Good start not enough for Belle Vernon
ALIQUIPPA – Belle Vernon did plenty of good things early in the game and again late, but Aliquippa dominated the middle and that carried the Quips to a 33-25 victory over the Leopards in a WPIAL Class 4A semifinal game Friday night.
Top-seeded Aliquippa (9-0) wiped away a 13-point second-quarter deficit by scoring 26 unanswered points. The Quips will play second-seeded Thomas Jefferson in the WPIAL title game next Saturday. Thomas Jefferson held off Plum 20-17 in the other semifinal.
It will be Aliquippa’s 13th consecutive appearcance in the WPIAL finals.
Belle Vernon (6-2) started quickly, scoring on the game’s second offensive play, and leading 13-0 in the first quarter and 19-7 in the second quarter.
Two short touchdown runs by Karl McBride gave Aliquippa a 20-19 halftime lead, and Vaughn Morris passed 26 yards to Dorius Moreland to make it 27-19 in the third quarter. Morris completed 13 of 27 passes for 214 yards.
Vernon Redd bolted 17 yards off left tackle in the fourth quarter to give the Quips a 33-19 advantage with 6:27 remaining.
Belle Vernon quarterback Devon Whitlock, who scored three touchdowns, rambled 39 yards for a score that pulled the Leopards to within 33-25 with 4:32 remaining. Aliquippa, however, was able to run out the clock.
Belle Vernon took a 6-0 lead only two plays into the game when freshman Qunton Martin raced 47 yards for a touchdown. Martin also had two interceptions on defense.
Whitlock gave Belle Vernon a 13-0 lead when he returned an Aliquippa punt 64 yards for a touchdown with 2:53 left in the first quarter. Whitlock finished with 151 yards on 24 carries.
Aliquippa finally scored when Morris scrambled 12 yards for a touchdown in the first minute of the second quarter.
After the enusing kickoff, Whitlock bolted 76 yards to the Aliquippa 3-yard line. He scored on the next play to give the Leopards a 19-7 lead, but Belle Vernon would not score again for more than 30 minutes of game time as turnovers proved costly.
McBride put the Quips in front with TD runs of two and three yards. The latter score came after Aliqauippa recovered a fumble at the Belle Vernon 34.
Belle Vernon blocked an Aliquippa punt in the third quarter and Martin returned his second interception to the Quips’ 40 early in the fourth quarter. However, the Leopards were unable to convert either of those big plays into points.