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2023 PIAA Class 1A Championship Preview: Fort Cherry (15-0) vs. Steelton-Highspire (15-0)

Written by: Joseph Santoliquito on Tuesday, December 5th, 2023. Follow Joseph Santoliquito on Twitter.

Chapman Field at Cumberland Valley will again be at the eye of the Pennsylvania high school football world this weekend when the state’s top 12 high school teams meet for PIAA state championships.

This is new terrain for Fort Cherry. Then again, the whole season has been historic for the Rangers. They won their first WPIAL title, followed by their first state playoff victory, now they are in their first state championship game, To get here, Fort Cherry had to turn back Redbank Valley in the state semifinals, 33-23, led by quarterback Matt Sieg, who engineered a 20-point fourth-quarter surge behind a potent ground game that gobbled up over 330 yards. Sieg himself pounded out 250 yards—128 coming in the crucial fourth quarter.

The Steamrollers arrive to the state finals riding a 27-game winning streak led by all-everything and all-time Pennsylvania yardage leader Alex Erby. The Navy commit threw for 240 yards and three touchdowns in Steelton-Highspire’s 48-21 state semifinal victory over South Williamsport. The Rollers are looking to repeat as state champions and garner their third state title in the last four years. If they win, this will mark the fifth overall state championship game for the Rollers, who are 4-0 in state title games.

How they got here:

Fort Cherry (7) 15-0
2023 Season
Total Points Scored	668	Total Points Allowed	197
Average Points Scored	44.5	Average Points Allowed	13.1

2023 Playoffs – 5 games
Total Points Scored	200	Total Points Allowed	88
Average Points Scored	40.0	Average Points Allowed	17.6

Steelton-Highspire (3) 15-0
2023 Season
Total Points Scored	680	Total Points Allowed	267
Average Points Scored	45.3	Average Points Allowed	17.8

2023 Playoffs – 5 games
Total Points Scored	217	Total Points Allowed	103
Average Points Scored	43.4	Average Points Allowed	20.6