Aliquippa brings ‘massive’ line into Class 4A final against Thomas Jefferson

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, November 14, 2020 | 3:30 AM

When Thomas Jefferson’s Bill Cherpak talks about Aliquippa’s linemen, he doesn’t compare them with any group he coached to a WPIAL title.

His guys were never that big.

Instead, Cherpak points to a different football team that wears black and gold.

“Their line is as big as the Steelers. I’m not even lying,” he said. “It’s crazy big. I’m not saying they’re those types of players, but they’re just so big that you have to kind of change what you do. You can’t expect a defensive lineman that weighs 240 going against a kid that’s 365 to control him and throw him.”

Aliquippa is a small school, but its linemen this year are anything but small. The group averages 303 pounds. That’s only 15 pounds lighter than the Steelers’ front five.

The Quips tackles are junior Tyrese Jones (6-foot-6, 350 pounds) and sophomore Naquan Crowder (6-2, 340). The guards are sophomores Jason McBride (6-1, 325) and Neco Eberhardt (5-11, 290). Senior Daniel Elmore (5-10, 210) is the center.

“I don’t mean their line is big. Their line is massive,” said Cherpak, a former Pitt lineman. “Their guards are over 300 pounds. It’s crazy, and they do a lot of good things with them.”

McBride, Eberhardt and Crowder also start on defense.

No. 2 seed Thomas Jefferson (7-1) will get a close look at No. 1 Aliquippa (9-0) in the WPIAL Class 4A championship at 1 p.m. Saturday at North Allegheny.

In terms of enrollment, Aliquippa is one of the WPIAL’s smallest, a Class A school playing in a higher classification. But the five guys up front allow the Quips to compete with almost anyone.

Aliquippa coach Mike Warfield isn’t so quick to say his linemen are a mismatch for Thomas Jefferson. He coached in the WPIAL finals against the Jaguars as a Central Valley assistant in 2015.

This year’s TJ team starts seniors Jacob Krawcyzk (6-4, 255), Nicholas Trainor (6-0, 200) and Alby Breisinger (6-2, 250) along with junior Nicholas Bryan (6-3, 250) and sophomore Owen Myer (6-0, 250).

“Up front, when they’re running the ball, you can hear them coming,” Warfield said. “They’re coming off the ball, they’ll definitely play four quarters, and that’s a reflection of their coach. We have to match that.”

Junior running back Conner Murga leads TJ with 529 rushing yards and senior DeRon VanBibber has 497. Combined they have 15 touchdowns. Senior quarterback Jake Pugh is a 1,300-yard passer with 19 TDs.

Running back Vernon Redd and quarterback Vaughn Morris lead Aliquippa’s offense. Redd is a 1,200-yard rusher and Morris is nearing 1,200 passing.

Along with big linemen, the two schools also have big trophy cases.

Thomas Jefferson owns nine WPIAL titles and now has reached the finals six years in a row. Cherpak is tied with Mt. Lebanon coach Bob Palko for the most WPIAL titles with eight apiece.

Rarely do the Jaguars run into a program that can match its championship tradition, but Aliquippa certainly can.

The Quips own a record 17 WPIAL titles. They’ve now reached the finals 13 years in a row, a streak that started when this year’s seniors were still a year away from kindergarten.

They defeated last year’s 4A runner-up Belle Vernon, 33-25, in the semifinals Friday.

“To be honest, we don’t talk about those streaks,” Warfield said. “It’s a situation where we’re just trying to get better every day.”

Aliquippa played in Class 3A the past four seasons but the PIAA competitive-balance rule forced the team to 4A this year. The PIAA lists Thomas Jefferson with 347 boys in grades 9-11 in the latest enrollment numbers, the years used to determine a team’s classification. Aliquippa has 117.

At some point, it seemed like the size discrepancy might catch up to the Quips, but so far it hasn’t.

“Their line is bigger than any line in high school football probably across the country,” Cherpak said. “Their skill players can match up with anybody.”

Besides overall roster depth, line play might be the biggest difference between small-school and big-school football, Warfield said.

“You have the numbers where you can compete at practice,” Warfield said. “We’re not NFL players. They can turn the switch on and turn it off. They’re that good. You practice how you play on the high school level.”

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, Thomas Jefferson