South Fayette whips Hickory, advances to state title game
South Fayette’s Roman Denson holds up the ball after an interception Saturday in the PIAA Class AA semifinals against Hickory at Slippery Rock University. Denson’s interceptions was one of four for the undefeated Lions. Below, Dan Trimbur runs toward the end zone after catching a pass from Brett Brumbaugh in the second quarter. On the play, Brumbaugh became the leading passer in PIAA history. Brumbaugh enters next week’s championship with 10,972 career passing yards.
South Fayette’s Ryan Schmider celebrates with Jack Relihan after Relihan scored a touchdown during the fourth quarter.
South Fayette’s Dan Trimbur catches a pass from Brett Brumbaugh and runs it into the endzone for a touchdown in the second quarter of the game. On the play, Brumbaugh became the leading passer in PIAA history. Brumbaugh enters next week’s championship with 10,972 career passing yards.
SLIPPERY ROCK – Hunter Hayes stood in the visitors’ locker room at Slippery Rock University’s Mihalik-Thompson Stadium. A line of dry blood ran from his right nostril to his upper lip, and his jersey was covered with scuff marks and dirt.
The junior looked the part of a running back who just carried the football 33 times in a PIAA Class AA semifinal game.
He was ready for more work.
“I’m a little beat up, but I’m ready,” Hayes said with a laugh. “I was ready whenever they called me.”
Hayes rushed for 261 yards and three touchdowns to lead South Fayette past Hickory, 44-14, and into the state championship game in Hershey for the second consecutive year and third time since 2010.
The Lions (15-0) will face Dunmore (14-1), the District 2 champion, Saturday at Hersheypark Stadium. Kickoff is noon. Dunmore edged Wyomissing, 23-21, in the other semifinal.
Hayes ran for touchdowns of one and 16 yards to help stretch South Fayette’s winning streak to 31 games.
“We struggled a little, but we overcome adversity,” Hayes said. “We ride the roller coaster. We just keep playing our game and got back to Hershey.”
Though the 30-point differential said otherwise, Hickory (11-3) was a yard away from seizing momentum and changing the game in the first quarter.
Hornets sophomore running back Chuck Carr, who rushed for 160 yards on 33 carries, gave Hickory a 7-0 lead less than five minutes into the game. Carr’s 72-yard run put the ball on the one and he dove over the goal line two plays later for a touchdown.
On Carr’s long run, South Fayette’s defensive line got penetration to force the running back outside, but the Lions missed tackles along the sideline.
“We made some mistakes. We let (Carr) get to the outside. We had him bottled up, but we didn’t play run-gap defense,” South Fayette head coach Joe Rossi said.
The game was a rematch of last year’s semifinals. During the matchup last season, Hickory dropped nine or 10 players into pass coverage to stop Lions quarterback Brett Brumbaugh, but the Hornets underestimated the Lions’ running game. This time, Hickory kept two safeties back and relied on its linebackers to stop passes over the middle.
It worked in the first quarter. South Fayette had four drives during the opening eight minutes. One ended in a missed 40-yard field goal and the others ended in a punt. It was the first time since the WPIAL quarterfinal game against Seton-La Salle last season that the Lions were held scoreless in the first quarter.
After forcing the third punt of the quarter, the Hornets drove to South Fayette’s one-yard line. On third and goal, Hickory freshman quarterback Luke Brennan fumbled the handoff to Carr and South Fayette senior senior Matt O’Rourke recovered the loose ball on the three-yard line.
“For us to get that stop was a game-changer,” Rossi said. “These guys understand how to win and those are the kind of plays you need right there.”
Six plays later, the Hornets bit on a play-action fake, which left sophomore receiver Dan Trimbur wide open streaking up the sideline and Brumbaugh connected with him for a 54-yard touchdown pass that tied the score.
Brumbaugh, who completed 6 of 16 passes for 140 yards, became the PIAA’s all-time passing leader with the touchdown pass to Trimbur. He also ran for a touchdown and threw an interception early in the fourth quarter. He broke the record of 10,948 yards set by Matt Bodamer of Port Allegany in 2012.
Brumbaugh was nonchalant about the milestone – directing the praise to his tailback.
“It’s great to break the record, but all that matters is that we won and we’re going back to Hershey,” Brumbaugh said. “We had our backs against the wall after the recovery, but 97 yards was nothing for us. We did it at Heinz Field. We just needed the ball back. They were dropping a lot of guys in coverage and we just gave the ball to the man, Hunter Hayes.”
South Fayette followed with 21 unanswered points, including an 11-yard interception returned for touchdown by senior Ryan Schmider on the first play from scrimmage in the second half, and Hayes’ second touchdown.
Though he knew it was coming, Hickory head coach Bill Brest could not scheme against Hayes while controlling Brumbaugh. He also admitted the fumble hurt.
“I think not being able to stop the run and not being able to pick up the blitz (was the difference). But that did hurt,” Brest said of the fumble. “Did we recover from it? I don’t think so.”
Hickory drew to within 14 points late in the third quarter when Brennan connected with Joey DeJulia for a 72-yard touchdown, but O’Rourke got a safety, Brumbaugh ran for a one-yard touchdown and senior Jack Relihan returned an interception for a touchdown to seal the victory.
Brennan threw four second-half interceptions – two returned for scores. Schmider, Relihan, senior Logan Sharp and senior Roman Denson intercepted the passes for the Lions, who created five turnovers one week after forcing four against Karns City.
“The offense gets most of the credit, but the defense has the offense’s back and the offense has the defense’s back,” O’Rourke said. “When we got that fumble and took it 97 yards, that was huge. We got the momentum, kept our foot on the gas pedal and kept going at them by getting turnovers.”
After defeating Hickory last year, South Fayette’s players spent time at midfield celebrating the victory that sealed a trip to Hershey. This time, a few Hershey Kisses were thrown from fans to the players, but that was the extent of postgame festivities.
The Lions players went back to the locker room and, within minutes, boarded the bus back home. They plan to save the celebration for next weekend.
With the combination of Brumbaugh, Hayes, an opportunistic defense and an offensive line that dominated, the Lions like their chances.
“Last year was a little cooler for the first trip, but we expected to be back this year,” Brumbaugh said. “We are still celebrating and still excited to get back and defend the title.”