Paying Diven-dends: South Fayette QB picks up where others left off
South Fayette quarterback Jamie Diven has thrown for 1,204 yards and 17 touchdowns in five games.
Jamie Diven
Jamie Diven didn’t need reminded of the pressure associated with the quarterback position at South Fayette when he transferred to the school in January.
He knew the numbers put up over the past 11 years by three separate quarterbacks: 25,700 yards and 309 touchdowns.
“Yeah, it was a lot of pressure, and that’s not even with the long winning streak they had,” Diven said.
Then, add the preseason speculation of the Lions not being similar to years past because the last names taking snaps weren’t Brumbaugh or Saxton.
It was some kid with the last name of Diven, who completed 16 of 41 passes for 194 yards without a score as a junior at West Allegheny. His four carries resulted in a loss of nine yards. He had no touchdowns in the six games that he was in a quarterback rotation.
And yet when the quarterbacks began working out in March, South Fayette coach Joe Rossi couldn’t help but take notice.
“You could just see the arm strength, the saviness and knew there was something special,” Rossi remembers.
That was until everybody caught a glimpse of what Rossi saw in March when Diven completed more passes and threw for more yards and touchdowns — 352 yards and four TDs in a narrow 34-33 loss to Upper St. Clair — in the opening game of the year than he had during his junior season.
He hasn’t stopped there.
In five games for the Lions this season, Diven has completed 76 of 116 passes for 1,204 yards and 17 touchdowns.
“It was a smooth transition with the help of Drew Saxton and receivers Mike Trimbur and Peyton Tinney,” Diven said. “It was easy to come in and learn the offense fast. But I have the weapons to come in and get it done.”
Diven is making sure to use all those weapons, completing passes to 15 different receivers and having eight players catch at least one touchdown. Trimbur leads the group with 21 catches for 353 yards and six scores. Charley Rossi has hauled in 17 passes and Tinney has nine receptions. The two have combined for seven touchdowns.
The biggest Northwest Nine Conference test South Fayette will have is when it hosts undefeated Blackhawk at 7 p.m., Friday night.
“He has not been getting touched much, a credit to our offensive line, and kids are also making plays,” Joe Rossi said. “He has seven or eight receivers who can make a play. It’s always different names every week.
But it’s also a different way of doing things, running back and forth to get plays, making a bunch of signals and having three or four progression reads. We are still only five games into (the season) and every day he is getting better and better and understanding the offense.”
Learning on the fly might be easier for Diven because studying football is nothing new. He had three older brothers play high school football and two play at the collegiate level. His one older brother, Jordan, is on the coaching staff at South Fayette.
“I have just grown up around football,” Diven said. “Ever since I was 3, I’ve been getting smacked around playing football in the backyard with my older brothers. I guess at least I know that I can take a hit.”