Jeannette won the coin toss, but Clairton dominated as soon as the ball was kicked off, cruising to a 40-0 win to capture the 2015 WPIAL Class A Championship.
Speed Kills
It took the Bears a mere 14 seconds to take control of the WPIAL Class A championship game. Senior Harrison Dreher took the opening kick off 98-yards to the house to give Clairton the early advantage.
A Lamont Wade rush gave the Bears an 8-point lead before either offense took the field.
Aaron Mathews found the end zone himself on a 4-yard rush with 7:53 left in the first half and a failed conversion attempt held the lead to 14.
Mathews found Wade for a 91-yard touchdown reception on the next drive. Wade and Mathews would connect again for another score, this time a 4-yard reception to give the Bears a 26-point cushion going into the half.
Total Domination
Clairton dominated every facet of the game from the get-go. The Bears offense amassed 403 total yards in their victory. The front seven for the Bears limited the Jayhawks to 141 yards of total offense, 97 of which came on the ground.
“I challenged our guys up front in Week 5, if we were going to win in it all, it would be up to them,” Clairton coach Wayne Wade said. “They’re playing their best football of the season right now.”
Daniel Payo helped pave the way on both sides of the ball, helping, as center, to command an offensive lined that allowed their backs to get 270 yards on the ground. Payo, a three-year starter, finished with 11 total tackles for the Clairton defense.
Mathews threw for 133 yards to go along with his two touchdown passes.
Jeannette finished 11-2 in a season in which it won its 700th game as a program. It was their first appearance in the WPIAL Finals since 2011.
“It was a great year, we got our 700th win as a program, it would have been nice to cap it off with a WPIAL Championship,” Roy Hall, Jeannette’s head coach, said.
Unfinished Business
With its win, Clairton advances to the PIAA Football Quarterfinals to face Berlin Brothers Valley.
The quest continues to avenge their loss in the PIAA Class A Finals last year, but it’s going to be a rough road to get back to Hershey.
“We still have some unfinished business, that’s our motto this year,” Wade said. “We didn’t win the state championship last year, it’s going to be pretty tough to get back.”
