Aliquippa rally falls short in PIAA semifinal loss to Twin Valley

By: Mike Drago
Friday, November 28, 2025 | 11:55 PM

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LEWISTOWN — Marques Council thought he saw an opening, and he went for it.

The Aliquippa quarterback, trying to complete a comeback from a 24-point halftime deficit, fired a pass into the end zone in the final minute Friday in a PIAA Class 4A semifinal, but the ball was knocked down, ending the Quips’ season.

“My first look wasn’t there,” the quarterback said. “I felt their pressure caving in, I saw a little bit of daylight, a window I thought I could fit the ball through. It just didn’t happen.”

Twin Valley held on to turn back Aliquippa, 28-24, on Friday and clinch a spot in next week’s PIAA Class 4A championship game.

Council’s last-gasp, fourth-down pass with 27 seconds remaining was knocked down in the end zone by Keenan Munn, setting up a title-game matchup against Southern Lehigh, which turned back Cardinal O’Hara in the other state semifinal 28-24.

Aliquippa (10-4) took over at its 30 with six minutes left and needing a touchdown to extend its season. Council, throwing in sub-freezing temperatures and into the teeth a 13 mph wind, passed his team down to the 11 with two minutes left. He completed 5 of 7 passes on the final drive, but the Raiders (14-0) came up with just enough defensive plays to turn the Quips back.

Twin Valley sacked Council three times on the 14-play drive, the last by Lucas Myers, who blitzed from his linebacker spot constantly on that final drive. That sack pushed the Quips back to the 25. Two plays later, on fourth-and-24, Council avoided another sack, stepped up in the pocket, and fired into a crowd in the end zone.

“We thought the high safety would move,” Aliquippa coach Mike Warfield said of the final play, “but he stayed. They played well. That’s a good team. They’re very well-coached. They were ready to play from the beginning. When you have two good football teams (at this level), it’s a game of runs. I was just trying to make sure we put some band-aids on their runs.”

Twin Valley took over with 27 seconds left, then went into victory formation for the 14th time this season.

“That kid was on fire,” Twin Valley coach Brett Myers said of Council, who who completed 12 of 14 passes for 198 yards in the second half. “I was thinking we better get some pressure on him, make him uncomfortable.

“You’re either feeling pressure or applying it, and that last couple plays we were applying it.”

Twin Valley was in complete control in the first half, taking advantage of Aliquippa mistakes to take a 28-6 lead into halftime.

The Raiders scored on their first drive, getting a 37-yard TD run from Lucas Myers.

Aliquippa answered with a TD on its first possession, but the PAT was blocked.

Drew Engle returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards to the 4, and three plays later quarterback Maverik Foster scored on a 1-yard run for a 14-6 lead.

Ryan Rementer’s interception and 30-yard return to the 1 set up Lucas Myers’ short dive out of the wildcat formation, and the Raiders led 21-6.

Munn picked off a Council pass and returned it to the Aliquippa 9. Myers ran for a 2-yard TD on fourth down on the final play of the half to make it 28-6.

“The kids played well,” Warfield said. “We just put the defense in tough positions early on. They had three short fields. That put us behind.”

Aliquippa stormed back, scoring three third-quarter touchdowns, Council throwing a 48-yard TD pass QaLil Goode and a 19-yard bullet to Antonio Reddic in the back of the end zone.

Akiva Woods’ 39-yard TD run cut Twin Valley’s lead to 28-24 in the final minute of the third quarter.

Aliquippa’s defense completely shut down the high-scoring Raiders in the second half, holding them without a first down and to just 8 total yards. That allowed the Quips to make their wild comeback.

“They didn’t score the second half,” Warfield said, “so the kids maintained. It shows you the resilience they’ve had all year just to keep fighting.”

“Give them a lot of credit,” Brett Myers said of Aliquippa. “They were slinging it around at the end. Our defensive players made a stand. Coach (Scott) Ryan called some great stuff and some guys were able to get some pressure and make their quarterback uncomfortable.”

Aliquippa turned the ball over twice and fumbled three times, recovering each. The Raiders played error-free football for the ninth time this season and have committed a Berks-low six turnovers in 13 games

The appearance in a PIAA championship game will be the first for Twin Valley, but the fourth for Myers, who guided his Middletown teams to three straight, from 2016-18.

Twin Valley earned is first District 3 title last week with 41-21 win over Susquehanna Township, holding the No. 1 seed scoreless in the second half after trailing 21-20 at halftime.

Aliquippa became just the fourth football team in Pennsylvania to win 800 games when it beat McKeesport for the WPIAL championship. The Quips, who played their first game in 1910, are at 801 victories. Mount Carmel is first with 912. The others are Easton (902) and Berwick (856).

The Quips were 5-3 in mid-October after losing to Montour, 34-20, but had won five straight since, including a 14-0 district playoff win over New Castle, which had beaten them 18-12 in September

Aliquippa won PIAA championships in 2023, 2021, 2018, 2003 and 1991. It is 10-3 in the semifinal round and 20-8 overall.

The Quips saw their streak of 17 straight WPIAL championship-game appearances snapped last year, when they finished 8-3.

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