Back in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, Kenneth Ogletree starred on both the football field and basketball court as a wide receiver and shooting guard for the Clairton Bears. But the hardwood is where he really left his mark, leading the Bears to back-to-back WPIAL championships in 1990 and 1991.
He had one son and two daughters before he passed away in 2007 due to complications from an enlarged heart. His son, Kenlein, was only 6 when he passed, just before the start of his first youth football season.
Although Kenneth never got to see his son play, he did pass on his knowledge at an early age — not to mention his considerable athletic gifts. In doing so, he laid the foundation for Kenlein Ogletree to blossom into the football equivalent of a Swiss-army knife, a do-it-all weapon for the No. 1 team in the state in Class 1A.
“All the stories people told me about him, how good he was in all the sports he played — I always tried to be like that, too,” Ogletree said.
Ogletree’s earliest memories of playing football are of him playing catch with his mother and father out in the backyard when he was only 4 or 5 years old. He instantly fell in love with the sport, despite his father being more of a basketball specialist. People tell him all the time that they never saw Kenneth miss a 3-pointer, and he doesn’t remember seeing him miss one either.
Losing his father at such a young age forced Ogletree to mature much more rapidly than his peers. Still, his mother worked tirelessly to provide for him and his sisters.
“She would always remind me of being the man of the house,” Ogletree said. “I’m the man of the house now, so I have to watch over all of them.”
Growing up, Ogletree idolized Clairton greats like Tyler Boyd, and he followed the team religiously during its state-record 66-game win streak. All along, he hoped one day he would have the chance to become the team’s next great receiver and etch his name into school history right alongside his father’s.
“I know he’s always watching, so I try to do almost everything for him,” Ogletree said.
Ogletree started to make a name for himself last year, catching 17 passes for 554 yards and eight touchdowns as a junior — good for an absurd 32.6 yards per reception. But he has really burst onto the scene as a senior by stuffing the stat sheet in ways rarely seen on the football field.
With 35 catches for 694 yards and 13 touchdowns, the 6-foot-3 Ogletree is one of the most dangerous big-play receivers in the WPIAL, as well as a ball-hawking safety. He had a game for the ages Friday in the Bears’ 41-0 first-round playoff victory against defending WPIAL Class 1A champion Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, catching four passes for 145 yards and a pair of touchdowns while also intercepting three passes and returning one for a 72-yard score.
His duties aren’t limited to just offense and defense, though. Ogletree also serves as the team’s kicker, punter, kick returner and punt returner, and he excels in all four roles. He converted 5 of 6 extra-point attempts against OLSH and has 46 successful extra points to his credit this season.
In Clairton’s 49-7 win against West Greene on Oct. 11, Ogletree caught two passes for 38 yards and a touchdown, returned a punt 66 yards for a score, intercepted a pass, ran in a 2-point conversion and again made 5 of 6 extra-point attempts.
Having a player with such a unique skill set is a big reason why the Bears (9-2) earned the No. 1 seed for the WPIAL playoffs and head into their semifinal matchup against Cornell (9-1) Friday night at Chartiers-Houston as a heavy favorite to reach their 19th WPIAL championship game.
“He’s our guy. He’s probably our best athlete on the team, and it shows on the field,” Clairton coach Wayne Wade said after the Bears’ blowout win against the Pioneers. “He’s hard to guard at receiver, he makes all kinds of plays from free safety. He’s our punt returner, he’s our kick returner — he’s our guy.”
If you’ve looked into the crowd at a Clairton football game this season, you may have noticed someone in the bleachers holding up a giant cardboard cutout of Ogletree’s face. That fan would be Leiah Ogletree, the mother of the Bears’ senior all-purpose specialist.
Leiah has never missed one of Ogletree’s games — in any sport, at any level — and she has always been one of his most vocal supporters in the stands. But for her son’s senior season, she wanted to do something extra, so she went online and ordered the cardboard cutout to hoist up in celebration whenever he makes a big play — then took it one step further for the postseason.
“That’s my mom. She’s my biggest fan,” Ogletree said. “She even bought me socks with my face on it. I just wore them this game.”
As much as Ogletree enjoys putting on a show for his mother and filling up the box score with eye-popping statistics, the only thing on his mind right now is trying to help Clairton win four more games. He was a freshman on the Bears’ WPIAL title-winning team in 2016, but he hardly saw the field on that team.
It has been three years since Clairton hoisted a WPIAL championship trophy and seven since the Bears last claimed a state title — not much of a wait for virtually any other program, but an eternity by Clairton’s standards. And for Ogletree to look back on his high school career without any regrets, he believes winning another WPIAL title is only a stepping stone on the Bears’ journey toward their ultimate goal.
“I’m trying to go all the way, and right now, I don’t believe in losing. Losing is not an option for me,” Ogletree said. “I think we’re going to go all the way to Hershey. And win it.”
Steve Rotstein: srotstein@post-gazette.com and Twitter @SteveRotstein.
STANDINGS: WPIAL | City League
Team Pages | Sortable Statistics
First Published: November 7, 2019, 12:30 p.m.
