Lions roar back, defeat Karns City
South Fayette’s Jack Relihan (11) and Conner Beck (26) collide with Karns City’s Wyat Everetts (27) in a PIAA Class AA quarterfinal playoff game at Memorial Stadium in Clarion Saturday.
South Fayette’s defense sandwiches Karns City Dakota Mohney (11) off his feet in their PIAA Class AA quarterfinal playoff game at Memorial Stadium in Clarion Saturday. (Dave Prelosky photo)
South Fayette Nick Sabo (6) gives a stiff-arm to Karns City’s Luke Salerno (62) in a PIAA Class AA quarterfinal playoff game at Memorial Stadium in Clarion Saturday. (Dave Prelosky photo)
South Fayette J.J. Walker (25) tries to dodge Karns City’s Dakota Mohney (11) in a PIAA Class AA quarterfinal playoff game at Memorial Stadium in Clarion Saturday. (Dave Prelosky photo)
CLARION – Karns City had South Fayette right where they wanted the state’s top-ranked opponent in the second quarter of Saturday’s PIAA Class AA quarterfinal matchup.
The Gremlins’ wing-T rushing attack was stretching the field, South Fayette junior quarterback Brett Brumbaugh was struggling with consistency, and Karns City led 21-15 with 7:37 remaining in the half.
Until that point, Brumbaugh had completed just six of 16 passes for a touchdown and threw the first pick-six of his career.
It didn’t take long for the 6-5 quarterback to begin exploiting the Gremlins’ zone defense, and he sparked South Fayette to 42 unanswered points in a 57-21 victory at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium.
South Fayette (14-0) advances to the PIAA semifinals to face Hickory (14-0), which defeated Central-Martinsburg, 28-27 Saturday at DuBois High School. The game will be played either Friday or Saturday at a site to be determined. Karns City ends the season at 12-2.
“We just started a little sluggish and that’s a lot on me,” Brumbaugh said. “I just didn’t come out as focused as I should have been, but I dialed in and my line gave me great protection after that. We overcame a lot of adversity and put up 57 points so that’s a testament to how tough we are.”
With South Fayette leading 15-7, Brumbaugh dropped back and tossed a pass to senior wide receiver Conner Beck. The pass was to Beck’s back-shoulder, but Karns City junior Tristan Rhoades jumped the slant route and returned the interception for a 30-yard touchdown.
Brumbaugh shook off the mistake by throwing three second-quarter touchdowns, including two to senior Justin Watson. The Lions scored four touchdowns in the final 7:26 of the first half and recorded 17 first downs. The junior quarterback finished with 17 completions of 31 passes for 320 yards and five touchdowns. He now has 38 touchdown passes this season against seven interceptions.
After Rhoades gave the Gremlins the lead with a 3-yard run in the option formation, South Fayette junior Roman Denson’s kick return gave the Lions possession at the Karns City 45-yard line. Brumbaugh took advantage of his plethora of offensive talent and the beneficial field position by completing two passes to Beck to set up a one-yard touchdown run by junior JJ Walker.
“I told these guys that (Karns City) is tired of WPIAL football and tired of hearing about it,” South Fayette head coach Joe Rossi said. “I told them that you are going to get their best effort, and they did. They came out, played hard and we just thought that if we could get up a couple of scores, they would start thinking back to Aliquippa and years past for them in not being a WPIAL team.”
On the first play of the ensuing possession for the Gremlins, Denson intercepted Karns City quarterback Tyler Kepple’s pass – his second in two weeks and fourth of the season. Senior tight end Logan Sharp caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from Brumbaugh on the following play to give South Fayette the eight point lead.
“Everyone talks about our offense but it’s our defense,” Brumbaugh said. “That’s the heart and soul of this team and that’s what we needed. They know whenever we need a big play to happen they usually come up with a turnover or fourth down stop. You can’t give enough credit to them, because they do such a good job of that.”
For the third week in a row, South Fayette’s linemen won the battle at the line of scrimmage by giving Brumbaugh time in the pocket and allowing the running game to find holes through the Karns City defense. While Walker finished with just 36 yards on six carries, the running back scored three touchdowns in the red zone, where the Lions’ offensive line did not allow gap penetration.
“It’s not just (covering the receivers), you have the quarterback getting the ball to them,” Karns City head coach Ed Conto said. “You’ve got a triple threat. That’s a great offense and a great combination they’ve got. You have to give (Brumbaugh) time, and they did it. They gave him all kinds of time.
Brumbaugh ended the half with two touchdown passes to Watson and threw an additional one to the senior in the third quarter, as South Fayette pulled away from the Gremlins. Watson finished the game with five receptions for 71 yards and three touchdowns, while Beck caught four passes for 131 yards and a score.
One week after both receivers eclipsed the 100-yard mark and each caught a touchdown pass in the WPIAL title game, the reliable wide outs, who are best friends off the field, allowed Brumbaugh to find his rhythm when the junior felt uneasy entering his first state playoff game.
“(Conner and I) are always bouncing different things off each other, whether it’s routes or anything,” Watson said. “We are bouncing routes off each other, bouncing coverages off each other and it’s a big help to have a guy out there who can see what you see.”
Brumbaugh’s lone first quarter score came when he found Beck wide-open for an 80-yard touchdown.
“I told them it’s a three game season and this is week one,” Rossi said. “We are hoping to play three games and we have one more to go against Hickory and they are a very tough football team.”