PIAA Football Semifinals Recaps 2011

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, December 10, 2011 | 10:35 PM

Four WPIAL Champions entered the final four looking for two more wins in 2011 with dreams of chocolate and gold dancing in their heads. However three District 7 champs had so dreams come to a nightmarish end while the beat goes on for the team that continues to win at an historic pace. Here are recaps from the four Western Region Finals in the PIAA football playoffs.

Thanks to Randy Gore, Lee Mohn, Sam Hall and Don Rebel for their help on these recaps.

PIAA CLASS AAAA SEMIFINALS:

Central Dauphin Rams 23 – North Allegheny Tigers 20
A 21-yard field goal by Evan Brandes as time expired gave the Central Dauphin Rams a 23-20 victory over the North Allegheny Tigers on Saturday night in the PIAA Semifinals.  The game was held at Mansion Park in Altoona and the Tigers’ loss was the third of three at that site for WPIAL participants in the state semifinals.  Montour and Aliquippa fell in their PIAA semifinal games earlier in the weekend.  Central Dauphin caught the first break of the game midway through the first quarter when a botched punt attempt gave the Rams the football at the Tigers 17-yard line.  Just a few plays later, Zayd Issah scored on a three-yard run and Central Dauphin grabbed the early lead, 7-0.  The Tigers responded  and tied the game at 7-7 with a 10-play, 55-yard drive that culminated on a Mack Leftwich three-yard touchdown run at 11:57 of the second quarter.  With just 1:08 remaining in the half, Drew Scales took a draw handoff 53-yards for a touchdown to put Central Dauphin back ahead, 13-7.  The extra point by Brandes was wide left leaving CD with a six point lead at the half.  North Allegheny opened the second half with possession but a Leftwich fumble gave the Rams the football at the Tigers 28-yard line.  On the very next play, fullback Adam Hollinger trotted into the end zone to increase Central Dauphin’s lead to 20-7.  Once again, North Allegheny answered with a lengthy 11-play drive that was capped by a Leftwich four-yard touchdown run to bring NA to within 20-13 with 7:19 remaining in the third quarter.  Jason Buchert’s extra point attempt was blocked keeping the Tigers seven points down.  North Allegheny eventually tied the score at 20-20 with 5:14 to go in the football game when Leftwich hit James Kleinhampl for a five yard touchdown pass. After the teams exchanged possessions, Central Dauphin marched to the Tigers four-yard line with just five seconds remaining before kicking the game winning field goal.  North Allegheny’s Mack Leftwich was the leading ball carrier on the night with 158 yards on 28 carries.  Drew Scales was the leading rusher for the Rams, gaining 68 yards on eight carries.  Central Dauphin extends their winning streak to 13 in-a-row and advances to face North Penn next weekend in Hershey for the PIAA championship.  North Allegheny’s winning streak is snapped at 21 games as the Tigers season ends with a 14-1 mark.

PIAA CLASS AAA SEMIFINALS:

Bishop McDevitt Crusaders 41 – Montour Spartans 32
Montour’s magical season came to an end Friday night in Altoona.  District 3 champion Bishop McDevitt used a strong 2nd half and defeated Montour 41-32 to move on to the state championship next Friday.  Montour started well taking the opening kickoff and marching 64 yards down the field for the opening TD.  They caught a huge break when Julian Durden fumbled the ball around the 25 yard line but fumbled it forward 10 yards where it was picked up by Aaron Reed who then went into the end zone.  The extra point was blocked and Montour led 6-0.    Bishop McDevitt would drive right down the field on their first possession but fumbled the ball away at the Montour 9 yard line.  Montour could not take advantage.  The Crusaders scored on there next possession on a 3 yard TD pass to Brian Lemelle to make the score 7-6.  Montour would answer back just one minute later when Dillon Buechel hit Darren Massey on a 47 yard TD pass to make the score 12-7 at the end of the first quarter.  Bishop McDevitt would answer 2 minutes later when Alec Werner connected with Brian Lemelle again this time from 37 yards out and the Crusaders went back in front 14-12.  Julian Durden would score the next 2 TD’s from 25 and 15 yards out and Montour jumped ahead 26-14 with 2:19 left in the half.  The Crusaders made the drive of the night going 68 yards in 1:35 seconds when Andre Robinson capped off the drive with a 5 yard run and Montour led 26-20 at the half but Bishop McDevitt had the momentum.  They started off the 2nd half going right down the field going 71 yards in 2 minutes and Andre Robinson caught a 10 yard pass and Bishop McDevitt led 27-26 and never looked back.  they would score 2 more TDs in the 3rd quarter and led 41-26 at the end of 3 quarters.  Buechel would hit Devin Wilson with just under 11 minutes left to cut the score to 41-32 but that is all the closer Montour could get.  For Bishop McDevitt QB Alec Werner was 17-27 for 223 yards and  3 TD’s.  Montour’s Dillon Buechel was 21-33 for 310 yards.  Buechel closed his career as the second leading passer in WPIAL history ending with just under 7,000 yards.  Montour closes out there season at 12-3 while Bishop McDevitt will play Arch Bishop Wood for the AAA championship.

PIAA CLASS AA SEMIFINALS:

Tyrone Golden Eagles 20 – Aliquippa Quips 19
The Aliquippa Quips suffered their first loss of the 2011 season in the state semi-finals falling to District 5/6 Champion Tyrone 20-19 at Mansion Park in Altoona Saturday afternoon. The Quips came up short in a very well played dsefensive battle on a cold sunshined filled Saturday in Altoona. Tyrone got on the board first with a pick six by junior Charles Wilson-Adams, Adams picked off a Mikal Hall pass on an intended bubble-screen and raced untouched 20 yards for the opening score of the contest and after the extra point the Golden Eagles led 7-0. Dravon Henry thoguh would answer for the Quips picking off a Steve Franco pass and returnin it to the Tyrone two-yard line midway through the 2nd quarter and then taking it in on the Quips first play from scrimmage there and with 8:52 to play in the half we were tied at seven each. It would stay that way until the opening drive of the third quarter when Mikal Hall dialed long distance and junior Hassahn Thompson would haul in a 54 yard bomb and Aliquippa had their first lead of the game with 11:00 to play in the third quarter 13-7, the extra point attempt was blocked, and that would loom large. Four minutes and six seconds later the Golden Eagles would answer as quarterback Steve Franco scored on a one yard quarterback keeper and the game was tied at 13 each , it remained that way as Tyrone missed the extra point. Tyrone took the lead with a trick play of sorts going to the halfback option pass on thrid and goal from the eight yard line as James Dorminy took the toss from quarterback Steve Franco and then threw back to Franco on the run for a touchdown, Dorminy’s extra point was good and the Quips found themselves on the wrong end of a 20-13 score. Aliquippa would answer though and facing a fourth and 1 from their own 40 yard line the Quips elected to go for it and Dravon Hall broke loose for a 60 yard touchdown run and with 5:17 to play in regulation the Quips were within one at 20-19. Rather than kick a game tying extra point, Miuke Zmijianic and company elected to go for the two point conversion and the lead. Terry Swanson came up short according to the officials despite arguments to the contrary from Swanson, his teammates and coaches. Aliquippa though had their chances late in the football game, they could not convert a fourth down from the Tyrone 31 following a Malik Shegog interception and saw their final chance come to a close when with just over a minute to play Jyier Turner fumbled a punt return and the Golden Eagles recovered and the Hershey kisses were flying from the home side of the stands at Mansion Park. The Quips season comes to a close at 14-1, while Tyrone improves to 14-1 and heads to Hershey next week in search of their second PIAA championship to go along with their 1999 trophy.

PIAA CLASS A SEMIFINALS:

Clairton Bears 30 – Sharpsville Blue Devils 8
Move over Braddock. The Clairton Bears have joined you atop the most consecutive wins list in district history. Clairton wrapped up its 46th consecutive victory Friday night with a 30-8 victory over the District 10 champion Sharpsville Blue Devils at Slippery Rock University. Junior running back Tyler Boyd had another big game with 178 yards rushing and three touchdowns, two on runs of 1 and 4 yards and one on a 70-yard pass from Capri Thompson. That score in the second quarter broke an 8-8 tie and put the Bears up 16-8 after a Boyd run on the two-point conversion at the half. Boyd’s third score made it 24-8 Clairton in the third quarter with the game final score coming in the fourth on a Terrish Webb 30-yard interception return for a score, one of three turnover on the game for the Blue Devils, whose season ended with a 13-2 mark. With the win, Clairton not only ties the all-time winning streak record, but they also become the first team from the west to make four consecutive trips to the PIAA title game. The Bears will try to set the streak record on Friday afternoon at Hersheypark Stadium when they battle Southern Columbia. They also will be shooting for their third consecutive PIAA state crown, which also would be a first from the district.