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Big second quarter leads OLSH past Clairton

Tagged under: District 7, Gameday Hub, News

| September 11, 2022

Moon Township: OLSH scored three second-quarter touchdowns to beat Clairton 28-13 to move to 3-0 on the season.

“This was a hard-fought win,” said OLSH head coach Dom Militzer. “It’s been three tough weeks in a row with Shenango, who won in the playoff last year, and then Rochester and Clairton speak for themselves. Our kids have shown up weekly, and I couldn’t be prouder of where we are right now.”

Chargers quarterback Nehemiah Azeem accounted for all four OLSH touchdowns Saturday night and threw for 235 yards on 19-of-36 passing. 

His favorite target Dereon Greer caught a game-high 137 yards on seven receptions, including six for 130 in the first half. 

“We expect that from Dereon,” said Militzer. “What’s great about the evolution of the passing game is when they started to double him, it opened things up for our guys to make catches.”

Greer’s 30-yard touchdown pass from Azeem opened the scoring with 8:13 to play in the first half, leading to three scores in 35 seconds.

 Clairton’s Michael Ruffing returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown, briefly tying the game at seven.

OLSH took the momentum right back as Greer hauled in a 63-yard touchdown from Azeem on the next play from scrimmage.

 

The Chargers added a late first-half touchdown when Azeem scored on a 2-yard with 1:43 remaining.

“They way were able to throw the ball; teams are going to do different things defensively than they’ll normally do,” Militzer. “Our passing game is a big part of our offense. There will be times that we’re going to half to feel it out.”

OLSH led 21-7 at halftime and limited the Bears to only two yards of offense in the first half.

“When we got in the second half, our goal was to milk the clock, and I was happy with how our line played,” said Militzer. “We had a couple of long drives; we wanted to keep their offense off the field. Our line and linebackers are tough, and our secondary did a great job keeping everything in front of them. I’ve been happy with our defense has been playing all year.”

Clairton found their offensive footing in the second half as they drove inside the OLSH 30-yard line three times and gained 119 yards in the second half.

“We got off to a good start in the second half by coming out and going right after them,” said Clairton head coach Wayne Wade. “We thought we had a chance to do that in the first half, but things didn’t go our way.

The Bears pulled to within a touchdown when Donte Wright scored on a 4-yard run in the third quarter.

 

Wright led the Bears with 48 yards on 12 carries while Capone Jones threw for 106 yards on 10-of-20 passing.

“We have some young kids in positions where they’re still making mistakes with being out of position here or there, and against good football teams will cost you,” said Wade. “They have a great quarterback and team, and for our guys to come out and battle in the second half like that, hats off to my guys.” 

The Chargers got their offense going for the only time in the second half and answered the Bears’ score when Dorrien Tate caught a 14-yard touchdown from Azeem.

“With some young guys out there still being a little unsure of their assignments, that can happen, especially against a good quarterback as they have,” said Wade. “We played better in the second half but still have work to do.” 

OLSH will attempt to keep their momentum going as they enter conference play next Friday night, traveling to Carlynton.

“Our main goal is to get healthy and remain healthy,” Militzer concluded. “After three tough football games, we’re a little banged up but have no serious injuries. We should be proud of what they accomplished because not many teams would be able to run the gauntlet those first three weeks.”

Clairton will look to get their first win of the season next Saturday when they head to Oakmont to play Riverview.

“We’re going to go back to the drawing board like we always do,” concluded Wayne. “This was a battle of number two and three in Class A. We’ve played some good football teams, and we’ll get better as the season continues.” 

Game Highlights:

 

OLSH 28 Clairton 13

Score by Quarters

Clairton – 0 7 6 0 – 13

OLSH – 0 21 7 0 – 28

Scoring Summary 

Second Quarter 

OLSH – Dereon Greer 30 yd pass from Nehemiah Azeem, (Billy Fryer pat), 8:13

C – Michael Ruffing 85 yd kickoff return, (Capone Jones pat), 7:58

OLSH – Greer 63 yd pass from Azeem, (Fryer pat), 7:38

OLSH – Azeem 2 yd run, (Fryer pat), 1:43

Third Quarter 

C – Donte Wright 4 yd run, (kick blocked), 4:50

OLSH – Dorrien Tate 14 yd pass from Azeem, (Fryer pat), 1:19

Individual Stats

Rushing: Clairton – Jones 14-(-13), Ruffing 3-7, Michael Wright 2-21, Donte Wright 12-48, Team 1-(-21). Totals: 32-15. OLSH – Azeem 10-0, Brandon Brazell 9-61, Moore 2-6, B.J. Vaugh 4-11, Dior Devers 3-(-5). Totals: 28-73.

Receiving: Clairton -Devon Dean 3-48, Martin Lawrence 1-(-3), Keith Wright 1-7, Jones 1-9, Drahcir Jones 3-38, Keelen Holly 1-7 OLSH – Greer 7-137, Ziggy McIntosh 5-43, Ethan Davis-Gardner 3-31, Jayvaughn Moore 1-4, Dorrien Tate 2-17, Harris Burdine 1-3. 

Passing: Clairton – Capone Jones 10-for-20, 106 yards, Michael Wright 0-for-1, INT. OLSH – Azeem 19-for-36 235 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT. 

Interceptions: Clairton – Jones, Dean. OLSH – McIntosh

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