Nov 23, 2014 5 min read

Anthony Davidson approached midfield Friday night for the pregame coin toss. The South Fayette senior lineman was the anchor at the line of scrimmage for the past two seasons. Last year, he helped the Lions to the WPIAL and PIAA Class AA championships.

As South Fayette prepared to play Aliquippa, Davidson needed crutches to accompany his fellow captains to the 50-yard line at Heinz Field. With a boot on his left foot, the 6-3, 220-pound captain watched the rematch from the sideline.

How would the Lions’ offense operate without its left tackle protecting senior quarterback Brett Brumbaugh’s blind side against the Quips’ top pass rusher, junior Kaezon Pugh?

Brilliantly.

South Fayette (13-0) answered like it has each time it faced adversity during the Lions’ 29-game winning streak. Sophomore Andrew Gedrys stepped in and helped the offense gain 466 yards Brumbaugh was not sacked and broke the record for passing yards in a WPIAL title game with 352.

The 6-4 quarterback improved his career record to 42-2 and punched the Lions’ ticket to the PIAA quarterfinals, where they will face Karns City (11-1) Friday night at Clarion University. Kickoff is 7 p.m.

“The offensive staff did a nice job getting them prepared for all the blitzes,” South Fayette head coach Joe Rossi said of the offensive linemen. “(Aliquippa) got us with blitzes on three drives last year, so we focused on those three drives where they got pressure.”

Facing a senior-laden front seven, South Fayette sent five underclassmen out to pave the way for its prolific offense – Gedrys, junior Jason Massey-Sears, sophomore Alex Minford, junior Zach Radinick and junior Nick Dabrowski.

“(Assistant coach Ryan Faraci) does a great job coaching the linemen,” Rossi said. “He was sweating all week and I don’t think he slept much. He texted me a few times at 3 a.m. The kids were prepared.”

The group was outweighed by an average of almost 100 pounds but showed its mettle on the Lions’ fourth play from scrimmage. The Quips sent an overload blitz to Brumbaugh’s right. South Fayette called a counter to the left side with junior running back Hunter Hayes.

The linemen pulled left, allowing just the edge rusher to get through the right side, but he was too late. Hayes bolted up the left sideline before weaving through three defenders for a 46-yard touchdown run to give South Fayette a 7-0 lead.

“Anthony is a huge loss. He’s a tremendous football player,” Rossi said. “In the pregame, we talked about stepping up and playing for him. It was tough on him and tough for these guys to see a kid they essentially grew up with and won football games with have that injury. Guys did a nice job stepping up in his absence.”

Hayes averaged almost five yards per carry, finishing with 22 carries for 109 yards. After Aliquippa limited the Lions’ running game when the two teams met at Heinz Field last November, it was Hayes’ first carry that swung the momentum in SF’s favor Friday night.

“It was awesome,” Hayes said of the fast start. “The line opened a huge hole for me. I cut back in and made a few guys miss.”

The thrilling 31-22 win that netted the program’s second consecutive WPIAL title was even more impressive than last year’s victory. Entering Friday night, the Quips scored at least 40 points in every game. The Lions held Aliquippa to 293 total yards, including 154 rushing – almost 200 yards less than the Quips averaged during the playoffs.

South Fayette extended its winning streak with two key players coming off injuries – JJ Walker and Roman Denson.

Denson was limited to playing just defense, but shut down Aliquippa’s wide receivers. Quips senior quarterback Darrien Fields completed only 9 of 20 pass attempts.

On a night when everyone wanted to talk about Brumbaugh, which was understandable after the passing clinic he put on for 48 minutes, Rossi was impressed with how his team responded to the loss of Davidson and facing an opponent that despite being the lower seed was considered the favorite.

“It starts with the quarterback, but you have receivers and running backs making plays,” Rossi said. “I think since ’09 we’ve played 25 extra football games, and it shows. It shows on a night like this. These guys have been through a lot of adversity.”

The adversity was never more prevalent when the leader of the offensive line needed crutches to join his teammates. For South Fayette, which has quickly become one of the top programs in the WPIAL, responding to moments such as that has separated the Lions from the rest.

“Every team is just another team. I knew they would be good, more fast and physical than everyone else we’ve played, but that doesn’t mean we can’t play with them,” Brumbaugh said. “It just shows that we have that mindset as an offense that we can’t be stopped.”