Clairton to christen Tyler Boyd Stadium with star-studded matchup vs. Imani Christian

By: Chris Harlan
Thursday, August 21, 2025 | 10:20 PM

Clairton has officially renamed its football stadium in honor of Bears great Tyler Boyd, so it’s fitting that the first game played there is between two teams with WPIAL title hopes.

Remember, Boyd won four WPIAL and four state championships in his high school days.

Imani Christian visits Clairton in a Week Zero opener at 7 p.m. Friday at a renovated stadium with artificial turf, modern lights and new bleachers on the home side. The school held a ribbon cutting ceremony with Boyd on Thursday.

A phone call between the coaches helped bring this matchup together.

Imani Christian was looking for a game closer to home after starting last season in York. Clairton needed a Week Zero opponent too, and they considered playing at the Wolvarena as part of a multi-game event there this weekend.

Clairton administrators favored making this matchup the first game on the new turf.

“It should make for a good atmosphere,” Clairton coach Wayne Wade said.

Both teams are ranked second in Trib preseason rankings — Clairton in Class A and Imani Christian in 3A. It wasn’t too long ago that they shared a Class A conference for six seasons until Imani moved up to a higher classification in 2022.

Now, they’re back together.

“It is a good opportunity,” Imani coach LaRoi Johnson said. “We’re trying to prepare our team (for later in the season), so we wanted to play in a very tough atmosphere. It’s not going to be set up for us to win (in Clairton).”

Each roster has talent, too.

Clairton brings back senior quarterback Jeffrey Thompson, who passed for 1,882 yards and 27 touchdowns last season. His top receivers — Taris Wooding (25 catches), Donte Wright (22) and Michael Ruffin (20) — all have college scholarship offers.

Sophomore linebacker/receiver Brandon Murphy already has Pitt and Penn State among his options.

“They’re a very talented football team,” Johnson said. “You know they’re going to play for their town. It’s a tight-knit community. It’s Tyler Boyd Day. You’re liable to see someone catch a ball one-handed down the sideline. You know they’ll be ready.”

Imani Christian is led by a pair of Penn State-bound defensive backs in senior David Davis and junior Gabriel Jenkins. Davis also plays running back or receiver, and Jenkins is the quarterback.

Jenkins rushed for 1,283 yards last year.

Senior defensive end/tight end Will Gorman is a Youngstown State commit, and junior linebacker Da’Juan Craighead has Duke and West Virginia among his offers.

“They’re talented,” Wade said. “They’ve got nice size up front. They’re like the old Sto-Rox teams or old Imani teams (coached by Johnson) that we played in the past. They have some Division I athletes, but we do, too. I’m excited about the matchup.”

Clairton played only one home game last season at what then was called Neil C. Brown Stadium. Once field renovations got started, the team played home games at Thomas Jefferson.

So, the Bears are extra excited to be back in their own stadium again.

“That’s huge,” Wade said. “We have six home games on the schedule. It’s big for us and our community. Our fans are wanting to come out, and some of those fans can’t travel all the time.”

The venue is now named Tyler Boyd Stadium after the former Pitt standout who played wide receiver the past nine seasons in the NFL. The 2013 Clairton graduate joins the likes of former NFL players Jimbo Covert (Freedom), Tony Dorsett (Hopewell), Russ Grimm (Southmoreland), Myron Pottios (Charleroi) and Joe Montana (Ringgold) who have a high school field or stadium named after them.

Boyd is a Clairton legend, but Johnson said his Imani players certainly respect him, too.

“All of our kids know who he is,” said Johnson, adding his praise of Boyd as well. “In high school, he was a human highlight tape.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Clairton, Imani Christian