Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski BG seniors (from left) Trenton Murphy, Hayden Hosgood, Jake Kissell and Jesse Georgiana accept the runner-up trophy after Thursday’s loss to Clairton.

MECHANICSBURG — The final chapter in their high school football careers didn’t unfold as desired Thursday afternoon, but that took nothing away from what the Bishop Guilfoyle Academy senior players accomplished in leading the Marauders to their second straight berth in the PIAA Class 1A state championship game.

The Marauders ran into a buzz-saw in WPIAL champion Clairton, which dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage in rolling to a 35-3 victory at Cumberland Valley High School’s Chapman Field. But veteran BG coach Justin Wheeler had nothing but praise for his players, and especially, for BG’s 10 seniors.

“This senior group really came through for us this year,” Wheeler said. “The kids in our senior class this year kept our program where we wanted it to be, which is playing for state titles.”

The Marauders suffered a serious blow early in the season when star senior fullback-linebacker Taurean Consiglio aggravated a shoulder injury in the Marauders’ second game of the season, and was lost for the year.

Instead of folding up their tents, however, this year’s Marauders rallied around Consiglio — who was the star of last year’s 41-22 state championship victory over Port Allegany — and dedicated their efforts to him.

“The kids wanted to win this again for him,” Wheeler said. “We certainly missed him today.”

Do-it-all senior Jake Kissell — who has played running back, quarterback and tight end for BG — put the team on his back this year and helped the Marauders to another District 6 championship and the program’s seventh appearance in a state championship game since 2014.

“I think that Jake should be named the (Class 1A) state Player of the Year,” Wheeler said. “After Consiglio went down, we really relied on Jake, and he did everything that we asked of him.”

An emotional Kissell, who was finally kept under wraps by an opposing defense Thursday after being virtually unstoppable all season, said that he’ll miss his high school teammates as he pursues an NCAA Division I college football career.

“I wouldn’t want to be here with anybody else,” Kissell said. “I love these seniors, and nothing will take away from what we built here as a football program. This whole experience for the last four years has been the best experience of my life.”

As prominent and dominant as Kissell was this season, he had a great senior supporting cast with the Marauders.

Wheeler extended kudos to wideout-cornerback Tyson Lestochi, a basketball star who led the football team in pass receptions and interceptions this year, saying that in two years, “Tyson has gone from a basketball player to (becoming) one of the best football players in the state.”

Wheeler also had praise for veteran linemen Trenton Murphy, who lent solid stability to the team in the trenches, and Hayden Hosgood, who battled back from an early-season injury to have another solid season.

Senior Jake Marasco came out for the team this year after not having played football since his elementary-school days, and locked down a starting cornerback position. Senior running back/ defensive lineman Jesse Georgiana provided inspiration after beating cancer in his junior year last year, and senior Brody Gartmann rejoined the team and manned a starting safety position this season, after electing not to play last year as a junior.

Lestochi was arguably the most emotional player on the field after Thursday’s game.

“This has been amazing — something that I have never felt before,” Lestochi said. “Last year, winning the state championship. This year, we gave our best effort again, and this (the championship loss) is hard to take.

“I am just so close with the other seniors on this team,” Lestochi said. “I’ve had my best laughs with them, and my best days with them. The seniors on this team share a special type of brotherhood.”

Murphy, a veteran center, said that the seniors on this year’s team tried their best to set an example for the Marauders’ younger players, who will be carrying the program’s torch next season.

“This senior group tried to do its best to show a lot of leadership to the underclassmen,” Murphy said. “Obviously, we came up short in today’s game and nobody wants to come up short. But we got better and better each week, and I’m so proud of the guys on this team.”