Steel Valley in way of return trip to Heinz
South Fayette junior Luke Meindl, center, is a starting cornerback for a defense that has forced 25 turnovers.
Head coach Joe Rossi expects South Fayette will face a better Steel Valley team in tonight’s WPIAL Class AA semifinal than the one the Lions saw in a 37-0 victory last month. Rossi’s record at South Fayette is 96-16, including a current 43-game win streak.
South Fayette’s run toward a second consecutive state championship almost came to a grinding halt in the WPIAL quarterfinals last fall, but it wasn’t the close call that came as a surprise.
On that night last November, the Lions trailed late in the third quarter to South Park, an opponent they led 42-0 in a Century Conference game earlier in the season. South Fayette eventually won by 18 points.
Many faces changed and it’s a new team standing in South Fayette’s way of a third consecutive trip to Heinz Field, but the situation is eerily similar.
The unbeaten and top-seeded Lions (11-0), who are riding a 43-game winning streak, will face Steel Valley (10-1) in the WPIAL Class AA semifinals tonight at Peters Township High School. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m.
South Fayette defeated the Ironmen 37-0 in a Century Conference game at Campbell Field in Munhall last month. A rematch seemed unlikely, but fifth-seeded Steel Valley upset Beaver Falls last week to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 1991.
“Our kids will be dialed in and ready,” South Fayette head coach Joe Rossi said. “You never gauge that first game. We know a lot of things went our way against Steel Valley. We created some good opportunities and we have to do the same against them this week.”
Just about everything went the Lions’ way in the Week 6 matchup. South Fayette outgained the Ironmen, 336-82, on offense, forced two second-half turnovers and got its seventh shutout since its winning streak began in 2013.
Despite the 37-point loss, Steel Valley head coach Rod Steele found a few positives. The Ironmen intercepted South Fayette quarterback Drew Saxton twice and limited the Lions to 109 yards in the second half.
His defense always seemed to be in position to stop South Fayette senior running back Hunter Hayes, but tackling the Division I prospect was another story. Hayes ran for 165 yards and two touchdowns.
In a season where he hasn’t been needed much in the second half, Hayes has 1,220 yards with 18 rushing touchdowns and was a thorn in the Ironmen’s sides, forcing them to stack the box and opening up the defense for Saxton.
It led to what Steele believes was Steel Valley’s biggest mistake.
“We didn’t get off the field on third down,” Steele said. “They had seven possessions and they converted a third down on six of seven. They converted one on fourth down too. We have to get off the field on third down this time.”
Since the loss to South Fayette, the Ironmen are averaging 46.8 points in five games and allowed seven points or less in four times. They upset fourth-seeded Beaver Falls last week behind a defense that held the Tigers to 150 yards of offense, but Steel Valley’s offensive strategy changed.
Instead of leaning heavily on junior running back DeWayne Murray, who has more than 1,600 yards with 30 total touchdowns, the Ironmen are stretching defenses with designed running plays for senior quarterback Trey Earl Edwards. When Beaver Falls keyed on Murray, Edwards ran for 124 yards and three touchdowns.
“You have to go in with the mindset that it’s like you’ve never played them,” Hayes said. “Obviously, we beat them by a pretty large margin last game, but that honestly has nothing to do with anything. They’re a better team. It’s a challenge to stop their athletes in the run game.”
Few teams are equipped to stop a prolific running attack like South Fayette, which is limiting opponents to just 2.6 yards per rush and has forced 25 turnovers while allowing just 7.3 points per game.
It wasn’t an experienced defense before the season began. South Fayette lost its linebacking corps and two top cornerbacks to graduation, but Hayes, four returning starters on the line and a host of new players have kept the unit among the best in the WPIAL. Whether its the tackling of Geavoni Love and Dom Malosh or the pass coverage of Luke Meindl and Noah Plack; the Lions have given opponents fits.
Though the next challenge is a familiar one, success is anything but guaranteed as the Lions try to take another step toward becoming the first WPIAL Class AA team to win three straight title since Braddock, which has the second-longest winning streak in WPIAL history at 46 games, won five in a row from 1955-59.
“They want to have that taste of getting back to Heinz and getting back to the places we want to get to,” Rossi said. “The streak isn’t anything. Some of these guys weren’t playing in some of those big games, so for them, it’s about having that feeling those kids had the past couple years.”