No. 1 Clairton routs Springdale for 700th win in program history

By: George Guido
Friday, October 23, 2020 | 10:44 PM

For a program that has celebrated plenty of milestones, Clairton added another Friday night.

The Bears won the 700th game in school history with a 45-10 victory over Springdale at Neil C. Brown Stadium.

Top-ranked Clairton improved to 6-0, with all the wins coming in Eastern Conference play. It marks the 14th conference title in the past 15 years for Clairton.

The Bears also completed the 20th undefeated regular season in school history, and they are favored to get the No. 1 seed when the WPIAL playoffs begin next Friday.

“I’ve been involved as a player and a coach and a kid watching them play,” Clairton coach Wayne Wade said. “This means a ton to me. It really does.”

After an emotional post-game huddle, Wade gave the game ball to former standout Devlin Mullen.

Said Wade: “To be the coach here, the leader, the guy that’s directing it, guys like him have helped me get to where I’m at. He played here in the late ’70s, went to Western Kentucky and played four or five years with the New York Jets.”

Wade is hoping the weather is favorable, and the Bears can play on their home field next week. The WPIAL has moved teams to artificial turf fields in recent years.

Springdale’s situation is a little more complicated.

The Dynamos (5-2, 5-2), OLSH and Avella have two conference losses. The top two teams from each of the three Class A conferences get in automatically.

The WPIAL Football Steering Committee might select the other two teams to round out an eight-team playoff field.

“We can’t worry about that,” Springdale coach Seth Napierkowski said. “I think we’ve stated our case. We played tooth-and-nail with Jeannette, ranked in the top three, and we played with Clairton, the number one team in the state, for a half.”

Senior Dontae Sanders carried the ball 16 times for 223 yards and had four touchdowns for the Bears.

“The kid is a great kid,” Wade said. “It hurts my heart that he has only two football offers. His talent level speaks for itself. I truly don’t understand what the issue is. He has a 3.4 GPA. I really don’t understand.”

Sanders has 1,195 yards and 20 touchdowns this season.

Clairton got on the scoreboard quickly. Three plays after Keith Meade recovered a fumble on Springdale’s first play from scrimmage, Sanders zig-zagged his way around the defense for a 23-yard scoring run.

Sanders went over the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season on the play.

Springdale answered, however, as Legend Ausk found John Utiss open in the end zone for a 25-yard pass to tie the score at 7-7.

It was Sanders again three plays later, this time on a 56-yard run.

An Andre Henderson interception was disallowed because of pass interference. The play kept the Springdale drive alive, setting the stage for a 43-yard Matt Haus field goal to make it 13-10 Clairton with 31 seconds to go in the first quarter.

“Any time you go up against a team like this, number one in the state, perennial powerhouse, our guys came out with a lot of enthusiasm and energy,” Napierkowski said. “We played with them for a half ,and we had some self-inflicted mistakes on ourselves.”

Brooklyn Cannon’s 46-yard kickoff return set up another Bears touchdown, with Cannon hauling in a 26-yard pass from Jonte Sanders.

Greg Lee pressured Haus on a punt, tackling the Springdale senior, giving Clairton the ball at the Dynamos 22.

Dontae Sanders scored his third touchdown of the first half from 2 yards.

On the ensuing kickoff, Isaiah Berry recovered a fumble, and Clairton looked poised to score again late in the half. With the ball on the Dynamos 2, Gage Howard sacked Jonte Sanders at the 10 as the second quarter ended.

Henderson took a 52-yard screen pass to start the second half for Clairton.

With 5:34 to go, Berry scored the final touchdown of the night on an 8-yard run.

Ausk had 94 passing yards for the Dynamos, and Demitri Fritch, one of Class A’s top receivers, had four catches for 53 yards.

Tags: Clairton, Springdale