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Thomas Jefferson stops Aliquippa in OT in WPIAL finals dream matchup

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Saturday, November 14, 2020 | 4:40 PM

If there was any uncertainty on Thomas Jefferson’s sideline, it was about the high school rules for overtime.

Nobody on the roster had experienced it before. Jaguars coach Bill Cherpak couldn’t remember the last time he was involved in an overtime game.

“I was like, ‘If they score do they win?’” senior Preston Zandier said.

Turns out, it didn’t matter.

Thomas Jefferson surrendered a two-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter Saturday, but its defense stood strong in overtime to defeat newcomer Aliquippa, 35-28, in the WPIAL Class 4A championship at North Allegheny.

Unfortunately for the Quips, they already knew overtime rules all too well. This was the second year in a row they lost the WPIAL title in overtime.

The game paired two of the WPIAL’s marquee programs, a matchup with 26 combined titles, and it lived up to hype.

In overtime, TJ’s Jake Pugh scored on a 2-yard quarterback sneak and then teammate McClain Flinn intercepted Aliquippa’s third-down pass in the end zone to keep the Jaguars as the kings of 4A.

“I knew our linemen were going to get a good push and my running backs always push us from behind,” Pugh said. “With the WPIAL championship on the line, I knew I was going to get in. Thank God I scored.”

Pugh, a first-year starter, threw for two touchdowns and rushed for two more.

The WPIAL title was the second in a row and fifth in six years for No. 2 seed Thomas Jefferson (8-1). It also was the ninth for Cherpak, giving him the most in WPIAL football history. He was previously tied with Bob Palko.

The Jaguars now advance to the PIAA Class 4A semifinals where they’ll host District 10 champion Oil City next Friday or Saturday.

Aliquippa (9-1), a newcomer to Class 4A, was trying to add to its record total of 17 WPIAL titles. The Quips had trailed 28-14 before scoring twice in the final 6 minutes of the fourth quarter. A 14-yard touchdown run by Aliquippa’s Vernon Redd with 1:54 left forced overtime.

“It’s sad to see the seniors give it their all and just come up a little short,” Aliquippa coach Mike Warfield said. “That’s part of sports though. We’ve got to get past it.”

Aliquippa won the coin toss before overtime and elected to start on defense. High school football uses a format like college, where teams alternate possessions and have four downs to score.

Cherpak admitted he had very little to do with the winning touchdown. Facing third-and-goal from the 2, Pugh audibled to a quarterback sneak and followed his center into the end zone.

“He changed the play and called it,” Cherpak said. “He said, ‘There was no way that I wasn’t getting in.’ That tells you enough about him.”

It’s a play Pugh saw Shane Stump run often a year ago when the Jaguars won WPIAL and PIAA titles. Pugh was the backup waiting his turn, a story many of the players on this year’s roster can share.

Only three starters returned from 2019.

“Stop talking about Shane. It’s Pugh’s turn. It’s Pugh’s turn,” Zandier said with a laugh. “He’s a big leader, and we needed that. We needed him to step up, and without question, he stepped up.”

Zandier, a Youngstown State recruit, caught one of Pugh’s two touchdowns. His 42-yarder in the second quarter forged a 7-7 tie at halftime. In the third quarter, Flinn caught a 20-yarder from Pugh to give TJ a 14-7 lead.

Flinn, a junior, became a starter only late in the season.

“When you win big games like this, you never know who it’s going to be to step up,” Cherpak said. “We had so many other guys that made plays.”

Defensively, Thomas Jefferson focused on slowing Aliquippa’s running game. Redd finished with 94 on 26 carries.

Quips quarterback Vaughn Morris scored twice on 1-yard touchdown runs, once in the second quarter and again early in the fourth to force a 14-14 tie. The teams combined for five touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

TJ retook the lead in the fourth with short touchdown runs by Pugh (2 yards) and DeRon VanBibber (3 yards). With 6 minutes left in the fourth, Thomas Jefferson led 28-14. But the Quips weren’t done.

Aliquippa’s comeback started with a long kickoff return by Cyair Clark to TJ’s 31-yard line. Two plays later, Morris connected with Tajier Thurston on a 27-yard touchdown, cutting TJ’s lead to 28-21.

Clark provided another spark when he intercepted Pugh with four and a half minutes left, setting up Aliquippa for a game-tying touchdown drive. The Quips moved 76 yards in nine plays, helped by two costly TJ penalties, leading to Redd’s 14-yard touchdown run with just under two minutes left.

“A lot of teams would have given up,” Warfield said. “Thomas Jefferson is a good team. They’re very well coached. They did a few things we didn’t expect. We adjusted. We just didn’t adjust enough.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

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