The game had all the makings of a high-scoring affair, but offense was scarce for most of Aliquippa's PIAA Class AA quarterfinal meeting against District 9 winner Karns City on Friday night at Geneva. That changed in the fourth quarter when the Quips scored 19 points for a 27-17 come-from-behind victory. Aliquippa advances to the semifinals and will play the winner of Saturday's game between Hickory and Central Martinsburg. “It's a hard game to play, but we made some plays after we got behind,” coach Mike Zmijanac said. “They did a good job.”
Pitt Recruit Senior Kaezon Pugh ran for 174 yards and two touchdowns, Sheldon Jeter and Thomas Perry connected for a 1-yard pass, and Darnell Gardener ran back a 48-yard interception to help lead the Quips. The game, deadlocked at 8-8 at halftime, remained tied into the fourth quarter when Karns City's Kaiden Powers kicked a 24-yard field goal to give the Gremlins an 11-8 lead with 10 minutes, 4 seconds remaining. Pugh scored from 10 yards on Aliquippa's next possession to take a 14-11 lead with 8:36 to go.
On Karns City's first play of its next drive, Gremlins quarterback Jacob King was intercepted by Kwantel Raines, and the Quips got the ball on the Gremlins' 44. On fourth-and-goal from the 1, Aliquippa used its last two timeouts back-to-back. On the next play, Jeter threw a 1-yard pass to an uncovered Perry on the right side. Jassir Jordan's kick gave the Quips a 21-11 lead. Zmijanac called it one of the most heads-up plays he has had one of his quarterbacks make. Two plays were called in the huddle that Jeter had an option to run. The pass to Perry wasn't one of them.
Perry said he made eye contact with Jeter, and they had practiced the play before. “Any time we run plays and a guy's not over top of me, he just throws it out there, and he got it done,” he said. Karns City got the ball back with a little more than 4 minutes remaining, but on fourth down from their 48, Cullen Williams threw an interception, and Gardener took it in for a 27-11 lead that essentially sealed the outcome. “First he threw it short, so I realized he was throwing it to where I could make the pick,” Gardener said. “I read it and saw a curl route and someone coming up under. I just shot it and caught the pick and took off.”
Karns City scored at 5:22 of the first quarter to take an 8-0 lead, and Pugh scored his first of the game at 2:21 of the first quarter. Twice in the first half Aliquippa had a first-and-goal situation and didn't score — first on the opening drive of the game when they fumbled at the 2-yard line and again just before the first half when they were stopped on downs. “In the locker room (at halftime), we didn't get down on each other,” Perry said. “We picked each other up and just talked to each other. Coach came in and didn't yell at us. He just said this is what we have to do, step by step and we got it done.” This is the third time Aliquippa has beaten Karns City in the PIAA playoffs. The Quips also beat the Gremlins in 2008 and ‘12. The Gremlins have lost in the PIAA quarterfinals in four consecutive seasons, all to WPIAL teams.
LINK:
http://triblive.com/sports/hssports/football/9556398-74/aliquippa-karns-game
Karen Price is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach her at kprice@tribweb.com or via Twitter @KarenPrice_Trib.
Pitt Recruit Senior Kaezon Pugh ran for 174 yards and two touchdowns, Sheldon Jeter and Thomas Perry connected for a 1-yard pass, and Darnell Gardener ran back a 48-yard interception to help lead the Quips. The game, deadlocked at 8-8 at halftime, remained tied into the fourth quarter when Karns City's Kaiden Powers kicked a 24-yard field goal to give the Gremlins an 11-8 lead with 10 minutes, 4 seconds remaining. Pugh scored from 10 yards on Aliquippa's next possession to take a 14-11 lead with 8:36 to go.
On Karns City's first play of its next drive, Gremlins quarterback Jacob King was intercepted by Kwantel Raines, and the Quips got the ball on the Gremlins' 44. On fourth-and-goal from the 1, Aliquippa used its last two timeouts back-to-back. On the next play, Jeter threw a 1-yard pass to an uncovered Perry on the right side. Jassir Jordan's kick gave the Quips a 21-11 lead. Zmijanac called it one of the most heads-up plays he has had one of his quarterbacks make. Two plays were called in the huddle that Jeter had an option to run. The pass to Perry wasn't one of them.
Perry said he made eye contact with Jeter, and they had practiced the play before. “Any time we run plays and a guy's not over top of me, he just throws it out there, and he got it done,” he said. Karns City got the ball back with a little more than 4 minutes remaining, but on fourth down from their 48, Cullen Williams threw an interception, and Gardener took it in for a 27-11 lead that essentially sealed the outcome. “First he threw it short, so I realized he was throwing it to where I could make the pick,” Gardener said. “I read it and saw a curl route and someone coming up under. I just shot it and caught the pick and took off.”
Karns City scored at 5:22 of the first quarter to take an 8-0 lead, and Pugh scored his first of the game at 2:21 of the first quarter. Twice in the first half Aliquippa had a first-and-goal situation and didn't score — first on the opening drive of the game when they fumbled at the 2-yard line and again just before the first half when they were stopped on downs. “In the locker room (at halftime), we didn't get down on each other,” Perry said. “We picked each other up and just talked to each other. Coach came in and didn't yell at us. He just said this is what we have to do, step by step and we got it done.” This is the third time Aliquippa has beaten Karns City in the PIAA playoffs. The Quips also beat the Gremlins in 2008 and ‘12. The Gremlins have lost in the PIAA quarterfinals in four consecutive seasons, all to WPIAL teams.
LINK:
http://triblive.com/sports/hssports/football/9556398-74/aliquippa-karns-game
Karen Price is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach her at kprice@tribweb.com or via Twitter @KarenPrice_Trib.
