Penn Hills Hardy named TribHSSN football player of the week

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, December 10, 2018 | 12:02 AM

The last shall be first.

The TribLive High School Sports Network’s final WPIAL Football Player of the Week award goes to a member of PIAA Class 5A undefeated state champion Penn Hills after a performance for the ages.

Daequan Hardy had fans, coaches and the media comparing him to the historic contest NFL great and Aliquippa graduate Darrelle Revis had 15 years ago in the Indians’ 36-31 triumph over previously-unbeaten Manheim Central.

The mind-numbing numbers for Hardy included three receptions for 109 yards with two of those catches ending up in the end zone.

The first was a 74-yard scoring pass from Hollis Mathis that put the Indians up for good in the second quarter while the second touchdown was a 27-yard strike from Mathis to open up the third quarter.

Hardy also had three interceptions on defense, including a PIAA finals record-tying 100-yard interception return for a touchdown.

When did Hardy think he had a chance to go all the way with the pick-6?

“As soon as it hit my hands, I saw everybody was kind of floating toward me so I tried to cut back across the field and I just made it happen.”

Then, on special teams, after the Barons cut the deficit to 30-14 in the third quarter, Hardy returned a kick 84 yards for Penn Hills’ final touchdown.

The comparisons to Revis’ game are legit. In 2003, Revis made Hersheypark Stadium his personal island as he scored three rushing touchdowns, returned a kickoff and a blocked field goal for scores and also had two interceptions on defense, although one was nullified by a penalty in a 32-27 Aliquippa victory over Northern Lehigh.

“Darrelle Revis had four or five touchdowns in a state championship game?” Penn Hills coach and Aliquippa alum Jon LeDonne questioned afterward. “Daequan Hardy, very close, very special kid. Revis-like.”

Hardy took the comparisons to an all-time great in stride after the game.

“I was born in 2001 so I was only 2 years old at the time,” Hardy said. “That’s something special. I’m just trying to be the best I can be. It really means a lot.”

Every time Penn Hills needed a big play, No. 1 in red seemed to step up and then take it to the house.

“It should be up there with one of the best performances in state history,” LeDonne said. “But Daequan Hardy (Friday night) was the complete package.”

The perfect season to go along with WPIAL and PIAA gold matches the 1995 Penn Hills team that also pulled off the championship double-double.

“This means something really special,” Hardy reflected afterward about his team’s perfect season. “From the beginning of the season our goal was to win the state championship, and we finally completed it, so it feels amazing right now.”

WPIAL Week 15 Honorable Mentions

Avante McKenzie, Aliquippa

Hail to the Chief!

If sitting out last week’s PIAA semifinal victory over Sharon for disciplinary reasons was a low point for Aliquipipa’s Avante McKenzie, it didn’t take him long to bounce back and hit the high point.

The player his Quips teammates refer to as “Chief” responded with a huge performance as Aliquippa cruised to a 35-0 whitewash of District 3 champion Middletown in Saturday’s state title game.

Despite not starting Saturday’s final, McKenzie ended up with 198 rushing yards on 22 carries and scored four touchdowns.

His first score came in the second quarter on a 5-yard run that gave Aliquippa a 7-0 lead at halftime.

But the second half was all Quips as McKenzie scored on runs of 35, 1 and 80 yards to secure the third PIAA championship in school history and the first since 2003.

“This is a big win for us,” McKenzie said after the game. “This is a big goal we’ve been chasing all of our lives.”

The loss for the Blue Raiders was their third straight PIAA title game defeat to the WPIAL champions after losing in the state finals to Beaver Falls in 2016 and Quaker Valley in 2017.

Bonus Mention — State champs

While Penn Hills’ and Aliquippa’s victories brought two state championships back to the WPIAL, District 10 was the other big winner this weekend, giving Western Pennsylvania a rare edge in state football gold. Here are the other four PIAA football champions to close out the 2018 football season with lots of familiar names winning state titles.

Class 6A — St. Joe’s Prep (District 12): The Hawks won their fourth PIAA championship in six years with a 40-20 defeat of Harrisburg on Saturday night.

Class 4A — Cathedral Prep (District 10) : The Ramblers won their third straight PIAA championship with a third consecutive victory over Imhotep Charter, 38-7 on Thursday night.

Class 2A — Southern Columbia (District 4): The Tigers won a second straight and third PIAA championship in the last four years along with a record ninth overall state crown with a 49-14 win over Wilmington on Friday afternoon.

Class A — Farrell (District 10): The Steelers won their third PIAA championship and first since winning back-to-back state crowns as a member of the WPIAL in 1995 and 1996 with a 55-20 triumph over Lackawanna Trial on Thursday afternoon.

Don Rebel is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Don at drebel@tribweb.com or via Twitter @TheDonRebel.

Tags: Aliquippa, Penn Hills