Editor's note: Trib HSSN will publish team-by-team previews for one conference per day until the start of the high school football season Aug. 22.
Aliquippa lost some talented football players to graduation or transfer since last season, so it's understandable if there were some cracks in the Quips' confidence.
But, no, they're doing just fine.
There were no Penn State-bound running backs or four-star college recruits at this practice, but quarterback Marques Council Jr. looked at the 30-some players working out at the school's Heinz Field and said with confidence that he liked what he saw.
"I'm definitely confident in our team," said Council, a senior headed to the Ivy League. "I always have been, and I always will be. Being a starting quarterback, you have to be confident in your team. But I'm not just saying that. I genuinely mean it."
The team has had one key addition since last year: Mike Warfield returned as head coach after taking a year off. Warfield went 74-6 and won four WPIAL titles in his first six seasons at his alma mater.
"It's great being around the guys and being around the coaches," Warfield said. "I missed it."
Council is one of seven all-conference players returning from last year's team that went 7-3 and reached the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals. Aliquippa fell short of the finals for the first time since 2007, ending a 16-year streak that stood as a WPIAL record.
They've moved on from that loss.
"You always want to make it to the championship," said associate head coach Vashawn Patrick, who led the team in Warfield's absence. "That's our end goal: WPIALs and then PIAA. But it's always good to have a fresh start."
Council guides this year's offense after passing for 1,477 yards and 16 touchdowns last season. The 6-foot-1, 191-pounder committed to Yale in June over offers from Brown, Penn, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart and Temple.
He also bulked up since last year.
"We asked him to put on about 15 or 20 pounds," Patrick said. "This winter and spring, he really hit the weights. You can see his development. He matured so much mentally and physically."
Council brings back one of his top receivers in senior Qalil Goode, who caught 13 passes for 242 yards last year. A 6-1, 160-pound all-conference safety/wideout, Goode also lists Yale among his college options.
A deep group of receivers includes seniors Josh Lay and Antonio Reddic, junior Akiva Woods and sophomore Anthony Ingram.
"I've got a good feeling (about the team)," said Goode, noting how the roster has experience and youth. "We've got to put a lot of trust in our young guys, because we need them just as much as they need us."
Warfield said this year's team has around 38 players, but that includes 15 freshmen. The school's enrollment qualifies for Class 2A, but the Quips will play in 4A for the sixth consecutive season under the PIAA competitive-balance rule.
"I see the kids competing," Warfield said. "Our numbers are really low. Playing up in 4A still, at times is going to hurt us. We might have the talent, but we just don't have the numbers."
Gone from the backfield is Tikey Hayes, now a freshman running back after Penn State. His backup, Sa'Nir Brooks, a talented rising junior with Power 4 offers, transferred to St. Frances Academy in Maryland.
Also transferring out were senior Kent State recruit Daiveon Taylor to Moon and junior four-star prospect Larry Moon to IMG Academy in Florida.
"For the guys who transferred out, we wish them the best," Patrick said. "We focus on the guys that are here right now. From what I've seen this spring and summer, we're competing and we're getting better."
Coaches plan to use a committee in the backfield starting with senior running back Lester Longmire but also including junior Cameron Cannon and senior J.J. Work. Unlike in recent years, the team's leading rusher might change from week to week
"One game you might have two carries, one game you might have 20," Patrick said. "We're going to ride the hot hand."
They'll be running behind an experienced offensive line that returns seniors Justus Starks and Kingston Wilcox, juniors Mylez Greene, Jaiden Brown and Erick Raspberry and sophomore Javion Cleckley. Starks (6-0, 275) and Greene (5-10, 250) both earned all-conference honorable mention recognition.
Longmire, senior Josiah Boykin and junior Khalil Ellerbee also return on the defensive side of the ball, along with Goode, Woods and senior Ray Miller in the secondary.
But if there were ever a year that opponents might overlook the team with the most titles in WPIAL history, it's maybe this one.
"We're definitely OK with that," Patrick said. "Every year we want everyone else to get the (preseason) limelight. It's about where you end up at the end of the year. And we plan on playing late into the season."
* Aliquippa again elected not to play a Week Zero game, unlike the majority of WPIAL teams.
* Returning players Qalil Goode (DB) and Tekoah Gilbert (DE) earned first-team all-Parkway honors last season. Marques Council (QB) and JJ Work (DE) make the second team. Justus Starks (OT/DL), Mylez Greene (DL) and Ray Miller (DB) were honorable mention.
* Aliquippa ranks first in WPIAL history with 20 football titles. Next is Clairton with 14, followed by New Castle and Thomas Jefferson with 11 each.
* Tikey Hayes graduated with 6,995 career rushing yards, which ranks fifth in WPIAL history.
Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at [email protected].