Quaker Valley football eagerly awaits reinforcements

By: Shawn Annarelli
Friday, September 20, 2019 | 7:52 PM

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Quaker Valley’s football team entered the season with a disclaimer attached: Its thin roster had to be healthy to compete.

The Quakers entered 2018 with 36 players and have had as few as 24 players dress for games this season, causing some to change positions each week and others to start as freshmen.

With injuries piling up, particularly on the offensive and defensive lines, the team opened the season against ranked section opponents Aliquippa and Central Valley with shutout losses.

If Quaker Valley can turn its season around, it will be because the team found positives to build upon after scoring its first three touchdowns of the season against Beaver Falls in a 57-22 loss in Week 3.

Quaker Valley coach Ron Balog also expects all of his injured starters to return in the next two weeks, which will leave Quakers with four section games in the second half of the season.

“If we can play our nonsection game against Elizabeth Forward without anyone else getting injured this week, knock on wood, we could have a healthy starting 22 for the first time really soon,” Balog said. “We have guys who were a big part of last year’s playoff team, plus others who have stepped up. We can start playing our best football, and we saw a glimpse of it Friday night.”

Balog described the team’s spirit as “ultra-positive” this week at practice.

“It’s been that way since Friday night against Beaver Falls, because it was the best game we’ve played,” Balog said. “I know people look at the scoreboard, but we had close to 300 yards on offense, most of which came against their starters. We’re taking a ton of positives from that game.”

Quarterback Mike Aspiotes, a senior who stepped into the position two months before the start of the season, was 7 of 14 passing and had his longest completion of the season, a 64-yard touchdown to Patrick Cutchember.

“Mike hasn’t just stepped up at quarterback,” Balog said. “Mike has just absolutely given every piece of his being into playing the best he can. It paid off for him Friday night. He’s tough as nails, and I can’t be happier. I think he can be great the next six games.”

The Quakers spread their offense out due to its continuity issues on the offensive line against the Tigers.

“We saw it click more for the offensive line against Beaver Falls’ guys who are huge,” Balog said. “We’ve got guys who can run well, and we made some plays on the perimeter. We threw some passes to set up runs up the middle. We hit some big plays, and that’s all great stuff to build off of as we get healthy.”

Tags: Quaker Valley