PIAA football playoffs: 30 years in 30 days — Aliquippa finds state gold on Revis Island in ’03

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, November 18, 2018 | 5:51 PM

The PIAA had been hosting state playoffs in all but one fall high school sport since 1976. Soccer, volleyball, tennis, golf, cross country and field hockey all crowned state champions once the district playoffs concluded.

The lone exception to the fall state playoff slate was high school football.

It wasn’t until 1988 when PIAA officials finally pulled the trigger on the idea of having a yearly state football playoff.

From George Novak and Woodland Hills losing in a mud pit to Bob Palko and West Allegheny finding the third time really was the charm to Neil Walker and Pine-Richland competing in a heartbreaking overtime loss in a snowstorm and to Tyler Boyd and the golden Bears of Clairton winning four straight state championships.

There have been a lot of thrills and heartbreak in three decades of state championship football. Leading up to the 2018 state finals, the TribLIVE High School Sports Network will look back at how WPIAL teams have fared in the PIAA championships with 30 years in 30 days.

The Year: 2003

The Site: Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey

The Champs: North Penn, Manheim Central, Aliquippa, Southern Columbia

The Headline: Aliquippa finds gold on Revis Island while Central Catholic and Pine-Richland lose in the snow

The Lowdown: The 15-year anniversary of the PIAA football playoffs turned out to be one of the most memorable for WPIAL football fans, even though two of the three district teams came home without gold.

Aliquippa was the lone exception as they rode the cape of the great Darrelle Revis to a 32-27 thriller over District 11 champion Northern Lehigh.

The Pitt recruit and future NFL all-pro cornerback scored all five of the Quips touchdowns while playing running back, wide receiver and quarterback on offense, defensive back on defense and returning punts and kicks on special teams.

On offense, Revis caught one pass, completed another for 39 yards that led to a score and rushed for 91 yards on 13 carries and scored three touchdowns.

On defense, Revis had five tackles, had one interception nullified by a penalty and had a pick that stood and was returned 33 yards.

Finally on special teams, Revis blocked a field goal and returned it 69 yards for a score, then returned a kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown.

Aliquippa led 20-14 at the half but found itself down 27-20 heading into the fourth quarter. That is when Revis went to work, setting up his own 3-yard scoring run with a 39-yard completion. Then on the Quips’ next possession, rolling left and taking off for a wild 64-yard scoring run that put Aliquippa up for good.

After the game, Quips coach Mike Zmijanac said, “I was Ron Turcotte. He was the jockey who rode Secretariat years ago to the triple crown. We had a horse and I just said, Let’s ride him.”

Adding to the Revis mystique was 48 hours after his state football winning performance he scored 35 points in the Quips’ basketball section-opening double overtime victory over Beaver Falls.

• The Class AAA championship game was an all-time classic.

Pine-Richland and Manheim Central were like Hagler and Hearns throwing fists of fury in a snow globe that was shaken every 15 seconds.

The Rams and Barons see-sawed back and forth with nine lead changes in a true battle of unbeatens.

The score was deadlocked after regulation following a Patrick Humes 31-yard field goal for Pine-Richland with 61 seconds left that tied it 25-25.

Then the real fun began.

In the first overtime, future Pittsburgh Pirates top draft pick Neil Walker lined up at quarterback and scored on an 8-yard run.

Craig Gatchell tied the game at 32-32 on a 1-yard run, and then the Barons went on top when Jarryd Moore hit Shawn Wilt with a 10-yard pass to make it 39-32.

Pine-Richland running back Greg Hough then ran four straight times, the final carry ending up in the end zone on a 1-yard plunge to pull the Rams to within one. However Wilt blocked the Humes point-after touchdown attempt as the Barons celebrated a 39-38 double-overtime classic.

Hough rushed for 126 yards and scored three touchdowns. including a 91-yard kickoff return and a 65-yard reception from quarterback Jake Long. Long was 5 of 12 passing for 177 yards.

Walker rushed for 31 yards, had 45 receiving yards, returned a kickoff 45 yards to set up a score and led the team with nine tackles.

• Central Catholic found itself in the state title game for the first time since the debut in 1988.

The Vikings had to settle for silver this time around as they were overpowered by District 1 champion North Penn, 37-10.

Central Catholic was aching after the great performance by North Penn star running back Kevin Akins, who rushed for 210 yards on 26 carries.

The Knights rushed for 419 yards on the ground while the North Penn defense kept the Vikings leading rusher in check.

Eugene Jarvis rushed for more than 1,600 yards and scored 33 touchdowns coming into the title game. However, the Knights held him to 73 yards rushing with no touchdowns.

The game was hardly a blowout early. In fact, the score was tied 7-7 after Central Catholic blocked a second quarter punt, and Scott Zielmanski picked it up at the 3-yard line and took it in for the score.

Things turned quickly against Central Catholic in the third when North Penn went 61 yards on 10 plays to go up 14-7. Then, Jarvis fumbled on the Vikings’ first play of the second half, and three plays later, the Knights scored to go up 21-7 and never look back.

Central Catholic quarterback Shane Murray was only 5 of 20 passing for 90 yards. He did lead the Vikings in rushing with 92 yards on 10 carries.

Tags: Aliquippa, Central Catholic, Pine-Richland