CTK ’16: WPIAL AA 2015 Football Flashback

By: Bruce Markey
Saturday, August 6, 2016 | 12:43 PM

Playing in the teams record eighth WPIAL Class AA championship game in a row, obviously Powerhouse Aliquippa was no stranger to Heinz Field. What was strange was to see a team have the Quips number. Aliquippa was facing South Fayette for a third straight year and for the fourth time in six years, however the Lions were a perfect 3-0 in head-to-head battles for gold on the North Shore. The fourth title game between the green and the red was another instant classic, but this time Aliquippa prevailed for their sixth district crown in the first 16 years of this century. Here is a look back at the WPIAL Double-A in 2015.

2015 WPIAL DOUBLE-A HEADLINES:

*  Call it a Sweet 16 party for Aliquippa in the 2015 Class AA Finals. The Quips knocked off two-time defending champion South Fayette for the schools 16th WPIAL football championship. The win for head coach Mike Zmijanac was his 6th as head coach of the Quips, making him the seventh coach in WPIAL history to win at least six district crowns.

*  Speaking of history, Aliquippa’s 44-38 dethroning of South Fayette was the highest scoring championship game in the 100 year history of WPIAL football finals. The gut wrenching loss for the Lions ended a 44-game winning streak that included back-to-back WPIAL and PIAA Double-A championships. That streak was 22 shy of the 66-game mark set a few years ago by Clairton and was only two wins shy of the second longest win streak in WPIAL history, 46 consecutive victories by Braddock High School set back in the 1950’s.

*  Kaezon Pugh was the latest Aliquippa running back to dazzle and thrill on a weekly basis. Pugh was the WPIAL’s leading rusher with 2,451 yards, which is amazing since he rarely played a full game in the regular season. Hunter Burns of Deer Lakes was 3rd with 1,997. Rounding out the Top Eleven in district rushers were DeWayne Murray of Steel Valley (1,615), Duane Brown of Apollo-Ridge (1,590) and Darius Wise of Beaver (1,522). Four Class AA quarterbacks were in the WPIAL top ten in passing yards with Ryan Weigold of Freeport 6th (2,171), Jason Dambach of Riverside 7th (2,145), Alex Smith of Keystone Oaks 8th (2,027) and Drew Saxton of South Fayette 10th (1,981) which included a WPIAL title game passing record of 435 yards vs Aliquippa.

*  12 of the 16 WPIAL playoffs teams in Class AA from 2014 returned to the postseason in 2015. Burgettstown and Keystone Oaks enjoyed two game improvements from the previous year to qualify for the playoffs while Freeport was four wins better en route to an Allegheny Conference crown and rival Deer Lakes was FIVE game better going from a 1-8 campaign in 2014 to a playoff trip and a 6-3 mark in the regular season. Teams that did not make the playoffs after competing on the Highway to Heinz the previous year were Kittanning (merged with Ford City to form Armstrong, which did make the AAA playoffs), Shady Side Academy, South Park and Waynesburg.

*  The longest current playoff drought still belongs to Southmoreland. Things looked hopeful early on in 2015 for the Scotties as they won their first two conference games and were sitting at 3-3 with two games left. But Southmoreland lost in the final two weeks to Interstate Conference powers Washington and Mount Pleasant by a combined score of 91-3. The back breaking loss for the Scotties turned out to be in Week 6 when they lost at Burgettstown 30-10 as the Blue Devils ended up taking the conferences final playoff spot. The Scotties playoff drought is as long as the Pittsburgh Pirates championship drought, both are now at 37 years with the magical year of 1979 for both becoming a distant memory.

FINAL 2015 WPIAL DOUBLE-A REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS:

(Top 4 teams from AA conferences qualified for playoffs)

# = Clinched Section Title
* = Clinched Playoff Berth
x = Eliminated From Playoff Chase

CLASS AA ALLEGHENY CONFERENCE

2015 WPIAL DOUBLE-A PLAYOFF RESULTS:

2015 WPIAL CLASS AA CHAMPIONSHIP FOOTBALL GAME:

Aliquippa Quips 44 – South Fayette Lions 38

WPIAL CLASS AA Semifinals:

South Fayette Lions 27  –  Steel Valley Ironmen 19

Aliquippa Quips 36  –  Freeport Yellow Jackets 14

WPIAL CLASS AA Quarterfinals:

South Fayette Lions 54 – Beaver Bobcats 7

Steel Valley Ironmen 24 – Beaver Falls Tigers 18

Aliquippa Quips 46 – Seton-LaSalle Rebels 6

Freeport Yellow Jackets 24 – Washington Little Prexies 14

WPIAL CLASS AA First Round:

South Fayette Lions 63 – Burgettstown Blue Devils 6

Beaver Bobcats 45 – Mount Pleasant Vikings 24

Beaver Falls Tigers 33 – Apollo-Ridge Vikings 29

Steel Valley Ironmen 49 – New Brighton Lions 7

Aliquippa Quips 42 – Keystone Oaks Golden Eagles 26

Seton-LaSalle Rebels 27 – Highlands Golden Rams 14

Washington Little Prexies 52 – Deer Lakes Lancers 7

Freeport Yellow Jackets 45 – McGuffey Highlanders 6

2015 PIAA DOUBLE-A PLAYOFF RESULTS:

2015 PIAA CLASS AA STATE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME:

Southern Columbia Tigers 49 – ALIQUIPPA QUIPS 14 

PIAA CLASS AA Semifinals:

ALIQUIPPA QUIPS 30 – Martinsburg Central Scarlet Dragons 21 

Southern Columbia Tigers 34 – West Catholic Burrs 19

PIAA CLASS AA Quarterfinals:

ALIQUIPPA QUIPS 27 – Karns City Gremlins 17 

Martinsburg Central Scarlet Dragons 30 – Hickory Hornets 21

West Catholic Burrs 28 – Dunmore Bucks 10

Southern Columbia Tigers 34 – Berks Catholic Saints 21

PIAA CLASS AA First Round:

ALIQUIPPA QUIPS 44 – SOUTH FAYETTE LIONS 38 

Karns City Gremlins 21 – Bedford Bison 17

Hickory Hornets 32 – Sharon Tigers 19

Martinsburg Central Scarlet Dragons 27 – Juniata Indians 7

Dunmore Bucks 51 – Notre Dame-Green Pond Crusaders 29

West Catholic Burrs 51 – New Hope-Solebury Lions 14

Berks Catholic Saints 34 – Wyomissing Spartans 6

Southern Columbia Tigers 56 – Montoursville Warriors 50