One in a series on top high school football players in the WPIAL and City League

Friday, August 15, 2003

By Mike White, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

His full name is Allan Quay Shipley. The first name is the same as his father, Allan. Quay is his grandfather's middle name.

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But Shipley is known to everyone as A.Q.

"When I was little, my sister couldn't pronounce Allan so she would just call me by my initials," Shipley said. "I've always been A.Q. I don't mind it. Allan is kind of a girlie name, anyway."

On the football field, Shipley is A-plus.

Shipley has excelled at Moon High School as a starter on offense and defense since his freshman year. He is now a 6-foot-3, 285-pound senior two-way tackle and considered one of the best linemen in the state. Rivals100.com ranks him the No. 10 defensive tackle in the country. Super Prep magazine ranks him the No. 43 defensive lineman, regardless of position.

"What I think really stands out about him is he was the leading tackler on the team last year," said Moon Coach Mark Capuano. "That shouldn't happen with a down lineman. We move him around a lot, but it's hard to get that many tackles as a lineman."

Shipley has a slightly different look this season, although it's only on his arm. A few weeks ago, his father finally let him get the barbed wire tattoo on his right arm that A.Q. had wanted for a while.

But A.Q. has been known to tattoo a few opponents over the years.

"Offensively, he's had games where he comes off the ball and gets four, five or six pancake blocks," Capuano said. "That's pretty impressive because if you get only one or two a game that's pretty good."

More than 30 Division I colleges thought Shipley was good enough to offer him a scholarship. Ohio State wanted him as a center, but almost everyone else wanted him as a defensive lineman. Shipley narrowed his choices to Penn State, Michigan, Pitt and Virginia before making a verbal commitment to Penn State in June. Penn State recruited him to play nose tackle.

"I think he could be a great center in college, but the thing everyone likes about him on defense is his quickness," Capuano said.

Shipley, whose father also was a lineman at Moon, has run the 40-yard dash in 4.9 seconds. But Capuano could care less about Shipley's 40 time. Capuano gets a sour look on his face when asked about Shipley's 40.

"Who cares what a defensive tackle runs the 40 in," Capuano said. "He's not going to run 40 yards down the field. With him, it's his quickness, his lateral time. We have our kids do the shuttle run. He's the fastest shuttle runner on the team. That's what you're looking for in a defensive kid."

But Shipley's play was quite offensive in his first game at Moon. In the 2000 opener against Hampton, Shipley did something wrong on Moon's first seven offensive plays. He blocked the wrong defender. He tried to block in the wrong direction.

"I remember watching films from that game," Shipley said. "I didn't think they would ever end."

But Shipley wasn't benched. He had too much talent and potential, and by his sophomore season, he had Division I colleges looking at him. A year later, Shipley became the first junior to be named team captain in Capuano's 20 years as coach.

Now as a senior he is bench pressing 400 pounds and pressing to help Moon to a big season.

"I know teams will try to run away from me a lot of times," Shipley said. "If they're going to run away from me, I'm just going to have to run down that line and pursue them."

Capuano said: "People don't know how hard this kid has worked. I think Penn State is getting a real diamond."

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