Welcome to WPIAL Championship weekend! The title games kick off with the 1A Championship at 11:00am on Saturday, November 22 at Heinz FieldAcrisure Stadium. Clairton is back in the Championship Game for the second straight season while Laurel has not been this deep in the playoffs since 1989. This is the third meeting between Clairton and Laurel in a Championship Game.
Check out this week’s edition of the WPIAL Blitz Show where we talked with James Dotson of the Lawrence County Sports Network for his insights on Laurel and a preview of this game!
2. Clairton (12-1) vs 4. Laurel (12-1)
How They Got Here
Both of these teams had an early setback in non-conference play and bounced back thanks to dominant defenses. Clairton lost to 3A finalist Imani Christian in a hard-fought Week 0 game. From there, Clairton’s defense had one of the most dominant seasons in WPIAL history, shutting out 9 straight opponents through the first round of the playoffs. Clairton’s defense scored 5 touchdowns this year, meaning the Bears defense scored more points in the regular season than they allowed. The Bears got all they could handle in a rematch with conference rivals Jeannette in the quarterfinals. Clairton prevailed in a back-and-forth game 38-33. For the second straight year, Clairton topped Bishop Canevin in the semifinals, a 42-22 result.
Laurel started the season with three wins over 2A foes from Lawrence County, beating Ellwood City, Mohawk, and Riverside. All three of those wound up being playoff teams from the Midwestern Conference. Their only loss game in Week 3 against Bishop Canevin. The Spartans defense would take over from there, shutting out 4 of their next 7 opponents through the first round of the playoffs. The 46 points they allowed to Bishop Canevin was more than they allowed in the entire rest of the regular season (42 total over 9 other games). Only Canevin and Chartiers-Houston put up more than two scores against Laurel. Last week, Laurel’s defense and ground game led the Spartans to an upset of two-time defending WPIAL Champions Fort Cherry to send them to their first Championship Game since 1989.
Recent History
This is the fifth playoff meeting between Clairton and Laurel. Both of Laurel’s previous Championship Games were against Clairton – a loss to the Bears in 1989 and a victory in 1980 that was the only title in school history. Laurel also holds the distinction as being the only team to beat the “Killer T’s” Clairton squad of Tyler Boyd, Titus Howard, and Terrish Webb. Clairton lost to Laurel in the season-opener of 2009 (the Killer T’s freshman year) then went on to win their next 63 games – including 4 straight WPIAL and State titles. Clairton got revenge on Laurel in 2009, meeting them again in the semifinals. Clairton also knocked out Laurel in the first round in 2023. That 2009 trip to the semis was the last time Laurel made it that deep in the WPIAL playoffs until this season.
Clairton’s run of dominance began in the mid-2000s. The Bears reached the semifinals in 15 straight years from 2006-2020. Since that 2020 Championship Game loss to Jeannette, Clairton went through a few “down” campaigns where they fell in the quarterfinals in 2021 and 2022. Interestingly both losses were to teams who were the eventual runners-up (OLSH and Bishop Canevin). Clairton returned to the semis in 2023 but lost to South Side Beaver who was also the runner-up. Last year the Bears returned to the Championship Game for the first time since 2020 and came up just short against Fort Cherry, losing by a single point on a last-minute touchdown pass.
Championship Pedigree
The weight of the pedigree in this matchup is almost entirely with Clairton. The Bears are playing in their 22nd WPIAL Championship Game. Clairton has won 14 WPIAL titles, 11 on the field and 3 that were awarded based on Gardner Points in 1929, 1931, and 1954. Their recent dominant run included five straight WPIAL titles from 2008-2012 and four State Championships during the “Killer T” era from 2009-2012. The “Bout Dat” crew of Tyler Boyd, Titus Howard and Terrish Webb went an incredible 63-1 during their 4-year high school careers. The next generation of Clairton athletes led by Lamont Wade won three straight WPIAL titles from 2014-2016. Clairton’s most recent championship came in 2019, making this the longest title-less drought for Clairton since the early 2000s.
Laurel’s only WPIAL Championship in school history came in 1980 when they defeated Clairton in the Class A title game. The Spartans won that game 14-12 and were coached by George Miles. George’s grandson Jack Miles is the anchor of this year’s Laurel’s defense and the all-time leader in tackles for the Spartans. This is Laurel’s fourth title game appearance. In addition to their 1980 Championship, they lost to South Allegheny 12-6 in 1977 and lost to Clairton 27-20 in 1989.
Dramatis Personae
Clairton is also the highest-scoring team in the entire WPIAL at 50 points per game. This year’s Clairton team has revolved around the passing attack led by senior QB Jeff Thompson III (2198 yards, 33 TDs). Sophomore star Brandon Murphy leads the receiving corps with 608 yards and 7 TDs (plus rushing for 137 yards and 4 scores) and has D1 offers for his defensive prowess where he has 14 TFLs, 4 sacks, and 3 interceptions (including a pick-six). Murphy had an interception late in the fourth quarter to seal the Bears quarterfinal victory over Jeannette. The Bears have a plethora of options in the receiving game with Taris Wooding (597 yards, 8 TDs) and all-around talents Donte Wright (499 receiving yards, 361 rushing yards, 17 total TDs) and Michael Ruffin (431 receiving yards, 222 rushing yards, 9 total TDs). Wright and Wooding both have D1 offers, as does junior DB Jaece Booker. Deon Lovelace-Pompey is a standout linebacker who also leads the Bears in rushing with 870 yards and 17 TDs. Defensively, senior lineman Tahvaz Armstrong has 11 TFLs and 7 sacks and junior linebacker Darren Pinson has over 100 tackles, 9 TFLs and 2 sacks.
Laurel has traditionally been a run-heavy team but opened up the offense with QB Luca Santini (1296 yards, 21 TDs) who broke the school’s career passing record this season. The Spartans will do everything they can to get the ball in the hands of Swiss Army Knife Kolton Carlson who leads the team in receiving (688 yards), rushing (836 yards), and scoring (21 total TDs). Carlson has scored twice in each of the last two games. The Spartans lead back is Nathan Hill (724 yards, 15 TDs) who will get his share of work in the ground game. Over the last few weeks, senior linebacker Jack Miles (the grandson of Laurel’s Championship-winning head coach George Miles) has taken on a larger share of work in the ground game. Miles ran for 100 yards and scored the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter against Fort Cherry. On the season, Miles has 279 rushing yards, 197 receiving yards, and scored 9 TDs while leading the defense in tackles (and breaking Laurel’s career tackle record). Miles posted 108 tackles, 11 TFLs, 1 sack, and 2 INTs. Laurel’s stout defense was led up front by junior Alex Medved (22 TFLs, 9 sacks) and sophomore Tyler Fuchs (16 TFLs, 8 sacks, 2 blocked punts). On the back end, Tony Geiwitz led the secondary with 7 INTs and 2 fumble recoveries.
