South Fayette continues dominance
Geovante Love makes the cut against a South Allegheny defender during South Fayette’s 48-6 victory. He scored two touchdowns in the victory.
South Allegheny applies blanket coverage on South Fayette receivers, including Ryan Schmider (No. 13) as he attempts to make a catch in the end zone. The Lions defeated the Lions, 48-6, in this Century Conference clash.
South Fayette continued its dominance in Class AA football when the Lions dispatched South Allegheny, 48-6, for its fourth Century Conference win this season and 20th triumph in a row since winning last year’s district and state titles.
With winless and in disarray Carlynton on tap Sept. 26 at Honus Wagner Field in Carnegie, the Lions do not look as if they are slowing down as they approach stiffer competition in October. The Lions will host Steel Valley (3-1) Oct. 3 and take on Seton-La Salle Oct. 17 at Chartiers Valley in games that should decide the conference champion.
“Our focus,” said SF head coach Joe Rossi, “is on getting better ourselves as a team each game. We have long-range goals so we take it one day at a time. We are constantly trying to get better.”
As they continue their defense of their WPIAL and PIAA championships, the Lions continue to improve defensively while they remain a well-oiled offensive machine. The Lions, who feature eight new starters on defense, have limited the opposition to 39 total points or 9.8 per game. On offense, the Lions have racked up 207 points or 39 per game.
Brett Brumbaugh engineers the attack. The All-State performer and Division I prospect (Akron, Temple and Albany have offered) is on target to shatter the district’s all-time passing records. He completed 16 of 26 passes for 183 yards last week against the Gladiators to push his season totals to 773 yards on 49 completions.
“Defensively,” Rossi said, “I am pleased with what those guys are doing. They are doing a nice job. Offensively, we are doing a good job too and that’s because of Brett.”
After a sluggish start, where they nearly were sacked in their own end zone for a safety, the offense found its groove against the Gladiators. Brumbaugh connected with Roman Denson for a 28-yard touchdown with 5:33 to play in the first frame.
After Brett Beltz recovered a fumble, Hunter Hayes gained 47 yards on two plays and reached the end zone for score No. 2 for the Lions. Hayes darted eight yards for the touchdown, giving South Fayette a 14-0 advantage with 14 seconds into the second stanza. Hayes added his second score on a one-yard run with 7:05 to play in the half. Brumbaugh’s completions to Logan Sharp and Denson set up the TD.
Two plays after Anthony Davision recovered a fumble, Brumbaugh tossed his 11th TD of the season, a 15-yard strike to Sharp.
Geovante Love tacked on a 1-yard score with 1:18 to go in the first half, invoking the Mercy Rule or running clock. During the scoring drive, Brumbaugh completed passes to Mikey Speca (2), Dan Trimbur and Nick Ponikvar.
In the second half, Love notched his second score of the game when he darted a short distance into the end zone with 1:41 left in the third quarter. Robert O’Kelly completed the scoring for the Lions with a 2-yard touchdown with 2:27 to play.
With win in hand, the Lions get back to basics as they prepare for the Cougars, who recently had their head coach quit because he feared for his players’ health. The Cougars were three students over the limit when the WPIAL reclassified them, moving them from A to AA ball.
Noting that one of the coach’s on his staff has a son that attends Carlynton, Rossi said, “You feel for those players. They are a nice group of kids.”
Nevertheless, the Lions will prepare for the Cougars. “We’ll focus on fundamentals rather than schemes,” Rossi said. “We don’t get to do that too often.”
Sto-Rox at Seton-La Salle
The Rebels (4-0) should keep pace with the Lions in the Century Conference when they host Sto-Rox (1-3) at 7 p.m. Sept. 26 at Chartiers Valley Stadium. Seton-La Salle is coming off a 14-7 win against Steel Valley while the Vikings lost to East Allegheny, 42-6.
Defensively, each team coughed up the football four times. However, the Rebels held Steel Valley’s star running back DeWayne Murray to 55 yards on 14 carries. He gained 49 of those on one carry in the third quarter when he also scored the Ironmen’s lone touchdown.
In the first frame, Paris Ford staked the Rebels to a 7-0 lead when the sophomore caught a 10-yard scoring strike from Tyler Perone, who completed 11 aerials for 100 yards. Liam Sweeney rushed for a five-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Justin Nedzesky converted both extra points.
South Allegheny at KO
The Golden Eagles enter this 7 p.m. Sept. 26 fray at Dormont Stadium winless at 0-4 after a 35-19 loss to South Park. In the loss, Kobe Phillippi completed 16 of 36 passes for 229 yards and scoring strikes to Dylan Knorr and Nick Hrivnak. Knorr caught five aerials for 117 yards. Hrivnak had five grabs for 67 yards. With 17 receptions for 224 yards this fall, Hrivnak ranks among the wide outs in the WPIAL. Jimmy Canello, who had 15 catches for 134 yards heading into the contest, rushed for KO’s other touchdown on a six-yard run in the second stanza.
Char-Houston at Canevin
Saturday night football features Chartiers-Houston battling Bishop Canevin in a Black Hills Conference clash at 7 p.m. Sept. 7 at Dormont Stadium.
The Buccaneers improved to 2-2 overall and 1-2 in the conference after beating Northgate, 20-13. Char-Houston bolted to a 13-0 lead on the arm of Alec Ferrari. He completed 23- and 29-yard scoring strikes to Wyatt Kincaid and A.J. Myers in the first half. Though the Flames scored twice in the third quarter to tie the contest, the Bucs won it in the fourth frame when they scored from two yards out for the decisive touchdown.
Meanwhile, the Crusaders (2-2, 1-1) are coming off a 35-31 loss to Fort Cherry. In defeat, Reed Relosky completed 10 of 21 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns, a 36-yard scoring strike to Giovanni DeMarzo and a five-yard aerial to Amaan Bridgette. Relosky also rushed for a five-yard touchdown. Bridgette, who caught five passes for 78 yards, scored two more touchdowns on the ground with runs of 16 and two yards.