MECHANICSBURG – Things were already looking good for Clairton when the PIAA Class A football championship reached halftime Friday afternoon.
The Bears were holding a comfortable lead on Bishop Guilfoyle, the defending state champion, at intermission. But they knew that they were capable of a more dominant showing.
That dominance kicked in three plays into the second half, when Deon Lovelace-Pompey returned an interception 24 yards for a touchdown and quarterback Jeff Thompson ran in a two-point conversion.
It was not the only moment of the 35-3 triumph in which the Bears showed they were the best Class A team in the state, but it was probably the one that convinced the crowd at Cumberland Valley’s Chapman Field that the trophy was about to change hands.
“I think I ended the game right there,” Lovelace-Pompey said. “They didn’t have anything left after that.”
Lovelace-Pompey scored three touchdowns, including a 7-yard touchdown run with 3:48 left in the third quarter to put the WPIAL champs up 28-3. He finished with 84 yards on 10 carries.
The final score for the Bears came through the air, a 20-yard touchdown pass from Thompson to Taris Wooding with 1:16 remaining in the third period.
After that, the contest was more of a countdown to the Bears claiming their trophy. It was slowed by several flags in the final quarter, but a season that opened with a loss to Imani Christian but had only success after that finally reached its pinnacle.
“We didn’t waver at all,” coach Wayne Wade Jr. said.
Though Clairton led 14-3 at the break, the first half was not cleanly played. A fumble stopped a scoring opportunity on the Bears’ first possession, and a couple of offline snaps led to difficult down-and-distance situations.
“We got that worked out at halftime,” Lovelace-Pompey said. “No more fumbles, no more high snaps.”
Still, Clairton overcame most of those scenarios. With the game still scoreless, the Bears faced a fourth-and-6 at the Marauders’ 48-yard line. A deep ball to the left sideline was snared by Brandon Murphy, practically out of the hands of defender Tyson Lestochi, for a 34-yard gain. Four plays later, Murphy, who had six receptions for 70 yards, caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Thompson for the game’s first points.
Bishop Guilfoyle fumbled on its next series, with Tahvaz Armstrong recovering the ball at the Marauders’ 37. Two plays later, Lovelace-Pompey ran in a 29-yard touchdown for a 14-0 lead with 11:01 left in the second quarter.
The following possession was the only productive series for Bishop Guilfoyle. The Marauders gained six of their seven first downs for the game and held the ball for 18 plays. But after reaching the Bears’ 3, Bishop Guilfoyle settled for a 28-yard field goal by Carter Boland.
“That defensive stop before the half was big for us because then we could go in and make adjustments,” said Wade, who has been part of the Clairton football coaching staff in one form or another since 1996. “We were playing a shell defense, and they got guys into the flat, and we were able to change that.”
The Bears’ defense was even more dominant in the second half than the first and ultimately held the Marauders to minus-1 rushing yards in the game. They also intercepted two passes: Lovelace-Pompey’s pick-six and a fourth-quarter pick by Donte Wright.
Thompson finished 13 for 15 for 184 yards. Wright caught five passes for a team-high 81 yards, including a 51-yard gain in the third period. Wright also ran in a two-point conversion.
The Bears, who won games by an average score of 48-6 this season heading into the final, were making their first appearance in the championship game since losing 17-0 to Bishop Guilfoyle in 2016.
It was the fifth state title for Clairton, which won four straight state championships with a Class A dynasty from 2009-2012.