Fort Cherry leaves Cornell (fourth) down and out
By Joe Smeltzer
For the Observer-Reporter
newsroom@observer-reporter.com
IMPERIAL – It really came down to fourth down.
Not that there needs to be too much studying on why No. 1 seed Fort Cherry beat No. 9 Cornell in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class A football quarterfinals Friday night at West Allegheny High School.
No. 1 seeds are supposed to beat No. 9 seeds, and Fort Cherry did so by a comfortable margin.
But perhaps why Fort Cherry played its way to a No. 1 seed while Cornell received a more modest placement was on display during a total of six fourth-down plays.
Cornell went for it three times on offense and didn’t convert once.
Fort Cherry went for it five times and didn’t fail to convert once, leading to 14 of its 27 points.
The difference in fourth down — along with FC quarterback and Penn State commit Matt Sieg rushing for more than 100 yards and three scores — led to Fort Cherry getting the job done in a 27-20 win.
For Rangers coach Tanner Garry, who whose team beat Cornell 35-6 in the regular season, Cornell didn’t get the love it deserved from the WPIAL.
“I think Cornell was a team that was not given the respect that they deserved this year. They had two losses going into the playoffs and those were to the No. 1 and the No. 3 seed in the WPIAL playoffs,” he said. “Those were their only two losses. We knew how good of a team that was, so playing them and getting out of here with a win, that’s a good team to get a win against, so we’re happy with it.”
Cornell (9-3) got the scoring started in grand fashion. On a 3rd and 2 from its 44-yard line, running back Khylil Johnson took a direct snap and ran it 56 yards for a touchdown. Cornell kept rolling on its next drive, going 71 yards in 3:20. Another running back, Walter Clarit, capped off the march with a 1-yard TD.
The 12-0 Cornell advantage was how it stayed through the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Fort Cherry (12-0) took advantage of a questionable decision. Facing 4th and 3 at its own 44, Cornell decided to go for it. Walter Clarit ran it and was stuffed, giving Fort Cherry the ball in opposing territory. The Rangers took advantage, with a 3-yard TD run by Sieg ending the drive.
On the ensuing possession, Cornell drove it into Fort Cherry territory but again went for it on fourth down. Again, the Raiders ran it with Clarit and didn’t convert, and again, the Fort Cherry offense took advantage with a Sieg rushing TD, this one a 4-yard run on 4th and 2. It remained 14-12 going into the half.
In the third quarter, Fort Cherry got another fourth-down stop – this one a fourth and one. Again, Fort Cherry’s offense captalized, with Sieg hitting Shane Cornali for a 12-yard TD on 4th and 1.
Fort Cherry converted two more fourth downs on the next drive, capped off by Sieg’s third TD, a 21-yarder.
A touchdown and two-point conversion cut the lead to seven, but two more fourth down conversions on Fort Cherry’s last drive iced the game.
“I think that sometimes we have to make plays in big times,” Garry said. “Our kids know that. Whenever we played (Cornell) the first time, it was pretty much a similar story. I think we scored two or three touchdowns on fourth down. Having someone like Matt to be able to make plays and really have teams have to cover the entire field makes my job easier when we’re calling those types of plays, but them executing those fourth downs was huge.”
The Rangers are now two wins away from repeating as WPIAL champs. Their semifinal matchup will be against either No. 5 Greensburg Central or No. 13 Jeanette at a time and place to be determined.
“We’re definitely just chasing that same feeling that we had last year,” Sieg said. “The difference is we’re every team’s Super Bowl. So every game is a big game for us throughout the entire year. So we’re still getting used to that. We have to keep laser focus throughout the week, take it week by week and get the job done.”