63 and Counting as Clairton Wins Fourth Straight PIAA Class A Football Title

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, December 14, 2012 | 4:56 PM

The Clairton Bears won their 63rd consecutive game and fourth straight PIAA Class A championship with a 20-0 win over the Dunmore Bucks at Hersheypark Stadium. The Bears did so in dominant fashion, running 66 plays and holding the football for over 30 minutes. The win streak is the longest in Pennsylvania football history and is the longest current streak in the country going into next season.

(Photo: Clairton quarterback Armani Ford celebrates with the PIAA champpionship trophy after helping Bears win 4th straight state title with victory over Dunmore)

Tyler Boyd ran for 117 yards on 20 carries, Boyd scored on a 5 yard run on the opening drive of the game, giving him 51 touchdowns for the season and 117 for his career. Boyd passes Jason Barr of McGuffey to move into 5th place on the WPIAL all-time rushing list with 5,763 yards.

Clairton scored on the opening possession, but had to do so from deep in their own territory. Clairton faced a first and 23 after a block in the back, but the Bears were able to dig out of the hole and Boyd scored the touchdown, capping a eight play drive.

The Bears shut down the powerful running attack of the Bucks, who boasted a pair of one thousand yard rushers coming in with Daiquan Buckley and Austin Seamon. Buckley was held to 44 yards, Seamon  45.

Clairton moved the ball down the field in the second quarter, but came up short, turning the ball over at the 2 yard line, the Bears would get the football back and capitalized again. Terrish Webb took a pass along the near sideline and walked the chalk, diving for the 21 yard touchdown toss from Armani Ford. Webb connected with Ford for the two point conversion and a 14-0 lead with 40 seconds left. Dunmore drove down the field but Boyd picked off Brandon Kujawski on the final play of the half.

Clairton continued to control the ball and the clock in the third quarter, allowing Dunmore to run just eight plays in the quarter.  The Bucks had a great chance to score in the fourth quarter, Kujawski over-threw Mike Kolcharno, who was wide open behind the Clairton secondary, that came on a fourth down play, allowing the Bears to take over.

Clairton capitalized as Ford, Bryon Clifford and Webb took over for Boyd, who did not play most of the fourth quarter with a shoulder injury, the Bears also played without Pitt recruit Titus Howard, who missed a second straight game with a dislocated elbow, linebacker Robert Boatright wore Howard’s number 6 in his place.

The Bears scored on a seven play 65 yard drive with 4:06 remaining in regulation, Ford scrambled away from the defenders and took it down the sideline, driving into the end zone. The Bears were assessed two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties following the touchdown, forcing

Clairton to kick off from the 12 yard line, Kolcharno had a great return to the Clairton 26, but the Bears forced a fumble, Clifford recovered and the Bears, despite two more unsportsmanlike penalties were able to run out the clock for the win.

Ford finished 10 of 18 for 150 yards, the quarterback did a great job moving the pocket and avoiding the Dunmore rush.  Webb had seven catches for 100 yards. , Webb said he could not put the 63 game streak to words, he had his second straight big game on the chocolate stage, he scored twice in last year’s 35-19 victory over Southern Columbia.

Webb would not commit on his college choice, he has received an offers from Kent State and Pitt. Boyd added three catches for 50 yards and the interception. The Bears ended with 432 yards for the game and 23 first downs, Dunmore was held to 115 yards and just six first downs, the Bucks end the season at 14-2 and saw their eleven game winning streak come to an end.

With the victory, Clairton becomes the second school to win four consecutive titles, Southern Columbia won five straight championships from 2002-06, they have six titles overall. Berwick has won five titles, Central Bucks West and Clairton have won four each. Clairton loses 17 seniors from this season, including most of their skilled players. The Bears open the 2013 season at home to Char-Houston with a new crop, trying to keep this streak alive.
 

PIAA Class A Scoring Summary:
Clairton Bears 6 – 8 – 0 – 6  = 20
Dunmore Bucks  0 – 0 – 0 – 0  = 0

First Quarter:
C:  Tyler Boyd 5 run  (run failed)  8:20

Second Quarter: 
C:  Terrish Webb 21 pass from Armani Ford  (Webb pass from Ford)  :40

Third Quarter: 
No Scoring

Fourth Quarter:
C:  Ford 29 run  (run failed)  4:06

Tags: Clairton, Dunmore