Dec 5, 2014 4 min read

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South Fayette senior Roman Denson’s final year of high school football was going as planned. He was leading the team in interceptions, receiving yards and touchdown catches.

Things changed when the Lions faced Steel Valley in Week Six. Denson was playing his spot at cornerback and was being blocked by a wide receiver when an offensive player for the Ironmen was running the football to Denson’s side of the field.

Denson shed the block and went for the tackle. The force of grabbing his opponent’s jersey tore the ligament in his finger, which caused him to have surgery and miss five games.

In his absence, sophomore Dan Trimbur thrived. Denson did return against South Park in the WPIAL Class AA quarterfinals, but he has not played wide receiver since the injury.

Trimbur caught a 40-yard touchdown against South Park in the WPIAL quarterfinals, a 7-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter against Seton-LaSalle in the WPIAL semifinals, a 13-yard touchdown catch against Aliquippa in the WPIAL title game and led the Lions with five catches for 117 yards in the PIAA quarterfinals against Karns City.

This season, Trimbur has caught 28 passes for 485 yards and 4 touchdowns. He is also the Lions’ kicker since Brian Coyne suffered a season-ending injury last spring. Trimbur made a 36-yard field goal in the fourth quarter against Aliquippa at Heinz Field

“Since Roman’s injury, (Trimbur) has stepped up in the playoffs,” South Fayette head coach Joe Rossi said. “Since the first playoff game, he has scored in almost every game, kicking off well, the big field goal against Aliquippa and he’s made big plays receiving. That’s another kid that since this long playoff run, he’s put his name out there because of the amount of games we’ve been able to play and he keeps making plays.”

Trimbur has been a perfect compliment to a strong receiving corps that includes senior Logan Sharp, senior Ryan Schmider, sophomore Nick Ponikvar and senior Jack Relihan.

Senior quarterback Brett Brumbaugh will need every one against a strong Hickory (11-2) secondary Saturday at Slippery Rock University’s Mihalik-Thompson Stadium in the PIAA semifinals. Kick-off is 1 p.m.

“It’s been great and it’s been a blast,” Trimbur said. “Being given the chance to step up for an injured player and being able to show what I can really do is a great opportunity. Being able to play with those older players has helped me see their attitudes in games and it’s influenced me a lot.”

People may not expect South Fayette (14-0) to pass a lot since the Hornets dropped 10 players into pass coverage during last year’s semifinals, but that might not be the case. Outside of junior safety Andrew Pryts, Hickory has a young secondary with new starters at cornerback.

What really disrupted the Lions’ offense was Hickory stealing their signals. Hornets head coach Bill Brest admitted that his coaches knew every play call. South Fayette’s coaches figured it out, changed the game plan and responded by running the football.

Hickory used predominately zone coverage against the Lions last year, which will allow South Fayette to use its athleticism at wide receiver on short and intermediate routes. Brumbaugh is only 105 passing yards away from becoming the PIAA’s all-time leading passer and barring injury, will accomplish that feat Saturday afternoon.

He received an additional weapon Monday when Denson arrived at practice without his cast and was able to take reps at wide receiver.

After injuring his ankle against Hickory last year, which caused him to miss the state title game, the senior is looking to help Brumbaugh break another record and punch South Fayette’s ticket to Hickory.

“It was frustrating to where I had to sit out a couple of games,” Denson said. “Since it is my senior year, I wanted to play every minute of the season, but I know it happens. It’s part of the game and I know it happened for a reason.”