Nov 28, 2013 5 min read

South Fayette’s 34-28 WPIAL title win over Aliquippa last week saw the Lions overcome a 60- to 70-pound disadvantage along the offensive and defensive lines.

The Lions stood tall with an offense that produced 315 yards and a defense that forced five turnovers on downs.

This week’s opponent, Karns City, poses a different threat. The Gremlins (12-1) use an athletic offensive line in a fast-paced, Wing-T option formation to lead the way for an offense that has averaged 46.5 points per game and produced 50 rushing touchdowns.

Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at Clarion University for this PIAA Class AA quarterfinal game.

The District 9 champion Gremlins rushed for 383 yards Saturday to defeat Chestnut Ridge, 35-14, and advance to the quarterfinals. Karns City junior running back Tristan Rhoads ran for 91 yards and two touchdowns, and senior Zach Moore added 81 yards and a score.

The key for the Gremlins this season has been alternating players at all but two positions on offense. Eighteen players combined for 3,413 rushing yards, and Karns City scored more than 35 points in 12 games. The Gremlin’s lone loss came at Clarion, 42-7, when according to Karns City head coach Ed Conto, the team was still getting accustomed to revolving personnel.

“In high school football, we have to play a lot of kids,” Conto said. “I have a kid switch in at every position (except) quarterback and center. We start slow every year, because we have to give kids a lot of reps to clean things up. As the year goes on, we get better.”

While this is the first back-to-back PIAA quarterfinal appearance in school history for Karns City, Conto’s 2012 team had similar early-season struggles. The Gremlins overcame two losses in September to reach the PIAA quarterfinals, where they lost to Aliquippa, 51-15.

The Gremlins believe they found a weakness in South Fayette’s defense after watching film of the Lions’ stunning win over the state’s top team in Aliquippa.

“They’re big and pretty fast,” Karns City senior quarterback Tyler Kepple said. “It seems like their offense is pretty sophisticated, but defensively, we think we have it figured out.”

For the second straight week, South Fayette’s opponent has a standout quarterback who thrives off a play-action passing game set up by a strong rushing attack. Kepple has thrown for 1,601 yards on just 155 attempts and has 30 touchdowns. He has rushed for four touchdowns in Karns City’s option offense.

“We haven’t seen a lot of these kinds of (offensive) concepts, but we have seen a little here and there,” South Fayette head coach Joe Rossi said. “With option football, sometimes you are afraid to play the Navy and Georgia Techs of the world, but you have to rely on responsibility and take a different mindset. The extra day to prepare and to work against the option has definitely helped. We will have to play assignment football.”

Teams rarely advance to the state playoffs without a stout defense and Karns City is no different. The Gremlins have allowed a mere 14.6 points per game and more than 21 points twice this season. The PIAA matchup against South Fayette (13-0) raises new questions. The Lion’s passing game, led by junior Brett Brumbaugh’s 33 touchdown passes, features an offensive weapon that will pose a significant mismatch against Karns City’s secondary. Senior wide receiver Justin Watson, who has 1,115 yards and 19 touchdowns, stands 6-3. He will likely be covered by Rhoades, a 5-11 defensive back.

The future Pennsylvania Quaker faced a tough one-on-one matchup Saturday against Aliquippa’s Dravon Henry. Henry, who is being recruited by a dozen BCS schools to play safety, played press coverage against Watson and failed. Watson caught six passes for 130 yards and a first-quarter touchdown.

“(Size) does scare me a lot,” Conto said. “We aren’t big in the secondary, and we might have some major mismatches. Watson is going to be a tough matchup for us.”

South Fayette wants to avoid a WPIAL hangover that has occurred after the league’s pinnacle championship games at Heinz Field. Since 2003, four of 40 teams have lost the week following a WPIAL title: West Allegheny in 2012, Central Valley in 2010, Woodland Hills in 2009 and Seton-La Salle in 2004.

Karns City is aware of the challenge ahead. The Gremlins watched the replay of South Fayette’s title win on Root Sports and is not shy about acknowledging what got the Lions to the PIAA quarterfinals for the first time since 2010.

“It seems that you can put great teams out there with a lot of talent, but what is hard is finding 11 kids that all hustle during a game,” Conto said. “That’s what I noticed about South Fayette. When you watch them, you can see they are well-coached, and the kids all give it their all. I thought that was probably more important than anything else.”