O-R Athlete of the Week: Matt Sieg, Fort Cherry
Name: Matt Sieg
School: Fort Cherry
Class: Junior
Sport: Football
Sieg’s week: The Penn State commit was responsible for all three of the Rangers’ touchdowns in a 21-20 victory over Clairton in the WPIAL Class A championship game at Acrisure Stadium.
The Bears entered the contest having allowed 21 points all season, but Sieg and company matched that total. He threw the game-tying touchdown pass on a play that would have made former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger proud.
The play was intended for Sieg to fake an option pass and run for the sticks on a fourth-and-five, but as the Clairton defense closed in, Sieg improvised and was able to find running back Ryan Huey streaking down the sideline wide open for the game-tying touchdown.
“I had to back pedal and I spun around before I saw Ryan out of the corner of my eye,” Sieg said. “Ryan is having a good year and he is a great player. I have to give him credit for staying alive on a broken play.”
Sieg was 8 of 15 for 161 yards and the touchdown pass. He rushed for 87 yards on 28 carries and scored twice. The Bears made yards tough to come by, but Sieg thought he and his teammates handled themselves well on both sides of the ball.
“That was definitely a tough game,” Sieg said. “You had the two best teams in the WPIAL, but our coaches set up a good game plan and we stuck with it. They had some big plays here and there, but we were able to contain them and not let them get those big chunk plays. We knew it was going to be a gap-for-gap battle against Clairton. They have great athletes, but we have some amazing athletes, too.”
Sieg made four tackles against Clairton. He didn’t have any pass breakups, but the Bears only attempted five passes, and none were downfield.
Confidence in your kicker: The Rangers wouldn’t have won their second-straight and overall WPIAL title without the services of kicker Nik Massey, who made all three extra points.
Fort Cherry coach Tanner Garry uses Sieg to play the role of agitator when Massey is kicking in practice.
“Nik definitely stepped up in a big moment,” Sieg said. “We start each practice with 10 extra points, and it’s my job to get in Nik’s ear and try to rattle him. It’s all good afterwards though because he knows it’s all jokes. Nik has done a great job all year.”
Back to the hardwood: The only one who is suffering with the success of the football team at Fort Cherry is boys basketball coach Eugene Briggs. A number of football players, including Sieg, are on the basketball team, which is nothing new to a small school where athletes play multiple sports.
“I will be playing basketball,” Sieg said. “We dealt with the carryover from football last year, but we will be back soon and we hope to have another good year. I do feel badly for Coach Briggs.”
Compiled by Jonathan Guth