126 • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020 • TRIB TOTAL MEDIA
BIG 7 • OLSH
STEPHEN GREER
Coach: Dan Bradley
2019 record: 7-4, 5-2
All-time record: 48-53
SCHEDULE
Date Opponent Time
9.11 at Cornell* 7
9.18 Burgettstown* 7
9.25 at Fort Cherry* 7
10.2 at Rochester* 7
10.10 Union* 7
10.16 at Shenango* 7
10.23 Northgate* 7
*CONFERENCE GAME
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Passing Jay Pearson
66-125, 1,074 yards, 14 TDs
Receiving Eric Olexa
33-521 yards, 8 TDs
Rushing Pearson
88-738 yards, 12 TDs
*GRADUATED
FAST FACTS
• The Chargers will be looking
to make their second WPIAL
championship appearance in
school history.
• Since Dan Bradley took
over the program in 2016, the
Chargers have yet to have a
losing season.
• Senior wide receiver Bobby
Brazell will return to the outside
after catching 19 passes
for 344 yards and six touchdowns.
He averaged 18.1 yards
per catch.
• Senior kicker Ryan Gehring
converted 25 extra-point attempts
last season.
JAY PEARSON
OLSH PLAYERS HAVE
TITLE ASPIRATIONS
Two years ago, members of the
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart
football team hoisted the WPIAL
Class A championship trophy for
the first time in school history.
Now, as the Chargers enter the
2020 season, they have championship
aspirations back on their
mind after going 7-4 a season ago
and losing to eventual WPIAL
Class A champion Clairton in the
quarterfinals.
With a young team that included
sophomore Jay Pearson starting
at quarterback and only three seniors,
it was a season not many
saw coming. But the Chargers are
ready to prove it wasn’t a fluke.
“I’m even more confident this
season because last year everyone
thought that we were going to be
terrible,” Pearson said. “But for a
young team, we went 7-4 and that’s
a good record. But our record is
going to be undefeated this year;
that’s my goal for this year.”
Most of the players on this year’s
team were freshmen or sophomores
who didn’t get a chance to
contribute to the 2018 title. Last
year was their first opportunity
to do just that, and they took advantage
of it.
In their first game, the Chargers
trailed Westinghouse, 30-13,
with nine minutes left in the third
quarter. They went on to score
20 unanswered points in the fourth
quarter to secure a 33-30 victory
and boost their confidence for the
remainder of the season.
“For my first time starting, I was
kind of nervous,” Pearson said.
“But after that first start against
Westinghouse, that was when my
confidence rose because I knew we
could beat them, because we were
down and we came back. It really
boosted our confidence.”
The Chargers went on to produce
two shutouts and averaged
26 points per game while losing
conference games to Sto-Rox and
Cornell. Chargers coach Dan Bradley
thinks the experience they
gained will be crucial this year.
“Last year, they got an opportunity
to play in big games and
in the playoffs, and hopefully it
shows this year what that will do
for them,” Bradley said.
Pearson produced 1,812 yards of
total offense while throwing for
14 touchdowns and running for another
12. In typical OLSH fashion,
the Chargers also will be strong
across the offensive line again
as they return all five starters
who helped nine rushers produce
1,886 yards and 25 touchdowns.
“We’re pretty big up front, and
we’re pretty athletic up front,”
Bradley said. “I think the line is
always the key if you want to make
a deep playoff run. It’s good to have
athletes to make plays, but it all
starts up front.”
Junior Stephen Greer is back
in the backfield after carrying the
ball 105 times for 722 yards and
nine touchdowns.
With the talent that the Chargers
have returning, Bradley is excited
for what they can do.
“We just want to take steps forward
every week, get better, compete
with ourselves, just not as
teammates but within and just try
to become the best player we can
be,” Bradley said. “I think we have
a lot of pieces that should allow us
to win some games.”
by GREG MACAFEE “I’m even more confident this
season because last year
everyone thought that we were
going to be terrible.”
JAY PEARSON
OLSH QUARTERBACK