Aug 23, 2026 6 min read

South Fayette football is going back to the future to regain its rank in athletics at the high school.

Since winning back-to-back state championships in 2013 and 2014 and a WPIAL title in 2018, the program has become stagnant. Since the turn of the decade, the Lions have enjoyed only one winning season. From 2020 to 2025, there have been three losing terms and two .500 stints, including last year when South Fayette posted a 5-5 record.

During that time span, other athletic squads have leapfrogged the football program. Girls basketball captured two state titles and four district banners. Girls soccer claimed a PIAA crown and two WPIAL championships. This spring, boys volleyball and baseball were district runners-up while lacrosse reached the WPIAL finals for the fourth year in a row.

“It’s time to pull our weight,” said Marty Spieler, who enters his third year as head coach of the football team. “When we started practicing for this season in the spring, I told our guys, ‘Look, the girls have been carrying us.’ Right after that the boys volleyball and baseball teams had success so hopefully things have switched around and we’re able to start carrying our share of the load.

“We want to physically get back to the tradition that South Fayette had in the 2010s. We want to reestablish that drive and success.”

The Lions promise to do just that in 2026 because they are brimming with talent and experience. Plus, they have dropped down a classification.

South Fayette will compete at the Class 4A level in Section 3 against Albert Gallatin, Chartiers Valley, Laurel Highlands, Ringgold and Uniontown. The Lions will still play non-conference games with neighboring schools such as Peters Township, the defending Class 5A champion, Upper St. Clair, Montour and Trinity.

“You can’t downplay it,” Spieler said of the classification shift because the top teams in 4A have some really highly-talented players. McKeesport, New Castle and Montour are really, really challenging.”

Spieler also mentioned West Mifflin. The Lions play the powerhouse Class 3A team in a non-conference clash. The Titans boast nationally-ranked, four-star recruit Armand Hill.

“He’s one of the best running backs in the country,” Spieler noted. “So it’s business as usual and if you want to be one of the premier teams in the WPIAL you’ve got to act like a premier team. We’re embracing the mood. People say 5A is tougher but we play wherever the WPIAL tells us to play. We’re ready for the challenge.”

While McKeesport boasts University of Georgia recruit Kemon Spell, the No. 1 running back in the country, and Montour boasts heavily recruited underclassmen like Brandon Bennett and Archie Collins IV not to mention Caden Halajcio, South Fayette has its share of players grabbing the attention of college scouts. Among them are Jacob Bostian, Aayden Wright and Alex Deanes.

A 6-3, 225-pound junior, Bostian already has seven scholarship offers, mostly to MAC schools. He’s a two-way end.

“He’s an explosive kid that’s excelled mostly on the edge on defense and a good target with good hands on offense,” Spieler said.

Though a 5-10, 175-pound sophomore, Wright is the Lions’s most sought after recruit with nearly a dozen Power 4 offers, including Pitt and Maryland. He’s also a two-way starter, running back on offense having rushed for a team-high 572 yards for a 7.5-yard average per carry, and cornerback in the defensive secondary.

“Aayden’s an electric kid. He doesn’t have the speed of Kemon (Spell) but he’s quick,” Spieler said. “He will be featured in the backfield and set the tone for our running game.”

Meanwhile, Deanes, like Wright, is an all-conference performer and a two-way standout. He is a three-year starter at wide receiver and a veteran cornerback on defense. He ranked second on the team with 11 receptions last year for 117 yards. He had 25 tackles and two turnovers on defense.

“Alex is a good leader for us,” Spieler said. “He will fight you and won’t back down.”

The Lions won’t back away from any battles this season because they return nine starters on defense and have a seasoned corps of players on both sides of the line.

At tackle, Evan Earley is a three-year starter and Caden McShane is a versatile lineman that is drawing NCAA Division 1-AA attention. Jackson Stilley, who started last year on defense, will also play both ways with the duo and Bostian, who had 38 tackles and 10 solo tackles for loss last season. Sophomores CJ Milharcic and Bennett Buzzelli look to complete the line formation.

“We will rely on our offensive line to win games. We have guys who are long-term starters and great stewards of the game. Some like Jackson are old-school and will run through a brick wall for you. So we are hitting the ground running.

“Offensively, we want to win the game by establishing the run and take what defenses give us because our skill guys are high-end talents. Defensively, we have experienced and athletically explosive players.”

While Bostian and McShane are “book ends that will cause havoc” on the defensive line, RJ Borchesi is a new addition. A star on the baseball team that reached the WPIAL finals, Borchesi has returned to football. He could be “a force” similar to Bostian, says Spieler.

While Anthony Charles is off to Minnesota to play football for the Golden Gophers and Drew Welhorsky is playing lacrosse at Robert Morris University, Deanes and Wright are veterans that lead a defensive secondary that includes Jackson Talerico at corner and Dylan Monz and Gavin Schmitz at the safety slots.

Braeden Plasko anchors the linebacking corps with Luca Romanelli and Bryce Watkins. Romanelli is a standout lacrosse player that loves to compete and Watkins ranked among the team’s leaders last season in forced turnovers and recoveries.

While Plasko was an all-conference performer on defense, he is in his first year as starting quarterback. He takes over the controls held by Welhorsky for the better part of three seasons when he passed for over 2,000 career yards as a dual-threat signal caller.

“Braeden is a competitive kid and not new to pressure because he’s played basketball and made some game-winning shots,” Spieler said. “He understands his role and he knows where to go with the football. When the lights come on and there’s 5,000 people in the stands, he’ll do exactly what we tell him to do. He’s a tough kid that understands we have good balance this year and won’t be locked in on one kid like last year.”

While Bostian is a target at tight end and Wright is another out of the backfield, Deanes and Monz look to be Plasko’s top receiver. Deane has 11 receptions for 117 yards last season while Monz had seven grabs for 96 yards