Nov 10, 2017 4 min read

With a trip to Heinz Field on the line, the South Fayette High School football team found out how quickly things can go wrong.

After leading 27-14 in the fourth quarter, Lions quarterback Drew Saxton threw three second-half interceptions, which turned into 21 Montour points and the Spartans shut out the high-powered South Fayette offense in the second half as Montour pulled off a stunning 35-27 upset to advance to the WPIAL Class 4A championship game.

The Spartans will face third-seeded Thomas Jefferson at Heinz Field.

“We didn’t play really well in the first half,” said Montour head coach Lou Cerro. “Our defense got us the momentum in the fourth quarter and we went down and scored when we needed to.”

Montour (9-2) quarterback Kavon Mormon scored on a three-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter to cut the top-seeded Lions’ lead to 27-21.

Morman had a huge night, rushing for 122 yards on 23 carries with three touchdowns, and completing 15 of 20 pass attempts for 207 yards.

“I love all my guys,” said Mormon. “We have no quit. I said at halftime we are going to bounce back like we did at New Castle. This win took a lot of guts. We left it all out there.”

Morman then intercepted Saxton and returned it 81 yards to the South Fayette four-yard line, where Brandon Lipford gave the Spartans a 28-27 lead with a two-yard touchdown run on a jet sweep with 5:19 left.

“We just had to be more aggressive on defense and get to the quarterback and make plays,” Mormon said. “That’s what we did.”

South Fayette (11-1) got the ball back but Saxton was picked off by Lipford, who raced 70 yards to the SF five-yard line. Morman punched it in on the next play and the Spartans suddenly led 35-27.

The Lions got the ball back but Saxton’s fourth-and-17 pass attempt fell incomplete.

The South Fayette offense was limited to only four second-half first downs.

“Our defense played so great in the second half,” said Cerro. “I challenged them at half time and said if they don’t score any more then we would win the game and they pitched a shutout in the second half against a team that scores 40 points a game.”

Saxton completed 19 of 38 pass attempts for 280 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but the three interceptions turned out to be killers. Saxton had thrown only five interceptions all season. Most of his production came in the first half.

“We just didn’t make enough plays,” said South Fayette head coach Joe Rossi. “We had our chances. That’s football.”

The Lions got off to a good start behind a dominant effort from senior Noah Plack on both sides of the ball. Plack caught 10 passes for 156 yards and two touchdowns. He alsohad a sack, forced a pair of fumbles and recovered a fumble.

“Plack is a matchup nightmare,” said Cerra. “He is tough to deal with on both sides of the ball.”

South Fayette took a 3-0 lead on a 24-yard field goal from Ryan Coe. The drive was set up when Plack stripped the ball from Montour receiver Ronald Stevenson after Stevenson caught a pass that would have given the Spartans a first-and-goal inside the five.

Montour answered with a one-yard touchdown run from Jake Tomas. The score was set up by a beautiful 76-yard completion from Morman to Lipford.

Lipford had a big night, catching seven passes for 150 yards.

The Spartans held a 7-3 lead early in the second quarter when Plack came untouched off the edge, sacking Morman on a third-and-6 play forcing a fumble that was recovered by Jake Walker. The very next play from scrimmage Plack made an acrobatic catch in double coverage, reeling in a 16-yard touchdown pass from Saxton.

Plack caught four more passes on South Fayette’s next drive, the final one resulting in a seven-yard touchdown to make it 17-7.

The Spartans didn’t go away as one play after Lipford picked up a first down on a fake punt, Morman broke loose with a 40-yard touchdown run to cut the SF lead to 17-14. The Lions’ defense tightened up and the offense turned to running back Johnny Beck, who missed last week’s win against West Mifflin. Beck extended the SF lead to 24-14 with a four-yard touchdown run. Beck gained 148 yards on 24 carries and added two receptions for 41 yards.

At the end, the Lions couldn’t overcome the mistakes and saw a chance at another WPIAL title slip through their fingers.

“We let them hang around and they are a good football team,” Rossi said. “We didn’t make enough plays or get enough stops. We couldn’t punch one in when we needed it in the second half.”