PITTSBURGH — Beaver Falls found themselves in a close matchup with Steel Valley in the WPIAL 2A Championship game Friday afternoon at Acrisure Stadium.
This was nothing new for Beaver Falls, who came into the playoffs as the No. 10 seed. After dealing with No. 7 Keystone Oaks, 20-7, in the First Round, they had to win two close games to make it to the Final. This included a 14-13 victory at No. 2 Neshannock in the Quarterfinals and then 28-26 over No. 3 Washington in the Semifinals.
The Tigers looked like they’d take the lead in the fourth quarter against the Ironmen, as they drove to the red zone. Ironmen senior defensive lineman Joe Ketterman forced a fumble on Tigers senior running back Da’talian Beauford, which allowed junior defensive tackle Rasaun Hough to pick up the ball and run 78 yards for the score to put his team up 12-6 after another failed 2-point conversion.
Beaver Falls then had one last drive to salvage something. Senior quarterback Kadin Brickner would complete two passes on fourth down to senior wide receiver Da’Sean Anderson, with the second one setting up a first down and goal from the four-yard line.
Beauford would make up for the fumble, by scoring the four-yard rushing touchdown and then rushing for the two-point conversion to give Beaver Falls the 14-12 lead.
“I knew once I scored, that I could get the two [point conversion] for the team,” Beauford said on his late touchdown. “My coach, he been relying on me a lot and I appreciate it. He gave the ball, he put the game in my hands and I got us the win.”
Despite a late drive from the Ironmen, Anderson would seal the game with a late interception in the end zone to secure the WPIAL Championship.
“It’s hard to put it into words, because they’ve been doing it all year,” Tigers head coach Nick Nardone said on his team’s comeback. “This team, like I keep saying to you guys, has been through so much. On the field, off the field. But when you look up the word family in the dictionary, you’re going to see the 2023 Beaver Falls Tigers. These kids love each other. These kids fight for each other. These kids pick each other up when one guy makes a mistake, next guy makes a play. They’ve been doing it all year long. That’s how you win championships.”
Special teams also played an important factor in the victory for Beaver Falls. Senior defensive back Michael Blackshear blocked two Steel Valley extra-points, which allowed for the winning two-point conversion later on. Beaver Falls also lost three games on special teams earlier in the season, making this win even more significant.
“We had that in all week, we had that block in” Nardone said. “The way those guys came off the edge, that’s just shows no quit. Teams could be down, you see some teams after team scores just kind of stand there, but these kids made those two plays and won us the game.”
The Tigers lost to the Ironman last season in the WPIAL 2A Championship Game, 34-14. The biggest changes between the two teams last season for Nardone came in how they responded to going down, which he said led them to the win late in this year’s matchup.
“Resiliency,” Nardone said. “We had a great, tremendous, talented team last year and they were great kids, but in certain situations, when things would go wrong, a fumble 70-yards for a touchdown, I think a lot of our kids would have their heads down. These kids never put their heads down. They just picked their heads up, they got right back on the field, and they knew if we went down, they could still win the game and they did.”
The No. 10 ranking also didn’t deter Beaver Falls. Nardone knew if his team kept improving and getting better towards the end of the regular season and through the playoffs, that they’d have a shot again at the WPIAL title.
“When you get a team playing the right kind of football this time of the season, rankings don’t matter.” Nardone said. “And yes, we had our lumps along the way, but this team started gelling and becoming a true team right when the First Round of the playoffs started. When these guys, we’ve been telling them all year, when they figure it out, there ain’t nobody that can beat them, and they pulled it together. Rankings were never a consideration for us.”
