QUIGLEY CATHOLIC HAS RICH SPORTS HISTORY
Ever since it opened in 1967, Quigley Catholic always participated in sports in the smallest WPIAL classification. But in more than five decades, the little private school in Beaver County had some big athletic moments, both with teams and individuals.
Did you know that Quigley was the first Catholic school to win a WPIAL football title? Or that one former Quigley basketball player scored the third-most points ever in a WPIAL girls basketball playoff game?
Those are some proud facts for Quigley, which will close at the end of the school year. The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh announced the closure last week because of financial issues and a lack of enrollment at the private school in Baden.
The school’s projected enrollment for the 2020-21 school year was only 93 students in grades 9-12. According to the most recent PIAA figures, Quigley already had the smallest girls enrollment in the WPIAL and the third-smallest boys enrollment. Quigley is one of two Catholic high schools in Pittsburgh that will close. Vincentian also will shut down because of the same financial and enrollment issues.
So, no teenager will ever don a Quigley Spartans uniform again. But over the years, Quigley had some Spartan-like efforts:
• Quigley won back-to-back WPIAL football championships in 1978-79 under coach Bob Babish. Although Quigley opened in 1967, it didn’t start a football program until a few years later, and joined the WPIAL in 1973. Five years later, Quigley became the first Catholic school to win a WPIAL football title when it defeated unbeaten Western Beaver, 14-8, at Geneva College. Quigley marched 75 yards in the final few minutes for the winning touchdown. Quarterback Joe Kristian and tight end Steve Bunecke connected five times during the winning drive, and Tim Kearney scored the winning touchdown on a 2-yard run with 41 seconds remaining.
• One year later, the same two teams met again for the championship at the same venue. Quigley prevailed again, 26-6, as quarterback John Kearney ran for two touchdowns and threw for one. The football program eventually folded twice at Quigley because of a lack of players. The last time was 1993.
• The championship football teams featured a star running back in Rod Jeter, who led the entire WPIAL in regular-season scoring during the 1979 regular season. Jeter was an outstanding athlete, a two-sport star who also averaged 22.3 points a game in basketball during the 1979-80 regular season. Jeter ended up signing with Kansas State for football.
• The 1979 football team had two Division I college football players. Besides Jeter, lineman Steve Peters signed with the Naval Academy. Peters became a WPIAL Class 2A wrestling champion in 1980 in the heavyweight division and went on to be a three-year letterman with the Navy football team.
• In 2016, Quigley girls basketball player Gabbie Smith had a performance to remember when she scored 47 points in a WPIAL firstround game against Imani Christian. It is the most points scored in a WPIAL Class 1A girls playoff game, and the third most in all classifications. Smith was the second-leading scorer in the WPIAL that season with a 30.1 average. No. 1 was Cali Konek of Imani at 45.9. When the two met in a first-round game at North Allegheny, it marked the first time in WPIAL girls history that the two leading scorers during the regular season met in a playoff game.
• The Quigley girls basketball team was one of the most successful programs in school history. Quigley won 14 girls section championships and the Spartans had a run of seven consecutive section championships from 2012-18. In five of those seasons, Quigley made it to the WPIAL semifinals. The 1989 team lost in the WPIAL Class 1A championship to St. Frances Academy.
• The Quigley baseball team never had much success until recently. It was only a year ago that Quigley made it to the WPIAL Class 1A semifinals. The team won its first section title in school history in 2018.
• The man most synonymous with Quigley sports is Ed Driscoll. The football stadium is named The Edward D. Driscoll Athletic Complex. Driscoll, a member of the Beaver County Sports Hall of Fame, coached wrestling, football, baseball, girls basketball and girls tennis in his long tenure at the school. He also was a teacher, longtime athletic director and vice-principal.