Lions shove way to WPIAL title game
South Fayette’s Hunter Hayes races past Steel Valley’s DeWayne Murray Friday for a 27-yard touchdown after recovering a first-half fumble.
Hunter Hayes (No. 8) dives passed Steel Valley’s defense to score his second touchdown of the game.
South Fayette quarterback Drew Saxton is sacked Friday by Steel Valley’s Aujae Smith.
South Fayette’s Ryhan Culberson breaks away from a Steel Valley defender Friday on his way to the end zone for a 35-yard touchdown reception that gave the Lions a 20-13 halftime lead.
South Fayette’s Jason Massey-Sears and Jake Berkovitz (13) tackle Steel Valley’s Tremeire Redden Friday during their WPIAL Class AA semifinal game at Peters Township.
McMURRAY – The blitzing outside linebackers of Steel Valley kept pushing and pushing until they found a way into South Fayette’s backfield.
Ironmen head coach Rodney Steele wanted to make the Lions’ young quarterback as uncomfortable as he could and paired with the running of DeWayne Murray, it looked like Steele discovered the formula for dethroning the two-time defending WPIAL and PIAA champions.
That was until South Fayette’s defensive linemen pushed back.
With Steel Valley three yards from the end zone, the Lions’ often-overlooked defense came up with a stop that sent the program back to Heinz Field to defend its title.
South Fayette tackled Murray short of the goal line to clinch a 27-19 victory in a WPIAL Class AA semifinal game at Peters Township High School, extending its winning streak to 44 games and clinching a spot in the championship game.
“We took the No. 1 team in the state to three yards,” Steele said. “We were three yards short. I can’t say enough about my kids. They believed they could beat them. We didn’t show up to play last time, but we knew were a champion and we had the championship pedigree.”
The Lions (12-0) advanced to the title game for the fourth time in the past six years, where they will face second-seeded Aliquippa (12-0) next Saturday at Heinz Field at a time to be determined. It is the third consecutive year the two teams will play for the title.
Steel Valley (10-2) faced fourth down and four at the Lions’ 26-yard line with under a minute to play when quarterback Trey Earl Edwards scrambled from the rush and threw up a desperation pass to Cameron Brookins, who tipped the ball back and it sailed into the hands of Ironmen receiver Zai’Quan Henderson at the three-yard line.
The Ironmen ran three plays and did not gain a yard to set up fourth and goal with three seconds to play. Murray lined up at quarterback in a five-receiver set, took the snap, faked the handoff to the receiver in motion and ran up the middle, but was tackled well short to end the game. The Lions’ player stormed the field to celebrate a win over a conference opponent they defeated 37-0 last month.
“Over the past few years, we had quite a few goal line stands,” senior Hunter Hayes said. “We just did what we’ve always done. We knew we would stop them. We just needed that chance and that was it.”
The win wouldn’t have been possible without an aggressive defense, opportunistic plays on special teams and the running of Hayes, who finished with 120 yards on 18 carries with touchdown runs of 1 and 30 yards. The second gave South Fayette an eight-point lead early in the fourth quarter.
He also returned a fumble 27 yards for a touchdown and sophomore Noah Plack’s fumble recovery set up sophomore quarterback Drew Saxton’s touchdown pass late in the first half.
For the second time this season, the Lions looked vulnerable in the first half against a conference rival. The Ironmen (10-2) started the game with a 13-play, 66-yard drive that kept South Fayette’s defense on the field for more than six minutes.
Murray, who had 166 yards and three touchdowns, capped the drive with a two-yard score for the 7-0 lead. The Lions’ first drive of the game stalled after a holding call at Steel Valley’s 26-yard line, forcing them to punt.
Steel Valley took over at its own 14 following the punt and facing a fourth and inches from its own 23-yard line, Edwards dove over the line of scrimmage for the first down, but the ball popped loose and went in to the hands of Hayes, who ran it 26 yards for the touchdown. The kick was blocked, but South Fayette narrowed the deficit to one.
“It was a huge play,” South Fayette head coach Joe Rossi said. “Hunter always seems to be around the ball. When you’re a good player, you’re always around the ball.”
The two teams traded possessions, including the Lions’ failing to convert on fourth down on the Ironmen’s 20-yard line before Murray shocked the crowd, breaking a 66-yard run up the sideline for a touchdown and the six-point lead after a blocked extra point.
Saxton, who was sacked twice in the first half, bounced back after throwing five straight incomplete passes. He drove South Fayette to Steel Valley’s 27-yard line, but a holding call and two incomplete passes set up fourth and 12 with just over a minute until halftime.
Rossi called a timeout and his quarterback threw a perfect pass over the Ironmen’s blitzing zone defense to Nick Ponikvar for a 35-yard gain to the two-yard line. Two plays later, Hayes punched it in behind left guard to tie it 13-13 with 20 seconds left in the first half.
Steel Valley fumbled the Lions’ squip kickoff and Plack jumped on the ball at the Ironmen’s 31-yard line. One play later, Saxton tossed a touchdown pass to Rhyan Culberson for the 20-13 advantage at the half. Saxton completed 9 of 21 passes for 153 yards.
In the second half, the Lions had two dropped passes and back-to-back holding calls negated two big plays late in the third quarter, including a 61-yard touchdown run by Hayes. Following Brookins’ interception, Murray cut South Fayette’s lead to one point late in the third quarter with a 23-yard touchdown run.
The Ironmen were also stopped in South Fayette’s end early in the fourth quarter, forcing a punt that had the Lions pinned back at their own 4-yard line. With an eight-point lead, they gained four yards on three run plays and Rossi chose to trust his defense to get a key stop on Steel Valley’s final drive.
They delivered.
“We put it on our defense. We played good defense all season,” Rossi said. “We put it on them and I said, ‘Hey, let’s force them to score the touchdown and make the two-point conversion.’ We were taking our odds.”
NOTES: After allowing Steel Valley to gain 199 yards on offense in the first half, South Fayette held the Ironmen to 78 in the second half. … The Lions finished with 254 yards. … Both teams had three sacks. Aujae Smith had all three for Steel Valley, while Alex Minford, Zack Radinick and Hayes had sacks for South Fayette. … Both teams combined for 13 penalties for 92 yards. … Lions senior center Nick Dabrowski missed the game and was on crutches. He was replaced by junior Brent Coyne. … South Fayette blocked two extra points.