Lions roar past Rebels; ready for Tigers
South Fayette’s Brett Brumbaugh passed for a reacord 463 yards during a 31-7 victory over Seton-La Salle. The junior signal caller now leads his Lions into battle against Beaver Falls. The WPIAL Class AA semifinal showdown is set for 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15 at Montour.
Seton-La Salle’s Danzel McKinley-Lewis catches a long pass during the first quarter of the game while South Fayette’s Roman Denson defends. Seton-La Salle scored during the possession on an 8-yard TD pass from Tyler Perone to Malik White.
Despite a slow start, South Fayette rolled to victory against Century Conference rival, Seton-La Salle, 31-7, at Peters Township stadium and advanced to a WPIAL Class AA semifinal showdown against Beaver Falls.
The undefeated Lions (11-0) will battle the Tigers (8-2) at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15 at Montour.
In the win over the Rebels, who finished 8-3 overall, Brett Brumbaugh set a WPIAL record when he completed 31 of 53 aerials for 463 yards. Rocco Colvacchia set the previous record in 2006 when the Shenango signal caller completed 31 of 52 attempts for 457 yards passing.
Brumbaugh ranks eighth on the WPIAL all-time passing list with 5,958 career yards. The junior has passed for 2,529 yards and 29 TD aerials this season. In the win over the Rebels, he tossed scoring strikes of 3 and 87 yards to Justin Watson and 43 yards to Conner Beck.
Beck finished with 11 receptions for 137 yards while Watson had 10 grabs for 194 yards. Hayden Orler had six catches for 76 yards. Logan Sharp (3), Grant Fetchet and Ryan Schmider also caught passes. Watson now has over 1,000 yards receiving and 15 scores while Beck follows with 663 yards and 12 scores.
Though the Rebels jumped ahead on an 8-yard scoring strike from Tyler Perone to Malik White, the Lions tied the contest in the second stanza and salted the game away with a 21-point third quarter.
Brian Coyne tacked on a 24-yard field goal in the final frame. Coyne has scored 71 points this season for the Lions.
Though Perone completed 16 aerials for 160 yards, Watson, Orler, Hunter Hayes and Jared Walker all picked off passes for the Lions. Orler leads the team with four picks this fall.
The SF defense also recorded six sacks, three by Ben Berkovitz, who also forced a fumble, and one each by Anthony Davidson, Schmider and Zach Walker. Walker and Spencer Girman recovered fumbles. Berkovitz leads SF with eight sacks.
With 12 and 11 tackles respectively, the Walker brothers, Zach and Jared, spearheaded the defense. Hayes and Beck followed with seven tackles each.
The Walkers are the top tacklers for the season with 100 for Jared and 89 for Zach.
With that much passing, SF’s ground game was limited to 75 yards, 48 of which was gained by Fetchet. The senior leads the Lions with 1,096 yards rushing and 18 touchdowns. Jared Walker is No. 2 on the club with 12 rushing scores.
In the Tigers, the Lions face an equally explosive offense. Beaver Falls defeated Youth, 43-7, in its quarterfinal playoff game.
Dan Stratton directs the offense. In completing 7 of 9 passes for 198 yards and four TD strikes of 31, 35, 67 and 19 yards, Stratton improved his season totals to 71 of 111 attempts for 1,312 yards and 16 TDs. Stratton’s top targets include Justin Cohen, Javon Turner and Marcus Cleckley.
While Khalil Caracter rushed for a 64-yard score against Yough, Damian Rawl is the Tigers’ top threat on the ground. Rawl, who rushed for an 11-yard score in the quarterfinals, is a 1,000-yard rusher for the season. He averages eight yards a carry. Rawl has scored 15 touchdowns this fall and leads the Tigers with 92 points.