WPIAL Class 2A final by the numbers: Beaver Falls 14, Steel Valley 12

By: Bill Hartlep
Friday, November 24, 2023 | 5:21 PM

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Beaver Falls 14, Steel Valley 12

Beaver Falls 0-0-6-8 — 14

Steel Valley 6-0-0-6 — 12

Scoring summary

SV: Donald Barksdale 13 run (kick failed)

BF: Da’Sean Anderson 10 pass from Kadin Brickner (run failed)

SV: Rashaun Hough 78 fumble return (kick failed)

BF: Da’talian Beauford 4 run (Beauford run)

Team statistics

BF … SV

First downs 14 … 7

Rushes-yards 42-122 … 28-114

Passing yards 71 … 27

Passing Comp-Att-Int 8-14-0 … 2-10-1

Total offense plays-yards 56-193 … 38-141

Punts (number-avg.) 3-28.0 … 5-23.2

Fumbles-lost 2-1 … 0-0

Penalties-yards 2-15 … 8-50

Possession time 28:24 … 19:32

Individual statistics

Rushing: BF: Da’talian Beauford 29-105, Da’Sean Anderson 3-9, Gary Pugh 5-7, Brixx Rawl 2-2, Kadin Brickner 1-1; SV: Donald Barksdale 24-96, Tyson Barron 3-18, Del Shields 1-0

Passing: BF: Brickner 8-13-71-0INT-1TD, Anderson 0-1-0-0INT-0TD; SV: Barron 2-9-27-1INT-0TD

Receiving: BF: Anderson 5-51, Beauford 2-19, Di’Nari Harris 1-3; SV: Shields 2-27

Third time’s a charm

The past two seasons ended in disappointment for Beaver Falls as the Tigers watched Serra Catholic in 2021 and Steel Valley last season hoist the WPIAL Class 2A championship trophy.

On Friday, it was Beaver Falls posing for the celebratory team photo at midfield at Acrisure Stadium after a 14-12 win over Steel Valley.

It marked the Tigers’ sixth WPIAL championship, following titles in 1928, 1960, 1984, 2016 and 2020.

Beaver Falls has reached the WPIAL finals four straight seasons and five times in the past eight years.

A 10 again?

Last season, Union became the first double-digit seed to reach the WPIAL final since 2010 and then upset top-seeded Bishop Canevin to win the Class A crown.

It took just one year for that feat to be equaled.

Beaver Falls was the No. 10 seed in Class 2A and after upsetting No. 7 Keystone Oaks, No. 2 Neshannock and No. 3 Washington, took down No. 1 Steel Valley on Friday.

Stat of the game

Momentum took a turn at halftime of the Class 2A final.

Beaver Falls managed just 45 yards in the first half, but had 148 yards in the second half.

Steel Valley, on the other hand, accumulated 102 first-half yards, but had only 39 yards in the second half.

Right at home

Donald Barksdale showed his talent on the big stage yet again.

A year after scoring on a 56-yard TD run and a 53-yard interception return in helping Steel Valley to a 34-14 win in the WPIAL championship game at Acrisure Stadium, the junior running back opened the scoring Friday with a 13-yard TD run.

He finished with 96 rushing yards in the loss and capped off his junior season with 2,061 yards and 35 touchdowns.

Pregame Hokey Pokey

Former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Chris Hoke was the honorary captain for the WPIAL Class 2A championship and was on the field for the pregame coin toss.

Hoke compiled 112 tackles (69 solo) over 11 seasons for the Steelers and was part of the team that won Super Bowl XL.

Hoke now works as a Steelers postgame analyst on KDKA-TV.

Up next

Beaver Falls now advances to the PIAA semifinals Dec. 1 or 2 against City League champion Westinghouse (12-0).

Highlights

Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.

Tags: Beaver Falls, Steel Valley