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Steelton-Highspire 42, Fort Cherry 8: Live updates recap from Pennsylvania 1A football championship

Follow our live updates to see who takes the title in Pennsylvania Class 1A

Mike Swanson

State championship time has arrived in Pennsylvania high school football, and Steelton-Highspire vs. Fort Cherry kicks off the action Thursday at Cumberland Valley High School.

Undefeated Steelton-Highspire (15-0) and Fort Cherry (15-0) are the last two teams standing in PIAA Class 1A and will meet at 1 p.m. Eastern time Thursday, Dec. 7.

Follow our live updates below to keep tabs on how the Class 1A high school football state championship game is going. Check SBLive Pennsylvania later Thursday for game coverage from SBLive's Ryan Isley.

Scroll down for a live updates recap of the game.

FINAL: Steelton-Highspire 42, Fort Cherry 8 (story and photo gallery) 

FOURTH QUARTER UPDATES

TOUCHDOWN RANGERS! Matt Sieg scores Fort Cherry's first points of the game with 1:47 left. It's 42-8 Rollers.

FUMBLE! Rollers force their fourth turnover of the day. 8:17 left.

TURNOVER ON DOWNS! And then Fort Cherry stops Alex Erby short on fourth down. Less then 10 minutes left, Rollers leading 42-0.

TURNOVER ON DOWNS! Rollers get it right back as the Fort Cherry snap goes awry on fourth down.

THIRD QUARTER UPDATES

INTERCEPTION! Brayden Kirby with the pick for Fort Cherry in Rollers territory. Quarter ends with the Rangers trailing 42-0.

FUMBLE! Amari Williams forces and recovers the fumble for the Rollers, leading 42-0 with less than three minutes remaining in the quarter.

TOUCHDOWN ROLLERS! Alex Erby throws his fifth TD pass, this time a 3-yard toss to Taevon LaGrande. Two-point conversion makes it 42-0 with 6:44 left and a running clock coming up.

TURNOVER ON DOWNS! Steel-High stops Fort Cherry just short of the sticks on the first drive of the half. 9:58 left.

Second half is starting shortly. Fort Cherry gets the ball first, trailing 34-0.

HALFTIME NOTES

Steel-High quarterback Alex Erby set the single-season Pennsylvania record for touchdown passes with his second of four first-half TD throws. Three of them were shovel passes. He's now at 60 TD passes this season to add to his haul of Pennsylvania high school football records.

The Rollers racked up 390 yards of offense in the half.

SECOND QUARTER UPDATES

TURNOVER ON DOWNS! We've talked a lot about the offense, but how about this Steel-High defense? Goal-line stand on fourth down to get the ball back in the waning seconds of the half leading 34-0.

TOUCHDOWN ROLLERS! Alex Erby connects with Durrell Ceasar for a 32-yard TD to make it 34-0 with 3:25 to go after the extra point hits the crossbar. 

INTERCEPTION! Rollers have it again in Fort Cherry territory after a Jaeion Perry pick.

TOUCHDOWN ROLLERS! The shovel pass has been killing Fort Cherry. This time it goes 77 yards from Alex Erby to Nazeer Fuller. It's 28-0 Steel-High with 4:31 left.

TOUCHDOWN ROLLERS! Steel-High converts the turnover into points, as Alex Erby does it himself this time on a 37-yard TD run. It's 21-0 Rollers with 6:53 left in the half.

INTERCEPTION! Durrell Ceasar grabs the pick on the Steel-High 41 to stop Fort Cherry's momentum. Rollers still leading 14-0. 8:34 left in the half.

TURNOVER ON DOWNS! Huge stop for Fort Cherry in the Rangers' red zone:

FIRST QUARTER UPDATES

Quarter ends with Steel-High leading 14-0 after a dropped pass would have made it three scores. Fake punt conversion keeps the ball in Steel-High's hands to start the second on the Fort Cherry 11.

BLOCKED PUNT! Steel-High gets excellent field position after blocking Matt Sieg's rugby-style punt.  Two minutes left in the quarter.

TOUCHDOWN ROLLERS! Nazier Fuller gets around the edge on a shovel pass and makes it 14-0 with 5:09 left.

TOUCHDOWN ROLLERS! Jaeion Perry cruises in on a shovel pass from Alex Erby to make it 7-0 Steel-High with 8:23 left.

We're underway! Nice kickoff return for Steelton-Highspire, which starts at its own 40 and gets a first down into Fort Cherry territory on its first play.

PREGAME UPDATES

The game is scheduled to kick off at 1:10 p.m. ET.

PREGAME READING

The Steamrollers have steamrolled their competition all season, winning all but one of their games by double digits.

An early-season 29-22 win over West Catholic was Steelton-Highspire's closest game this year.

Fort Cherry is in the same boat, also winning all but one of their 15 games by double digits, and also with the Rangers' closest margin being seven points (a 48-41 win over Bishop Canevin).

Both teams benefit from outstanding quarterbacks, with Steelton-Highspire led by senior Alex Erby and Fort Cherry by sophomore Matt Sieg.

Erby, a 6-foot-4 left-handed pocket passer who's committed to Navy, is the all-time Pennsylvania high school leader in passing yards with 13,227 yards and touchdown passes with 170.

The dual-threat Sieg has rushed for 2,239 yards this season and thrown for 1,650 while also playing defensive back.

Steelton-Highspire vs. Fort Cherry: Pennsylvania high school football Class 1A state championship notes, history, prediction

Southern Columbia vs. Westinghouse: Pennsylvania high school football Class 2A state championship notes, history, prediction

Northwestern Lehigh vs. Belle Vernon Pennsylvania high school football Class 3A state championship notes, history, prediction

Dallas vs. Aliquippa: Pennsylvania high school football Class 4A state championship notes, history, prediction

Imhotep Charter vs. Peters Township: Pennsylvania high school football Class 5A state championship notes, history, prediction

St. Joseph's Prep vs. North Allegheny: Pennsylvania high school football Class 6A state championship notes, history, prediction

Alex Erby (9) is the all-time Pennsylvania high school football leader in passing yards and touchdowns.
Alex Erby (9) is the all-time Pennsylvania high school football leader in passing yards and touchdowns / Photo by Paul Burdick

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-- Mike Swanson | swanson@scorebooklive.com | @sblivesports

Published
Mike Swanson, SBLive Sports
MIKE SWANSON

Mike Swanson is the VP of Content for High School On SI. He's been in journalism since 2003, having worked as a reporter, city editor, copy editor and high school sports editor in California, Connecticut and Oregon.

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