South Fayette falls in title game, has streak snapped
South Fayette lineman Alex Minford (73) listens to head coach Joe Rossi while his teammates Zach Radinick (57), Joey Franjione (29) and Nate Curl ( 84) bow their heads after the Lions’ season ended with a 44-38 loss to Aliquippa in the WPIAL Class AA championship game Saturday night at Heinz Field.
South Fayette’s Ryhan Culberson celebrates with Anthony Frost after recovering an Aliquippa fumble. The turnover resulted in a 31-yard field goal by Dan Trimbur that vaulted the Lions to a 24-22 halftime lead.
PITTSBURGH – Every story must come to an end and, for South Fayette, it was a familiar antagonist that put a stop to one of the most successful runs in WPIAL history.
The storybook tale of the Lions’ rise to becoming a perennial power included three championship wins over Aliquippa – one of the country’s most storied high school football programs – but the Quips proved to be an insurmountable foe in the Class AA championship game Saturday night at Heinz Field.
It took a trick play and one final stand to bring the title back to Beaver County.
Aliquippa’s double wide receiver 47-yard pass to junior Thomas Perry proved to be the game winner as the Quips defeated South Fayette, 44-38, snapping the Lions’ 44-game winning streak and securing the program’s 16th WPIAL title.
The Quips (13-0) advanced to the PIAA quarterfinals, where they will face Karns City (12-0) Friday night at North Allegheny. South Fayette lost its first championship game and suffered its first loss since Nov. 16, 2012.
The Lions twice came back from a 14-point deficit to tie the score, including sophomore quarterback Drew Saxton’s 65-yard touchdown pass to Nick Ponikvar with just over four minutes remaining, but the trick play proved to be enough to lift the Quips to the win.
“That’s about as good a football game as you’ll have,” Aliquippa head coach Mike Zmijanac said. “It takes a quality, wonderful program like South Fayette to bring out the best in you.”
Kaezon Pugh had touchdown runs of 2 and 1 yards, and the 6-2, 220-pound Pitt recruit was the Quips’ workhorse, dragging defenders in his path and helping them control time of possession. He had 179 yards on 26 carries, but like most champions, the Quips had to find an unlikely hero.
After South Fayette tied the score, Aliquippa converted two third downs and had the ball at the Lions’ 47-yard line when Zmijanac dug deep into his playbook – a double pass that the Quips practiced, but hadn’t run in a game since the 2011 championship game against Jeannette.
Quarterback Sheldon Jeter took the snap, quickly threw it backwards to wide receiver Jassir Jordan and he threw a perfect strike downfield to Perry, who was wide open. The 5-7 receiver slowed down, caught the ball and ran it in for the go-ahead touchdown.
“We’ve seen it, but out of different formations,” Rossi said. “We had two different guys covering the tight end. Hats off to (Zmijanac) for making the perfect play call. He’s been around in this business for a long time. That’s why he’s so successful.”
Like some of its bigger wins over the 44-game streak, South Fayette faced plenty of adversity.
Senior running back Hunter Hayes did not play most of the second half because of an injury. He was held to just 38 yards on 10 carries. The Lions were also without senior linemen Nick Dabrowski and Zach Radinick, who did not return after suffering a knee injury in the first quarter. Both were replaced by underclassmen and the Quips took advantage.
Saxton was sacked eight times, including twice on the final drive and the Lions committed eight penalties for 57 yards. He orchestrated a 14-point comeback with touchdown passes to Ryhan Culberson and Ponikvar, but his 10-yard pass to the Lions’ 30-yard line was the final play of the game as the Quips celebrated at midfield.
“We’re just proud of the fight, the attitude; the fight in these guys,” Rossi said. “There were a lot of kids out there who didn’t play much during the season or they were on special teams, but with the injuries it was next guy up.”
Saxton completed 27 of 43 passes for a WPIAL championship-record 435 yards and four touchdown passes – three to Culberson.
The Quips took a quick 14-point lead in the first quarter before Hayes’ 2-yard touchdown run. The Lions forced a three-and-out and on the next drive, Saxton completed four passes for 61 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown strike to Culberson.
He added a 14-yard score to the tight end later in the quarter. The Quips regained the lead with a 44-yard touchdown run by fullback Kiyon Fooks, but the Lions took a two-point lead into the half with Dan Trimbur’s 31-yard field goal as time expired.
”We planned (for) that,” Pugh said of the back-and forth game. “We knew we’d be in a dog fight. South Fayette is a very good team. We were prepared for a dog fight. We just came to fight back.”
The fighting came in the form of the Quips’ defense, which held South Fayette to (minus)-six total yards in the third quarter and carried a 14-point lead in the fourth after a 60-yard run by Jordan and Pugh’s second score of the game.
The Lions drew to within seven points with Saxton’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Culberson on fourth and goal form the 15-yard line and Jasper Wolfe’s interception gave them the ball back to set up Ponikvar’s game-tying, 65-yard score.
”It showed everybody that there was no quit in our football team,” Ponikvar said. “Our coaches really preached that the game doesn’t end until the clock hits zero. The game in the last two minutes could have gone either way. If it did, we’d be talking about a different story.”
“We told them at different times during timeouts that most programs would lay down at that point,” Rossi said. “Our kids are championship caliber. We’ve been down at times and there’s no quit in them.”