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No. 1 Clairton crushes Frazier, wins 57th in a row
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By Jason Black
Published: Friday, November 2, 2012, 11:16 p.m.
Updated: Tuesday, February 19, 2013
For one brief moment, Frazier had a glimmer of hope during Friday's WPIAL Class A first-round playoff game against Clairton.
But after taking an improbable one-score lead midway through the first quarter, the Commodores were powerless to stop the Bears from racking up their nation-best 57th straight victory.
Top-seeded Clairton rolled to a 58-6 victory and advanced to the quarterfinals against Brentwood (7-3). Tyler Boyd scored six touchdowns on runs of 50, 26, 45, 25, 19 and 46 yards on his way to 238 yards rushing on just 10 carries. Boyd's last touchdown of the first half was the 100th of his scholastic career.
“He's a special player,” Clairton coach Tom Nola said. “He does that every game.”
While Boyd was a force for most of the first half, it was the Commodores (7-3) who struck first.
Charles Manack intercepted Clairton quarterback Armani Ford's first pass attempt of the game. He then followed by hitting Jaime Fell on a 38-yard pass play down to the Clairton 1-yard line. Manack finished the drive with a 1-yard run that put the Commodores on top, 6-0.
“We tried to take advantage of what we thought we could get early,” Frazier coach Mike Steeber said. “But then things started to break down.”
Unfortunately for Frazier, the lead was short-lived, as Boyd raced 50 yards untouched on the next play from scrimmage to help the Bears (10-0) tie the score. It was the start of a run of 45 consecutive first-half points for the Bears.
In addition to Boyd's five first-half scores, Terrish Webb also had a nice game. Webb caught a 39-yard pass from Ford and scored on a 7-yard run.
The clock kept rolling in the second half due to the WPIAL mercy rule. However, the Bears weren't done scoring. On his lone touch of the second half, Boyd raced 46 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.
The Bears were strong on defense, as well, scoring late in the third quarter on Robert Boatright's 41-yard interception return.
Despite the lopsided loss, Steeber believes his team can be proud when it looks back on the 2012 season.
“It was a good year,” Steeber said. “I think our kids will be able to reflect on a lot of good things this year.”
Manack completed nine of 26 passes for 133 yards. Fell caught five passes for 105 yards.
The Bear' quest for a fifth consecutive WPIAL championship and a third straight state title got off to an impressive start.
“It's all about expectations,” Nola said. “This is what we expect.”
Jason Black is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at jblack@tribweb.com.
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