Rochester was the first team this season to at least control Clairton's offense last week. Now Monaca must find a way to do what no team has done -- dent Clairton's defense for more than a touchdown.

Clairton (12-0) takes on Monaca (11-1) in the WPIAL Class A championship Saturday morning at Heinz Field. The 10:30 a.m. contest is the first of four championship games at Heinz.

Clairton has been one of the most dominant teams in the state this season. The Bears had scored 37 points or more in every game, but defeated Rochester by only 16-0.

While Clairton's offense had been close to unstoppable before the Rochester game, its defense has been close to impenetrable all season. Clairton has allowed fewer points (30) than any team in the state, regardless of classification. The Bears have shut out seven of 12 opponents and haven't allowed more than seven points in a game.

"The biggest thing with their defense is they are fast and they fly to the ball," Monaca coach Sam Cercone said. "That was evident with Rochester. Rochester maybe matched up with them athletically, but Rochester's offense just seemed to go lateral more than north and south."

Looking at the statistics, Cercone can understand why few give his team much of a chance against Clairton, which is in the championship game for the third time in four seasons.

"I think our kids believe we can play with them," Cercone said. "We love playing the role of the underdog. It's been like that most of the year. We were underdogs going into the last [regular-season] game against Rochester. I think a number of people didn't think we'd get past Avonworth [in the semifinals]."

Yet here is Monaca, getting ready for its first championship game appearance since it lost in the title game three years in a row from 1998-2000.

It seemed many forgot about the Indians this season after they lost to Western Beaver, 18-0, in the third week. Monaca also lost its starting quarterback for the season in that game when Brandon Gaydosh sustained a broken leg.

Since then, freshman Matt Bradford has played some at quarterback, along with Tony Reda. But Reda also is a running back and has rushed for 1,081 yards on 150 carries. He also has completed 18 of 40 passes for 368 yards. Bradford is 9 of 20 for 156 yards.

"Tony probably takes 30 to 40 percent of the snaps at quarterback," Cercone said. "But we think we have a number of kids who we can spread the ball to. We're confident in all three of our running backs and we're confident in what our freshman quarterback can do when he has to go in and run the offense."

Besides Reda, Monaca has Skylar Schultz (855 yards rushing on 127 attempts) and Zach Garber (778 yards on 98 carries). Schultz, incidentally, is Cercone's brother-in-law.

"For the most part, a lot of people wrote us off after Brandon went down," Cercone said. "The kids dedicated the season to Brandon. You have to give them a lot of credit. We have 17 seniors and they are very close with each other. They've been able to win football games because of the continuity they have with each other. It's a special bunch."

While Monaca must find a way to crack Clairton's defense, Monaca's defense must also stop Clairton's big plays. Quarterback Andrew Currington has thrown for 1,702 yards and is averaging 24.7 yards a completion. Receiver Kevin Weatherspoon has 45 catches for 1,277 yards (28.4 yards per catch). Running back Deontae Howard has rushed for 1,365 yards and is averaging 11.4 yards a carry.

One other factor might be motivating Monaca. The district is merging with Center, and Monaca will close after the 2009-10 school year.

"As coaches, we don't mention that very much," said Cercone, a 1992 Monaca graduate. "But the players talk about it. They want to go down as one of the best teams in Monaca history. They're playing for themselves, the town and the community."