WPIAL Class 3A breakdown: Playoff berths at premium in two-conference format

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, August 18, 2018 | 7:13 PM

Quaker Valley had the type of 2017 season that could inspire storybooks or sports movies, winning its first WPIAL and PIAA championships under a coach who was hired out of the press box just before training camp.

The Quakers’ reward? A 2018 season that starts with three perennial powerhouses in Central Valley, Aliquippa and Beaver Falls.

As new coach Ron Balog put it, “Welcome to me, right?”

That’s the nature of the best this season in Class 3A, which became smaller in size but appears potentially more daunting for playoff hopefuls. Competition for the eight playoff bids looks strong on paper, even with just 18 teams.

“The section is brutal,” said Balog of Quaker Valley’s Tri-County West, which includes traditional Beaver County rivals Aliquippa, Beaver Falls, Central Valley and Hopewell, in addition to newcomers Keystone Oaks, South Park and Waynesburg. “And then the (classification) itself … my goodness, it’s a dogfight.”

The past two seasons, the Class 3A storyline focused on the scarcity of playoff bids, with only eight for 20-plus teams. Fewer teams remain for those spots, and Derry coach Tim Sweeney would like to see the competition ramped up even more.

“When we were in Triple-A last year, I thought they had it right with eight teams making it and we had three conferences with two automatic (qualifiers) and two (wild cards),” Sweeney said. “But this whole thing about having less than 20 teams in Triple-A and eight making the playoffs is a joke.”

The realignment that came in the offseason truncated the three conferences down to two, with teams south and west going into one and north and east into the other. Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic jumped from Class 2A to 3A, joining the Big East with Burrell, Deer Lakes, Derry, Elizabeth Forward, Freeport, Mt. Pleasant, Uniontown and Yough.

Some of the biggest offseason news in the classification came via coaching changes, after Aliquippa ousted longtime coach Mike Zmijanac. But new coach Mike Warfield, a former Quips quarterback, knows full well the program tradition — which includes 10 consecutive trips to the WPIAL championship game — and with a loaded roster entering the fall, the team appears poised for another stop at Heinz Field.

“I think they have a sense of feeling they have a lot to prove,” Warfield said. “That’s expected at Aliquippa, though. Our standards are so high. Those standards are still there. There’s nothing changed since I’m there, or whoever’s there. We’re going to try to keep them.”

Aliquippa’s roster includes five players with FBS or FCS offers, including four-star cornerback M.J. Devonshire Jr., and the Quips are more than familiar with the feeling of being the favorite.

That’s a new role for Quaker Valley, which stunned the favored Quips, 2-0, in the WPIAL championship game last season and then finished a magical run to the state title under interim coach Jerry Veshio. Balog will lead the Quakers as they make the transition from hunter to hunted.

It won’t be easy: The 2017 Quakers were loaded with seniors, including top playmakers Ricky Guss and Isaiah McNair. But Balog, a former assistant at Class 6A power Central Catholic, is preaching consistency to his team.

“We want to be year-in and year-out, to be considered an elite 3A team in Western Pennsylvania and across the state,” Balog said. “That doesn’t mean you’re just going to rip off WPIAL championships and state championships. … We want to always prepare ourselves to be in the talk and in the mix. … The preparation has to be a step higher. The focus has to be a step higher.”

Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, a Class 2A semifinalist last season, is the great unknown in 3A this season. The Trojans have a talented roster led by one of the top juniors in the state, linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green. But they will be facing a conference that includes Derry, a WPIAL semifinalist in 2016 and playoff qualifier last season; and playoff qualifiers Elizabeth Forward and Freeport in what appears likely to be a hard-nosed, hard-hitting conference battle.

“It’s harder to prepare, because you really don’t know what their schemes are going into it,” Freeport coach John Gaillot said. “I know North Catholic lost in the semifinals to Washington. I watched that game on TV and they have some talented kids. We do too, but they looked very good. I’ve heard that Derry has just about everyone back, so they’re going to be pretty good. Elizabeth Forward was somewhat young last year and made the playoffs, and Mt. Pleasant is always a good program.”

Sweeney said after the best two-year run in school history, Derry’s focus is on the future.

“The one refreshing thing about coaching high school football is that it changes so much every single year,” Sweeney said. “You could be the toast of the town one year, and the next year you could be awful. And the converse of that is true as well, where you could go from being down in the dumper to the toast of the town.”

THE FAVORITE

1. Aliquippa (12-1)

The Quips appear poised for an 11th consecutive trip to the WPIAL championship game with at least five Division I recruits in tow. Four-star cornerback M.J. Devonshire leads the way, but don’t look past Will Gipson and Solvauhn Moreland, both Ball State commits; Deoveon Crute and Larry Walker Jr., both of whom have FBS and FCS offers; or returning 1,600-yard rusher Avanti McKenzie.

Preseason rankings

2. CW North Catholic (10-3)

3. Quaker Valley (14-1)

4. Keystone Oaks (5-4)

5. Freeport (7-3)

*Records from 2017

THE STARS

A.J. ACKERMAN

Elizabeth Forward, sr., OL/DL

The 6-6, 290-pounder was a first-team all-conference selection as a junior and committed to Towson in June.

M.J. DEVONSHIRE JR.

Aliquippa, sr., DB/WR

A four-star cornerback, Devonshire’s offer list includes Pitt, West Virginia, Michigan State and Ohio State.

Nikhai Hill-Green

CW North Catholic, jr., LB/RB

Ranked as the No. 3 junior-class prospect in the state by Rivals and should see more time on offense this season.

Ryan Jackovic

Quaker Valley, sr., WR/DB

The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Jackovic can line up at wide receiver or tight end and linebacker or safety.

Dustin Shoaf

Yough, sr., RB/DB

He rushed for a school-record 1,808 yards last season, including 428 against Southmoreland.

DON’T MISS

8.31 Derry at Freeport

The 2017 playoff qualifiers were slotted into the same conference by realignment, and they will face each other right away.

9.7 Quaker Valley at Aliquippa

Nothing like an early-season rematch of the WPIAL championship game.

9.7 Freeport at CW North Catholic

Freeport fielded one of the largest rosters in the classification last season. How will that compare with North Catholic, which may lack the roster size but has more than enough skill as it makes the leap from Class 2A?

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Doug at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.

Tags: Aliquippa, Freeport, Keystone Oaks, Quaker Valley