Clairton hands West Greene first loss
Ed Thompson
West Greene蘑菇视频 Benjamin Jackson wipes sweat and dirt off his face during Friday night蘑菇视频 game against Clairton. Jackson rushed for 155 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown. He also leads the 蘑菇视频 Touchdown Club standings with a record 194 points.
West Greene quarterback Gavin Scott stiff-arms Clairton蘑菇视频 Jaylin Askew while running for a short gain during last Friday night蘑菇视频 game at Neil C. Brown Stadium. (Photo by Ed Thompson)
West Greene's Gavin Scott drops back in the pocket early in the first quarter to complete a short pass against Clairton at Neil C. Brown Stadium Friday night.
CLAIRTON 鈥� The Pioneers were not playing in Greene County and they weren鈥檛 playing the same old punching bags.
It was the Class A perennial power Clairton, albeit with a 5-2 record entering last Friday night, that quickly reminded the Pioneers they weren鈥檛 in the Tri-County South Conference for this game.
Filling the box with eight, nine and sometimes 10 defenders and daring West Greene to throw, Clairton was the immovable object that put a screeching halt to the irresistible force by putting a beatdown on the previously unbeaten Pioneers, 49-7, in a non-conference game at Neil C. Brown Stadium.
鈥淲hen they smell blood in the water, their average guys play good, their good guys play great and their great guys you can barely contain. You saw that tonight,鈥� said West Greene coach Brian Hanson. 鈥淣obody has really challenged us thus far other than when its been caused by us shooting ourselves in the foot. Tonight, we got challenged because they are the better football team right now.鈥�
Trying to limit the WPIAL蘑菇视频 leading rusher in West Greene蘑菇视频 Ben Jackson, Clairton (6-2) dominated the defensive side of the ball the entire night. Outside of two runs from Jackson 鈥� an 80-yard touchdown and a 24-yard run on the final offensive play for the Pioneers 鈥� the Bears limited West Greene (7-1) to a meager 70 yards on 41 plays.
Jackson蘑菇视频 two longest runs added up to 104 of his 155 rushing yards on 19 carries.
鈥淔ormation-wise, they allowed us to stay in our 50 (defense), so we got eight or nine guys in the box,鈥� said Clairton coach Wayne Wade. 鈥淵ou get any single-A team that can run with eight or nine guys in the box with my guys then you got a quality team. That was it. That was the story tonight. We loaded the box and dared them to put the ball in the air.鈥�
Only bad things happened when West Greene tried to pass. The Pioneers had the same amount of interceptions (two) as completions (2 of 9). They had six yards passing.
The first of those interceptions led to Clairton methodically driving 65 yards on 10 plays that ended with Isaiah Berry finding room off right tackle for a one-yard touchdown to give the Bears a 21-0 lead with 9:56 left in the second quarter.
Less than four minutes later, that lead grew by two more touchdowns. Dontae Sanders converted a fourth-and-goal from the West Greene four-yard line with a touchdown run after a Berry interception. A Pioneers鈥� fumble in their own territory quickly resulted in Clairton quarterback Brendan Parsons finding Kenlein Ogletree for a 15-yard touchdown pass on the next play to extend the lead to 35-0 with 6:14 left in the first half.
鈥淯ntil we can throw the football, it蘑菇视频 going to be a challenge,鈥� Hanson said. 鈥�(Clairton) is a big-play team. You have to make them drive the football. You can鈥檛 give them quick stuff.鈥�
The only big play West Greene had all night was its lone touchdown. Jackson took the handoff on a backside counter, avoided a pair of defenders, tip-toed down the sideline and raced 80 yards for the Pioneers鈥� only score of the game, cutting the deficit to 35-7 with 5:56 left in the second quarter.
Slowing down Jackson was a challenge that made Wade excited.
鈥淚 was a little bit more amped before the game started,鈥� Wade said. 鈥淚 was a little bit antsy. I couldn鈥檛 sit down. I wanted this game. As a defensive coach, to get an opportunity against the leading rusher in the WPIAL on our field I was excited. Our guys were excited.鈥�
Clairton had little problems moving the ball against West Greene, which had limited Tri-County South Conference foe California to just 39 yards of offense last week.
On the third play from scrimmage in the second half, Berry ran 53 yards for a touchdown to put the game into a running clock Mercy Rule with exactly 11 minutes left in the third quarter. Clairton蘑菇视频 lead was 42-7.
Berry had nine carries for 112 yards. Parsons completed 10 of 14 passes for 176 yards and two scores. The Bears also had a special-teams touchdown when Ogletree returned a punt 66 yards in the first quarter.
鈥淚t蘑菇视频 a learning experience,鈥� Hanson said. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 know where you are at with certain teams because you can only play the teams on your schedule. It蘑菇视频 hard to replicate (Clairton蘑菇视频) talent at practice. They might be the best team in Class A. They have some players. They really have some players.鈥�