South Fayette wants ‘controlled chaos’
The Fast and Furious franchise expands to encompass South Fayette this football season.
Under new head coach Marty Spieler, the Lions anticipate striking quickly on offense and pouncing relentlessly on defense.
Spieler has designated Alex Dennison as the offensive coordinator. Dennison played under Spieler when he coached at the University of Buffalo. The pair were reunited at Florida A&M. Bruce Fronk, with whom Spieler coached at Mt. Lebanon when the Blue Devils went 15-0, winning a WPIAL and PIAA title in 2021, is the defensive coordinator.
“We want to provide six seconds of fury,” Spieler said. “We want to go as fast and furious as we can go. It will be controlled chaos.”
Defensively, the Lions want to put opposing offenses in “bad positions” while at the same time knowing their players will maintain their positions and responsibility.
Those players are athletic and they have gained valuable experience at other endeavors. Some of them are accustomed to winning and they aim to return the Lions back to the playoffs and their successful ways.
While South Fayette won four WPIAL titles, two state championships and maintained two of the longest winning streaks in the district during Joe Rossi’s 17 seasons at the helm, the Lions finished 4-6 overall and 1-4 in the Allegheny Six last fall. They have not made the playoffs since 2020 when they lost to Pine-Richland in the first round.
“We have to get back to the playoffs. The expectations at South Fayette are to be successful,” Spieler said. “With our top-end skill and confidence in our coaches, we should be able to compete and put ourselves back in the conversation. But we have to take care of business on day one (against Chartiers Valley). We have to keep grinding day in and day out. Get better every day.”
Defensively, Tyler Ring anchors the line. The 6-foot, 210-pound junior was a successful thrower on the track team. He’s also an all-conference defensive end.
“He’s very flexible. Can play inside and outside,” Spieler said. “He will be a guy that teams have to game plan for. He’s strong and can block out offensive linemen.”
Spieler expects Brady Onda to provide a solid pass rush along with Louie Schinosi. A 6-2, 200-pound sophomore, Onda is a veteran basketball player. “Tall and athletic,” said Spieler. Schinosi is a 6-2, 215-pound junior.
At inside linebacker are juniors Talan Mizenko, Travis Watkins and Cooper Hillenbrand. Mizenko posted a 30-14 record on the wrestling mats last winter. He was a section placewinner and seventh-place regional performer. Watkins and Hillenbrand were standouts on SF’s successful lacrosse team. The Lions were WPIAL runners-up and reached the semifinals in the PIAA Class 2A tournament.
“Those guys have plenty of experience at being successful at other WPIAL sports,” Spieler said. “That’s the biggest thing about other sports. We want kids to be competitive and who want to win for South Fayette. So we want kids to put themselves in those high-pressure situations and see if the cream rises to the top.”
Tyson Wright rose to the top in track. He set the school record in the high jump. He will compete with Andre Rivera and Silas Aitken for the outside linebacker slots. “Those guys provide the ability to pressure the quarterback as well as drop into coverage,” Spieler said.
In the secondary, South Fayette boasts more athletic and aggressive players. Bo Stover and Ray Schuler are baseball players while Bryce Watkins is another lacrosse player. Cornerbacks Trey Potteiger and Aiden Martincic are returning starters. Noah Mathias and Ben Cavenaugh are veteran safeties along with Stover.
“We have a lot of depth there. So we will be able to keep people fresh,” Spieler said. “At our defensive back positions we will be able to move kids in and be successful because we have athletic kids.”
At quarterback, the Lions have versatile athletes in Drew Welhorsky and his backup Braeden Plasko. A sophomore, Welhorsky was the leading scorer on the lacrosse team. Plasko is a basketball player.
“Braeden has the ability to be a really good field general but Drew is our starter. He is so competitive and athletic. He wants to be in high, intense situations and that’s huge for the position. As a sophomore, he has a huge upside. He’s a dual-threat. Our biggest emphasis other than winning is to protect the football. Drew’s job will be to do that and get the ball to the playmakers.”
Mizenko and Aitken look to be playmakers in the backfield. “Talan is a hard-nosed, downhill runner with a wrestler’s mentality and Sylas gives us great flexibility. Plus, he is a very physical kid,” Spieler said.
Senior Marcus Cole and Alex Deanes, a flex player, afford the Lions depth at running back.
As is their tradition, the Lions are deep at the receiving position. Martincic leads the unit along with Cavenaugh and Mathias.
“Those guys are special. They start both ways and have the ability to bring others along with them,” Spieler said. “Aiden has good top-end speed and accelerations. He learned from watching Mike (Gimigliano), who developed a legacy of becoming all-state and Aiden is ready to step into that role. Ben and Noah are players that do exactly what they are asked to do and don’t question your intentions.”
The offensive line could be the question mark because center Connor Hiser and tackle Mason Green are the only returning starters, though Ring moves from tight end to guard. Onda and Ethan Risnear are expected to contribute to the line.
“We have good depth at the skill positions and Drew (Welhorsky) gives us a lot of different looks for defenses, but we lack playing experience on the offensive line. We need to use our offensive line strengths to the best of our ability to be successful.”