Trib HSSN 2024 WPIAL Football Player of the Year: Fort Cherry’s Matt Sieg

By: Chris Harlan
Wednesday, December 18, 2024 | 6:00 AM

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2024 Trib HSSN Football Player of the Year

Matt Sieg

School: Fort Cherry

Position: Quarterback/defensive back

Class: Junior

A football season might be considered successful in various ways, but Fort Cherry’s Matt Sieg had just one measuring stick for his junior year.

“I don’t really base it off of the stats I had or all that,” Sieg said. “The goal was to get a WPIAL championship. I’m just happy I was able to help our guys get it done.”

Not even a broken thumb could derail the junior’s desire to repeat as WPIAL champion. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound quarterback and defensive back again used his dual-threat skills to lead Fort Cherry to a second consecutive Class A title.

Though Sieg may downplay his individual accomplishments, he joined former Jeannette star Terrelle Pryor in the WPIAL record book as the only players to have both rushed and passed for more than 4,000 career yards.

For his many team and individual accomplishments this fall, Sieg is the 2024 Trib HSSN Football Player of the Year. Pryor won the award in 2007.

“It’s pretty cool to be mentioned along with a name like that,” said Sieg, a Penn State commit.

HSSN’s Don Rebel talked with the newly crowned player of the year on the Rebel Yell podcast.

Sieg passed this season for 1,345 yards and 20 touchdowns while rushing for 1,832 yards and 32 scores. In the WPIAL finals, Sieg rushed for two touchdowns and passed for another as top-seeded Fort Cherry rallied to defeat No. 2 Clairton, 21-20.

A year after winning the first WPIAL title in team history, the Rangers (14-1) won another.

“We had a mentality that every practice had to be 100%,” Sieg said. “Every time we sat down and watched film together, we had to be locked in. Because we knew we were every other team’s Super Bowl.”

However, Sieg’s big season ran into some early season trouble when he broke the thumb on his throwing hand. Rather than sit out, Sieg turned into a running back for three games while wearing a cast on his injured hand. He got right back to throwing after a speedy recovery.

It was during a WPIAL semifinal victory over Pryor’s alma mater that Sieg joined the former Jeannette Jayhawk in the 4,000/4,000 club. Pryor threw for 4,340 yards and rushed for 4,238 in his career. Sieg finished his junior year with 4,133 passing and 6,018 rushing.

“Some moments will last forever, and I made some history along the way,” Sieg said. “It’s been a fun ride so far. I’m looking forward to one more year.”

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: Fort Cherry