Serra coach laments ‘effort’ in loss to Clairton

The Bears dominated the Eagles on both sides of the ball in Friday’s 43-0 victory.

Serra Catholic head football coach Jose Regus stressed the difficulty of his schedule during the offseason, and it has reared its head quickly.

The Eagles have played two games now, losing 62-26 in week zero action at California and dropping a 43-0 result Friday night at home against Clairton.

“They just have to put out a better effort as well,” Regus said about his team. “As coaches, we have to make some adjustments and fix some things, but we need more effort from our kids. That’s something that we can’t teach. The effort comes from within you.

“We just have to get better. We have to have more consistency with what we do. And that’s from the players and the coaching staff as well.”

The Bears (2-0) are undefeated with impressive wins over Steel Valley (30-7) and the Eagles as they look to return to their vintage form this season.

“We cleaned up some stuff from last week to this week,” Clairton head coach Wayne Wade said. “There weren’t as many of the penalties and turnovers. We controlled the offensive and defensive lines, which is good for us because our skill set is tough for teams to match up with. We used all our weapons tonight; the only one that didn’t really have a great game was (Zaemear) Correll. But you see all the skill guys that can make plays.”

The Bears have yet to allow a defensive score through the first two weeks, shutting down the offenses of the Ironmen and Eagles. And as Wade said, the skill positions thrived against Serra Catholic.

Quarterback Jeff Thompson finished 6 for 12 with 179 yards and three touchdowns as Donte Wright caught two of his scores and Mike Ruffin also posted a score through the air. Wright finished with three carries for 32 yards and a touchdown as well as two receptions for 85 yards and two scores. Ruffin finished with two grabs for 80 yards and a touchdown, including a 75yard score.

The leading rusher for the Bears was Drahcir Jones, who had 15 carries for 121 yards and two touchdowns “It’s very difficult,” Wade answered when asked how hard it will be for other Class 1A squads to stop his plethora of weapons. “Once we get the rhythm of our offense where we’re using all of those (read-pass options) and everything, it’s going to be difficult for teams. If we can get in space, we’re tough to tackle. I don’t know anyone that we’ve seen on film that has team speed like us.”

Serra Catholic quarterback Quadir Stribling finished 8 of 22 for 105 yards against the tough Clairton defense. His leading receiver was De’reon Washington, who posted 83 yards on five grabs. The duo connected on passes of 51 and 40 yards, but that accounted for the majority of Serra’s offense as Washington also caught two passes that lost yards.

The Bears came out firing as Wright posted his first rushing touchdown less than three minutes into the game from six yards out.

Serra Catholic then went threeand- out and Clairton took over at the Eagles’ 26, but SC came up with one of its biggest plays of the night as Stribling rose up to pick off a pass from Thompson.

The interception gave the Eagles the ball back, but they went backward and had to punt. On its first two drives, Serra Catholic accumulated -6 yards of offense.

Once the Bears got the ball back, Jones scored on a 9-yard run to make it 16-0 after another twopoint conversion.

The Eagles desperately needed a big play, and they came up with one on the third drive. Facing second and 10, Stribling threw a screen pass to Washington, who broke away from every Clairton player except Jones, who got him down with a shoestring tackle. That was significant, because it was only a 40-yard gain instead of a longer touchdown.

From there, Clairton’s defense took over and put an end to Serra Catholic’s drive. It took the offense just one play to score as Ruffin scored on a beautifully designed screen pass.

With all the action moving left and Thompson surveying, Ruffin leaked out to the right with blockers in front of him and took the short throw 75 yards to the house. Deon Pompey converted the twopoint try to push Clairton’s lead to 24-0 in the first quarter.

Just two and a half minutes into the second quarter, the Bears scored again as Wright caught a 14-yard pass from Thompson to make it 30-0.

Right before halftime, Wright’s 71-yard score gave Clairton a 37-0 advantage.

Looking to try and get on the board before intermission, Stribling scrambled and threw a heave to Washington, who was contacted by a defensive back in midair but still managed to haul in an impressive 51-yard pass. Still, the Eagles didn’t manage to score as a screen pass was batted by a Bear and caught by offensive guard Kai’Ree Chavez-Harrington who rumbled for six yards as the clock ran out.

Out of halftime with a running clock, Serra’s first drive went six minutes but didn’t produce any points.

Jones then broke off a 48-yard scamper to cap off the scoring.

When the Bears took over at the start of the fourth quarter, they came out with an entirely new look minus the offensive line. Freshman Brandon Murphy took the helm at quarterback with sophomore Vondae Pearson getting some carries in the backfield.

Similarly, it was freshman Aiden Corbett in at quarterback when the Eagles forced a turnover on downs from Clairton.

Running back Mason Jones had his most fruitful drive of the game as the final minutes ticked off the clock, but the Eagles couldn’t manage to dent the scoreboard. Caden Bauer was forced to punt it back to Clairton with two minutes remaining, and the Bears were able to ice it out from there.

The Eagles will be looking to improve despite the difficult schedule that lies ahead. SC will host Leechburg next week in nonconference play.

“We just have to keep practicing and put out a better effort. We have to prepare for Friday nights better through the week,” Regus said.

As for the Bears, they’ll get back to work and look to win at Shady Side Academy next Friday.

“It’s one game at a time for us,” Wade said. “We’re gonna enjoy the long weekend, but it’s back to work Monday. Everyone will be off for Labor Day except us. Shady Side is up next, so we’ll break down the film and see where we can attack them.”