When Beaver Falls plays a home game at Geneva College's Reeves Field, the Tigers dress at their high school nearby and take a bus to and from the stadium.

Last night, Beaver Falls rode Cody Cook home to victory.

Beaver Falls was content to put the game on Cook's shoulders and he responded, carrying the Tigers to a 21-14 Midwestern Conference victory against rival Aliquippa in front of a packed house.

"I'm going home and getting a shower -- or a warm bath," Cook said.

That was after he carried the ball 37 times for 211 yards.

The win gave Beaver Falls, the Post-Gazette's No. 1 WPIAL Class AA team, a 3-0 overall record and also a 3-0 mark in the Midwestern Conference. Second-ranked Aliquippa is 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the conference.

"He's a great player," Aliquippa coach Mike Zmijanac said. "I don't think they gave him the ball enough. I would've given it to him more. I said a long time ago, when you have a Secretariat [horse], you ride him."

Beaver Falls has been relying heavily on Cook the past two seasons. He rushed for 1,652 yards a year ago and had 345 yards on 20 attempts in the first two games this year. But 37 attempts? This 5-foot-8, 182-pound halfback was up to the task, though. And just for good measure, he also intercepted a pass on defense.

This was certainly some home Cookin'. His plays on offense and defense meant his two fumbles didn't matter as much.

"He's our guy. But I didn't think we'd give it to him 37 times," Beaver Falls coach Ryan Matsook said. "But he's a workhorse. I think it's a feather in his cap. You have these colleges who are on the fence about him because of his size and his durability. The kid is a Division I college running back. They're missing the boat with this kid.

"You watch the film on this game. He was punishing kids in the secondary."

It was a slight measure of revenge for Cook. Aliquippa defeated Beaver Falls, 8-6, in the WPIAL final last year, and Cook was held to 23 yards on 14 carries.

"That was big motivation for us this year," Cook said.

While Cook's performance was splendid, it was a big play by another Beaver Falls player that gave the Tigers the win. Aliquippa had tied the score, 14-14, with 8:53 left in the third quarter, but Beaver Falls' Admire Carter returned the ensuing kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown.

"We needed this game because we hadn't played past halftime in our first two games," said Matsook, whose team had crushed its first two opponents.

Beaver Falls pretty much dominated Aliquippa, except for a few big plays. Aliquippa scored first in the opening quarter on a short pass that Haetaun Mathis turned into a 73-yard scoring play. But Cook scored twice in the second quarter (runs of 11 and 2 yards) to give Beaver Falls a 14-7 halftime advantage.

On Aliquippa's first possession of the second half, speedy Rashad Kenney turned a short pass into a 49-yard gain to the Beaver Falls 7. Darius Walker scored two plays later on a 5-yard run.

Then came Carter's return.

Besides the two Aliquippa big plays, the Quips managed only 49 yards on offense. They were limited to 27 yards rushing.

"The discouraging thing is we expected the turnovers to come from the Aliquippa side. It should've been a three-touchdown game without the turnovers," Matsook said of Cook's two fumbles and a Tony Omogrosso interception.

Aliquippa had a chance to tie the score in the third quarter, but Troy Jeter dropped a long pass at the Beaver Falls 10.

"They knocked us off the ball up front and we couldn't sustain anything running the ball," Zmijanac said. "They're a better team than us right now."

Cook said, "My line stepped up and made it easy for me."

Although it's only the third game of the season, Beaver Falls considered the victory big -- just because of the opponent.

"Any time you beat Aliquippa, it's a big win," Cook said.