Rochester blanks No. 1 Jeannette to reach WPIAL title game
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Friday, November 9, 2018 | 11:15 PM
Rochester was determined not to lose to Jeannette for a third straight season in the WPIAL Class A playoffs.
A dominating performance by both lines and a stellar backfield duo paced the Rams to a 27-0 victory over top-seeded Jeannette on Friday night at Canonsburg Stadium.
Darius Goosby ran for 183 yards and a touchdown, and Noah Whiteleather carried the ball for 102 yards and three scores as No. 5 Rochester blanked the defending WPIAL and PIAA champions. The loss snapped Jeannette’s 17-game winning streak.
“They came at us and just kicked our butts,” Jayhawks coach Roy Hall said. “They just outmanned us and took it to us.”
Rochester (11-1) will face Big 7 Conference foe Our Lady of the Sacred Heart at 11 a.m. Saturday at Heinz Field. Rochester’s only loss was to the Chargers earlier this season.
The Rams will be going for the ninth WPIAL title in school history, while it will be a first for OLSH.
After some tough seasons earlier in the decade, it is a sweet run for veteran coach Gene Matsook.
“It’s been a while,” Matsook said. “Nobody was talking about Rochester at the beginning of the year. People talked about the other teams, and Rochester was written off. But we’re back on the map again after tonight.”
It was the first time Jeannette (11-1) has been shut out since the 2015 WPIAL title game against Clairton.
Jeannette had an early 12-play drive stopped on downs, and the Rams subsequently drove 68 yards on six plays with Whiteleather opening the scoring on a 2-yard run to the left side.
The key play of the drive was a 26-yard run by Whiteleather.
Goosby scored next on a 58-yard run, his 18th touchdown on the season.
After a pair of sacks by the Rams defense, it was a seven-play drive that put Rochester in control, 21-0, on another 2-yard Whiteleather run with 31 seconds to play in the first half.
The Rochester defense held the Jayhawks to 13 rushing yards in the first half and made nine tackles for losses.
“We could get nothing generated,” Hall said. “We gave up a couple of big plays, and they just kept pounding us.”
“I told our guys you don’t shut Jeannette out very often,” Matsook said. “For us to do that, it was great defense. Defense wins championships, and ours played well tonight.”
Jeannette took the second-half kickoff with James Sanders directing play from quarterback as Seth Howard sat out because of a concussion possibility.
Sanders drove the Jayhawks to the Rochester 13 before a incomplete pass in the end zone on fourth down turned the ball back to Rochester.
Parker Anthony stopped the next Jayhawks drive with an interception and that allowed Rochester to play ball control the rest of the way.
Sanders had 102 passing yards and his brother, Imani, caught three passes for 62 yards.
Whiteleather concluded the scoring with 2:22 left on a 3-yard run, his 26th touchdown of the season.
Rochester last won a WPIAL title in 2004, at that time its sixth in 14 seasons.
The school also tied Westinghouse in 1921, before that school joined the Pittsburgh City League.
George Guido is a freelance writer.
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