Oct 9, 2015 4 min read

MUNHALL – There was Ben Berkovitz’s forced fumble in the 2013 PIAA semifinals, Brett Brumbaugh’s record-setting seasons and Hunter Hayes’ dominant state playoff run last fall. But the memories of two PIAA and WPIAL titles are a distant past for South Fayette.

Head coach Joe Rossi has challenged the Lions to forge their own identity. Despite holding the nation’s sixth-longest winning streak, the 2015 team had not accomplished a thing.

On Friday night, they wrote their own chapter to a storybook run unlike any the area has seen.

The Lions’ defense held the Steel Valley’s high-powered offense to just 57 total yards, forced four turnovers and Hayes ran for 160 yards and scored two touchdowns to extend South Fayette’s winning streak to 38 games with a 37-0 win over the previously unbeaten Ironmen at Campbell Field.

The streak is tied with Greensburg High School (1913-16) for the third-longest in WPIAL history and puts South Fayette (6-0, 6-0), which also has won 32 consecutive conference games, in the driver’s seat in the Century Conference.

“The streak – it really doesn’t affect us,” Hayes said. “I do believe we have the potential to be a championship team. Tonight really solidified that we do have that potential. We showed our confidence to the WPIAL tonight and made an identity for ourselves.”

Hayes, who only had 35 carries in five games entering Friday night, scored on runs of 2 and 16 yards, helping the Lions forge a 20-point lead at halftime. The bulldozing 6-1, 195-pound senior and Division I recruit earned most of his yards after contact, stiff arming opponents and spinning out of tackles all night.

After being intercepted on his fourth pass attempt, sophomore quarterback Drew Saxton threw two touchdown passes to junior wide receiver Dan Trimbur.

Saxton completed 13 of 25 passes for 154 yards and touchdowns of 9 and 19 yards.

Facing 2nd-and-8 on the Ironmen’s 9-yard line early in the second quarter, Saxton saw pressure coming to his left, rolled right toward the Lions’ sideline and threw the ball to the back-right corner of the end zone, where Trimbur was surrounded by three Steel Valley defensive backs.

Trimbur, who had five catches for 87 yards, pulled it in, giving the Lions a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter. The Lions convereted 4 of 9 first downs in the first half.

“Hunter is a stud. Our offensive line did a good job and they got some pressure on Drew here and there, but they’re learning,” Rossi said. “We’re breaking in a young quarterback, we have Hunter to lean on and we have skill kids to throw the ball to.”

South Fayette committed mistakes in the first half, including Saxton’s two interceptions and a bad snap on a punt led to a 28-yard loss.

It continued in the second half with back-to-back turnovers on downs. But the defense allowed only one first down in the first half, Hayes had an interception and the Lions held the Ironmen (4-1, 5-1) to 1 yard of total offense.

Steel Valley’s offense, which was averaging more than 46 points per game, found success on its first drive of the second half, but quarterback Trey Earl Edwards fumbled a handoff and it was recovered by Lions junior defensive lineman Alex Minford. Edwards completed just 9 of 26 passes for 50 yards and junior running back DeWayne Murray, a Division I recruit, was held to 15 yards on nine carries.

“Our offense, we couldn’t get going,” Steel Valley head coach Rodney Steele said. “Every time we got a play, it seemed like we got a penalty. The difference was – there’s no excuse for it – they took it to us.”

Six plays later, Saxton threw his second touchdown pass to Trimbur to give the Lions a 27-point lead and the defense ended the Ironmen’s comeback hopes.

The Lions forced Steel Valley to punt on its next two possessions before senior defensive lineman Zach Radinick intercepted Edwards to set up Trimbur’s 38-yard field goal. Five minutes later, Noah Plack returned an interception 29 yards for a touchdown to invoke the mercy rule.

“I told my staff all week that I didn’t know how good we are,” Rossi said. “You really don’t. This was our first challenge and you walk off the field pretty excited where we’re at. (The players) are hungry and they know we need to get better.”