Standout high school quarterback Matt Sieg is getting national attention with college recruiting offers
MT. PLEASANT TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) -- Fort Cherry quarterback Matt Sieg has been making a name for himself over the past three years and he's starting to garner some national attention.
The Fort Cherry Rangers are the defending champions in the WPIAL's 1A classification and were the runner-ups in the PIAA state title game.
The junior quarterback has amassed over 8,000 yards of offense near the halfway mark of his third season and he is starting to garner some attention nationwide.
"Early on in my recruitment, I feel like a few schools wouldn't even bother because of the classification we play in," Sieg said. "As I felt like my recruitment started gaining steam, people realized that it really doesn't matter."
Eighteen different Division I programs have extended an offer to Sieg and Fort Cherry head coach Tanner Garry says that's not a surprise to him.
Sieg's offers include Penn State, Pitt, West Virginia, USC, Nebraska, and Iowa, among others.
"It was one of those things where in the early going when he was a freshman and sophomore, you could see it that he was different and I think that's only proved that more and more with everything that he's done," Garry said.
Sieg has ties to both Pitt and Penn State but says he's not limiting his attention to Pennsylvania alone.
"When you think about it, it'd definitely be nice to stay home, but it's not set in stone," Sieg said. "I'm exploring my options and looking all over the country."
Garry said when the Penn State offer came through, it was one of his first ones, and there can be a sense of loyalty to a program when they offer early on.
"I think right now he's at a point in his junior year where he wants to see what schools have to say and he wants to experience the recruiting process and see where his best fit is," Garry said.
Sieg says that he and his dad sat down early on when he was in middle school to devise a plan on what he needed to do to to help get him to where he needed to be where college coaches would start paying attention.
"It wasn't easy being from a small school, but I wanted to stay here and play with my friends all throughout high school and we found a way to make it work," Sieg said.
As a sophomore, Sieg led Fort Cherry to a 15-1 record, falling to Steelton-Highspire in the 1A title game. Now the Rangers are working to complete a redemption story.
"Taking all the experience he took from that game and bringing it this year is really good for a leader to have," Garry said.
"We were 15-0 going into that game, so we had already proved a lot, but that just shows us that there's always teams out there that are better and maybe want it more, so it's just a reminder to humble ourselves and just keep working," Sieg said.
Through five games this season, Fort Cherry is undefeated and Sieg has rushed for more than 650 yards with 12 touchdowns.
