Nov 4, 2016 5 min read

McDONALD – The last time South Fayette and New Castle met, the Lions ran all over the Red Hurricane defense on the way to a 37-13 Week 6 victory.

The tables turned in a big way when the two teams met again Friday night in the opening round of the WPIAL Class 4-A playoffs.

The Lions’ defense took the night off as New Castle racked up 587 yards of offense as second-seeded South Fayette was dominated from the opening kickoff, watching their championship hopes slip away in a 51-43 loss to the seventh-seeded New Castle.

The loss was the first at home for South Fayette since 2011.

South Fayette running back Geavonie Love, who set a school record in the last meeting with 308 yards rushing, only played defense after breaking his hand at practice Wednesday.

Johnny Beck filled in admirably for Love, gaining 123 yards on 25 carries with three rushing touchdowns. Beck also caught a 35-yard touchdown pass, but the Lions found themselves playing from behind early.

But South Fayette didn’t quit and despite trailing by 24 at one point, nearly found a way to tie the game.

South Fayette quarterback Drew Saxton hit Noah Plack with a six-yard touchdown pass with 1:30 left to play. A Saxton pass to Mikey Speca for the two-point conversion pulled the Lions within 51-43.

The Lions recovered the ensuing onside kick and marched the ball down to the New Castle 18-yard line, but on a fourth down play Saxton was intercepted in the end zone to close out the game.

“To beat a team like South Fayette, you need to play great football for every second of the game,” said New Castle head coach Joe Cowart. “We did that tonight and it took every single second of the game to pull it out. What a great football game.”

The Red Hurricane asserted its dominance from the opening drive, having plenty of success rushing the football.

New Castle used half the first quarter on an opening 14-play drive that resulted in a 23-yard field goal from Brayden Cartwright. Saxton was intercepted by Geno Stone on the Lions’ first play from scrimmage and it was downhill from there for SF.

Saxton struggled, completing just 3 of 14 pass attempts in the first half. On the night Saxton, who came into the game second in the WPIAL in passing yards, finished 16 for 35 for 283 yards and three touchdowns. He had three costly interceptions.

New Castle struck quickly with a six-yard touchdown pass from Love to fullback Giovanni Eggleston.

A South Fayette punt gave the ball back to New Castle and they wasted little time extending their lead.

On fourth and short, Stone hit tailback Marcus Hooker with a 33-yard touchdown pass to extend the New Castle lead to 17-0.

Stone completed 9 of 10 passes for 266 yards and three touchdowns. He added two rushing touchdowns, gaining 100 yards on 17 attempts. Booker gained 219 yards on 31 carries.

South Fayette mounted a solid second quarter drive, but Saxton lost a fumble on a first-and-goal play from the two.

One play later Stone hit Garrett Farah with a 77-yard pass, which set up a nine-yard touchdown run from Stone to give the Red Hurricane a 24-0 advantage.

“We executed very well offensively,” said Cowart. “We are at our best when we can be dominant up front. The whole week it was about a belief. Not many people believed in us coming in here and getting a win, but everyone in that locker room believed. I am very proud of the guys who just kept fighting.”

South Fayette didn’t go away.

Beck added a six-yard touchdown run to send the game into halftime 24-7. On the opening drive of the second half, Saxton hit Dan Trimbur with a 26-yard touchdown to pull the Lions within 24-14, but they wouldn’t cut the gap closer than 10 until very late.

After a one-yard run from Stone to make it 31-14, Beck added another six-yard touchdown to pull the Lions back within 10. But New Castle hit a 79-yard touchdown pass from Stone to Farah to make it 38-21.

Beck found the end zone again before Stone hit Farah with another touchdown, this time from 25 yards.

Farah finished with five receptions for 209 yards and the two touchdowns.

“We just couldn’t get a stop,” said South Fayette head coach Joe Rossi. “All night long, we just couldn’t stop them. They made more plays than we did.”

South Fayette cut the lead to 45-35 when Beck caught a 35-yard touchdown from Saxton, but on the Lions’, next possession Saxton threw an interception that Marshane McElroy returned 28 yards for a 51-35 New Castle lead.

“We didn’t quit,” said Rossi. “It’s about life lessons. And we wanted to teach the kids not to quit and we never showed any quit. I am very proud of that. Especially our seniors. That class went 58-2, which is something to be proud of.”