Laurel denies Fort Cherry 3rd straight WPIAL finals trip
HOPEWELL – Seeking a trip to the WPIAL finals for the first time since 1989, Laurel used an old school approach.
Ground and pound.
And it sent Fort Cherry to a bitter end to its WPIAL three-peat bid.
The Spartans racked up 306 yards rushing and secured a 24-14 upset over the top-seeded Rangers in the Class A football semifinals at Hopewell’s Tony Dorsett Stadium.
“We thought we had to make a statement up front and control the line of scrimmage both offensively and defensively,” Laurel coach Brian Cooper said. “We did a tremendous job on both sides of the ball, controlling their run game and opening up ours. That was the key to victory.”
It ended Fort Cherry’s 40-game winning streak against WPIAL opponents. It also ended the career for Rangers standout Matt Sieg, who leaves Fort Cherry with several school and WPIAL records. He had 158 yards and two touchdowns.
Trailing 14-13 at halftime, Laurel (12-1) came out of the locker room and marched down the field behind an offensive line that features three linemen over 260 pounds (Kevin Mahoney, Chase Bales and Casey Wilson). Jack Miles broke free on an off-tackle run and ran 33 yards into the end zone to give the Spartans the lead.
Fort Cherry (12-1) killed its first drive of the third quarter with penalties. A holding and a false start, plus a bad snap had the Rangers in a 3rd and 30 and eventually punted.
Penalties haunted the Rangers. They were flagged seven times for 55 yards and Laurel was flagged only once.
With a limited passing game because of a shoulder injury to Sieg, the Rangers put themselves in too many third and long situations.
“We’ve been telling the kids for a couple weeks now making dumb mistakes and penalties can hurt you when you’re limited to running the ball,” Fort Cherry coach Tanner Garry said. “Not to take anything away from Laurel, because they played an unbelievable game, but when you have a third and five and get a penalty and its all the sudden third and 15 and you’re handcuffed to running the ball, it makes the other team’s job a lot easier.”
Tony Geiwitz connected on a 31-yard field goal to give Laurel a 24-14 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Fort Cherry turned the ball over on downs on its next possession.
The Rangers got a glimmer of hope when Laurel fumbled with 5 minutes remaining, but it didn’t last long. Fort Cherry fumbled the ball back to Laurel two plays later.
Sieg scored on a 1-yard run in the final seconds of the second quarter to give the Rangers a 14-13 lead to finish a frame that had plenty of twists and turns.
Less than a minute before Sieg’s touchdown, Laurel took a brief lead on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Luca Santini to Kolton Carlson. It was the only pass thrown in the first half. The extra point was partially blocked keeping the score at 13-7.
Eli Salvini returned the ensuing kickoff 65 yards to the Laurel 12-yard line to set up the Sieg touchdown.
Earlier in the quarter, Laurel was stopped short on a fourth and two play. The play was so close that the head official had to get an index card out and put it between the ball and the lead stick to make sure it was short. It was similar to what former NFL referee Gene Steratore did in the 2017 game between the Cowboys and Raiders.
After the turnover on downs, Fort Cherry drove down to the Laurel 22, but was stopped on a fourth down play.
There was also a sequence early in the second quarter when Fort Cherry lost a down after a personal foul penalty. The play occurred after a first-down run by Salvini. It was a post whistle foul on the Rangers, which incurs a loss of down, but the officials skipped second down and went from first down to third down. The Rangers ended up punting after a five-yard gain by Sieg.
Each team scored on their opening possession.
Sieg turned a third and long into a 66-yard touchdown by bursting through the left side of the Laurel defense.
Laurel responded with an 11-play drive of all running plays. Carlson finished it off with a 2-yard touchdown run.
Fort Cherry’s amazing run of two consecutive WPIAL championships is over, but it was a special run.
“I told the kids that they have a lot to look back on and be proud of,” Garry said. “It was fun. It kind of runs together after a while. You try not to focus on the streaks, but you’re aware of them. We’re happy we were able to put that together. Hopefully we can get another one going.”