ALIQUIPPA, Pa. — Central Valley clinched the Class-3A Tri-County West Conference title with a dominant 45-6 victory over rivals Aliquippa at Carl Ashman Stadium on Friday night.
This Beaver County rivalry came one year after Central Valley upset Aliquippa 14-8 in last year’s final game of the regular season, which gave the Quips their only loss of the season, before they went on to win WPIAL and PIAA titles.
In this year’s edition of the Beaver County battle, Central Valley once again jumped out early on the Quips. And the Warriors never really looked back.
Aliquippa’s Vernon Redd fumbled on the first play of the game for the Quips and the football was recovered by Central Valley’s Matt Merritt.
The Warriors took advantage of the Quips cough up and Central Valley quarterback Ameer Dudley took a run up the middle for a seven-yard Warrior touchdown, just two plays later, that gave them an early 7-0 lead.
With just a little over a minute left in the first quarter, Aliquippa made another crucial mistake and fumbled a snap on a punt attempt. The Warriors took over again, this time on the Quips 32-yard line.
Central Valley marched to the end zone and it was capped off by a Jaylen Guy four-yard Warrior touchdown.
On the next Aliquippa possession, running back Antonio Quinn fumbled and Central Valley’s Reed Fitzsimmons returned it for a 24-yard touchdown to give the Warriors an early 21-0 lead.
This was the first game that Aliquippa gave up more than 14 points in any of their first nine games.
With 9:22 left in the second half, Central Valley’s Ameer Dudley hits Juwon Hall for a 49-yard touchdown pass down the middle of the field. The Warriors took a 28-0, early in the second quarter.
Aliquippa could not get anything going on the offensive end and a lot of their struggles had to do with the play and speed of Central Valley’s defense.
With 5:42 left in the first half, Central Valley’s Ethan Ott converted on a 30-yard field goal for the Warriors and they boosted their lead to 31-0.
On fourth-and-three with just over a minute left in the first half, Central Valley’s Juwon Hall runs in a three-yard touchdown to give the Warriors a 38-0 advantage.
Mercy-rule was in play for the entire second half on Friday at “The Pit,” because of Central Valley’s dominance over the Quips.
Running back Antonio Quinn showed some life for the Quips offense, but penalties and turnovers ruined any momentum that Aliquippa had going for them.
Central Valley was the first to strike in the second half with 43-seconds left in the third quarter on a 35-yard touchdown pass from Ameer Dudley to Juwon Hall.
Antonio Quinn erased the shutout for the Quips and ran in a four-yard touchdown with 7:28 left in the game.
The game ended with a final score of 45-6, in favor of the Warriors.
Head coach Mark Lyons and Central Valley move to 9-1, 7-0 and take home the Tri-County West conference title with an incredible performance against the Quips on the final game of the regular season.
The Warriors will likely be the No. 1 seed in the Class-3A WPIAL playoffs that start next weekend. Aliquippa, despite the big loss, will probably get the No. 2 seed.
