Nov 22, 2018 3 min read

Talking to the South Fayette High School football team prior to its WPIAL Class 4A championship game against Thomas Jefferson, inspirational speaker Dr. Kevin Elko told the Lions to attack the roar.

“To the kids, the (TJ) helmet was the roar,” said Lions’ coach Joe Rossi. “Everybody fears that helmet. They had put fear into teams. You have to go after everybody.”

After South Fayette’s 31-24 comeback victory for the school’s first WPIAL title since 2014, another team that has put fear into many opponents awaits the Lions. South Fayette knocked off a TJ program that had won three consecutive WPIAL titles and tonight faces two-time defending state champion Erie Cathedral Prep (10-3) in what is basically the Ramblers’ back yard.

South Fayette travels to Veterans Stadium in Erie to take on Erie Prep in the PIAA quarterfinals at 7 p.m.

“We will be there. We will give it our best shot,” Rossi said. “We knocked off one champion and we will be ready for the next one. We wouldn’t want it any other way. I wouldn’t want to be playing anywhere else. I would make the drive and go up to their place. If we are going to do it, let’s do it in their house.”

The preparatory school has its own stadium but will be playing its fifth game of the season at Veterans Stadium, a similar path Cathedral Prep took to winning its second consecutive PIAA Class 4A championship last year. It lost in the Class 3A state title game in 2015.

But it’s a much different team than last year.

The Ramblers lost seven Division-I players from last year’s team, including quarterback Joe Mischler, who passed for 3,255 yards and 38 touchdowns.

This year, the Ramblers lean more on a ground game that features running back Billy Lucas. The senior has 161 carries for 1,318 yards and 16 touchdowns. Lucas has a scholarship offer from Old Dominion. Dual-threat quarterback Connor Schleicher, a transfer from Erie McDowell, has passed for 1,172 yards and collected 614 on the ground. He has 25 total touchdowns.

“They are the total package,” Rossi said of Cathedral Prep. “They have a good tailback, a couple of good linemen. There are a lot of Division-I athletes running around out there. Their offense forces you to make tackles. We are going to have to be good tacklers and that will go a long way toward us winning the game.”

Protecting the football will be key for South Fayette to defeat the Ramblers, who forced five turnovers in their 55-21 victory over Clearfield last weekend. The Lions only have nine turnovers the entire season.

Rossi is undefeated in PIAA quarterfinal games (4-0) since taking over at South Fayette in 2007.

“We tell (our players) the same thing every year,” he said. “You have to put the DVR away and the newspapers away. Although we know a district title means a lot in Western Pennsylvania, people understand what it means to be a state champion.”

Notes

Cathedral Prep has eliminated the WPIAL champion in six of the last eight years. … The Ramblers had their 28-game winning streak end in a 24-21 season-opening loss to Pittsburgh Central Catholic. … South Fayette quarterback Jamie Diven is 233 yards away from throwing for 3,000 on the season. He completed 12 of 23 passes for 249 yards and three touchdowns in the WPIAL championship game.