Before hosting Midwestern Athletic Conference rival Aliquippa last night, Beaver honored legendary former coach Pat Tarquinio by naming its football complex Pat Tarquinio Field at Gypsy Glen Stadium.

What happened after that had to make the old coach proud.

The Bobcats forced six Aliquippa turnovers and, despite struggling to move the ball offensively, held on for a narrow, 7-6 victory.

The victory against the Quips -- just the third in their past 12 tries -- gives Beaver (6-0, 5-0) sole-possession of first place in the MAC, just ahead of Beaver Falls (5-1, 5-1) and Aliquippa (4-2, 4-1), who came into the game ranked No. 2 in the WPIAL in Class AA by the Post-Gazette.

"We didn't take sneak up on anyone," Beaver coach Jeff Beltz said. "It was just a hard-fought football game."

Beaver quarterback Manny Cutlip said he and his teammates would be attending a dance on their return to school last night. But Cutlip just couldn't wait to show off his best moves.

After the Bobcats had amounted 20 yards of total offense by midway through the third quarter, Cutlip capped a 12-play, 83-yard drive with a 25-yard touchdown scamper in the closing seconds of the quarter. On the play, Cutlip scrambled to his right, dodged a few oncoming defenders and followed a seam into the end zone. The ensuing extra point gave the Bobcats a 7-0 lead.

Shortly after that, things got interesting. With 7:11 left, Aliquippa got on the board with Daron Cox's one-yard touchdown run.

The Quips aligned as if they would attempt a game-tying extra point, but, as the ball was snapped, kicker Rashad Kenney ran to his right as if he was going to receive the ball on a pitch. Just as that was happening, though, a flag was thrown, and the Quips were charged with an illegal-procedure penalty. Kenney's extra-point try became a 25-yard kick, and he missed it wide right.

Miscues such as that haunted Aliquippa. All four of their fumbles came in Beaver territory, including one by Cox inside the Bobcats' 5 early in the fourth quarter.