Beaver Falls comes out on top against Blackhawk in a Week 0 crosstown rivalry matchup

CHIPPEWA TWP. — It might’ve been hard for him to admit it at first, but Jaren Brickner knew this one was different.

The Beaver Falls High School star senior quarterback was quick to deny that the Class 2A Tigers’ 22-7 Week 0 win over the rival Class 4A Blackhawk Cougars on Friday meant anything more than any other victory. But even he couldn’t believe the words that came out of his mouth.

Brickner smirked before he walked back his initial comment.

“So, with Blackhawk — because they’re in our (zip code) — we get more hungry,” he said. “But for any other team, it’s like (a normal) week.”

The fact that the Tigers (1-0) fell to the Cougars (0-1) in last year’s season-opener was another reason why this was anything but a run-of-the-mill matchup. And it was clear that Beaver Falls used the field at Blackhawk Stadium on Friday night to take out any pent-up frustration it had harbored throughout the past year.

It started with an interception from junior defensive lineman Sy’Mauri McCoy that he grabbed on the Cougars’ five-yard line and ran into the end zone with 1:30 left in the first quarter. Then came a 14-yard touchdown pass from Brickner to junior receiver Da’Sean Anderson and a one-yard touchdown run by Anderson — both in the second quarter.

By halftime, the Tigers had a 22-point lead.

This offensive explosion came with standout senior receiver Trey Singleton sidelined with a hand injury he suffered a week ago in practice.

Beaver Falls also lost two additional key pieces during the contest. Senior running back and linebacker Isaiah Aeschbacher sat out the second half after hurting his right hand in the final minutes before halftime, while Anderson got banged up midway through the third quarter before hobbling off of the field.

“We lost last year, and we just wanted our get-back,” Aeschbacher said after the game. “We came together as a team. Yeah, we lost a few players, but everybody else stepped up.”

After forcing six Blackhawk turnovers in the first half and building a three-score cushion, Beaver Falls was able to overcome the hits to its depth and seemingly take its foot off the gas the rest of the way.

The Cougars found the end zone for the first time with 1:54 left in the fourth quarter when backup junior quarterback Alex Pritchard connected with sophomore running back Sam Stewart for a 22-yard touchdown pass. The score was simply window dressing for an otherwise lopsided matchup, though.

With at least a small handful of Beaver Falls players walking away from the contest with dings and dents — and the Tigers’ overall sloppy play — the win was far from pretty. But the final result provided more than enough satisfaction for head coach Nick Nardone and Co. to look past the hiccups that are expected in most Week 0 outings.

“We had kids that probably got no reps in practice all week in the game in the fourth quarter,” Nardone said. “That’s the life of a double-A school.”

After this one, even Nardone — a coach known for his modest, sometimes short answers — couldn’t deny the significance of the victory.

“It’s a huge game for our town, a huge game for our community,” he said. “We take this game very seriously.

“Any time you can come up here, hang with the physicality of a quad-A school and come out with a win, you take it any day.”

Contact Parth Upadhyaya at pupadhyaya@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @pupadhyaya.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Beaver Falls comes out on top against Blackhawk in Week 0 rivalry game