Aliquippa does not exactly fit the role of an underdog in the WPIAL playoffs. For one, the Quips entered the season as the No. 1 team ranked team in Class AA by the Post-Gazette and the program has 12 WPIAL titles in its tradition-rich history.

Still, Aliquippa may be the surprise story in the playoffs.

The Quips had to battle back from a 2-2 start to win out to secure the No. 7 seed in Class AA heading into the playoffs. After a 20-10 first-round win against East Allegheny, Aliquippa upset the No. 2 seed and previously undefeated Greensburg Central Catholic, 32-14. Heading into the semifinals, they were the lowest remaining seed in the WPIAL playoffs. Last Friday night at Seneca Valley, Aliquippa put an end to another perfect season with a 27-14 win against No. 3 seed Shady Side Academy.

"I don't know about us being underdogs," Aliquippa coach Mike Zmijanac said. "We didn't rank ourselves; [the media] did. We are just playing whoever is on the bracket next. We try to do what we do and other than watching films and trying to watch for a weakness. We don't discuss the other team. We try to build on what we do well."

The Quips playoff run has set up the 19th WPIAL title game in school history and a rematch against Beaver Falls in the Class AA WPIAL championship game Saturday at Heinz Field. Beaver Falls handed the Quips a 27-12 loss Sept. 11.

"Revenge is for losers," Zmijanac said. "If that is your motivation for winning you need to find something else. That was in September, this is November and we get a chance to play again and we'll see if we learned anything. Whoever plays better is going to win. It is not going to come down to someone being smarter or anything like that."

After the Beaver Falls loss, the Quips played Beaver Area and stumbled again, losing 21-14, setting up a series of must-win games the rest of the regular season if the Quips hoped to return to the playoffs. They rebounded and won five consecutive games by an average margin of four touchdowns to close out the regular season.

"We have been playing very consistent for the past six or seven weeks," Zmijanac said. "We suffered those two early season losses and I didn't even think we played that poorly. We played against two very good teams. I told the team you better win the rest of them. You don't have any margin for error now. We put a list of teams on the board and we circled that one team for that week and that's the only way you can approach it."

As the competition has gotten better, Aliquippa has made it look easier. In the first round against East Allegheny, the Quips had to rally from a 7-0 first-quarter deficit and a 10-8 third-quarter deficit. Aliquippa running back Terry Patrick led the rally with two touchdowns in the third quarter. Against Greensburg Central Catholic and Shady Side Academy, Aliquippa never trailed.

Against Shady Side Academy in the semifinals, quarterback Rasheem Jones completed 8 of his first 9 passes to start the game and finished with more than 200 yards passing against a defense that ranked second in the WPIAL in fewest points per game. Maurice Carter surpassed 100 yards rushing and ran for three touchdowns for the Quips.

"I think we played really steady defense. Any time you play defense and take care of the ball, you have a chance to win," Zmijanac said.

"I thought East Allegheny played extremely well. I wouldn't compare any of the teams we played. Once you are in the playoffs, they are all good football teams and they all played us extremely well.

"Our goal is to win and move on and so far we have survived."