Business as usual for ‘Bear Ball’ at Clairton

By JEFF OLIVER
MVI Sports

There are three things in life that are guaranteed: death, taxes and Clairton being Clairton.
Going back over the last 15 years or so, no team has dominated Class A in football like the Bears.
And the bad news for the rest of the field is that it appears 2021 won’t be a different story.
While Clairton lost a bevy of talented players from last season’s 8-1 WPIAL runner-up season, including the entire offensive backfield, coach Wayne Wade is talking about business as usual for his “bad news” bunch.
“We’ve got talent, speed and skill like always and this year we have a big, veteran group on the offensive line up front that should really help us,” said Wade. “We’ve had a really good camp so far and if we stay away from injuries in some areas where depth is a little light, there’s no reason we can’t be a force as usual.”
He paused for a moment and added, “For us, the script is always the same. We want to win the conference to put us in position to win the WPIAL. Then we want to win the WPIAL to put us in position to win the state championship.
“For us, really, it’s state title or bust every year.”
One newcomer to keep an eye on is junior quarterback Capone Jones.
Even though he didn’t start last season, Jones (6-0, 175) gives Clairton a new wrinkle because he can throw and run.
“Capone has worked really hard this summer,” said Wade. “He showed in the 7-on-7’s that he can throw, but he is also a threat with his legs. I’m a defensive-oriented coach and I’ve always felt it was toughest to stop a good running quarterback.”
Jones is so talented that he is a rarity for the Bears.
“He will also start on defense at safety, and he is the first quarterback in a long time at Clairton who has started on both offense and defense,” Wade said. “He’s our quarterback and in college, he’s probably going to go D-1 as a safety, so we need him there, too.”
In Clairton’s wide-open spread offense, senior Greg Lee will be the lone running back with seniors Brooklyn Cannon, Jaylin Askew and Ta-Vaughn Moody and junior Lawrence Short making up the receiving corps.
Of all those players, only Cannon started a year ago.
The offensive line is another story as Clairton returns four of five starters from 2020. The returning starters are senior center Taafe Koontz, guards Keith Meade (Sr.) and Ty Law (Jr.) and tackle Kanye Hawkins (Sr.).

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