Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Bishop Guilfoyle’s Jack Gioiosa is stiff-armed by Clairton’s Michael Ruffin during the Bears’ 35-3 victory on Thursday afternoon.

MECHANICSBURG — Clairton was the better team in Thursday’s PIAA Class 1A championship as evidenced by the final score of 35-3, but Bishop Guilfoyle Academy had plenty of opportunities to keep itself in the game that will likely serve as motivation for the Marauders this offseason.

With an opportunity to force a three-and-out on the Bears’ first drive, BG jumped offside on a fourth-and-3 that Clairton may or may not have been actually attempting.

“We were trying to draw them offside, but we were debating on whether we were actually going to go for it,” Clairton coach Wayne Wade said. “I was talking to our offensive coordinator about what we should do, and he said we were going to try and get them offside, but we were running out of time to think about it. Thankfully, they jumped, which was great for us, but it was a toss-up whether we were actually going to go.”

Bishop Guilfoyle did get a stop later in that drive but did not get the field position it would have if it forced a punt or had a fourth-down stop.

Those types of plays that early in a game can change everything.

“We came into this game thinking we could have done more than we did,” BG junior lineman Rocco Cacciotti said. “The first half, it wasn’t my half. I had to come back and have an attitude to show what I was capable of.”

To his credit, he did just that with a team-high 12 tackles.

After the Marauders punted, they had two more chances to stop Clairton from scoring first. But on a fourth-and-6 from the BG 48, Clairton quarterback Jeff Thompson III lobbed a pass up to Brandon Murphy down the sideline.

BG cornerback Tyson Lestochi, who had eight interceptions for the Marauders this year, had it covered and thought he came away with his ninth pick of the year.

“I knew they were going to throw a fade,” Lestochi said. “I could see it the whole way. I ran as hard as I could and went to jump up for the ball. In my opinion, I had it. When we both landed on the ground, he ripped it away from me. In my opinion, that’s an interception, but the referees are always right no matter what.”

Murphy actually backed up what Lestochi said.

“I saw the ball in the air, and I just went to go get it,” Murphy said. “At first, he had it in his hands for a second, and I just took it out. I feel like it was a really big play. It was fourth down, and it sparked us and got us moving.”

A few plays later, Murphy scored on a 14-yard catch on fourth-and-10, which let some air out of Bishop Guilfoyle’s sails.

“I don’t think we played our best today,” Bishop Guilfoyle coach Justin Wheeler said. “Championship games come down to a couple inches here and there. It wasn’t because of a lack of effort, but we definitely made some mistakes. They scored on a fourth-and-13 on a quick throw. They had some long throws. I’m happy with our effort, but I definitely wish we would have played our best game on the biggest stage. Once things start to go the wrong way, sometimes it’s hard to get them back.”

Later in the half, BG was whistled for a false start and forced into a passing situation on third down. Quarterback Justin Wheeler was hit from behind and fumbled, setting up Deon Lovelace-Pompey’s 29-yard touchdown run.

When the Marauders had a chance to cut the lead in half just before halftime, they fumbled a snap at the 3-yard line and had to settle for a 28-yard field goal by Carter Boland.

With BG forced to throw into the wind to start the second half, Lovelace-Pompey snagged an interception and returned it for a score that made it 22-3.

From that point on, Clairton dominated the field position advantage and took advantage of two failed fake punts — one of which Jake Kissell hit a wide open receiver for what would have been a first down but it was dropped.

Wheeler finished the first half 10-for-10 passing, but when Clairton was able to pin its ears back and play only the pass in the second half, he was sacked five times and threw two interceptions.

“He played well and is battling some injuries,” Coach Wheeler said. “He’s not going to be happy with some of his plays, but he fought and made some throws and did some good things. It’s tough when you have to throw and they can go into a pass defense, which made it much more difficult in the second half.”

Despite the loss and the feeling the Marauders didn’t play their best game, they might have overachieved just to get to that point.

BG lost star players Chase Kissell, Hamilton Gates and Joe Eckenrode to graduation after last year’s title and then lost Taurean Consiglio, last year’s leading tackler and a 1,000-yard running back who dominated the 2024 state title win against Port Allegany, to injury during a Week 2 loss to Richland.

“If you would have said to us last year coming into this season that we were going to lose all the players we lost and that Consiglio wasn’t going to be able to play his senior year, would you be happy getting back to the state final?” Coach Wheeler said. “Would anyone think we could? The answer would be no. We would have loved to finish it, but still, this has to be considered a success. They really gave it their all.”

And they will likely be using what’s left this offseason to push themselves back into next year’s state final, because Bishop Guilfoyle isn’t a program that dwells on its mistakes — it uses them as kindling for the fire toward another championship.

Michael Boytim can be reached at mboytim@altoonamirror.com or 814-946-7521. Follow him on X @BoytimMichael