CLARION — Aliquippa’s offseason has been nothing short of a roller coaster ride for the program from lawsuits that looked to force the program to play up yet another classification , to its program’s longtime head coach taking a leave of absence.
Now with all the dust settled, the Quips can focus on its main goal, which is defending its WPIAL and state titles once again in the WPIAL Class 4A, this time with longtime assistant coach Vashawn Patrick leading the team.
For Patrick, with all of the noise in the rearview mirror, he is focused on getting his program ready for the regular season and making sure his players get better each passing day.
“I am pleased with how things are going,” Patrick told the Beaver County Times after the first day of camp at Memorial Stadium in Clarion. “We just want to continue to get better and get after it. I told the kids that we want to get one percent better every day and if we do that we are going to be fine at the end of the year.”
From the outside looking in, Aliquippa lost a number of its core this past season including quarterback Quentin Goode, Pitt linebacker Cameron Lindsey, Yale defensive back Brandon Banks and Robert Morris defensive end Jayace Williams who all graduated and went on to play at the Division I level.
But even though there were massive holes on the Quips roster, Aliquippa knew its next man under center with Marques Council Jr. taking over for Goode, the program’s all-time leader passer with over 5,000 career yards with the Quips.
More: High school football in the Beaver Valley: Coverage for the 2024 football season
Council, who in his sophomore season, got several in-game reps under center last season and is confident heading into his first season as the starting quarterback with his offensive unit looking to rally around him as well.
“I am feeling confident heading into the season," Council said. "I know that my team has a lot of confidence in me and I have a lot of confidence in them, so as long as they are behind me throughout the season, we are going to have a great season.”
Along with Council, running back Tikey Hayes returns for his senior season with the Quips and he comes into his final high school season on the heels of a 2,000-yard season, finding the end zone 26 times.
Patrick knows that Hayes is a valuable asset on the offensive side of the ball but watching the senior lead on Monday was a special sight to see.
“Tikey’s main thing this year is that he just wants to see his teammates get better each day,” Patrick said. “He is a true leader because on a day like today, all we did was special teams and he was a leader doing that even though he might not even be on the special teams unit. He’s stepping up and showing these guys what to do.”
Head coach: Vashawn Patrick (First Year as Head Coach, 16th year overall with the program)
2023 record: (14-0, 7-0 Parkway Conference)
Top players lost: Quentin Goode, Cameron Lindsey, Brandon Banks, Jon Tracy, Braylon Wilcox, Kamari Matthew, Demarcus Walker, Jayace Williams
Top players returning: Tikey Hayes, Arison Walker, Rico Miller, Qalil Goode, Lester Longmire, Justus Starks, Myles Greene, Shamar Underwood
Offense: Marques Council Jr. will have big shoes to fill this season taking over under center for the Quip's all-time passing leader in Quentin Goode, who graduated at the end of the 2024 school year. But even though Council is in his first year as the team’s quarterback, he still has a solid supporting cast around him, including Penn State commit running back Tikey Hayes, who will look to take some of the pressure off of Council. Along with Hayes, the Quips also return Arison Walker, along with receiver Josh Lay, who will both look to make a considerable impact on the offensive side of the ball. Along with the returning starters, the Quips also will be able to use Sa’Nir Brooks in the backfield to take off some of the workload of Hayes after Brooks transferred from Central Catholic to Aliquippa following his freshman season in Oakland. Even though this offensive unit might not have the same pieces from a year ago, Aliquippa will be able to find success with the new pieces filling in the voids due to its previous experience at the varsity level.
Defense: Though the Quips' defense lost all-state linebacker Cameron Lindsey and defensive lineman Jayace Williams, the Quips return all-state defensive back Arison Walker along with Qalil Goode, who made many splash players last season, including three interceptions in the team’s state championship victory over Dallas. Along with Goode and Walker, the Quips also return fellow defensive back Lester Longmire, who will pair nicely with the other returners. Along with the returners, defensive back Joseph “JJ” Work comes into the Aliquippa program after spending two seasons with Central Valley, defensive back Larry Moon transfers into the Aliquippa program after spending his freshman year at Central Catholic, and West Virginia commit Davieon Taylor transfers into the Aliquippa program after spending time at Bishop Canevin. With the additions of the transfers coming into the Quips program, Aliquippa will be a hard defensive unit to crack throughout the season with its budding stars and strong collegiate recruits.
Classification: 4A
Last WPIAL title: 2023
Last WPIAL playoff appearance: 2023
WPIAL titles: 20
Schedule
8/30 7 p.m. Vs. Belle Vernon
9/6 7 p.m. at. Avonworth
9/13 7 p.m. Vs. Mars
9/20 7 p.m. at. Penn Hills
9/27 7 p.m. Vs. New Castle
10/4 7 p.m. at. West Allegheny
10/11 7 p.m. at. Blackhawk
10/18 7 p.m. at. Montour
10/25 7 p.m. Vs. Ambridge
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Aliquippa looks to continue postseason success under new head coach Vashawn Patrick
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