Sep 27, 2018 2 min read

Paying Diven-dends: SF QB picks up where others left off South Fayette quarterback Jamie Diven has thrown for 1,204 yards and 17 touchdowns in five games. ELEANOR BAILEY /THE ALMANAC By Luke Campbell Staff writer lcampbell@observer-reporter.com 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: 21,940 yards and 267 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 savviness 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. See Diven, Page C3