Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League

On a sunny December afternoon at Hersheypark Stadium, the 1998 Rochester Rams became the first Beaver County team to complete a season with a perfect 15-0 record by topping Southern Columbia 18-0 in the PIAA Class 1A championship game. In the state final, the Rams defense staggered the Tigers' vaunted Delaware Wing-T, holding it to 82 total yards on 33 rushing attempts. Through Rochester's PIAA Playoff run, the defense, led by future NFL player Kris Griffin and Rick Daman, allowed just 6 points. Even so, the most memorable game that season may have been the WPIAL title game, a classic in which the Rams beat cross-river-rival Monaca, 24-18, in overtime. Even though the two communities are separated only by a bridge spanning the Ohio, they took the battle for the WPIAL crown upstream to Three Rivers Stadium. The Rams outscored nine regular season and three WPIAL playoff opponents by an average of 29 points and did not have a game decided by fewer than 13 points until that day. At halftime, Monaca and Rochester were tied at 12. The Indians took an 18-12 lead midway through the third, but on the Rams' next possession, Rueben Jackson sprinted 61 yards to tie the score at 18-all. On that run, Jackson wrenched his back and could not return so Mookie Anderson carried the load through the fourth quarter and scored the game-winner in O T; a 6-yard run around right end that put "Rochy" up 24-18. The defense preserved the victory when defensive back Dave Kindelberger intercepted an Indians' pass on a third and nine play. For the season, the Rams' offense put up some gaudy numbers on the ground. Jackson ran for 1,545 yards and 20 touchdowns, Anderson rushed for 1,038 yards and 20 more TD's, and Darrell Daman added 10 scores and 590 yards. Coach Dan Matsook was named Pennsylvania Small School Coach of the Year.