From the moment the high school football season began in August, fans all across Western Pennsylvania clamored for a matchup between defending WPIAL Class 1A champion Fort Cherry and the ferocious Clairton Bears.
Sometimes, wishes do come true.
The long-awaited showdown will finally come to fruition at Acrisure Stadium at 11 a.m. Saturday, when the No. 1 Rangers (13-0) take on the No. 2 Bears (13-0) in a battle of unbeatens for the WPIAL Class 1A title. Simply put, Class 1A championship games of this magnitude don’t come around too often.
“I’m excited for the kids to have the opportunity to play in the championship game,” said Clairton coach Wayne Wade, now in his 11th year at the helm. “Usually in the [WPIAL] championship games, we’ve come out victorious. From me being an assistant to a head coach, I think we’ve only lost one. Our kids are excited about getting back.
“This group of seniors are excited about having an opportunity to play in the stadium. That’s the big thing for me. But not to be in awe. It’s a football game.”
This is the second year in a row two undefeated teams will meet in the Class 1A final, but last year’s game between Fort Cherry and South Side didn’t hold quite as much weight as this one. After all, few teams in the area can match the Bears’ championship pedigree, with 14 WPIAL titles to their credit — second most among all WPIAL schools — not to mention a legendary 66-game winning streak from 2009-13 that still stands as a PIAA record.
And of course, Fort Cherry is the reigning champion with an overall record of 28-1 over the past two seasons — and the Rangers are led by the one and only Matt Sieg.
Sieg’s spectacular season continued with another vintage performance in a 49-14 semifinal win against Jeannette last week, in which the Penn State recruit passed for 102 yards, rushed for 222 yards and scored six touchdowns on the ground. Despite playing the first month of the season with a broken thumb on his throwing hand, he is now up to 1,124 yards passing with 19 TDs and four interceptions to go with 1,717 yards rushing and 30 TDs on 198 carries.
At his current pace, it’s only a matter of time before Sieg breaks Fort Cherry’s career passing record of 4,501 yards — a mark currently held by Rangers coach Tanner Garry.
“It’s all but done,” Garry said with a laugh. “I knew from an early point [in Sieg’s career], that’s not going to last.”
If it seems like Sieg is reaching a new milestone every other week, that’s because he is. Last Friday, he joined Jeannette legend Terrelle Pryor as only the second player in WPIAL history to both pass and rush for more than 4,000 yards in a career — doing so against Pryor’s alma mater — and he is still only a junior. He also became only the third player in WPIAL history to surpass 10,000 career total yards and only the 10th player with more than 6,000 yards rushing for his career. Sieg now has 6,091 yards rushing and 4,015 yards passing for 10,106 career yards — and the PIAA record of 13,263 is well within reach.
“I try not to read into the stats. I try to read more into what the kid is doing on film and how we can stop him,” Wade said. “I wouldn’t say that he is a Terrelle Pryor talent, because he doesn’t have that size. But watching him on film, he definitely has that speed.”
That being said, even with a superstar talent like Sieg steering the ship and Fort Cherry’s proven track record over the past two seasons, all indications point to the Rangers entering their title defense on Saturday as a sizable underdog against Clairton.
Why, you ask? Let’s just start with the numbers. In 13 games this season, the Bears have outscored their opposition by a combined score of 674-21. That means Clairton boasts the highest-scoring offense in the WPIAL by a wide margin at 51.4 points per game — yet the Bears’ No. 1-ranked defense is the unit generating all the headlines this season.
Allowing an average of only 1.6 ppg, Clairton is putting together one of the most dominant defensive seasons of all time. The Bears have posted 10 shutouts in 13 games, and one of their three touchdowns allowed was actually a fumble return by Steel Valley’s defense in the season opener on Aug. 24. Clairton has yet to allow a point in the postseason after delivering three consecutive shutouts against Rochester, California and Bishop Canevin by a combined tally of 134-0.
“It’s something you keep tabs on throughout the year. Seeing what they were able to accomplish, week in and week out, it was impressive,” Garry said. “Then you turn on the film and you actually get a chance to watch them, and it’s pretty obvious why they’ve been able to do what they do. They have kids everywhere who are really good ball players and really well-coached.
“The numbers don’t lie. When you look at what this group has been able to do with the shutouts, it’s clear.”
The stats speak for themselves, but it’s the plethora of playmakers on both sides of the ball that make the Bears such a daunting foe for Fort Cherry. Clairton returned a whopping 11 all-conference performers from last year’s team that reached the WPIAL semifinals, and each of them have taken their game to a new level this season.
He might not have the mind-boggling numbers of Sieg, but junior quarterback Jeff Thompson is having a stellar year in his own right for the Bears with 1,827 yards passing and 27 TDs to only three interceptions on the year. Still, senior tailback Drahcir Jones is the sparkplug that makes the offense go, and he is now up to 1,331 yards rushing with 25 scores on 132 carries.
“You kind of saw [his growth] from last year to this year,” Wade said about Jones, one of only three seniors on Clairton’s roster. “Just the maturity. His approach to the game. Taking every practice serious, every rep serious. Just the approach that, ‘This is it for me. This is my senior year.’”
Splitting time in the backfield alongside Jones and Thompson are versatile juniors Michael Ruffin and Donte Wright, both capable of making an impact as both rushers and receivers. Ruffin has 426 yards rushing on just 27 carries (15.8 yards per attempt) along with 18 receptions for 325 yards and 14 total TDs, while Wright has rushed for 364 yards on 34 carries (10.7 yards per attempt) with 21 catches for 473 yards and 18 total TDs.
Elsewhere, junior Taris Wooding leads the team with 25 receptions for 560 yards and eight TDs, and 6-3 senior Zae-mear Correll might be the Bears’ most coveted recruit on offense. Despite drawing constant double teams while opening up plenty of space for his teammates to operate, Correll has hauled in 18 catches for 360 yards and five scores on the season.
“I think that’s the reason we’re 13-0,” Wade said about his team’s unselfish nature. “They bought in at the beginning of the season, team-first. That’s the reason we’re in the championship game. They have all bought in.”
As for the unsung hero who lays the foundation for Clairton’s top-ranked defense, look no further than senior defensive tackle Khalil Williams-Patterson. At 5 feet 9, 250 pounds, Williams-Patterson lines up at nose guard and eats up multiple blockers on virtually every snap, allowing linebackers like junior Dion Pompey and freshman Brandon Murphy to roam free and lay punishing hits on ball carriers.
“They fly around. They’re on almost every tackle,” Wade said. “But it’s because of Khalil up front as well. Khalil is double-teamed most of the time, so they’re free to shoot alleys, especially if they’re pulling. They are the base of our defense, those two guys in the middle. They really get after the ball.”
For the Bears, slowing down Sieg will be priority No. 1 — but senior wide receiver Shane Cornali is also capable of taking over a game at any time for the Rangers. Despite spending most of his time blocking in a run-heavy scheme, Cornali enters Saturday’s contest with a team-leading 33 receptions for 610 yards and 14 TDs. He teamed up with Sieg to help Fort Cherry bring home a gold medal in the 100-meter relay at last year’s PIAA championships, and both have the speed to score every single time they touch the ball for the Rangers.
“[Cornali] doesn’t ask for anything. Just shows up and plays,” Garry said. “Super selfless player. Has started since he was a freshman for us, as a corner at the start. He got a little bit bigger, then moved him to outside linebacker. He’s played tight end. He’s played H-back for us. He’s played inside receiver, outside receiver. We can line him up anywhere.
“He’s been a huge part of our team for a really long time. I’m happy to see him having the season he’s having, because he deserves it.”
After months of speculation about what would happen if Sieg and Fort Cherry’s high-powered offense were to collide with Clairton’s history-making defense, the wait is finally over. Does Sieg have another Sieg-nature championship performance in store, or is it finally time for the Bears to resume their seat at the throne atop the Class 1A hierarchy?
All of those questions will be answered bright and early on Saturday morning — just don’t forget to set your alarm.
“It’s been a while since we’ve been an underdog,” Garry said. “We’re excited for the challenge.”
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
