Oct 27, 2017 4 min read

McKEES ROCKS — Clearly, South Fayette coach Joe Rossi is hopeful that his Lions prepare better this week before the playoffs than last year when New Castle sent the Lions packing in round one.

A 49-21 win at Montour Friday night gave the Lions a Northwest Nine Conference title and their sixth straight undefeated regular season.

But bigger fish are there to be fried for South Fayette.

“Last year, that Monday after the first playoff game, we were turning our gear in,” Rossi said. “We don’t want that to happen again. Whoever we get, we will be ready next Friday.”

Although the Spartans (7-2, 6-2) were game, they were overmatched much of the evening by the Lions.

“That’s a good team we played tonight,” Rossi added. “They came out of both halves and took it to us a bit.”

In an effort to swing momentum, Montour came out of the halftime break and executed an onside kick. Recovering near midfield, the Spartans set out to get back in the game and did exactly that when Kavon Morman powered into the end zone from two yards out, cutting the Lions advantage to 28-14 with 7:36 left in the third quarter.

Montour looked to make a stop on defense on South Fayette’s first drive of the second half. But on third and 8, quarterback Drew Saxton found RayQuin Glover for 23 yards and a first down near midfield. A late hit out of bounds put the ball on the Spartans 36. A 32-yard Saxton to Noah Plack connection advanced the Lions to the five two plays later. On the next play, Saxton scrambled in for his second rushing touchdown of the evening, pushing the Lions lead to 35-14.

The Lions put the game out of reach for all intents and purposes late in the third quarter when Johnny Beck scored from a yard out. A 29-yard Saxton to Plack completion to the one set up the Beck score that gave South Fayette a 42-14 bulge.

South Fayette’s next drive enacted the mercy rule when Saxton connected with Ryan Kokoski for a 27-yard touchdown hook up. Ryan Coe’s kick made it 49-14 early in the fourth.

Montour retrieved some dignity when Morman found Ronald Stevenson in the end zone for a 25 yard touchdown pass, making the score 49-21 in favor of the Lions.

Montour made an early statement in this conference title clash when they took their opening possession and marched 57 yards. Brayden Jones capped the drive with a one-yard plunge, giving the hosts an earl 7-0 lead. The drive was set up by a 41 yard kick return by Brandon Lipford.

South Fayette responded with gusto as they rolled 64 yards on their first drive. Saxton ended the march with a six yard hook up to Plack in the corner of the end zone, knotting the score at 7. The drive was highlighted by a 45 yard Saxton completion to Glover that gave the Lions a first and goal at the 8.

The Lions struck again after holding the Spartans on downs on their own 30. Saxton marched the Lions 70 yards in six plays and capped the drive with a one yard sprint to the pylon. The signal caller beat his pursuer to pay dirt and gave the visitors a 14-7 lead. Saxton again showed off his right arm when he connected with Plack for 55 yards down to the Spartans 1.

South Fayette expanded their lead to 21-7 when Saxton, setting up behind air-tight protection, found Plack in the end zone for a 14 yard scoring connection early in the second quarter.

Saxton’s protection afforded to him by his large offensive line was so good, it appeared he could consume a value meal from any one of the local fast food establishments before picking out a receiver to target.

“As you can see by my jersey, I was clean all night,” Saxton added. “Those five up front were dominant in the pass and run game. We could not do what we do without them”

Saxton finished with 332 yards passing on 14 completions. Glover and Plack added 115 and 105 yards receiving respectively.

Plack also had 12 tackles on defense.

“He’s a stud for sure,” Saxton said in reference to his teammate.

The Lions put even more separation between themselves and Montour on their fourth possession when Glover took a simple swing pass and outraced the Spartans defense 33 yards to the end zone and a 28-7 lead midway through the second quarter.