Photo courtesy of Matt Topper
MECHANICSBURG, PA — Taped up on a mirror in the Steelton-Highspire weight room sits a picture. It’s a resonating image of two chest-bumping Canton players with the final score emblazed in the background. It was a tough image for the Steelton-Highspire Steamrollers to get over after they lost in last year’s first round of the PIAA state playoffs.
As a motivating exclamation point, they made sure they walked by that image every day.
They won’t have to after Thursday afternoon.
The picture can come down, after Steelton-Highspire beat Union, 22-8, in the PIAA Class 1A state championship at Chapman Field at Cumberland Valley High School in a state final the Steamrollers believe was won a year ago.
It was won by a young group that didn’t want to relive the tears and angst of a three-and-a-half-hour bus ride home last year.
Strong defense, clutch plays by Jaeion Perry, and solid rushing from Ronald Burnette led Steelton-Highspire to its second PIAA 1A state championship in the last three years and fourth overall (2007, 2008, 2020, and 2022).
The Steamrollers’ defense had two interceptions, one in the end zone, finished with four sacks for minus-40 yards, had six tackles for losses for minus-60 yards, while Burnette scored all three Steelton-Highspire touchdowns, rushed for 126 yards and Perry had a game-high seven receptions for 120 yards and an interception.
Steelton-Highspire (14-1) surrendered one touchdown, while holding Union (13-4) to 172 total yards of offense.
“We didn’t want to forget that (Canton) loss, and it was a long, bad feeling, but that was a little of our motivation in the offseason, because it reminded them every day to continue to work,” Steamrollers’ coach Andrew Erby said. “We knew we would have to see Canton again to get here and it was crazy because it was a long bus ride home (last year).”
Burnette said the Canton image was motivating, though not in the way most would think.
“It was a reminder of why we had to get stronger and why we had to play harder, and you see how hard we worked to get here,” said Burnette, who scored on touchdowns of 3, 1, and 19 yards. “We won this around a year ago this time last year. We were right back in the weight room after that loss last year. We’ll get a break now after this.”
Burnette’s 19-yard fourth-quarter touchdown sealed the victory for the Steamrollers. Though, there were some tense moments.
With 2:21 left in the third quarter, it looked like Union would tie the score at 7-7 after Union quarterback Braylon Thomas snuck into the end zone from a yard out. What revived the drive was a 30-yard completion from Thomas to Dayne Johnke on a third-and-13 play at the Steelton-Highspire 31. But after Union scored, Union head coach Kim Niedbala opted to go for a two-point conversion.
It looked like Union would forge ahead after the Scotties made it, but an illegal shift penalty negated the try and when Union tried again for two, Thomas’ pass went incomplete.
Steelton-Highspire responded quickly.
The Steamrollers needed just three plays to put some distance between them and Union, when Burnette’s second touchdown with 1:07 left in the third gave them a 13-6 lead. Perry’s 33-yard return on the ensuing kickoff made the score possible. It was the second time a big play by Perry set up a Steamroller’s score.
“Defensively early on, we had to communicate better with each other, and we may have had some people a little nervous at first,” Perry said. “There was a lot of work that was put into this team. There was a lot of motivation after we lost in the first round last year. We wanted to prove we were better than that.”
Steelton-Highspire took a slim 7-0 lead into halftime, despite its statistical dominance. The Steamrollers outgained Union, 167-134, averaging 6.1 yards a play to Union’s 4.6. Steelton-Highspire also converted 3 of 6 third downs, to Union’s 2 for 5 on third down and 1 for 3 on fourth down.
The largest blot on Union’s first-half resume was going 0-for-3 in the red zone.
When it looked like Union was heading toward a tying score in the last minute of the half, Thomas threw an interception in the end zone to Bamm Appleby.
“Our kids battled, that’s a good football team over there and we have 26 kids,” Niedbala said. “Our kids battled, that’s all I can say. I knew what I had over here. I knew I had some athletes (when he left Mt. Lebanon to take over at Union). We were in it until late in the fourth quarter.”
On their first two drives, the Scotties reached the red zone, taking the first series to the Steelton-Highspire 5 when they broke down. The big setback was a holding call on a first-and-goal at the five, after Union’s Matt Stanley borrowed seven yards to convert a fourth-and-two at the Steamrollers’ 12.
The holding call pushed the Scotties back to the 15 and that’s where the first drive stalled.
On Union’s second series, the Scotties took advantage of a short field, reaching the Steelton-Highspire 16. The Steamrollers’ Marquis Beasley and Asa Kochvar pulled down Thomas at the 19, where Union’s second drive ended.
This time, Steelton-Highspire answered.
On a third-and-16 at the Steelton-Highspire 13, an early game-changing play came when Steamrollers quarterback Alex Erby flung a floater down field to Perry, who outjumped Union’s Mike Gunn and Dayne Johnke for a 40-yard reception.
The play tilted the field in favor of Steelton-Highspire, which used the momentum of the Perry catch to produce its first score when Burnette knifed in from three yards out.
“I won’t forget that bus ride home last year and I remember what was said to me last year, and that was in my head today,” Alex Erby said. “We kept working, we kept believing and this is what happened.”
And with Steelton-Highspire’s youth, it could happen again.
Scoring Summary
Steelton-Highspire (14-1) 0 7 6 9-22
Union (13-4) 0 0 6 2-8
2nd Quarter
SH – Ronald Burnette 3 run (Judah Hernandez kick), 7:53
3rd Quarter
U – Braylon Thomas 1 run (pass failed), 2:21
SH – Burnette 1 run (kick failed), 1:07
4th Quarter
U – Safety (Alex Erby intentional grounding), 11:13
SH – Burnette 19 run (Hernandez kick), 5:33
SH – Safety (Union holding penalty in the end zone), 4:02
Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been covering high school football since 1992 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter @JSantoliquito. Follow EasternPAFootball.com on Twitter @EPAFootball.
