After eventful offseason, new coach out to continue Aliquippa’s tradition of excellence

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, August 10, 2024 | 6:01 AM

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Editor’s note: Trib HSSN will publish team-by-team previews for one conference per day until the start of the high school football season Aug. 23.

Mike Warfield surprised many this summer when he stepped away as Aliquippa’s football coach, but his successor was preparing for that day for a while.

Warfield, in fact, urged him to.

“He always told me to stay ready,” said interim coach Vashawn Patrick, a 2000 Aliquippa graduate and 16-year assistant coach with the Quips. “We actually talked about it maybe a week or two beforehand. It just became that time. I’m overjoyed, just being able to coach my alma mater in the town that I love. It’s a blessing.”

Warfield in July took what he called a “leave of absence” from coaching after a six-year run with the Quips that included four WPIAL titles, four appearances in the PIAA finals and three state championships. In stepped the 43-year-old Patrick, who played defensive back at Kent State and now works in the high school.

Having played and coached at Aliquippa, Patrick understood the expectations as well as anyone. The Quips have reached the WPIAL finals 16 years in a row.

“You’re always going to feel pressure at a prestigious program like this,” he said. “Just talking to Coach Mike, he said, ‘Take it one day at a time.’”

Patrick takes over a team with six returning starters on offense and five on defense, but the program also added some talented transfers in recent months that will make an immediate impact.

It’s was an eventful year overall, with the school district going to court to prevent a move to 5A football under the PIAA competitive-balance rule. But all told, the Quips still enter this fall as likely preseason favorites in WPIAL 4A.

The four-year starter in the backfield is one reason why they’re favored.

All-state running back Tiqwai “Tikey” Hayes returns for his senior season after rushing for 2,129 yards and 23 touchdowns a year ago. The Penn State recruit ranks among the top 10 all-time WPIAL rushers with nearly 6,000 career yards.

“I’m just glad he’s on my team, so I don’t have to game plan against that kid,” Patrick said. “He’s everything you could ask for in a leader, on and off the field.”

Joining Hayes at running back is sophomore Sa’Nir Brooks, who has West Virginia among his early college offers, and junior Cleaster Longmire IV.

They’ll run behind an offensive line that includes junior Justus Starks (6-foot, 260 pounds) and sophomore Myles Green (6-0, 275).

Junior quarterback Marques Council Jr. gets his chance to run the offense after waiting his turn behind three-year starter Quentin Goode, who graduated.

His top receivers include returning starter Arison Walker, who had a team-high 24 catches as a junior. Also back are juniors Josh Lay Jr. and Qa’lil Goode.

Sophomore Larry Moon III, a transfer from Central Catholic, gives the Quips another talented pass-catcher, and he’ll also start at defensive back. Moon (5-11, 180) is a national college recruit with Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, Notre Dame and Southern Cal among his offers.

“We’ve got a slew of weapons,” Patrick said. “At Aliquippa, it’s hard to get everybody the ball. We aren’t going to please everybody. We’re just trying to win games.”

Many of the team’s offensive standouts also start on defense, including linemen Starks and Green and defensive backs Walker, Goode, Moon and Hayes.

The linebackers include Longmire, sophomore Shamar Underwood, junior Tekoah Gilbert and junior Daiveon Taylor, a transfer from Bishop Canevin. Taylor, a West Virginia recruit, can also play H-back and various spots along the defensive line.

“He’s one of those guys who can play anywhere, all over the field,” Patrick said. “We’re going to showcase his talents.”

Despite Warfield’s departure, the rest of the coaching staff stayed intact with Dan “Peep” Short as defensive coordinator and Darrien Fields running the offense.

Patrick said he wants to see the team play fast this fall, but he doesn’t have any big changes in store.

“Things are going to still be the same,” he said. “I’m just going to keep my head down, coach the kids and make them play hard.”’

Aliquippa

Coach: Vashawn Patrick

2023 record: 14-0, 7-0 in Class 4A Parkway

All-time record: 783-328-22

SCHEDULE

Date, Opponent, Time

8.30 Belle Vernon, 7

9.6 at Avonworth, 7

9.13 Mars, 7

9.20 at Penn Hills, 7

9.27 New Castle*, 7

10.4 West Allegheny*, 7

10.11 at Blackhawk*, 7

10.18 at Montour*, 7

10.25 Ambridge*, 7

* Conference game

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Passing: Quentin Goode*

109-185, 1,964 yards, 26 TDs

Rushing: Tiqwai Hayes

235-2,129 yards, 23 TDs

Receiving: Brandon Banks*

23-583 yards, 4 TDs

*Graduated

FAST FACTS

• There was uncertainty this summer about whether junior Daiveon Taylor would return to Bishop Canevin, where he was an all-conference player the past two years. Quips coach Vashawn Patrick said Taylor, who transferred to Aliquippa last spring, was expected to stay with the Quips.

“We talked,” Patrick said. “There was a little speculation. We kept in contact, and we figured it out.”

However, Taylor is ineligible for the playoffs under PIAA transfer rules.

• Juantez Hollis, a 2009 Aliquippa graduate, has joined the team as an assistant coach. Hollis played offensive line at Pitt.

• Tiqwai Hayes (RB) earned first-team all-Parkway honors last season. Earning honorable mention were Hayes (DB), Justus Starks (OT/DL), Arison Walker (DB) and Devon Humphries (DL).

• Mike Warfield went 74-6 in six years as coach.

• Larry Moon earned all-conference honorable mention in Class 6A at Central Catholic. He has college offers from Pitt, Penn State, West Virginia, Ole Miss, San Jose State, Colorado State, Alabama, Auburn, Oregon, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Minnesota, Kansas, Ohio, UConn, Michigan, LSU, North Carolina, Kentucky, Miami (Ohio), Southern Cal, Syracuse, Central Florida, Troy, UNLV, Nebraska, South Carolina, Miami (Fla.), Akron, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Maryland.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Aliquippa