PIAA Football Quarterfinals Recaps 2011

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, December 3, 2011 | 9:30 AM

So far so good for the District 7 champions in the PIAA Football Playoffs as all four teams swept their way through to the Final Four. Montour in AAA had to come way back from a big early deficit but survived to move on Friday, while North Allegheny in AAAA, Aliquippa in AA and Clairton in A enjoyed easy wins on Saturday and Friday as they head to the State Semifinals. Here are the four recaps from the four WPIAL teams on the Road to Hershey.

Thanks to Randy Gore, Don Rebel, Mark Schaas and Josh Rowntree for their help on these recaps.

PIAA CLASS AAAA QUARTERFINALS:

North Allegheny Tigers 40 – State College Little Lions 14
The North Allegheny Tigers moved another step closer toward another state championship on Saturday afternoon with a 40-14 win over the State College Little Lions in the PIAA quarterfinals.  Mack Leftwich led the way for the Tigers as he trotted into the end zone with five rushing touchdowns and threw for another.  Leftwich accounted for 136 yards rushing and 166 yards passing in the victory.  Tailback Vinnie Congedo was another prominent weapon for the Tigers, rushing for 109 yards on 16 carries.  James Kleinhampl topped the century mark receiving with six catches for 118 yards.  In all, the Tigers offense churned out 509 yards of total offense to run away with the victory.  State College quarterback Josh Weakland did his best to keep his team in the game, throwing for 156 yards and a touchdown.  Ultimately, it was not enough to keep North Allegheny from winning their 21st consecutive game.  If the Tigers want to extend their winning streak in the PIAA semifinals, they may have to do it without top lineman Patrick Kugler who left Saturday’s game with an apparent leg injury.  North Allegheny improves to 14-0 while State College’s season ends with a mark of 8-5.
PIAA CLASS AAA QUARTERFINALS:

Montour Spartans 25 – Grove City Eagles 21
Montour’s Dillon Buechel has defeated many teams with his throwing arm. Friday night, he beat Grove City with his legs. Buechel, one of the top passers in WPIAL history, scored on a 4-yard run with 1:58 left in the game to give Montour a 25-21 victory against Grove City in a PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal game at North Allegheny. The touchdown capped an outstanding performance by Buechel, who led the charge as the WPIAL champion Spartans (12-2) came back from a 21-0 second-quarter deficit against the District 10 champion Eagles (11-1). It was the first touchdown of the season for Buechel. He finished 20 of 32 for 224 yards and threw for three touchdowns. He moved into third place on the WPIAL all-time passing list with 6,626 yards. Buechel’s touchdown passes were 57 yards to Darren Massey, 4 yards to Aaron Reed on the final play of the first half, and 7 yards to Devin Wilson in the third quarter that brought Montour within 21-19. After giving up 223 yards offense in the first half, Montour limited Grove City to 71 yards in the second half. Grove City’s Wesley Phipps finished with 167 yards rushing, but only 56 in the second half.

PIAA CLASS AA QUARTERFINALS:

Aliquippa Quips 32 – Moniteau Warriors 7
The Aliquippa Quips rushed for almost 300 yards and forced five interceptions to advance in the PIAA Class AA Quarterfinal matchup at Clarion’s Memorial Stadium. Dravon Henry carried 13 times for 106 yards and ran for three scores for the Quips, who pounded out 168 yards rushing in the second half to roll to the win. Henry staked Aliquippa to a 6-0 lead on the opening drive with a 3 yard touchdown on a fourth and goal play. Terry Swanson added a 3 yard run, set up by an Aliquippa pick of Kyle Armagost, the Quips led 12-0 after one. Henry scored his second touchdown 31 seconds into the second quarter on a 49 yard run, Moniteau answered with an Armagost bomb to Ethan Pry of 59 yards, for Armagost’s 26th passing touchdown of the season. The Quips controlled the second half on the ground and picked off two more passes, Henry scored on a 30 yard run in the third and Desmond Hardy added a 5 yard run early in the fourth. Aliquippa moves to 14-0, they will meet District 6 champion Tyrone for the right to go to Hershey next weekend. Mikal Hall was 5 of 7 for just 75 yards, Swanson added 17 carries for 97 yards, the Quips finished with 298 yards rushing and 363 yards of total offense. Moniteau ends their best season ever, the District 9 champions finish 12-1. Armagost was just 4 of 20 for 146 yards with the 5 picks. Dustin Geagan, who had over 15 hundred yards rushing coming in, was held to just 9 yards on 7 carries. Armagost was the leading rusher with 9 carries for 49 yards.

PIAA CLASS A QUARTERFINALS:

Clairton Bears 44 – North Star Cougars 0
The Clairton Bears (14-0) used short drives to make short work of the North Star Cougars (10-2) Friday night at Yough High School, winning 44-0 and posting their ninth shutout of the season in the process. Clairton would look human at times, allowing 229 yards of offense to the Cougars, including 159 on the ground, well above their season average. The Bears would be tested on the opening drive, as North Star would drive down the field but stall and punt the ball away. On Clairton’s first offensive play from scrimmage in the game, Tyler Boyd went 87 yards to the endzone, and the route was on at the 8:05 mark of the first quarter, 8-0. Capri Thompson would hook up with Trenton Coles on the first play of their second drive only 1:58 later, extending the Clairton lead to 14-0. Clairton had run two plays and had 14 points. They weren’t done. Tyler Boyd, who rushed for 175 yards on only seven carries and scored twice, scampered in from 32 yards out for his second score of the night at the 7:05 mark of the second quarter, capping a seven-play, 80-yard drive, pushing the lead to 22-0 after the conversion. Just over three minutes later, Capri Thompson would find Terrish Webb on the first play of the drive (yet again) for a 70-yard touchdown, making the score 30-0 Clairton at the 3:57 mark of the second Quarter. Only 2:06 later, the Bears would push the game into the mercy rule, as Capri Thompson would capitalize on a 46-yard INT return by Reuben Kelley, rushing in from seven yards out, making it 37-0 at halftime. Clairton would add one more score, as Tyus Booker would run in a draw from 17 yards out on Clairton’s first drive of the second half, making it 44-0 Clairton at the 6:54 mark of the third quarter. That score would hold up the rest of the way, as many of Clairton’s starters would come out of the game. The Bears racked up 366 yards of total offense, including 230 on the ground. Thompson completed 3/4 passes for 136 yards and a pair of scores and ran for another. North Star got an inspired from 5000+ yard career passer Max Strasiser, who was 5/18 for 70 yards and threw two interceptions, but ran hard for 45 yards on 22 carries, including nine sacks. Last season, in a 52-0 loss to Clairton, Strasiser ran for -48 yards. Despite playing hard and moving the football well at times, North Star just was not able to complete drives. They finish their season as District 5 Champions for the fourth times in five years and with a (10-2) overall record. Clairton, now (14-0), becomes the first school in Pennsylvania history to score 600+ points in three consecutive seasons and will move on to play the Sharpsville Blue Devils in the PIAA Class A Semifinals next week with a chance to go to Hershey on the line.
 

Tags: Aliquippa, Clairton