Fort Cherry drove 83 yards in 13 plays, took nearly five minutes off the fourth-quarter clock and scored with less than three minutes to play to beat Clairton, 21-20, and win a second straight WPIAL football championship. Shane Cornali threw an option pass early to Ryan Huey to convert one fourth down and Matt Sieg’s 13-yard scoring pass to Huey capped the drive, also on fourth down to lead the comeback. Nick Massey hit all three of his point-after attempts, the difference in the game. Sieg scored on two short runs in the first half, giving the Rangers a 14-6 lead at intermission. Clairton dominated the third quarter, rushing for nearly 150 yards and a pair of touchdowns to take a 20-14 lead into the final period, setting the stage for another fourth-quarter Fort Cherry rally. After the Rangers took the lead, the Bears had no timeouts and couldn’t move the chains. Eli Salvini sacked Bears’ quarterback Jeffrey Thompson to seal the win. Fort Cherry’s 21 points matched what the Bears had allowed all season. The back-to-back championships by Washington County teams had only happened twice previously: McDonald (1951 & 1952) and Chartiers-Houston (1971 & 1972). Fort Cherry will play District 9 champion Port Allegany in the PIAA Quarterfinals.
WPIAL Football Brackets: 6A 5A 4A 3A 2A 1A
PIAA Football Brackets