(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

After weeks of speculation, anticipation, and the games won in order for this to happen…the matchup spoken about all year long has finally become a reality.

The Aliquippa Quips (8-0) will host the Central Valley Warriors (9-0) at Bulldog Stadium in Week 9 action, with the winner remaining undefeated, winning the Parkway Conference title in Class 4A, and likely receiving the top seed in the upcoming WPIAL playoffs. Both teams are defending WPIAL and PIAA champions from last season (with the Warriors playing in Class 3A for 2021), and both enter the game on long winning streaks. Aliquippa has won 20 in a row, with their last loss coming in September 2021. The team that defeated them 21-12 in that game was Central Valley, who have won 36 games in a row since losing the 2019 PIAA Championship.

Mike Azadian and John Perrotto will have the call from Bulldog Stadium in Freedom, with coverage on 95.7 FM, 1460 WMBA and the Trib Live High School Sports Network beginning with pregame at 6:30 PM, and kickoff set for 7:00 PM.

On 99.3 FM, 1230 WBVP, Facebook Live and Trib Live HSSN, two of the top teams in the Midwestern Athletic Conference gear up for their playoff runs as Beaver Falls (8-1) hosts Western Beaver (7-2) for their regular season finale. The Golden Beavers are 4-2 in the MAC and looking to rebound following a 22-8 loss to Mohawk in Week 8, while the Tigers are 6-0 in the conference and are coming off of a 28-8 win over Freedom. This is the third consecutive year that these two teams will play each other, with the prior two taking place in the postseason–Beaver Falls has defeated Western Beaver in the first round of each of the prior two WPIAL playoffs.

Bruce Frey and Eddy Crow will have the call from Reeves Field on College Hill in Beaver Falls, with coverage on 99.3 FM, 1230 WBVP, Facebook Live and Trib Live  beginning with pregame at 6:30 PM, and kickoff set for 7:00 PM.

Here’s a full list of tonight’s Week 9 matchups featuring local teams:

7:00 PM
Western Beaver at Beaver Falls (99.3 FM/WBVP)
Central Valley at Aliquippa (95.7/WMBA)*
South Side Beaver at Rochester
Riverside at Ellwood City
New Castle at Blackhawk
Freedom at New Brighton
Chartiers Valley at Ambridge
Quaker Valley at Avonworth
Cornell at OLSH
Montour at West Allegheny
Moon at Baldwin

7:30 PM
Hopewell at Beaver

*-game played at Freedom High School

After all the games are over, make sure to tune in to the Falconi’s Moon Township Ford Wrap-Up Show up until 11:00 PM, followed by the Trib Live HSSN Scoreboard show from 11 until Midnight.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

The Lions’ Den will have new leaders for the upcoming 2022-23 WPIAL Basketball Season.

New Brighton’s School Board held their voting meeting in conjunction with their planning meeting back on October 10, and all of the items that were announced at that meeting were approved at the October 24 meeting. This included the unanimous ratification of Franzee Barlamas as Boys’ Varsity Basketball Coach and Jerrod Planitzer as Girls’ Varsity Basketball Coach for their upcoming seasons. The other seven coaches–three varsity boys’ assistants, two varsity girls’ assistants, and boys’ coaches in 7th and 8th grade–were also unanimously approved by the New Brighton School Board.

The board also unanimously approved the ski trips for students Grades 7-12 for the school year (costs will be covered by the students), as well as a trip for qualifying students (in grades 5-12) for the AGLOA National Academic Games tournament in Orlando. An agreement with the Joint Purchasing Program from the Allegheny Intermediate Unit for gasoline and diesel fuel was also approved by the board, along with a $67,713.07 invoice to the Beaver Valley Intermediate Unit for Special Education Programs and a $128,933.79 invoice to the Beaver County Career & Technology Center.

Several board members were absent from the October 24 meeting, including Jay Funkhouser, John Ludwig. and Amy Fazio. The newly hired basketball coaches were also not in attendance.