Montour wants to disrupt Aliquippa’s 5-year dominance in Parkway Conference

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, October 18, 2024 | 7:00 AM

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The Parkway has a reputation as one of the WPIAL’s tougher conferences, but Aliquippa seems to have tamed it.

Since joining Class 4A in 2020, the Quips have won 27 consecutive conference games and four straight Parkway titles. They’ll try for their fifth in a row Friday when No. 1 Aliquippa (5-1, 3-0) visits No. 2 Montour (7-0, 3-0) at 7 p.m.

A few state championships top the Quips’ recent achievements, but they still celebrate conference titles, too.

“It’s something special,” first-year coach Vashawn Patrick said. “We always want to make sure we finish the regular season with a conference championship.”

Belle Vernon is the only other WPIAL team to have won a conference title in each of the past four seasons. On a per game average, the Quips have outscored conference opponents 44-12 over the past five seasons.

“To have that consistency, it’s definitely the players and the hard work they put in,” said Patrick, a former Aliquippa assistant. “It’s also the coaching staff and it goes all the way up to the administration.”

To win its first conference title since 2012, Montour must disrupt Aliquippa’s dominance.

It was a 42-18 loss to Aliquippa that kept the Spartans from winning a conference title last season. The teams met twice in 2022, with the Quips winning 33-0 and 41-7. Aliquippa has won seven games in a row over Montour

But this year’s Montour team has the WPIAL’s leading passer, a stout defense and some well-earned momentum.

“Hey, we’re playing Aliquippa. We know what’s in front of us,” Montour coach Lou Cerro said. “They’re one of the best teams in the state consistently. We’ve got to make sure we’re prepared for the first snap. … But we’re playing with some confidence. We’ve beaten some good teams this year.”

The teams met in the Parkway opener the past two years. But the anticipation has grown for this late-season matchup between teams with unbeaten conference records.

“It’s definitely different in Week 8,” Patrick said. “We’re used to getting them earlier on when they’re not up and running. They’ve started to put things together.”

Montour stayed undefeated last week with a 49-8 win over Blackhawk.

Spartans quarterback Trey Hopper passed for 296 yards and four touchdowns. Daniel Batch caught two of his touchdowns and Marcus Battles also scored twice in the win.

A 6-foot-4, 170-pound senior, Hopper leads all WPIAL passers with 1,844 yards. The first-year starter has grown into the job over the season, Cerro said, so facing Aliquippa in a late-season matchup was maybe a benefit.

Hopper has thrown for 20 touchdowns.

“Trey has been getting better each and every week,” Cerro said. “So, I think this year it helps us playing them a little later in the year.”

Aliquippa is coming off a 19-7 conference win over West Allegheny.

Senior running back Tikey Hayes, a Penn State recruit, rushed for 188 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries in the win. Sophomore running back Sa’Nir Brooks added 94 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.

The Quips also have a first-year starter at quarterback in junior Marques Council Jr. They leaned on their running game early in the season, but Council has become a bigger part of the offense later in the year.

“They let Marques develop,” Patrick said of his running backs. “Now we’ve got play-action in play, and Marques is out there being a leader. He’s able to call anything when he’s at the line of scrimmage.”

Friday’s winner clinches at least a share of the conference title. Montour completes its regular season against West Allegheny. Aliquippa faces Ambridge in Week 9.

“We’ve got a veteran team. They know what’s at stake this week,” Cerro said. “And I know Aliquippa knows what’s at stake.”

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, Montour