Aliquippa wins big over Belle Vernon in Coach Warfield’s return

By: Jeremy Sellew
Friday, August 29, 2025 | 11:39 PM

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Aliquippa head coach Mike Warfield made a triumphant return to the sidelines after taking a sabbatical last season, and he came away impressed with his Quips.

Aliquippa used multiple big plays in the first half and rolled to a 42-7 win over Belle Vernon on The Beach at James Weir Stadium on Friday night.

Though Warfield was back at the helm, he deferred all questions after the win to assistant coach Vashawn Patrick, who talked about what it meant just to have Warfield back.

“It honestly was like he never left,” Patrick said. “He definitely brings a different presence and a sense of calm. His pregame speeches are second to none.”

Warfield’s pregame speech Friday was about the Quips coming onto The Beach and just doing their job. And for the most part, they did it well.

After the Quips defense forced a punt on the Leopards’ opening possession, Yale quarterback commit Marques Council needed only 10 seconds to get his team on the board. Council hit QaLil Goode in stride right in the numbers for a 62-yard touchdown to open the scoring.

“The biggest thing with Marques is he’s so much more mature,” Patrick said. “Him and QaLil have been playing together so long, they just have that sixth sense of where each other is going to be. That was a great way to set the tone.”

Council had himself a night completing 12 of 15 passes for 281 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for a touchdown.

But the Leopards answered the Quips’ score right back, looking poised to go blow for blow with the Quips (1-0).

Chace Petrosky bobbled the ensuing kickoff, then rolled right and raced down the sideline for an 87-yard kickoff return.

Preston Rathway’s extra point tied it 7-7 just less than four minutes in.

“That kick-started things right away,” first-year BVA coach Scott Bryer said. “I thought we just made way too many mistakes tonight. When you’re playing a team as good as they are, you can’t make as many mistakes as we did. Not to take anything away from them, because they are a great football team. But we had chances to get off the field, and we just kept shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Again, Aliquippa struck quickly.

This time, it was Council right through the middle of the BVA defense. After not seeing a receiver on his first read, he took off 66 yards and helped the Quips to a 14-7 lead.

The teams exchanged possessions after Council missed a series after getting sick on the shiny new turf.

But when he returned, he made the Leopards pay again.

Council completed a screen on a third-and-8 to Akiva Woods, who rambled 70 yards down the left sideline for a score.

“That screen pass was such a killer,” Bryer said. “We had numerous chances to get our defense off the field. That was another one there.”

An unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty forced the PAT back 15 yards, and the kick was no good to keep the score 20-7.

Just before the half, Aliquippa hit paydirt again as Council hit Goode at the Leopards’ 2-yard line with 9 seconds to go.

After a timeout, Cameron Cannon cashed in with a 2-yard run to make it 28-7 at the half after Council and Goode connected on a 2-point conversion.

“I thought our defense against the run was really good,” Bryer said. “I thought we were very physical up front, and I liked our attitude and I liked the physicality we played with.”

In the second half, the Quips started with a drive that ate up half of the third quarter. After running the ball eight straight times and taking advantage of a Leopards personal foul call, Council connected with Anthony Ingram with great touch on a fade to the pylon for another score.

After another Leopards three-and-out, Council continued going to the air on the next drive with four completions before Cannon pushed his way in from 2 yards.

The PAT invoked the running clock, which ended the fourth quarter quickly with no scoring.

Aliquippa traveled to "The Beach" Friday night and spent a lot of time playing in the sand as they defeated Belle Vernon 42-7 to open their 2025 campaign. Quips QB Marques Council Jr. threw 3 touchdowns and ran 66 yards for another in the win. pic.twitter.com/fcHTcTj3rE

— TribLive HSSN (@TribLiveHSSN) August 30, 2025

“Tonight was all about staying focused and coming out here and playing Aliquippa football,” Patrick said. “It wasn’t a matter of who was back (Warfield) or not. We all had a job to do, and we went out there and executed. There’s a lot of work to do to get where we want to be.”

Tags: Aliquippa, Belle Vernon