South Fayette takes on Highlands in conference clash

A shootout could be in store when Highlands (2-5, 2-3) visits South Fayette (6-1, 4-0) for a 7 p.m. kickoff Oct. 12 in this Northwest Eight Conference clash.
The Golden Rams and the Lions love to put points on the scoreboard. However, while Highlands surrenders almost as many points as it scores, South Fayette owns one of the top defenses in Class Quad-A.
So the Lions’ strategy will be simple.
“It will be important for us to control the line of scrimmage and create turnovers,” South Fayette coach Joe Rossi said.
The Lions did just that in recording a win against Knoch, 35-14, last week. With plenty of line protection, Jamie Diven passed for 232 yards and five scores. He improved to 1,445 yards and 19 TDs this season.
Mike Trimbur hauled in six of those aerials, half for scores of 16, 51 and 74 yards, and for a total of 159 yards. The senior leads the team with 444 yards and eight scores.
Charley Rossi also caught two scoring strikes of 21 and 9 yards in the win against the Knights. Rossi has four TDs and 324 yards receiving this fall.
Meanwhile, Highlands boast an equally efficient quarterback as Seth Cohen has already exceeded 1,300 yards passing.
“Highlands has a strong offense and they can put many points on the board. They feature a three-year starter at quarterback and he has many skills kids to throw the ball to,” Rossi said.
Defensively, the Golden Rams use a 4-4 formation.
“They get to the ball well and have created many turnovers despite giving up some points,” Rossi said.