Aliquippa football again contesting being placed in Class 4A by PIAA

By: Don Rebel
Friday, February 13, 2026 | 6:28 PM

The ongoing debate between the PIAA and the Aliquippa football program will write another chapter next week during the monthly state board of control meeting.

On the docket, Aliquippa plans to appeal the PIAA decision to keep the Quips in Class 4A for the next two-year football cycle.

Part of Aliquippa’s argument for being dropped to Class 3A is that while the Quips had enough transfers to trigger an involuntary promotion via the PIAA’s competitive balance formula, those players had little to do with the three competitive balance success points earned by the team over the last two years.

The formula is designed to promote competitive fairness by bumping up schools that have a certain level of postseason success in the district and state playoffs and a certain number of student-athletes that transfer into the program during the two-year cycle.

Aliquippa had eight transfers; however, only two were eligible for the playoffs in 2024.

The Quips lost to Thomas Jefferson in the 2024 WPIAL semifinals and did not gain any success points.

Of those eight transfers, five were gone before the 2025 season began.

Aliquippa upset McKeesport in the 2025 Class 4A championship game, giving the Quips three success points.

That alone is not enough to move the Quips up, but the state has them remaining in Class 4A while the district is appealing to be moved down to Class 3A, where they were from the expansion to six classifications in 2016 through 2019.

“They are counting kids that didn’t help in our success points,” Aliquippa coach Mike Warfield said.

Safety continues to be a driving force in Aliquippa officials asking to move down in class.

After winning the WPIAL Class 4A championship, the Quips ended the season with a loss to Twin Valley in the PIAA semifinals with a roster of 28 players.

Most Class 4A schools have roster twice as big and enrollment sometimes three times the size of Aliquippa’s.

The PIAA appeal is scheduled for Wednesday.

Among other district football teams with notable competitive balance success points, Avonworth will stay in Class 3A and Belle Vernon will drop from Class 4A back to 3A where it won back-to-back WPIAL and PIAA football titles in 2022 and 2023.

Three football programs are being moved up in class across the state.

Roman Catholic from District 12 and Bishop McDevitt from District 3 are both moving up from Class 5A to 6A while Southern Lehigh from District 11 is going up from Class 4A to 5A.

In boys soccer, Charleroi will stay in Class 2A and Bentworth will remain in Class A, while in girls soccer, Springdale remains in Class A.

Tags: Aliquippa