'Why not us?': Aliquippa rallies from behind yet again to capture PIAA Class 4A title

HERSHEY — Before the clock could even hit triple zeroes, Mike Warfield was on the run. 

With his headset on the ground and a smile on his face, the Aliquippa football head coach did his best to evade more than a dozen of his players who were chasing after him with a large cooler of Gatorade. 

His efforts were unsuccessful. On the concrete track behind the Aliquippa bench Warfield was captured and doused with a celebratory sports drink shower. In the freezing cold weather, he and his players jumped with joy. 

By then, it was official. The scoreboard read Aliquippa 34, Bishop McDevitt 27. The Quips were state champions. 

"I probably wouldn't have believed you if you told me this summer that this is how our season would end," Warfield told the Times after the win. "This shows the resiliency and the competitive spirit of our kids." 

The Quips' victory in the PIAA Class 4A final at Hersheypark Stadium was a microcosm of their entire season. Early on there were struggles, which were met with composure and confidence. Once again, with its back against the wall, Aliquippa didn't blink. The result is the sweet view of a championship trophy, next to an oversized Hershey bar. 

"It feels pretty amazing," junior Isaiah Martinez said. "Coming up short all these years and then finally coming through, it's amazing." 

Down 13-0 before it even touched the football, Aliquippa showed no signs of panic. Warfield's team had trailed by multiple scores on two separate occasions earlier this postseason.

There was no big rah-rah speech that got Aliquippa going. Instead it was a mantra the team has clung to since the early days of the regular season. 

"We call the play and we say, 'Why not us,'" said freshman running back Tiqwai Hayes,  who ended the night with 141 yards rushing on 32 carries. "I heard that and said, 'Why not me scoring?' I just played it out." 

That small saying served as the spark. On his third carry of the game, Hayes ran up the middle for a 42-yard touchdown.

Less than a minute later, Cameron Lindsey turned the spark into a wild fire. On second and 10, he intercepted Crusaders quarterback Stone Saunders and returned it for a 34-yard score. The lead Bishop McDevitt built in the blink of an eye vanished just as fast. 

"We've been in that position before," Lindsey said. "Last year and this year too. We just had to calm down. We just had to relax. The moment got to us for a second, but once we cooled off we were able to play free." 

The two teams would trade scores in the second quarter — the score was tied 20-20 at halftime — and have a quiet start to the second half. That was until senior Cyair Clark decided it was time to make Quip Nation stand up and shout. 

With the ball in McDevitt's territory on fourth down and seven, the Quips dialed something up for a playmaker who has continually come through in a big way during their postseason run. 

A perfectly placed jump ball from Quentin Goode allowed for Clark — listed at only 5-foot-8 — to soar over top of a pair of defenders and come down with a circus catch to set his team up with a chance to take the lead. Just three plays later, Hayes finished the job, scoring from two yards out to put Aliquippa ahead for good. 

"I knew it was coming to me," Clark said. "I trusted (Goode) to get the ball to me. I knew I just had to catch it and we'd roll as a team from there." 

Clark, who ended the night with three catches for 75 yards, came up with another big catch the following drive. Once again, Hayes took advantage of his senior teammate's efforts, finding the end zone for the third time to put Aliquippa ahead by two scores. 

The lead would be cut in half with just over three minutes remaining. An 18-yard touchdown reception from Marquese Williams created pressure for the Quips, but Warfield's group refused to crack. 

The following drive Aliquippa slammed the door and it was the big men up front who jammed it shut. With the ball on their own 43 needing just one yard on fourth down to secure the win, juniors Naquan Crowder and Jason McBride, the left side of the Aliquippa offensive line, told their coach what needed to happen. And he listened. 

"That's what we do," Crowder said. "If it's fourth and one, fourth and three, it don't matter. We'll go for it, whatever. We got them big dogs. You see the size. We ain't scared to run the ball at no team. Their size against our size. We're going to win that game; I promise you that." 

The group known as the "Trench Dawgs" got the job done. Crowder and McBride cleared a big enough hole for Hayes to scamper through. It came down to a measurement but the ball exceeded the placement of the furthest distance chain. 

With a new set of downs, a lead and the opponent out of timeouts, it was clear — Aliquippa, a Class 1A school in size, had pulled off the improbable and secured the 2021 Class 4A state championship. 

While few fail to recognize the rich tradition of the Aliquippa football program, many believed that the idea of this group winning a PIAA crown was out of the question. 

All season long, the Quips heard their doubters. The team was too young, was missing too many players and was playing in a classification that was too high. The Quips chose to do their talking in the huddle, on the field and on the scoreboard. 

Thursday night's result delivered a loud and clear message. 

"We just showed ya'll why it is us," Goode said with the state championship trophy in his hands and a big smile. 

Contact Noah Hiles at nhiles@gannett.com. Follow him on twitter @_NoahHiles.