Strong Defensive Performance Powers Clairton To First State Title In 13 Years

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Davin Ridall | December 4, 2025

MECHANICSBURG – As the saying goes, “third time’s the charm.” This game was the third time that Clairton and Bishop Guilfoyle had met in the state title game. After having lost the first two times to the Marauders, this time around the Bears got it done dominantly, winning 35-3 over Bishop Guilfoyle and racking off their 15th straight win dating back to August 29th.

Defense was arguably the biggest key in this game for Clairton. That strong Bears defensive line ended up tallying five sacks and 10 tackles for loss, while the defense held Bishop Guilfoyle to just 3 points and 55 total offensive yards.

“I don’t think people really understood how much speed we had on the defensive side of the ball. Once we figured out what to do against teams and figured out how we wanted to play, we just let the kids go,” head coach Wayne Wade said about the defensive performance. “They played lights out today. We obviously had to make some adjustments after the first half, but our defense has been flying around all year, so it’s only fitting that we play like this today.”

Two big moments on defense were significant in this game. Towards the end of the first half, the Marauders had driven down to the 3-yard line thanks to a couple of self-inflicted penalties; however, this drive only ended in three points, which was the difference between the game being 14-3 at half and 14-7 at half.

“That was huge for us; it allowed us to go into the half and make some adjustments, and in that second half, they couldn’t pass the ball anymore. We just made those adjustments and took it away in the second half,” Wade said after the game.

The other big moment was on Bishop Guilfoyle’s opening drive of the second half. On the third play of the drive, Marauder’s quarterback Justin Wheeler dropped back to pass and had the ball picked off at the line of scrimmage and returned 24 yards to the end zone by Deon Lovelace-Pompey to put Clairton up 22-3. That pick-six was his second of three touchdowns on the day; the other two came on rushes of 29 and 7 yards, respectively.

“That play again was a halftime adjustment; we told the linebackers what to do if we saw they were in passing downs, if they were bringing in certain personnel, and we told the linebackers to read the quarterback and drop in those zones.”

A 20-yard touchdown carry by Taris Wooding capped off a 21-point third quarter for Clairton and was ultimately the final points in the game, sealing the score at 35-3 and capping off a 15-1 season for Clairton. After beginning the season with a loss to Imani Christian, Clairton ran off 15 consecutive victories, its longest single-season win streak since 2014, when it also won 15 games in a row before losing its final match to, of all teams, Bishop Guilfoyle.

“We picked that game; we knew we were playing a great triple-A team, and we knew that was our game. The game didn’t come to us, we said at the beginning of the year that Imani Christian’s a challenge for us, so let’s play them,” coach Wade said about their opening week loss. “We lost that game, but we went back to school Monday, and we said we’re still going to be state champs; these kids are a testament to that.”

“I feel like I’ve made a name for myself, winning a state title since we hadn’t won one since 2012. I feel like I was the leader of this team, and it feels amazing to bring this one back to Clairton,” senior quarterback Jeff Thompson said after the game.

Game Highlights:

Clairton 35 Bishop Guilfoyle 3

Score by Quarters

Clairton – 6 8 21 0 – 35

Bishop Guilfoyle – 0 3 0 0 – 3

Scoring Summary 

First Quarter 

C – Brandon Murphy 14 yd pass from Jeff Thompson, (pass failed), 1:55

Second Quarter 

C – Deon Lovelace-Pompey 29 yd run, (Donte Wright rush), 11:01

BG – Carter Boland 28 yd field goal, 2:23 

Third Quarter 

C – Lovelace-Pompey 24 yd interception return, (Thompson rush), 11:08

C – Lovelace-Pompey 7 yd run, (kick failed), 3:48 

C – Taris Woodling 20 yd pass from Thompson, (Rhejon Williams pat), 1:16

Individual Stats

Rushing: C – Lovelace-Pompey 10-83, Wright 10-62, Tahvaz Armstrong 1-15, Murphy 2-7, Thompson 7-0, Robert Scott 1-(-1), Michael Ruffin 1-(-6), Team 1-(-1). Totals: 33-159. BG: Jake Kissell 10-21, Connor Okonak 2-3, Keegan Hewitt 1-0, Evan Schimminger 2-(-2), Justin Wheeler 10-(-33). Totals: 25-(-11). 

Receiving: C – Wright 5-81, Murphy 6-76, Woodling 1-20, Jaece Booker 2-18. BG – Kissell 6-28, Schimminger 5-28, Tyson Lestochi 3-10.

Passing: C – Thompson 14-for-17, 195 yards, 2 TD. BG – Wheeler 12-for-15, 48 yards, Kissell 2-for-4, 18 yards. 

Interceptions: C – Lovelace-Pompey. 

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