The oldest adage in the book says that defense wins championships.
The 2025 Clairton Bears are living proof.
Coming into Saturday morning’s WPIAL Class 1A championship clash at Acrisure Stadium, No. 2 Clairton had posted nine shutouts in its previous 11 games while allowing an average of just 5.7 points per game overall. The Bears were pushed to the brink by the feisty Laurel Spartans, who simply refused to back down, but in the end, Clairton (13-1) relied on its championship mettle when it mattered most to secure a nail-biting 8-6 win.
“We were looking for a great year because we had unfinished business,” said Bears coach Wayne Wade. “Last year at this podium, we stood here as runners-up. And this group of seniors, since Feb. 5, decided that they were going to win a championship. And we did.”
After pitching a shutout for 3½ quarters, Clairton’s punishing defense gave up its first points of the game midway through the fourth, then No. 4 Laurel (12-2) threatened to take its first lead of the game with time winding down. But a crushing hit by star linebacker Brandon Murphy caused a fumble to bring an end to the Spartans’ rally, and that was all she wrote.
The Bears’ top-ranked defense might not have gotten their 10th shutout, but they did allow only 94 yards of offense on 42 plays.
“Our defense has played lights-out all year,” Wade said. “Brandon is a great player. I think it shows in all the offers Brandon has already as a sophomore. He is going to be a great player for us. We’re looking for great things out of Brandon, not only this year, but in the years to come.”
It took some time for both teams to settle into the game, with a pair of punts by Laurel sandwiched around an interception on Clairton’s opening possession. With the Bears pinned back at their own 3-yard line to start their second drive, they began moving the ball toward midfield, but a turnover on downs halted their momentum toward the end of the first quarter.
The Spartans had a pair of chances to put points on the board early in the second quarter, but Tony Geiwitz narrowly missed on his 39- and 40-yard field-goal attempts. Finally, after struggling to move the ball for much of the first half, Clairton got the scoring started with 36 seconds left in the half on Jeff Thompson’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Murphy — Thompson’s 37th TD pass of the season. Following a 2-point conversion run by Donte Wright, the Bears took an 8-0 lead into the half.
“I couldn’t be more proud of a group of men,” said Laurel coach Brian Cooper. “These guys have been through a lot the last three years and grown so much. I couldn’t be more proud of how our men fought throughout the course of the game. … We settled for a couple of field-goal attempts and, unfortunately, just fell a little bit short. That’s the difference between winning and losing.”
Keeping its momentum going coming out of the break, Clairton marched right down the field to start the third quarter, but the Bears came away empty after Thompson had a 16-yard fourth-down TD pass to Wright wiped off the board by an offensive pass interference penalty. Clairton then had another chance to extend its lead later in the quarter, but Murphy dropped what would have been a wide-open TD pass down the left sideline.
Then, just when it seemed like the Bears were heading toward a championship shutout, senior Nathan Hill punched in a 5-yard TD run midway through the fourth quarter to give the Spartans new life. Clairton’s defense stood tall on the ensuing 2-point conversion attempt, though, preserving the Bears’ 8-6 lead.
After Laurel forced a three-and-out on Clairton’s next possession, an errant snap on a punt gave the Spartans great field position at the Bears’ 21-yard line, only needing a field goal to take the lead. All of a sudden, momentum was squarely in Laurel’s favor, and it seemed the Spartans could be primed for a monumental upset.
Turns out, Murphy and Wright had other plans.
“The defensive coaches were telling us, we’ve just got to strap up, watch our keys and play right,” Wright said. “We talked to each other, I told the defense, ‘Let’s go. Let’s play hard. Watch our keys, watch the ball.’ And we stopped them.
“All of our lives, we’ve just been watching videos of the former champs from Clairton. We couldn’t wait for it to be us, and we finally got our goal.”
A stellar sophomore with several Power Four scholarship offers, Murphy displayed his flair for the dramatic by laying a huge hit on Laurel’s Kolton Carlson on third-and-5, forcing a fumble just when Clairton needed it most. Wright was there just in the nick of time to recover it for the Bears, who then ran out the clock to ice the game and clinch their 15th WPIAL championship, second most of any school behind Aliquippa.
Wade has been responsible for 12 of them — one as a quarterback in 1989, six as an assistant coach and now five as head coach.
“I just want to thank everyone this year who has supported this team,” Wade said. “Our community supports us wholeheartedly, 100%. … Any time we’re down here and we’re able to win a championship, it’s huge.”
Next up, Clairton will advance to take on District 10 champion Greenville (12-1) in next week’s PIAA Class 1A semifinals for a spot in the state championship game. And after taking some time to celebrate on Saturday, Wade was quick to remind his players that this WPIAL title is simply an appetizer, not the main course — with a little help from his former players.
“Now, we’re on to the next game,” Wade said. “Tyler [Boyd] and Terrish [Webb] and those guys were just in the locker room telling these kids that it’s not over. Like, ‘We did this four times, but the big one is in two weeks.’ So we’re looking for Greenville next week.”
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
