven-play, 80-yard drive with 2:19 left in the half, but it only took them 1:50 for Hall to find Devon Walker on a 17-yard strike. A bad snap on the extra point attempt would lead to a failed conversion pass, leaving the score 6-0 at halftime.

The third quarter belonged to Jeannette as quarterback Demetrious Cox finally got his offense going. After the Jayhawks forced the Quips to punt on the opening possession, Cox marched his team from its own 33 to the opposing 47 before lining up to punt. A roughing the kicker penalty would give Jeannette a second life, though, and Cox would ultimately get it down to the one on a 19-yard romp before finishing things off with a dive into the end zone. Miller would tack on the point after for a 7-6 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Jeannette seemed headed for a bigger lead late in the game, but a nine-play, 50-yard drive would stall out on the Aliquippa four with the aforementioned 3:01 remaining. The Jayhawks opted to go for six on fourth down rather than kick the field goal, but the three points would not have guaranteed anything. Either way, it fell on Hall’s shoulders to engineer a miraculous drive, and that’s just what he did. Jeannette was in prevent mode, giving the Quips’ receivers enough cushion to get about 10 yards a clip, and they took it, getting out of bounds when they could and utilizing a no-huddle offense to manage the clock. It all ended with an 11-yard hookup between Hall and Walker, their second of the night, and the two-point pass made it 14-7. Cox would throw an interception to Dravon Henry on the next play from scrimmage, and Hall would take a knee to end the contest.

 Aliquippa’s defense had a singular task in this game, albeit a mighty one — contain Cox. They did so well enough, holding him to 83 yards on 19 carries and 105 yards on 5-of-13 passing. Meanwhile, the Quips were able to show their two-dimensional attack well enough to win with Hall accumulating 152 yards while going 12-of-19 through the air. On the ground, it was Dravon Henry shouldering a load of 22 carries with 92 yards to show for it.

 Aliquippa now holds an all-time record of 14-8 in WPIAL championship games while head coach Mike Zmijanac boasts a personal mark of 4-3. The Quips will next take on District 9 champion Moniteau in the 2011 PIAA Quarterfinals.

Jeannette Jayhawks : 0 – 0 – 7 – 0 = 7
Aliquippa Quips : 0 – 6 – 0 – 8 = 14

1st Qtr:  No Scoring

2nd Qtr:  A: Devon Walker 17-yard pass from Mikal Hall (PAT failed) A: 6-0

3rd Qtr:  J: Demetrious Cox 1-yard run (PAT Seth Miller) J: 7-6

4th Qtr:  A: Devon Walker 11-yard pass from Mikal Hall (2 pnt pass good) A; 14-7 

Tags: Aliquippa, Jeannette