Aliquippa, PA - The Trojans marched down to Aliquippa to play the Quips last Friday, the 9th, with the confidence of an upset win against the back-to-back 4A WPIAL Champs but were handed a 33-7 loss instead. While the Trojans fought hard and played a tremendous second half, the deficit they inherited from the first half was too much to overcome; however, the score doesn't tell the whole story.
Some Background: Week 2 of the WPIAL season is still primarily non-section action for most teams, and this marks North Catholic's 3rd of 4 such games this season. They came into this game 1-1 in the young year but hungry after a disappointing loss to Shady Side Academy 34-28 in overtime the previous Friday. Conversely, Aliquippa had a great start to their season with a resounding 37-19 victory over North Catholic section peer Armstrong during their opening night for the new Heinz Field at The Pit. Aliquippa is a much different team than they were last year, notably in terms of sheer size. They graduated several of their beefier linemen from the previous season and are now built around their skill players, particularly Linebacker Cameron Lindsey and Running Back Tiqwai Hayes. This was a far more favorable matchup for North Catholic than last year, where they got just one first down on a roughing the passer call against the Quips in a 26-0 shutout loss at LT. JC Stone Field. The Trojans were also looking for a bounce-back game defensively after giving up two weeks of school-record passing performances from Quadir Stribling of Serra Catholic and Calvin Harris of Shady Side Academy. With the stage set for another Friday under the lights, here's what happened in Aliquippa.
The Game: North Catholic's defense came hot early after an interception by Gavin Kamody, who was waiting for it right over the middle on Aliquippa's first drive. The offense, looking to channel that momentum, ended their drive quickly with a 3 and out. The Trojan's offense was a 3-and-out machine during the first half and went without a first down on any of their 9 drives. However, even though the offense couldn't get anything going, the defense was rock solid. The Quips finally got on the board late in the 1st quarter after being previously stopped on 4th and Goal inside the Trojan's 10, with a long touchdown to go up 7-0. On the next drive for Aliquippa, they were stopped on 4th and Goal again, this time at the Trojan's 4, as a result of a great tackle by Danny Franco to keep Hayes away from the endzone. The North offense followed by having a 3 and out and, on the ensuing punt, forced a fumble on the Aliquippa return, which was recovered by North Catholic sophomore Reid Rinker. With a fresh set of downs, the offense gave the ball back after another 3 and out. Aliquippa, 3 drives later, scored on a 44-yard touchdown run by the Pitt commit by Cameron Lindsey to put the Quips up 14-0. On the second play on the ensuing drive for the Trojans, Demarkus Walker picked off Jason Siket at the 42-yard line, giving Aliquippa the ball in a favorable field position. However, the North Catholic defense stood firm and forced a 3 and out that led to a punt downed at the North Catholic 3-yard line. After a quick 3 and out once again from the Trojans, the Quips drove down the field in 3 plays that ended in a touchdown run from Hayes, which put his team up 20-0, as North Catholic blocked the extra point. One half down, one to go.
Kaden Sarver took over as quarterback for North Catholic from the final drive of the 1st half. He got the Trojans first, first down of the game about midway through the 3rd quarter on a QB sneak on a 4th and 1. A promising drive ended with an interception on a deep pass by Tiqwai Hayes at the Aliquippa 7. After a 3 and out for the Quips, North Catholic got the ball at the Aliquippa 28 and gave the ball to Jack Fennell, who brought the Trojans to the 3-yard line with 1st and Goal. There were no more yards to come on that drive for them, and Aliquippa got the ball back after an incomplete pass of 4th and Goal. They then preceded to go on a 97-yard drive that was capped off by a 44-yard touchdown run by Hayes, which put his team up 27-0. For their first drive of the 4th quarter, North Catholic started with the ball on their 32-yard line. From there, Jack Fennell flew past the Aliquippa defenders for a 33-yard gain down the near sideline. North Catholic was in business. Fennell flowed up that run 3 plays later with a 12-yard reception on the throw from Sarver to pick up the first down at the 24. After that, Fennell rushed for 2 yards, and 2 plays of no gain for the Trojans put them at a 4th and 8 from the 22. Sarver took the snap and dropped back. Forced to roll to his right, he let one go towards the endzone, jump ball, Touchdown, North Catholic! It was junior wide receiver Jack White on a remarkable catch that was the first points North Catholic had scored against the Quips in the 89 minutes and 15 seconds they had played against them, including last year's game—a shining moment out of an at times, ugly loss. After another impressive down-the-field drive at the end of the game, North Catholic threw an interception that came back for a 97-yard pick 6, which left us with the score 33-7.
Takeaways Offensively: The North Catholic offense couldn't cook a hot pocket in the first half. Absolutely nothing was working. They had 4 total yards as an offense over the first 2 quarters. This wasn't for lack of opportunity either, as the Trojans had 9 drives, including the forced fumble recovery on their punt as an additional drive. The main problem: No time to throw. The offensive line was as porous as a sieve for much of the game, as they were overwhelmed by the Aliquippa defenders, who brought pressure often after they smelled blood in the water. The offense caught a spark with Sarver in the second half, as they fired off multiple long drives, the only points against the Quips over this game and the one against them last year. It will be interesting to see who starts at quarterback next week for North Catholic. If the O-line is better, no matter what quarterback is in, the Trojans will be in an excellent position to win. On another note, Brady O'Hara had a couple of offensive catches in this one, which is hopefully something that the Trojans can continue to do consistently.
Takeaways Defensively: The defense played the best game they have had all season. It was by no means perfect, but it was pretty good. They forced 4 Aliquippa turnovers, had limited rest in the first half, and shut down the Quip passing game for most of the contest. The passing defense has been the biggest problem for the Trojans up to this point, but it wasn't in this one. Jason Siket played excellent defensively, as well as Brady Koziara and Roman Sylvester, who all made big plays. In addition, Alex Jackson, Brady O'Hara, and Danny Franco brought consistency and pressure at constant, with O'Hara getting his first sack of the year. However, they still gave up 4 touchdowns. That was too many for North Catholic to overcome against a team with as good a defense as Aliquippa has.
Moving Forward: This team has what it takes to compete against the best teams in 4A, but to do so, they have to play a complete game on both sides of the ball for a full 48 minutes. They have yet to do that this year. They will be a dangerous opponent if they can put a game like that together. The expectation should be that the offense performs much better from this game out and that the defense builds off this improved performance starting this Friday. The Trojans will play home on September 15th in their Homecoming Game against their first section opponent in Highlands. If you can't attend Lt. JC Stone Field to witness the game in person, it will be broadcast on the North Catholic Sports Network. Have a great rest of your day! Let's go Trojans!
