Aliquippa freshman quickly goes on run
Hayes is among some of best RBs in WPIAL history
Aliquippa’s Tiqwai Hayes was down the running back depth chart when the season started. That’s often the place for freshman players.
But as Aliquippa heads into a WPIAL championship this week, Hayes finds himself sharing company with some of the most productive freshman running backs in WPIAL history.
Hayes has made quite the jump from backup to key player for the Quips. Injuries allowed him to move up the depth chart to starter and when Aliquippa plays Belle Vernon for the WPIAL Class 4A championship Saturday at Heinz Field, this nifty ninth-grader will enter the game with 1,380 yards on 163 carries. Hayes (5 feet 9, 170 pounds) rushed 41 times for 228 yards in an overtime victory against McKeesport Friday in the semifinals.
When you compare Hayes’ numbers to the freshman statistics of the leading rushers in WPIAL history, you wonder if Hayes might one day end up as one of the WPIAL’s all-time leading rushers? Hayes’ freshman statistics are comparable — and even better — than the most prolific runners in league history.
Hopewell’s Rushel Shell is the WPIAL’s all-time leading rusher with 9,708 yards on 1,107 carries. He rushed for 1,516 yards as a freshman in 2008, only 136 more than Hayes has right now.
Fort Cherry’s Mike Vernillo is second behind Shell with 7,646 yards, and Vernillo ran for 1,613 as a freshman in 1996.
Hayes’ rushing total is better than the freshman totals for the next three runners on the WPIAL’s all-time list. Clairton’s Lamont Wade rushed for 636 as a freshman in 2013, Armstrong’s Zane Dudek 793 in 2013 and PennTrafford’s Matt Gavrish 1,162 in 1994.
For certain, Hayes is one to watch in the WPIAL final — and the next three seasons.
‘The other one’s better’
After Mt. Lebanon beat Central Catholc, 47-7, Saturday in the WPIAL Class 6A championship at Norwin High School, Mt. Lebanon coach Bob Palko gathered his team around him on the field and all the players took a knee as they had their eyes focused on their coach, who had won his ninth WPIAL title.
Palko almost got emotional before telling his team, “It’s amazing what you guys can accomplish when you guys put all that stuff aside and play together as one to have a common goal. Hey, 21 years this place waited for this. That’s great, but the other one’s better.”
Palko was referring Mt. Lebanon’s previous WPIAL title in 2000, but also to a state championship. Palko won eight WPIAL titles and one PIAA championship at West Allegheny. He also took two other teams to the PIAA title game before losing. The quarterback for the West Allegheny teams that made the PIAA championships was Palko’s son, Tyler, who was on the field Saturday at Norwin after the
game. Palko’s other son, Luke, also was on the field after the win. Luke was a receiver for his brother when West Allegheny won a state championships in 2001.
“We’ll enjoy this we’ll set our plan and quest to keep moving forward,” Bob Palko told his team. “I’m proud of you and I’m happy for you.”
Mt. Lebanon will play a home game Friday night against McDowell in the PIAA quarterfinals. The winner of that game will play in the semifinals Dec. 34 against the winner of State
College and Harrisburg.
More 6A numbers
• Not only was Mt. Lebanon’s 47-7 victory the biggest blowout in more than 100 years of championship games in the largest classification, and the most points scored by one team in a large school title game, Mt. Lebanon’s 438 total yards offense were the third-most since 2000 in a championship in the largest classification. Central Catholic was also on the wrong end of the two other games. In 2017, PineRichland had 482 yards in a 42-7 victory against Central Catholic. In 2001, Woodland Hills had 523 yards in a 41-6 victory against Central Catholic.
• Central Catholic had only 138 total yards against Mt. Lebanon. Two years ago, Central Catholic had only 138 yards in the title game, but beat Pine-Richland, 10-7.
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• Some folks took to Twitter to criticize Mt. Lebanon for trying an onside kick after the Blue Devils took a 497 lead. Palko gave reason for the move after the game.
“There was nothing to trying to rub it in or anything like that,” Palko said. “We were ready to kick the ball, Central Catholic wasn’t on the field and the ref blew the whistle. So we just yelled out to our guys, ‘Kick the ball, kick the ball.’ So they kicked it.”
• One of Mt. Lebanon’s top players is receiver-defensive back Eli Heidenreich, who is a Navy recruit. The previous time Mt. Lebanon won a WPIAL title in 2000, one of the Blue Devils’ top players was another Navy recruit — running back Sam Mathews. Mathews played a season at Navy before transferring to Pennsylvania.
• It’s funny how things work out sometimes. Jaymar Pearson left Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and transferred to Sto-Rox for his senior year. Sto-Rox was undefeated, but was upset by Serra in the Class 2A semifinals. But Our Lady of the Sacred Heart has made it to the Class 1A championship.
• Belle Vernon quarterback
Devin Whitlock has scored 56 touchdowns over the past three seasons. Wonder where Whitlock would be had he stayed at Moneseen and not transferred to Belle Vernon after his freshman year?
• Steel Valley’s Nijhay Burt led the WPIAL in rushing in the regular season, but suffered a fractured ankle in a quarterfinal game and did not play in Steel Valley’s loss Friday to Beaver Falls in the Class 2A quarterfinals. That means that, since 1990, the WPIAL’s leading rusher has made it to a championship game only four times. They are Rochester’s Essex Law ( 1991), McGuffey’s Jason Barr (1993), Hopewell’s Rushel Shell (2009) and Washington’s Shai McKenzie (2012).