Sieg sets passing record as Fort Cherry rolls past West Greene
MCDONALD – It was picture perfect evening for the Fort Cherry football program as they unveiled their brand new synthetic playing surface Friday night at Jim Garry Stadium.
No longer will the Rangers play or practice on a sloppy field as the weather turns less than ideal later this fall.
If their performances the past three weeks are any indication, the new surface will come in handy as the Rangers seek a third consecutive WPIAL Class A title. Fort Cherry has not been threatened yet this year and Friday was no exception as the Rangers took care of West Greene 55-8 in a weather-shortened, non-conference game.
The game was deemed complete at halftime by game officials due to lightning.
It was the Rangers 31st consecutive win against WPIAL opponents, their last two loses came in the 2024 PIAA Western semifinals and in the 2023 PIAA Class A championship game.
Fort Cherry’s Matt Sieg, a Penn State recruit, completed eight passes for 179 yards to become the school’s all-time leader in passing yards with 4,533, surpassing his coach Tanner Garry who threw for 4,502.
West Greene (0-3) attempted to steal the first possession of the game when it tried a surprise onside kick, but the ball failed to travel the requisite 10 yards before the Pioneers recovered, giving the ball to Fort Cherry on the West Greene 47.
Sieg threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to Evan Rogers on the next play and Nick Massey’s extra point gave the Rangers (3-0) a 7-0 lead.
West Greene forced Fort Cherry to punt on its second possession but when the Rangers got the ball back they scored on a 30-yard drive capped by Sieg’s 17-yard touchdown pass to Massey for a 14-0 advantage.
A blocked punt by Fort Cherry’s Gavin Grace led to a 9-yard touchdown pass from Sieg to Landon Trnavsky to make it 21-0 with 1:59 left in the first quarter.
Sieg ran for a 24-yard touchdown 54 seconds into the second quarter, then delivered his record-breaking pass by connecting with Rogers from 43 yards out for a 34-0 lead with 9:01 left in the half.
An interception by Massey led to a 37-yard touchdown run by Eli Salvini that gave the hosts a 41-0 lead, and Salvini scored again late in the half on a 9-yard TD run for a 48-0 advantage.
The Pioneers finally got on the board when Joel Rizor threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Wassil with Rizor running in the two-point conversion to make it 48-0.
The Rangers’ Joseph Barna returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown and Fort Cherry took a 55-8 lead into halftime.
Both teams returned briefly to warm up for the second half before officials noted lightning flashing in the distance, sending the players back into their respective locker rooms. After more than 40 minutes, the game was called complete.