PUP High School Football Game of the Week: Aliquippa at Montour (Week 8)

Every Wednesday, the PUP high school athletic staff will preview the game of the week.

Between the diamonds

WHO: Aliquippa (5-1, 3-0) at Montour (7-0, 3-0)

Where: Montour High School

When: Friday, 7 p.m

The trainers: Vasawn Patrick (Aliquippa); Lou Cerro (Montour)

When they last met: Quentin Goode passed for 272 yards and two touchdowns and Tikey Hayes ran for 100 yards and three touchdowns to help Aliquippa to a 42-18 win over Montour on Sept. 15 last year.

On deck: Aliquippa hosts Ambridge while Montour hosts West Allegheny.

This and that: It’s a showdown between the two top-ranked teams in WPIAL Class 4A as No. 2 Montour hosts No. 1 Aliquippa. At stake is the Parkway Conference title and likely the No. 1 seed in the WPIAL playoffs, which begin in two weeks. … Aliquippa handed Montour its only loss in the regular season a year ago. Will the Quips do it again? Aliquippa has won three straight games since a 21-13 non-conference loss at Class 5A Penn Hills. The Quips have scored at least 42 points in all but one of their wins and averaged 38.3 points per game, which ranks second in Class 4A. Meanwhile, Montour has the No. 1 scoring defense (10.8 ppg) and No. 3 offense (37.1 ppg). The Spartans have been particularly dominant in their last three games, outscoring their opponents 147-27. … Aliquippa continues to be led by the two-headed rushing attack of Tikey Hayes and Sa’Nir Brooks. Hayes rushed for 529 yards on 61 carries and scored 10 touchdowns, while Brooks racked up 464 yards on 69 carries for eight touchdowns. Hayes has rushed for 6,415 career yards, which ranks eighth in WPIAL history. Quarterback Marques Council, a first-year starter, is 41 of 81 for 721 yards and eight touchdowns. His favorite receiver was Arison Walker, who had 15 catches for 193 yards and two touchdowns. … Speaking of first-year quarterbacks, Montour has one of those, too. Trey Hopper has been a great replacement for Jake Wolfe as he is 84 of 138 for 1,844 yards and 20 touchdowns. He threw four touchdowns in four of Montour’s last five games. Andrew Alston (36 catches, 583 yards, 5 touchdowns) was Montour’s most productive receiver, while Daniel Batch was a deep threat with 13 catches for 504 yards (38.8 yards per catch). Batch has a team-high nine touchdowns. The ground attack was led by Caden Halajcio, who rushed for 670 yards on 133 carries and scored three touchdowns. … Defensively, Aliquippa’s top tacklers were Cleaster Longmire (80) and Tekoah Gilbert (56). Gilbert recorded a team-best four sacks. … Cole Midili (64) leads Montour in duels, Amirr Gary (50) and Kaleb Platz (49) are not far behind. Montour racked up 16 interceptions, with Alston and James Bundridge catching four each. … Montour has won 10 home games in a row, the last defeat came in 2022.

Expert selection (records in brackets)

Brad Everett (5-3): Aliquippa 27, Montour 24

John Santa (4-4): Aliquippa 21, Montour 20

Steve Rotstein (3-5): Montour 24, Aliquippa 20

On the radar

Woodland Hills at Franklin Regional, Friday, 7 p.m

Woodland Hills (6-2, 4-0) is one of the hottest teams in Class 5A. The Wolverines have won five straight and another win here would give them their first conference title since 2015. Cam Walter and Scoop Smith continue to be one of the most productive quarterback-receiver duos in the area, and that has helped the Wolverines average 35.6 points per game during the winning streak. Their last win was a one-point triumph against Gateway, a team that beat Franklin Regional by two points last month. There’s a lot at stake for Franklin Regional (6-2, 3-1) in this game as well. The Panthers can clinch a playoff spot while keeping their Big East Conference title hopes alive. Kyle Dupill (1,378 yards, 13 touchdowns) is one of the best rushers in the WPIAL.

Southmoreland at Elizabeth Forward, Friday, 7 p.m

Forty-five years. That’s how long it’s been since Southmoreland last won a conference title. But if the Scotties win on Friday, they’ll celebrate like it’s 1979. Southmoreland (7-1, 3-0) and Elizabeth Forward (5-3, 3-0) are currently tied for first place in the Class 3A Interstate Conference . Both teams have won four times in a row. Southmoreland freshman Anthony Smith has scored 10 touchdowns in the last three games and has 21 touchdowns this season, one of the top marks in the WPIAL. Elizabeth Forward has been strong defensively lately, giving up just 9.5 points per game during her winning streak. The Warriors beat Southmoreland 31-24 a season ago. Charlie Nigut had all four EF touchdowns and has a team-best 19 this season.

Monessen at Bishop Canevin, Saturday, 7 p.m

These teams have only suffered a total of three losses, all of which were at No. 1 in the rankings. Both lost to Class 1A Black Hills Conference rival Fort Cherry, while Canevin also lost to Class 2A No. 1 Seton LaSalle. Neither of these two will clinch the conference title, but the winner could advance to the playoffs as the most dangerous team that hasn’t won a conference title. Canevin (5-2, 3-1) is ranked No. 3 and Monessen (7-1, 3-1) is No. 4. Monessen’s Ty Kershaw is among the WPIAL’s rushing and touchdown leaders (1,141 yards, 25 touchdowns). . while Canevin’s Kole Olszewski is near the top of the district in passing (1,487 yards, 17 touchdowns). It’s been a while since these teams last met, the last meeting being in 2013.

PUP “underdog” to watch

Penn Hills (Plays North Hills Friday at 7 p.m.)

This is a good matchup of hot Class 5A Northeast Conference teams – North Hills (7-1, 3-1) has won four in a row and Penn Hills (4-4, 2-1) has won four of five – that we Can’t fully realize how good they are considering they combined for a win against a team with a winning record (Penn Hills’ 21-13 win over Aliquippa). North Hills’ only loss came against No. 2 Pine-Richland (29-24), while Penn Hills fell to Pine-Richland (31-21). North Hills is strong defensively and has given up 38 points in its last four games. Only Pine-Richland has scored more than 17 points against North Hills this season. But Penn Hills has put up the points and could pull off a little surprise with big games from quarterback Jay’mere Ellis and running back Naytel Mitchell.