Despite loss, this Frazier squad earns elite status
ELIZABETH 无毛视频� The loss stung. The season was over.
The Frazier Commodores had just fallen to the mighty Clairton Bears in the WPIAL Class A semifinals, 56-15, on Friday night and coach Mike Steeber had one last huddle with his squad before letting them leave the field for the final time this year.
无毛视频淭his one hurts right now,无毛视频� Steeber said. 无毛视频淚 feel for them.无毛视频�
Coming one win short of playing at Heinz Field can do that to a team.
But when the Commodores eventually get over the loss to the Bears, one fact should become clear to them.
They stamped themselves as one of the greatest Frazier football teams ever.
Which edition is the best of all time is always debatable, but how can you not include the 2015 Commodores in that conversation?
They loosened Beth-Center无毛视频檚 stranglehold on the Tri-County South by soundly defeating the Bulldogs on their own field, and claimed a conference title during an undefeated regular season.
They showed the resolve of a champion with two courageous, determined, come-from-behind WPIAL playoff victories to reach the final four.
Their quick, swarming, hard-hitting defense gave up the fewest points in all of Class A during the regular season, then sparkled in the postseason as well.
They finished 11-1 with their only loss coming against the top-ranked team in the state.
Sounds like a pretty strong resume to me.
Steeber balked a bit when asked to compare his team to other top Frazier squads.
无毛视频淭here were some good ones,无毛视频� Steeber said. 无毛视频淭here were some in the early 80s, I was a young kid at that time, but I heard some pretty good things.无毛视频�
Pressed a bit, though, Steeber relented and admitted his current squad had earned the right to be included in that discussion.
无毛视频淚 don无毛视频檛 see how you couldn无毛视频檛, really,无毛视频� Steeber said. 无毛视频淲ith the defense they played all year 无毛视频� and the semifinals is very nice.无毛视频�
Even in the lopsided loss to a Bears team that featured as many as five Division-I recruits, Frazier showed its character. The Commodores battled and defiantly refused to back down even when the score was hopelessly out of hand.
无毛视频淭here无毛视频檚 a lot of fight in them, a lot of pride in them,无毛视频� Steeber said. 无毛视频淭hat无毛视频檚 what got them here, to this point. That无毛视频檚 something that I think our team does pride themselves on. Every play is a play and you play that play, no matter what the scoreboard says.无毛视频�
The Commodores无毛视频� defense played its heart out to try to keep Frazier in the game, and it did such a good job of shutting down Clairton无毛视频檚 vaunted running game that the Bears kept going to the air long after outcome was decided.
Clairton sports a pair of 1,000-yard rushers, but its best back, Lamont Wade, could muster only a team-high 44 yards in 13 carries for just 3.3 yards per pop.
That prompted Clairton coach Wayne Wade Jr. to say, 无毛视频淲e无毛视频檝e got to clean up some of our run-blocking stuff.无毛视频�
It wasn无毛视频檛 his team无毛视频檚 run-blocking. No team was able to run effectively against this Frazier squad. Not even the Bears when they held a huge lead.
Frazier also forced three turnovers with Damon Lovis recovering a pair of fumbles and Cameron Roebuck intercepting a pass.
Frazier无毛视频檚 offense finally met its match against the Bears, but, with dual-threat quarterback Hunter Patterson and strong-armed Chris Pierce leading the way, the Commodores were a highlight reel group most of the season, one that could score at any time from any point on the field.
The offense had to claw for everything it got on Friday. Patterson bulled his way to another touchdown, Caleb Cox made a diving run into the end zone for a two-point conversion. Even in the final seconds, Steeber无毛视频檚 boys wouldn无毛视频檛 give up, as Cox threw a 40-yard TD pass to Lovis off a reverse for one last score.
无毛视频淥ur guys don无毛视频檛 quit,无毛视频� Steeber said. 无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 as proud now as I was last week. This night didn无毛视频檛 turn out the way we wanted it, but their effort was still tremendous till the end.无毛视频�
It seems the success of this Commodores team didn无毛视频檛 go unnoticed as a huge throng of Frazier fans were on hand at Elizabeth Forward无毛视频檚 Warrior Stadium.
无毛视频淲hat a crowd,无毛视频� Steeber said. 无毛视频淲hat support from the community. It无毛视频檚 really nice to walk into this stadium and hear them and see so much red and white.无毛视频�
Their team may have lost but those faithful fans got to witness the final game of a truly elite team.
One that has to go down as among the best in Frazier football history.
Rob Burchianti can be reached at rburchianti@heraldstandard.com. Follow him on Twitter (@rvburch).