Nov 4, 2017 4 min read

McDONALD – This time there would be no slip up.

Almost one year to the day when the South Fayette Lions were upset 51-43 at home by New Castle in the opening round of the WPIAL playoffs, the results were much different.

South Fayette came out firing on offense and its defense kept visiting West Mifflin off the scoreboard as the Lions were all business in a 35-0 Class 4A first-round playoff victory.

“Last year was an odd feeling,” said South Fayette head coach Joe Rossi. “We were prepared. The kids didn’t want to come in Monday and turn in their pads. We came out and gave a solid effort and we will be back at it tomorrow getting ready for next week.”

Quarterback Drew Saxton echoed Rossi’s sentiment as he and the Lions (11-0) were prepared to avoid a letdown this time.

“That’s all we thought about all week,” Saxton said. “It was a terrible feeling, especially for the seniors last year. We stressed coming out and executing from the start and not having a letdown.”

With the win, the top-seeded Lions advance to the semifinals where they will again be matched with fourth-seeded Montour, which defeated New Castle 35-31. South Fayette defeated Montour 49-21 last weekend in the regular-season finale.

“They are a common opponent,” Rossi said. “We will be ready.”

The Lions came out quickly, striking on their first possession of the game when Saxton hit Noah Plack with a 22-yard touchdown pass to cap a five-play, 51-yard drive.

West Mifflin (5-5) held the ball for 12 plays on its opening possession, but Titans quarterback Dontae Braxton was intercepted by South Fayette’s Ryan Fleming on a fourth-down play.

It didn’t take long for Saxton to turn the turnover into points. Three plays later, he hit Peyton Tinney with a 33-yard scoring pass to put the Lions up 14-0.

Saxton, who came into the game sixth in the WPIAL in passing with 2,203 yards, finished the night completing 10 of 14 attempts for 232 yards and three touchdowns.

“The coaches did a great job of calling plays and I really just had to go out and execute,” said Saxton. “I have confidence in all of my receivers. They did a great job and my line was fantastic. They gave me a ton of time to sit back there and do what I need to do.”

The Titans moved the ball well on the ground early in the game as their second possession was also lengthy, lasting 15 plays.

“They have some nice running backs,” Rossi said. “So, I was happy with the way we were able to shut them down defensively.”

After getting the ball back on downs, the SF offense made it three touchdowns in three possessions when sophomore Andrew Franklin scored on a three-yard run.

Franklin also had a nine-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to push the South Fayette lead to 28-0.

“We had a couple of backs step up tonight when we needed them,” Rossi said.

That score came after Jake Walker recovered a fumble, the Lions’ second forced turnover on the game. Walker also had a quarterback sack.

After the two lengthy possessions for WM, yardage was tough to come by for the Titans as they were limited to just 91 yards of total offense on the night, including only four passing yards.

“We put a ton of pride in our defense,” said Plack. “Our coaches expect perfection from us on every play. We are all about defense. We just have to keep playing to our abilities and keep getting better.”

SF capped off the scoring on the first playoff the fourth quarter when Saxton and Plack connected again, this time from 39 yards out to make it a 35-0 game.

Plack led all receivers with four receptions for 111 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

“I have to go out there and make plays,” said Plack. “Drew put the balls right on the money and I just had to go out and execute.”

West Mifflin, who came limping into the playoffs, losing three of its last four regular-season games, was led in rushing by Parrish Parker, who gained 44 yards on 13 carries.

“They are good,” said West Mifflin head coach Ray Braszo. “We knew we would have problems with their passing game. We thought we might be able to run the ball on them some and we did a little bit the first half, but we never stopped them. You start getting behind to a team like that and everything must go your way. It didn’t for us tonight.”