Traditional powers dominate lineup
The WPIAL Class 1A semifinals feature a trio of traditional powers.
Clairton (13), Jeannette (9) and Rochester (7) have won a total of 29 WPIAL titles. Clairton won its first 89 years ago.
And then there’s the fourth semifinalist, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, which has had a football program for only nine years and is in the semifinals forthe first time.
OLSH might not have a storied history like the other three programs, but the new kid on the block feels like it belongs. The Chargers (10-1) play Clairton (9-1) Friday at Keystone Oaks.
“We thought we were one of the top four teams coming into the year,” OLSH coach Dan Bradley said. “We think any of the four teams left are capable of winning it. We’re grateful to beone of them.”
As Bradley said, the fact that OLSH is here is no surprise. The Chargers were the PostGazette’s No. 3-ranked team in the preseason. But considering the program didn’t exist until 2010, what the Chargers have done is rather impressive. After going a combined 1-17 from 2014-15. Bradley took over in 2016 and guided the Chargers to their first playoff berth. The Chargers won a playoff game for the first time last season, and won their second last week by beating Imani Christian — last year’s runner-up — bya score of 60-6.
OLSH is fueled by a potent offense that averages a Class 1A-best 43.5 points per game. Quarterback Tyler Bradley (Dan Bradley’s son) was the WPIAL’s third-leading passer in the regular season and has thrown for 2,899 yards and a WPIAL-leading 40 touchdowns. Wide receivers Richard Banks, Andrew Schnarre and Ricco Tate, and running back Austin Wigley all have at least 20 receptions. Wigley has rushed for 773 yards and leads theteam with 21 touchdowns.
The Chargers also have the best defense, statistically, in Class 1A. They allow 6.7 points per game and have limited all but two opponents to fewer than 10 points. Defensive tackle Noah Camp along had five sacks in last week’s win.
For the program to take another step and reach the championship game, OLSH will need to get past Clairton, which is in the semifinals for the 13th year in a row. The Bears have won nine titles in what has been an incredible stretch of dominance.
“They have tons of history on their side, so I’m sure they’re confident coming in. But we have some good senior leadership on our side,” Dan Bradley said.
Each team suffered its only loss to Jeannette. OLSH fell at Jeannette, 28-13, Oct. 5 in a nonconference game, while Jeannette beat visiting Clairton, 216, Oct. 26 to claim the Eastern Conference title.
Clairton defeated California, 27-17, in the quarterfinals behind three touchdown passes from Brendan Parsons, who has now tossed 17 on the season. Taevon Thompson leads the Bears in rushing with 584yards and made a big defensive play against California when he returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown inthe fourth quarter.
Other semifinal
No. 1 seed and defending champion Jeannette (11-0) will try to knock Rochester (10-1) out of the playoffs for the third year in a row when the two meet Friday at Canon-McMillan.
The previous two matchups were both close games. Jeannette beat Rochester, 30-20, in the 2016 semifinals and then got a touchdown pass from Seth Howard on fourth down with less than a minute left to beat the Rams again, 30-26, in last season’s quarterfinals. Rochester led that game, 26-15, midway through the fourth quarter.
“We know they have a chip on their shoulder knowing they could have won that game,” Jeannette coach Roy Hall said. “They were winning until that last drive when we threw a touchdown pass to win the game. They felt that they should have won the game, and maybe rightfully so. I guarantee you that’s something they’ve been talking about this week.”
Jeannette went on to win WPIAL and PIAA titles. All-everything star Robert Kennedy graduated, but this Jeannette team has been pretty special in its own right. Howard, who shared the quarterback duties with Kennedy last season, has taken on a larger role. He has passed for 1,306 yards and 15 touchdowns, and has rushed for 569 yards and 10 touchdowns. Defensively, the Jayhawks give up only 7.1 points pergame.
Howard rushed for two scores in the win against Clairton in the regular-season finale and passed for two scores in what was a much-closer-thanexpected 18-14 win against Monessen in the quarterfinals. The score was deadlocked, 8-8, at halftime before Jeannette scored the next 10 points. Jeannette had defeated Monessen, 49-0,in last year’s first round. “Our guys were tremendous against Clairton, but they’re high school kids,” Hall said.“We try to explain to them that being the defending WPIAL and state champs, no matter what an opponent’s record is, they’re going to play us like it’s a championship game.” Rochester routed West Greene, 52-14, in the quarterfinals behind big rushing performances from Noah Whiteleather (254 yards and two touchdowns) and Darius Goosby (152 yards and four touchdowns). Whiteleather is among the WPIAL’s most productive running backs, having rushed for 1,806 yards and 23 touchdowns.
Rochester’s lone loss was against OLSH, 37-8, Sept. 14.