Nov 26, 2014 3 min read

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Once again, Karns City stands in South Fayette’s way. The Gremlins defeated Chestnut Ridge, 23-14, Friday night to advance to the PIAA Class AA quarterfinals.

It is the second consecutive meeting between Karns City and South Fayette in the state quarterfinals at Clarion University.

In last year’s meeting, the Lions (13-0) failed to score on their first two drives and Brett Brumbaugh threw a pick-six as the Gremlins (11-1) drew to within two points.

It was all South Fayette from there.Although the Lions punted on their next drive, they scored on five consecutive possessions to grab a large lead and start the mercy rule. Karns City did not do anything flashy. The Gremins ran their 3-4 defense and mixed coverages to confuse Brumbaugh.

It did not take long for him to make adjustments. After completing six of his first 16 passes, Brumbaugh finished 18-of-33 for 340 yards and five touchdowns. South Fayette finished with 499 total yards and limited Karns City to 161.

The Lions dominated in every facet of the game. They forced turnovers, disrupted the Gremlins’ wing-t attack and scored on all six of their trips to the red zone. Karns City has a ton of talent back.

Tristan Rhoades, Karns City’s leading rusher from last season, is back, but has been hampered by a hamstring injury. According to Gremlins head coach Ed Conto, Rhoades is questionable for Friday’s game.

Last season, Karns City had a reliable quarterback in senior Tyler Kepple and the Gremlins entered this season using a two quarterback system. The more consistent of the two quarterbacks this year, Cody Deal, is out indefinitely with a broken rib.

It was interesting talking to Conto about his offensive philosophy, which has changed in recent years. While the base formation is a wing-t, it changes on a yearly basis based on personnel. The Gremlins are running more with their quarterbacks in 2014 to take pressure off a young group of running backs.

The key for South Fayette will be to avoid the slow start that almost doomed them in last year’s game against Karns City. I don’t anticipate the Lions looking flat again, but with the talent they have, turning a game around can happen very quickly.

Conto found that out. The Gremlins had the lead in the second quarter, but South Fayette scored on five consecutive possessions to put the game away. There is no easy way to scheme against the Lions. If you take the method used by Hickory head coach Bill Brest in the PIAA semifinals last year, which included dropping as many as 10 guys in coverage, South Fayette will run the football for chunks of yards.

If you blitz heavily, the offensive line will pick it up and Brumbaugh will get rid of the ball quickly on short or intermediate routes. Its funny asking head coaches how to stop the Lions’ offense. None of them have an answer. If anyone did, it would have happened by now.