Clairton disrupts Imani Christian’s offense with 3 interceptions, 8 sacks in victory

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, October 5, 2018 | 11:18 PM

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Lined up deeper than usual in Clairton’s secondary, safety Kenlein Ogletree’s job was clear: Don’t let any receivers get behind him.

The easiest way, he found, was to catch the ball himself.

The junior disrupted Imani Christian’s big-play passing attack with three first-half interceptions while his teammates sacked Saints quarterback Israel Reed eight times and forced two fumbles Friday night in a 45-18 victory at Neil C. Brown Stadium.

Reed entered ranked fourth among WPIAL passers but completed only five passes before halftime.

Ogletree also caught a 65-yard touchdown, one of the seven scored by Clairton as the Bears showcased their potent air attack instead. Bears quarterback Brendan Parsons threw four touchdowns and rushed for two more.

“We played an excellent game tonight on both sides of the ball,” Clairton coach Wayne Wade said. “Our offense hadn’t really been tested. Our defense has been playing well all year.”

To defend Imani’s pass-heavy offense, Wade used Dominic Soloman to shadow star wideout R.J. Hart, allowing Ogletree to play deep in the middle. Imani’s second, fourth and sixth possessions ended in Ogletree interceptions.

With two minutes left in the first half, Ogletree already had three interceptions while Imani’s receivers had only two catches.

Clairton led 27-6 at halftime.

“I just had to key on the quarterback and where he was looking,” Ogletree said. “We knew that they like to pass a lot, so I went and got the ball.”

The win keeps Clairton (6-0, 4-0) a half-game ahead of Jeannette (7-0, 3-0) in the Class A Eastern Conference standings. The two teams won’t meet until Week 9 at Jeannette, possibly for the conference title and a No. 1 seed.

But now with two losses, Imani Christian (5-2, 3-2) likely would need one of the two wild card spots to reach the WPIAL playoffs.

“You just can’t have seven turnovers against Clairton,” said Imani coach Ronnell Heard, counting a pair of failed fourth-down attempts. “When the ball’s in your hands, you’ve got to make the plays. When it’s your job to make a tackle, you’ve got to make a tackle. We weren’t able to do that today.”

Imani’s first three possessions produced a lost fumble, an interception and a failed fourth-down conversion. The turnovers let Clairton take an early 14-0 lead.

Parsons completed 11 of 23 passes for 241 yards and one interception to go with his four touchdowns. Along with his long completion to Ogletree, Parsons connected with Taevon Thompson on touchdown throws of 26 and five yards, and Dontae Sanders caught a 26-yarder.

Parsons had touchdown runs of one and five yards.

Dominic Solomon scored Clairton’s first points with a three-yard touchdown run on the team’s first possession. The Bears had a short field after Imani fumbled away the game’s first snap.

Reed completed 9 of 25 attempts for 207 yards. He also carried the football eight times including a five-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, but the Saints had just two rushes by a running back all game.

While trying to rally, Imani showed glimpses of its big-play potential. Reed threw a 40-yard touchdown to Dashaun Wright and a 41-yarder to Hart, who fought his way across the goal line in the fourth.

Hart finished with seven catches for 161 yards.

But for most of the game, Clairton’s defense held Imani in check.

“On passing downs we tried to keep a safety over the top,” Wade said. “Sometimes we have (Ogletree) sitting about 10 or 12 yards (from the line of scrimmage against other teams). Tonight he was 15. Sometimes he was 20, just so he could get to the sideline, if he needed to.

“It worked for us tonight.”

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.

Tags: Clairton, Imani Christian