Dominant Clairton defense adds another zero to shutout streak — 5 things we learned in Week 10

By: Chris Harlan
Sunday, November 2, 2025 | 3:25 AM

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Coach Wayne Wade has a special place in his heart for a legendary Clairton defense from 15 years ago, a historic group that won WPIAL and PIAA titles in 2010.

Those Bears held their first 15 opponents to a touchdown or less that year, part of an epic 66-game winning streak that broke a state record. Wade was the defensive coordinator then and can still list the players from memory, not the least of which was Tyler Boyd.

“That team was unbelievable,” said Wade, insisting he’d never seen a team play better defense.

Well, until now.

The current Bears haven’t allowed a point since August while stringing together nine consecutive shutouts. The latest zero on the scoreboard came Friday night when Clairton shut out Monessen, 50-0, in the first round of the WPIAL Class A playoffs.

“This team here, I think, plays a little more sound than that defense (from 2010),” Wade said. “This team here, every kid is trying to do just their job every play.”

As a result, Clairton has outscored opponents 519-0 since Week Zero, not including a 10th win earned by forfeit. Wade said Monessen maybe came the closest of any opponent to scoring when a few Clairton penalties got the Greyhounds inside the 25-yard line.

“Then they got a penalty, we got a sack and that was it,” Wade said.

The team’s top tacklers are middle linebackers Deon Pompey, a senior, and junior Darren Pinson. On the outside of the 3-4 defense are senior Tahvaz Armstrong and sophomore Brandon Murphy, a major-college recruit with Pitt, Penn State, West Virginia, Florida State and Indiana among his early offers.

Wade said what makes this defense special is its speed. Senior defensive back Michael Ruffin might be the fastest on the field, but four or five teammates are all within a step.

“We have probably six kids in that defense that can run 4.5 (seconds) or faster (in the 40-yard dash),” Wade said. “Not to say the other guys are slow, but we’ve got guys that can get to the ball. It looks like you have something and it’s gone.”

Ruffin is joined in the secondary by seniors Donte Wright and Taris Wooding and junior Jaece Booker. Seniors Avaughn Pompey and Chad Law and junior D’Kota Harris start on the defensive line.

Up next for No. 2 Clairton (10-1) is a rematch with conference foe No. 10 Jeannette (8-3) in the quarterfinals Friday at Franklin Regional. The Bears won the first matchup with the Jayhawks, 57-0, on Sept. 26.

Clairton had to replace only two starters from last year’s defense that didn’t allow an offensive touchdown in 11 of the first 13 games. But last season ended with a disappointing one-point loss in the WPIAL finals to Fort Cherry.

“This is a great group of kids, and they had a sour taste in their mouths to start this year because we felt we had a championship team last year,” Wade said. “This year, these kids feel like they’re not going to make any excuses, but they’re not going to leave any doubt.”

Statistical anomalies

• Fort Cherry’s Matt Sieg broke his school’s career rushing record Friday and also climbed to second place on the WPIAL’s all-time list at the same time.

The senior passed former Rangers running back Mike Vernillo, who graduated in 2000 with 7,646 yards. Vernillo held the WPIAL rushing record until Hopewell’s Rushel Shell broke his mark 12 years later.

Sieg has 7,665 career yards after rushing for 161 on Friday in a 48-14 win over Avella in the first round of the WPIAL Class A playoffs.

Shell had 9,078 yards.

Last night senior Matt Sieg moved to #2 on the WPIAL all time rushing list, passing up Ranger legend Mike Vernillo in the process! Congratulations to Matt on an amazing accomplishment and thank you Mike for setting the standard these kids work hard to emulate! #Top3 #RangerPride pic.twitter.com/cOgSQYfsq1

— #TheFort (@FortCherryFB) November 1, 2025

• It’s no exaggeration to say North Catholic’s Joey Felitsky had one of the greatest games by a quarterback in WPIAL playoff history.

The senior completed 23 of 24 passes for 433 yards and six touchdowns — all in the first half — as the Trojans beat Burrell, 56-21, in the WPIAL Class 3A first round. Felitsky headed to the sideline with North Catholic leading 56-14 at half. His night was probably another completion or two away from challenging a WPIAL postseason record.

In 2016, Gateway’s Brady Walker passed for a playoff record 464 yards in a WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal win over Armstrong.

HALLOWEEN NIGHT 🔪
Joe Felitsky = Michael Myers

23/24 95.8% 433y 6 TDs pic.twitter.com/0jYGHcWE8w

— Mike McMahon (@michaelemcmahon) November 1, 2025

Down to the wire

Three games Friday weren’t decided until late in the fourth quarter, playoff drama that included a last-second field goal, a failed two-point try and a winning touchdown pass by a quarterback previously sidelined by injury.

Aliquippa senior Marques Council was in and out of the lineup this fall with a knee issue and eventually was deemed out for the season. But the Yale-bound quarterback returned for the playoffs and threw a game-winning 40-yard touchdown to Josh Lay with 20 seconds left as No. 7 Aliquippa upset No. 2 Trinity, 21-14, in the Class 4A first round.

Elsewhere in the 4A bracket, No. 3 New Castle held on for a nail-biting 14-13 victory over No. 6 Montour thanks to a failed two-point attempt. Montour had scored a touchdown with 20 seconds left as Brandon Bennett connected with Zander Stern on a 14-yard pass. But on the two-point try, Bennett slipped and fell on a run around left end.

In Class 2A, Mohawk kicker Andrew Lloyd hit a last-second field goal from 22 yards as the eighth-seeded Warriors defeated No. 9 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, 17-14.

Waiting for a win

Chartiers-Houston waited 25 years for Friday’s playoff celebration.

The team had owned the longest active losing streak in the WPIAL playoffs — 14 straight losses — before the 12th-seeded Buccaneers pulled out a 26-21 victory over No. 5 South Side in the Class A first round Friday. The winning touchdown was scored on a 3-yard run by Dominic Andreolli in the fourth quarter.

Previously, Chartiers-Houston’s most recent playoff win was in 2000, a 14-7 victory over Clairton in the first round.

Kiski Area now has the longest active playoff losing streak at 13 games. The Cavaliers lost Friday to Shaler, 28-8.

Tri-County South gets swept

The Tri-County South has endured its share of postseason pain and just suffered another early exit from the playoffs.

All four qualifiers from the Class A conference lost in first round for the second year in a row. No. 6 California, No. 7 Bentworth, No. 13 Jefferson-Morgan and No. 16 Avella all lost on Friday. The most competitive defeat of the four was Bentworth’s 38-24 loss to Jeannette.

The sweep dropped the conference’s combined record to 2-19 in playoff games since 2020.

Still, the Tri-County South isn’t the first conference in WPIAL history that has struggled come playoff time. The former Keystone Conference in Class 3A once went eight seasons in a row without a playoff win between 2001-08.

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: Aliquippa, Avella, Bentworth, California, Chartiers-Houston, Clairton, Fort Cherry, Jefferson-Morgan, Mohawk, Montour, New Castle, North Catholic, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Trinity