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Jersey Shore’s season comes to end in state semifinals with loss to Aliquippa

By Chris Masse 10 min read

EBENSBURG--Fans stood and applauded before overtaking the football field and celebrating with their football heroes.

The scene unfolding following Friday night’s Class AAAA state semifinal against Aliquippa really looked no different than the 14 previous games Jersey Shore played this season.

The only difference lay bare on the scoreboard hanging above the south end zone. For the first time in 370 days, Jersey Shore was on the wrong side of it. Make no mistake, though, those fans let the Bulldogs know they remained winners and with good reason.

Jersey Shore won more games than any team in a school history that extends beyond 100 years. The Bulldogs finished 14-1, captured fourth straight district and league championships and reached a third consecutive Final Four.

They nearly made it back to the state final, too. Aliquippa, however, flipped the script, erasing a late first-half 10-point deficit and scoring 27 straight points in 6 minutes, 8 seconds to rally for a 41-16 victory at Central Cambria High School. Aliquippa (12-1) advances to Thursday’s state championship against Bishop McDevitt.

While disappointed it will not play in that game for a second consecutive season, Jersey Shore soon will understand how much it achieved.

"A lot of people didn’t think we would go this far this year. I told the team we ran into a tough outfit but I’m really, really happy with all the seniors and everyone’s efforts," Jersey Shore coach Tom Gravish said. "Some of them were part of four straight district championships and PHAC championships. It’s not easy making the Final Four three years in a row. It takes a lot of work, a lot of dedication and I’m just so proud of them."

Jersey Shore returned just four starters from last year’s team and featured just six seniors. But these hard-working, resilient, tough Bulldogs lived their motto, ‘Tradition never graduates.’ Jersey Shore rallied for two early-season exciting wins against Selinsgrove and Montoursville before pounding their next 10 opponents and winning two more state tournament games, bringing their total to six the past three years.

The ending was not what Jersey Shore wanted, but it was one of just four teams remaining in the state yet again. Another title banner would have been nice, but these Bulldogs did not need another banner to validate their status as champions. Their play proved that all year.

"The seniors really helped us out. They brought the torch for us and we kept it going," wide receiver Connor Griffin said after catching 5 passes for 109 yards. "We wanted it so bad. They (the seniors) kept it going; it’s all about them."

"We lost a lot of seniors and that was hard on us, but we had six seniors this year and we all stepped up," senior lineman Donald Steinbacher said after battling hard against the much larger Quips. "The younger kids really stepped up and filled some spots for us. This season was all I could ask for."

It looked like this storybook season might be headed for its most exciting chapter as Jersey Shore dominated the game’s first 17 minutes and built a 10-0 lead. The defense was relentless, shutting down a running game that had dominated its previous opponents and Jersey Shore allowed just 16 yards as well as no first downs on the Quips’ first five series.

But everything started changing when Aliquippa took over at its own 17-yard line with 5:12 remaining in the half. Quarterback Quentin Goode completed four first-down passes on third-and-long situations and Aliquippa moved 83 yards on 19 plays with Tiqwai Hayes’s 1-yard touchdown as time expired making it, 10-7.

Revitalized, Aliquippa needed just one play to take a lead it would never relinquish. On the third-quarter’s first play, Goode avoided a sack, rolled left and spotted Dorius Moreland down the left sideline. Moreland caught the ball near the 40 and went the rest of the way untouched, giving Aliquippa a 14-10 lead. Cameron Lindsey followed that offensive firework with a blast of his own, returning an interception 11-yard touchdown. And when apparent multiple clips were not called on Cyair Clark’s 91-yard punt return touchdown, the Quips had scored 27 points in three ways to dramatically alter the game’s complexion.

"Lou Holtz always said the last five minutes of the half and the first five minutes of the second half sometimes are really big in championship football games. That was true tonight" Gravish said. “The last five minutes and how they responded to come out early with that momentum and score again was big."

"What was key was us scoring at the end of the second quarter," said Aliquippa coach Mike Warfield, who addressed Jersey Shore post game and offered several kind words. "Athletics and real good competition is a game of runs and we got our run at the end of the second quarter and in the third quarter and were able to maintain that. I have mad respect for that team. They made it really tough on us."

Aliquippa has embraced challenges throughout its program’s district history and this is one of its most impressive achievements yet. Aliquippa has a Class A enrollment and graduates just 72 students but voluntarily moved up to Class AAA and won the 2018 state crown. The PIAA competition rule bumped it up to 4A last year and now the Quips are back again.

Jersey Shore pulled within 27-16 late in the third quarter when Kooper Peacock made a big third-down catch and Brady Jordan followed with a 1-yard touchdown but Aliquippa used the big play to seal a big win. Clark caught a 45-yard pass on 3rd-and-11 before Hayes, a freshman who already has a Penn State offer, ripped off a 37-yard touchdown on the next play. Clark capped his brilliant performance late in the game, returning an interception 26 yards and making it, 41-16.

"I’m so happy. I’m with them every day to see how hard they work," Warfield said. "Playing up three classes is tough. We don’t have the numbers to match up at times. When you play good, quality teams week after week after week it wears on you. It’s difficult at times, but I’m proud of these kids and they kept fighting."

So did Jersey Shore. Effort was never the issue Friday. Aliquippa simply made more plays but Jersey Shore was giving all it could until the final seconds ticked away.

Aliquippa won the game, but Jersey Shore was never defeated.

"We really wanted it. We weren’t giving up," Griffin said. "We were really trying."

Griffin nearly took the game’s first play all the way, hauling in a 40-yard pass. The way that drive ended, though, offered a harbinger. An offensive line going against a unit featuring multiple 300-pounders blocked well and different Bulldogs kept making plays throughout the first half. The first series, however, ended with an interception.

Two possessions later, Jersey Shore skillfully mixed the run and pass following Kooper Peacock’s 18-yard punt return and had a 2nd-and-goal at the 3-yard line. A third down sack, though, forced a field goal try and that was blocked.

A touchdown was dropped on the next possession but Breck Miller’s 25-yard field goal put Jersey Shore ahead, 3-0. Sledge-hammer like runs by Elijah Jordan and Haydn Packer ignited another drive and this time Jersey Shore pounced. Jordan (213 passing yards) avoided a sack on third-and-18, rolled right and found Dathan Tyson at the 1-yard line. Tyson deftly avoided the tackler and completed the 26-yard scoring play as Jersey Shore went up, 10-0.

The Bulldogs were on the move again a series later and Aliquippa looked staggered. The Quips were able to stop Elijah Jordan for two yards on 3rd-and-4, forced a punt from their 36 and responded with their game-changing 83-yard touchdown drive.

The final score does not reflect how close this game was. Ultimately, not scoring more on those early chances proved fatal.

"If we cashed in the red zone, it would have made a big difference," Steinbacher said. "Mistakes we usually don’t make we made today and if you take them away it might have been a different game."

Take away the Hayes 37-yard touchdown run and the defense allowed just 63 rushing yards on 34 attempts against a team featuring a 365-pounder and 345-pounder. Linebackers Haydn Packer and Karter Peacock were forces again. Defensive ends Connor Davis and Tate Sechrist kept meeting up in the backfield with Davis knocking down two passes and Sechrist adding a sack for an 11-yard loss. Kooper Peacock added a sack as well.

Jordan went over 2,000 yards passing for the season and Cayden Hess capped the best receiving career in area history in gallant fashion. Hess injured on side of his groin on the early interception before pulling the other side jumping high for a pass in the end zone later in the first half. Still, he caught 4 passes for 48 yards, helped set up the second-quarter touchdown with a 26-yard catch and closed his career with 198 catches.

That gritty mentality was shared throughout the team. Jersey Shore encountered obstacles all season and kept knocking them down. Aliquippa ended the 2021 season but the march goes on.

And maybe what looked like an ending Friday is just a start heading into 2022. The tradition continues.

"I think this loss is going to get us ready for that game. I think we’re going to get it next year," Griffin said. "We’re going for it. That’s all we want."

"All we (seniors) can do now is pass the torch onto the younger kids and hopefully they do better than us," Steinbacher said. "That’s all I can ask for."

All Jersey Shore’s grateful fans can do is thank their Bulldogs for everything they gave.

Aliquippa 41, Jersey Shore 16

Aliquippa 0 7 20 14--41

Jersey Shore 3 7 6 0--16

First Quarter

J--Breck Miller 25-yard field goal, 1:23

Second Quarter

J--Dathan Tyson 26 pass from Brady Jordan (Miller kick), 9:37

A--Tiqwai Hayes 1 run (Emmanuel Gyandu-Mantley kick), 0:00

Third Quarter

A--Dorius Moreland 83 pass from Quentin Goode (Gyandu-Mantley kick), 11:40

A--Cameron Lindsey 11-yard interception return (Gyandu-Mantley kick), 8:23

A--Cyair Clark 91-yard punt return (kick blocked), 6:08

J--Jordan 1 run (kick failed), 0:03

Fourth Quarter

A--Hayes 37 run (Gyandu-Mantley kick), 10:13

A--Clark 26-yard interception return (Gyandu-Mantley kick), 1:40

TEAM STATISTICS A J

First Downs 15 17

Rushes-yards 36-100 33-71

Passing yards 203 213

Total yards 303 284

Comp-Att-Int 8-21-0 15-37-3

Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-0

Penalties-yards 9-76 7-50

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Aliquippa, Tiqwai Hayes 20-76, 2 TD; John Tracy 11-43; Isaiah Martinez 2-2; Quentin Goode 2-(-5); Donovan Walker 1-(-16). Jersey Shore, Haydn Packer 11-57; Elijah Jordan 9-34; Kooper Peacock 1-12; Brady Jordan 10-(-15), TD; Team 2-(-17).

PASSING: Aliquippa, Goode 8-21-0, 203 yards. Jersey Shore, B. Jordan 15-36-3, 213 yards, TD; E. Jordan 0-1-0.

RECEIVING: Aliquippa, Cyair Clark 3-78; Walker 2-20; Dorius Moreland 1-83, TD; Martinez 1-16; Tajier Thornton 1-6. Jersey Shore, Connor Griffin 5-109; Cayden Hess 4-48; Dathan Tyson 2-34, TD; Peacock 3-20; E. Jordan 1-2.

SACKS: Jersey Shore, Tate Sechrist 2, Packer, Dierk Stetts .5, Luke Springman .5.

Records: Jersey Shore 13-0. Central Catholic 9-4.

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