TRIBUNE-REVIEW • SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2018 • 21
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Quaker Valley had storybook season, but deep pool of talented teams will make repeating difficult task THE FAVORITE
CLASS SMALLER, TOUGHER
CALL FOR PRICING
Rt. 66 • DELMONT
WEST PENN
METALS RECYCLING
CLASS 3A
Quaker Valley had the type of
2017 season that could inspire
storybooks or sports movies,
winning its first WPIAL and
PIAA championships under a
coach who was hired out of the
press box just before training
camp.
The Quakers’ reward? A 2018
season that starts with three perennial
powerhouses in Central
Valley, Aliquippa and Beaver
Falls.
As newcoach Ron Balog put it,
“Welcome to me, right?”
That’s the nature of the
best this season in Class 3A,
which became smaller in size
but appears potentially more
daunting for playoff hopefuls.
Competition for the eight playoff
bids looks strong on paper,
even with just 18 teams.
“The section is brutal,”
said Balog of Quaker Valley’s
Tri-CountyWest,whichincludes
traditional Beaver County rivals
Aliquippa, Beaver Falls, Central
Valley andHopewell, in addition
to newcomers Keystone Oaks,
South Park and Waynesburg.
“And then the (classification)
itself …my goodness, it’s a dogfight.”
The pasttwo seasons, the Class
3A storyline focused on the scarcity
of playoff bids, with only
eight for 20-plus teams. Fewer
teams remain for those spots,
and Derry coach Tim Sweeney
would like to see the competition
ramped up even more.
“When we were in Triple-A
last year, I thought they had it
right with eight teams making
it and we had three conferences
with two automatic (qualifiers)
and two (wild cards),” Sweeney
said. “But thiswhole thing about
having less than 20 teams in
Triple-A and eight making the
playoffs is a joke.”
The realignment that came
in the offseason truncated the
three conferences down to two,
with teams south and west going
into one and north and east into
the other. CardinalWuerl North
Catholic jumped from Class 2A
to 3A, joining the Big East with
Burrell, Deer Lakes, Derry, Elizabeth
Forward, Freeport, Mt.
Pleasant, Uniontownand Yough.
Some of the biggest offseason
news in the classification
came via coaching changes, after
Aliquippa ousted longtime
coach Mike Zmijanac. But new
coach Mike Warfield, a former
Quips quarterback, knows full
well the program tradition —
which includes 10 consecutive
trips to the WPIAL championship
game — and with a loaded
roster entering the fall, the team
appears poised for another stop
at Heinz Field.
“I think they have a sense of
feeling they have a lot to prove,”
Warfield said. “That’s expected
at Aliquippa, though. Our
standards are so high. Those
standards are still there.There’s
nothing changed since I’m there,
or whoever’s there. We’re going
to try to keep them.”
Aliquippa’s roster includes
five players with FBS or FCS
offers, including four-star cornerback
M.J. Devonshire Jr.,
and the Quips are more than familiar
with the feeling of being
the favorite.
That’s a new role for Quaker
Valley, which stunned the favored
Quips, 2-0, in the WPIAL
championship game last season
and then finished amagical run
to the state title under interim
coach Jerry Veshio. Balog will
lead the Quakers as they make
the transition from hunter to
hunted.
It won’t be easy: The 2017
Quakers were loaded with seniors,
including top playmakers
Ricky Guss and Isaiah McNair.
But Balog, a former assistant at
Class 6A power Central Catholic,
is preaching consistency to
his team.
“We want to be year-in and
year-out, to be considered an
elite 3A team in Western Pennsylvania
and across the state,”
Balog said. “That doesn’t mean
you’re just going to rip off
WPIALchampionshipsandstate
championships. … We want to
always prepare ourselves to be
in the talk and in the mix. …
The preparation has to be a step
higher.The focus has to be a step
higher.”
Cardinal Wuerl North
Catholic, a Class 2A semifinalist
last season, is the great unknown
in 3A this season. The
Trojans have a talented roster
led by one of the top juniors
in the state, linebacker Nikhai
Hill-Green. But they will be facing
a conference that includes
Derry, a WPIAL semifinalist in
2016 and playoff qualifier last
season; and playoff qualifiers
Elizabeth Forward and Freeport
in what appears likely to be a
hard-nosed, hard-hitting conference
battle.
“It’s harder to prepare, because
you really don’t know
what their schemes are going
into it,” Freeport coach John
Gaillot said. “I know North
Catholic lost in the semifinals
to Washington. I watched that
gameonTVand they have some
talented kids.Wedo too, but they
looked very good. I’ve heard that
Derry has just about everyone
back, so they’re going to be pretty
good. Elizabeth Forward was
somewhat young last year and
made the playoffs, and Mt. Pleasant
is always a good program.”
Sweeney said after the best
two-year run in school history,
Derry’s focus is on the future.
“The one refreshing thing
about coaching high school football
is that it changes so much
every single year,” Sweeney
said. “You could be the toast of
the town one year, and the next
year you could be awful.Andthe
converse of that is true as well,
where you could go from being
down in the dumper to the toast
of the town.”
by DOUG GULASy
1. Aliquippa (12-1)
The Quips appear poised for an
11th consecutive trip to the WPIAL
championship game with at least five
Division I recruits in tow. Four-star
cornerback M.J. Devonshire leads the
way, but don’t look past Will Gipson
and Solvauhn Moreland, both Ball
State commits; Deoveon Crute and
Larry Walker Jr., both of whom have
FBS and FCS offers; or returning
1,600-yard rusher Avanti McKenzie.
Preseason rankings
2. CW North Catholic (10-3)
3. Quaker Valley (14-1)
4. Keystone Oaks (5-4)
5. Freeport (7-3)
*RECORDS FROM 2017
THE STARS
A.J. ACKERMAN
Elizabeth Forward, sr., OL/DL
The 6-6, 290-pounder was a firstteam
all-conference selection as a
junior and committed to Towson in
June.
M.J. DEVONSHIRE JR.
Aliquippa, sr., DB/WR
A four-star cornerback, Devonshire’s
offer list includes Pitt, West Virginia,
Michigan State and Ohio State.
NIKHAI HILL-GREEN
CW North Catholic, jr., LB/RB
Ranked as the No. 3 junior-class
prospect in the state by Rivals and
should see more time on offense this
season.
RYAN JACKOVIC
Quaker Valley, sr., WR/DB
The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Jackovic
can line up at wide receiver or tight
end and linebacker or safety.
DUSTIN SHOAF
Yough, sr., RB/DB
He rushed for a school-record 1,808
yards last season, including 428
against Southmoreland.
DON’T MISS
8.31 Derry at Freeport
The 2017 playoff qualifiers were
slotted into the same conference by
realignment, and they will face each
other right away.
9.7 Quaker Valley at Aliquippa
Nothing like an early-season rematch
of the WPIAL championship game.
9.7 Freeport at
CW North Catholic
Freeport fielded one of the largest
rosters in the classification last
season. How will that compare with
North Catholic, which may lack
the roster size but has more than
enough skill as it makes the leap
from Class 2A?
QUAKER VALLEY’S ISAAC GUSS