WPIAL Class 2A final by the numbers: Serra Catholic 35, Beaver Falls 12

By: George Guido
Friday, November 26, 2021 | 10:34 PM

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Serra Catholic 35, Beaver Falls 12

Serra Catholic 7-7-0-21 — 35

Beaver Falls 6-0-0-6 — 12

How they scored

BF: Trey Singleton 28 pass from Jaren Brickner (kick failed)

SC: Machai Duetrieulle-Brooks 11 run (Caden Bauer kick)

SC: Elijah Ward 30 interception return (Bauer kick)

BF: Isaiah Aeschbacher 6 run (run failed)

SC: Terrell Booth 15 interception return (Bauer kick)

SC: Duetrieulle-Brooks 1 run (Bauer kick)

SC: DaiQuan Chatfield 43 fumble recovery (Bauer kick)

Team statistics

SC … BF

First downs 11 … 10

Rushes-Yards 37-123 … 30-92

Passing yards 46 … 102

Passing Att-Comp-Int 17-8-0 … 25-8-4

Total offense Plays-yards 54-169 … 55-194

Punts (number-avg.) 7-30.0 … 1-41.0

Fumbles-lost 1-0 … 6-5

Penalties-yards 8-61 … 2-20

Possession time 27:30 … 20:30

Individual statistics

Rushing: SC: Machai Duetrieulle-Brooks 22-94, Max Rocco 8-19, Jayvon Holt 2-12, Ryan Brooks 1-1, Terrell Booth 1-minus-5; BF: Quadir Thomas 3-31, Isaiah Aeschbacher 10-22, Trey Singleton 1-28, Jaren Brickner 11-14, De’Sean Anderson 1-5, Quinton Adamson 2-0.

Passing: SC: Rocco 8-17-46-0INT-0TD; BF: Brickner 8-25-102-4INT-1TD

Receiving: SC: Holt 2-15, Booth 2-15, Zack Weber 2-12, Pharoh Fisher 1-2; BF: Mekhi Clark 5-75, Singleton 1-28, Aeschbacher 1-0, Tyler Cain 1-minus-1.

Three for the Eagles

Friday’s victory marked the third WPIAL title for Serra Catholic.

Earlier, the Eagles defeated Springdale 10-6 in 2007 at Heinz Field and Clairton 12-0 in 1981 at Baldwin Stadium.

Beaver Falls is now 3-5 in WPIAL finals. The Tigers defeated Riverside 14-13 in 1984, Aliquippa 35-22 in 2016 and Sto-Rox 43-30 last season.

Beaver Falls was declared champions in 1928 and 1960 under the original Gardner Point system.

Before Friday, the Tigers lost WPIAL title games to Knoch (1978), Washington (2002), Jeannette (2007) and Aliquippa (2008).

Serra is now 13-11 all-time in WPIAL playoff games; Beaver Falls is 31-18.

Friday’s loss ended a nine-game Beaver Falls winning streak.

Regus triumphs

Friday’s win was not only big for the Serra players, school officials and followers, but it was a personal triumph for Eagles coach Jose Regus.

Regus has been using a wheelchair since he was diagnosed with a neurological disorder that he originally thought was a back injury. A former state parole officer, Regus is in his fifth season as Serra coach and has a 38-17 overall record.

Passing leaders

The game featured Class 2A’s top passers.

Jaren Brickner of Beaver Falls had 102 passing yards to finish the season with 2,579 yards. Serra’s Max Rocco had 46 yards for 1,799 on the season.

Defensive leaders

Besides Serra’s creating turnovers, the Eagles were led defensively by Zack Weber’s 8½ tackles. Terrell Booth checked in with eight.

Junior linebacker Michael Schanck recovered three fumbles and had two sacks.

For Beaver Falls, Isaiah Aeschbacher led the way with 11 tackles, including three for losses. In one stretch in the third period, the Tigers recorded tackles for losses on three consecutive plays.

The one and only

Beaver Falls punted just once, and it went out of bounds at the Serra 21. An early Eagles punt resulted in a 57-yard return by Mekhi Clark.

Up next

The Eagles will take on Farrell, winner of Friday night’s game against Karns City at snowy Gremlins Stadium, in the PIAA semifinals.

The last time Serra was in the PIAA playoffs, the Eagles lost the 2007 Class A final to Steelton-Highspire, 34-15.

There were no state playoffs in 1981.

Watch an archived broadcast of this game on Trib HSSN.

Tags: Beaver Falls, Serra Catholic