Despite loss, this Frazier squad earns elite status
ELIZABETH 鈥� 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.
鈥淭his one hurts right now,鈥� Steeber said. 鈥淚 feel for them.鈥�
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鈥檚 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.
鈥淭here were some good ones,鈥� Steeber said. 鈥淭here were some in the early 80s, I was a young kid at that time, but I heard some pretty good things.鈥�
Pressed a bit, though, Steeber relented and admitted his current squad had earned the right to be included in that discussion.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 see how you couldn鈥檛, really,鈥� Steeber said. 鈥淲ith the defense they played all year 鈥� and the semifinals is very nice.鈥�
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.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of fight in them, a lot of pride in them,鈥� Steeber said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what got them here, to this point. That鈥檚 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.鈥�
The Commodores鈥� defense played its heart out to try to keep Frazier in the game, and it did such a good job of shutting down Clairton鈥檚 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, 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to clean up some of our run-blocking stuff.鈥�
It wasn鈥檛 his team鈥檚 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 boys wouldn鈥檛 give up, as Cox threw a 40-yard TD pass to Lovis off a reverse for one last score.
鈥淥ur guys don鈥檛 quit,鈥� Steeber said. 鈥淚鈥檓 as proud now as I was last week. This night didn鈥檛 turn out the way we wanted it, but their effort was still tremendous till the end.鈥�
It seems the success of this Commodores team didn鈥檛 go unnoticed as a huge throng of Frazier fans were on hand at Elizabeth Forward鈥檚 Warrior Stadium.
鈥淲hat a crowd,鈥� Steeber said. 鈥淲hat support from the community. It鈥檚 really nice to walk into this stadium and hear them and see so much red and white.鈥�
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).