PIAA football semifinals roundup: Clairton, Avonworth punch tickets to state final, quips fall short

The Clairton Bears got back on track offensively after a minor speed bump during the WPIAL Class A championship last Saturday at Acrisure Stadium. The Bears beat up District 10 champion Greenville Friday night at Ellwood City  to clinch a spot in the state championship game with Bishop Guilfoyle.

This will be the third meeting between the Bears and Marauders in the PIAA final. Bishop Guilfoyle won the two previous meetings. The Bears (14-1) never let Greenville get any ideas about springing an upset. After being limited to six points by Laurel last week, the Bears scored six first-half touchdowns.

Brandon Murphy returned two punts for touchdowns against the Trojans. Deon Lovelace-Pompey ran for 109 yards for Clairton.

Avonworth will get familiar foe
The Antelopes improved to 14-0 by sliding by Penn Cambria 41-15 in a Class 3A semifinal. Avonworth will now get to face off against Nothwestern Lehigh, which knocked off the Antelopes 36-33 in the championship game last season. Avonworth beat Penn Cambria despite playing without running back Dimitri Velisaris, who was out with a bruised leg.

Avonworth quarterback Carson Bellinger passed for 258 yards and two touchdowns.

Quips come up just short
Twin Valley will know that it deserved its opportunity to play in its first-ever PIAA Class 4A final. The Raiders built a 28-6 lead at halftime, but allowed Aliquippa to score three unanswered touchdowns in the second half of what ended up being a four-point victory.

The Quips rallied in the second half behind two touchdown passes from Yale commit Marques Council Jr. He threw touchdown passes to Qa'Lille Goode and Antonio Reddic. Akiva Woods also returned an interception for a touchdown for the Quips. Aliquippa, which finished 10-4, wrapped up an improbable WPIAL title with a memorable playoff run.