‘We refuse to lose’: Clairton sprints past Greenville, will play familiar foe for PIAA title
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Friday, November 28, 2025 | 11:10 PM
Clairton’s Brandon Murphy celebrates after scoring against Greenville during their PIAA Class A state semifinal on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, at Helling Stadium in Ellwood City.
Clairton’s Brandon Murphy scores on a punt return against Greenville during their PIAA Class A state semifinal on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, at Helling Stadium in Ellwood City.
Clairton’s Donte Wright scores against Greenville during their PIAA Class A state semifinal on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, at Helling Stadium in Ellwood City.
Clairton’s Deon Lovelace-Pompey carries against Greenville during their PIAA Class A state semifinal on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, at Helling Stadium in Ellwood City.
Clairton’s Donte Wright scores against Greenville during their PIAA Class A state semifinal on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, at Helling Stadium in Ellwood City.
Clairton’s Brandon Murphy lines up in a snow squall during the Bears’ PIAA Class A state semifinal against Greenville on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, at Helling Stadium in Ellwood City.
Clairton’s Brandon Murphy returns a punt for a touchdown against Greenville during their PIAA Class A state semifinal on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, at Helling Stadium in Ellwood City.
Clairton’s Donte Wright intercepts a pass intended for Greenville’s Justin Schell during their PIAA Class A state semifinal on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, at Helling Stadium in Ellwood City.
Clairton’s Donte Wright intercepts a pass intended for Greenville’s Justin Schell during their PIAA Class A state semifinal on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, at Helling Stadium in Ellwood City.
Clairton’s Donte Wright stiff-arms Greenville’s Cael Thurber during their PIAA Class A state semifinal on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, at Helling Stadium in Ellwood City.
Clairton’s Brandon Murphy returns a punt for a touchdown against Greenville during their PIAA Class A state semifinal on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, at Helling Stadium in Ellwood City.
Clairton’s Taris Woodling plays in a snow squall during the Bears’ PIAA Class A state semifinal against Greenville on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, at Helling Stadium in Ellwood City.
Clairton’s Taris Woodling carries past Greenville’s Brayden Straw during their PIAA Class A state semifinal on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, at Helling Stadium in Ellwood City.
Clairton’s Deon Lovelace-Pompey carries past Greenville defenders during their PIAA Class A state semifinal on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, at Helling Stadium in Ellwood City.
Clairton’s D’Kota Harris wipes away the snow between plays during the Bears’ PIAA Class A state semifinal against Greenville on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, at Helling Stadium in Ellwood City.
Clairton quarterback Jeff Thompson celebrates after the Bears scored against Greenville during their PIAA Class A state semifinal on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, at Helling Stadium in Ellwood City.
Clairton quarterback Jeff Thompson reaches for the end zone during the Bears’ PIAA Class A state semifinal against Greenville on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, at Helling Stadium in Ellwood City.
Clairton quarterback Jeff Thompson celebrates with Tahvaz Armstrong as time winds down in the Bears’ PIAA Class A state semifinal against Greenville on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, at Helling Stadium in Ellwood City.
Clairton’s Brandon Murphy smiles in the snow during the Bears’ PIAA Class A state semifinal against Greenville on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, at Helling Stadium in Ellwood City.
Clairton’ head coach Wayne Wade Jr. sens a message from the sideline during the Bears’ PIAA Class A state semifinal against Greenville on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, at Helling Stadium in Ellwood City.
Thanks to its stunning speed, Clairton is sprinting to the state finals for the first time in nearly a decade.
Sophomore Brandon Murphy returned a punt 81 yards to the end zone Friday night, one of six first-half touchdowns scored by the speedy Bears in a 57-0 semifinal victory over Greenville.
Clairton’s quickness was too much.
Senior running back Deon Lovelace-Pompey scored twice, and Murphy later returned a second-half punt 75 yards for another touchdown in a lopsided PIAA Class A semifinal at Ellwood City’s Helling Stadium that finished under the mercy rule.
The Bears led 43-0 at halftime.
“We felt if we could spread them out a little bit and use our speed in space, then we would be able to hit some home runs,” Clairton coach Wayne Wade said. “We did.”
Clairton (14-1), a four-time state champion, last reached the finals in 2016. Nine years maybe isn’t a long time for most football programs, but for Clairton, it is.
“We’ve been waiting for years and years,” Murphy said. “We’re finally back, and we refuse to lose.”
Waiting for the Bears is familiar foe Bishop Guilfoyle (12-2), which defeated Clairton in the 2016 and ’14 finals. This year’s Class A championship game is 1 p.m. Thursday at Cumberland Valley.
Wade said the matchup isn’t a surprise.
“Just knowing who Guilfoyle is — being a Catholic school, their rosters look a little different than ours — so we’re expecting them to be there every year,” Wade said. “I’m hoping they expect us to be there every year, too.”
Clairton reached the state finals five years in a row from 2008-12 and won four titles in that span.
“This is big for the city,” said quarterback Jeff Thompson, who passed for a touchdown and rushed for another Friday. “We’ve been looking forward to this since I was a freshman. It’s my senior year. I’ve got a week left to be a Clairton Bear, and I’m just going to enjoy it.”
Clairton’s speed was a problem from the start for District 10 champion Greenville (12-2).
Lovelace-Pompey ran for 43 yards on the first snap of the game, a gain undone by a lost fumble. But the Bears offense scored touchdowns on eight of the next nine possessions, all while the defense stifled Greenville with three interceptions.
“After the first play, after we had that big run, I kind of felt we had the edge on this team,” Murphy said. “We obviously did.”
In total offense, Clairton outgained its opponent 431 to 67. That included a 262-to-15 edge in rushing yards.
“You don’t know until you see it in person just how much speed they have,” Greenville coach Michael Menold said. “They just made play after play.”
Along with Murphy’s two punt returns, the other Clairton touchdowns were scored by Lovelace-Pompey (1- and 6-yard runs), Thompson (8-yard run), Donte Wright (26-yard run), Taris Wooding (28-yard catch) and Michael Ruffing (3-yard run).
Lovelace-Pompey rushed for 109 yards on nine carries. Thompson passed for 170 yards and a touchdown while completing 6 of 8 attempts.
A week ago, Clairton needed a fourth-quarter stand from its defense to hold onto an 8-6 win in the WPIAL finals. This time, the offense got going early, leaving no drama for the second half.
“We like them to be boring,” Wade said. “Once we’re ahead like that, make the game boring and let the clock run.”
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
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