Beaver Co. HS Football
Bishop McDevitt QB and Pitt/Penn State Class of 2025 Target Saunders Throws Five Touchdowns in Victory over Aliquippa
MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — Bishop McDevitt sophomore quarterback Stone Saunders played one of the best games of his high school career Thursday night.
He completed 10 of 16 passes for 167 yards, five touchdowns and a 215.8 quarterback rating in the 41-18 victory over Aliquippa in the PIAA Class 4A Championship Game at Harry C. Chapman III Memorial Field Thursday night.
“We worked so hard for this,” Saunders said after the game. “It feels so good to be here, look at the scoreboard and see that we came out on top. Couldn’t be happier.”
Saunders is a class of 2025 quarterback and holds a plethora of offers from Division I Power Five schools. This includes Pitt, but others like Georgia, Michigan and Texas A&M. Four other ACC schools offered Saunders in Boston College, Louisville, Syracuse and Virginia Tech and three other Big Ten teams offered Saunders in Minnesota, Maryland and Wisconsin.
He completed four touchdowns to senior wide receiver Tyshawn Russell, who holds offers from Maine, Central Michigan, Virginia Tech and South Carolina.
The first scoring play between the duo came on the first play of the initial Crusaders drive, a 70-yard touchdown off a quick slant route. No Quips players were in the secondary, allowing Russell to run all the way for the easy touchdown.
Two others came on short slant routes and another on a go-route on a lofted pass in that Russell caught in the end zone for a 28-yard touchdown.
“Tyshawn [Russell] played insane,” Saunders said. “That was so great. He made so many great catches for us to lead us to this great victory.”
Saunders completed another touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Rico Scott on another slant route. Scott is a four-star Class of 2024 player, who holds offers from Pitt, Penn State and West Virginia. He also earned offers from Power 5 schools that Saunders did, but switching out Auburn for Georgia.
The only blemish on Saunders’ game saw him throw three interceptions. This including two interceptions on back-to-back drives, one of which saw Aliquippa star sophomore running back/defensive back Tiqwai Hayes return it 55 yards for a touchdown.
Winning a state championship understates how impressive Saunders played this season. He completed 195 passes for 3,583 yards and 54 touchdowns compared to just five interceptions.
“Big time players make big time plays in big time games” Saunders said on his performance against Aliquippa. “I classify myself as a big time player. Just got to put those picks away.”
Saunders credited his team for their improvement over the past year after losing to Aliquippa in the state final in 2021. He said that his offensive line improved their blocking game, which benefited his passing game and the rushing attack as well. this year.
“100%, 100%,” Saunders said on if the loss to Aliquippa last year motivated the team. “I mean we could’ve done it without last year, but last year helped and fueled us. We just worked for this the whole time.”
