South Fayette starts quickly, crushes Seton-La Salle
Katie Roupe / Observer-Reporter South Fayette's defensive line coach Tim Sohyda cheers on the team after J.J. Walker recovers a fumble during the second quarter of the game against Seton La Salle on Friday, September 27.
Katie Roupe / Observer-Reporter South Fayette's Zack Walker gets an interception in the first quarter leading to a touchdown in a later play during Friday night's game against Seton-La Salle.
Katie Roupe / Observer-Reporter South Fayette's Brett Brumbaugh throws a pass intended for Michael Allan in the second quarter of the game against Seton-La Salle.
McDONALD – It wasn’t supposed to be this easy.
A matchup of the top two teams in the Class AA Century Conference, both with undefeated 4-0 records, was supposed to feature two top quarterbacks in South Fayette’s Brett Brumbaugh and Seton-La Salle’s Tyler Perone. In fact, Perone’s numbers were statistically better than Brumbaugh’s.
While Brumbaugh entered the game with 681 passing yards on the season, Perone had 837 yards with a better completion percentage (67-62). Both threw nine touchdown passes and Brumbaugh had one more interception than Perone.
But when the two teams took the field, the result was about as lopsided a victory as any that the Lions have earned over the past several years. Brumbaugh threw for 306 yards and South Fayette dominated defensively, rolling over visiting Seton-La Salle, 45-3, Friday in the Century Conference.
“Our defense has been one of the center points of our team this year,” said Brumbaugh. “They get stops. That’s what they do.”
Throughout the course of South Fayette’s recent success, much of the focus has been on the offensive side of the ball, and it’s hard to argue with that, considering the Lions (5-0, 5-0) have had talents like Andrew DiDonato, Christian Brumbaugh, Tyler and Zach Challingsworth, just to name a few.
That talent also extends to this year’s team with players like Brett Brumbaugh, Justin Watson and Grant Fetchet. But the Lions defense has been just as important a part, and that was on display Friday.
On just the third play of the game from scrimmage, Zach Walker picked off Perone and returned the ball to the Rebels’ five-yard line. Younger brother J.J. Walker scored on the very next play, and South Fayette was rolling.
“They thought I was blitzing, and I just sat back and picked it off,” said Zach Walker. “I was mad I didn’t score. I knew I wouldn’t get a chance (on offense), but I’m happy we did score. Of course, my brother scored. I’ll hear about that when I get home.”
The one chance Seton-La Salle (4-1, 4-1) had to stay in the game was on the ensuing kickoff when Danzel McKinley-Lewis rattled off an 82-yard return to set up the Rebels at the South Fayette 13. But the Lions defense wouldn’t allow the Rebels any chance to stay close.
South Fayette actually pushed Seton-La Salle back and made the Rebels settle for a 32-yard field goal.
“The way they battled right there, that was awesome,” Lions coach Joe Rossi said. “That was a momentum change. That was big-time to force the field goal.”
Then the Lions took complete control, scoring on five of their next six drives, which included an 80-yard touchdown pass from Brumbaugh to Watson after the Dominick DelGreco field goal. That meant South Fayette held the ball for two plays, 13 seconds, and had 14 points.
Zach Walker also had two of South Fayette’s four sacks. Ben Berkovitz had the other two. The Lions allowed only five first downs and 110 yards of total offense, with 48 coming on a run by Richard Mellick late in the fourth quarter.
“Zach’s the heart and soul of our defense,” said Rossi. “He gave up playing fullback to move to the offensive line without regret. That’s why he’s a captain and a team leader.”
Watson was Brumbaugh’s favorite target, hauling in seven catches for 156 yards and two touchdowns, all in the first half. Brumbaugh completed passes to six different receivers and was 17 for 22 for 295 yards and three touchdowns in the first half. He finished 19 of 26 for 306 yards.
Grant Fetchet gained 93 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns.
“This might be the last time we play Seton because we might move up, and we wanted to make it a memorable one,” said Zach Walker. “We take pride in our defense. We know our offense is gonna put up points, but just in case they slip, we want them to know we got their backs.”