South Fayette dominates Waynesburg Central
Waynesburg Central’s Austin Herrod (9) breaks through an attempted tackle by South Fayette’s Zach Radinick (57) on his way to a 70-yard touchdown run during last Friday’s WPIAL Class AA first-round playoff game at South Fayette High School. Herrod’s TD was the Raiders only score in a 65-6 loss to the Lions. Mapletown lost at Avonworth, 34-0, in a Class A first-round game. (Photo by Holly Tonini)
Holly Tonini
Holly Tonini Waynesburg’s Colin McCracken can’t grab a pass while being defended by South Fayette’s Ryan Schmider (13) during Friday’s game at South Fayette High School.
Waynesburg's Austin Herrod (9) is taken down by a wall of South Fayette defenders in the first quarter of Friday's game at South Fayette High School.
Waynesburg's Nate Blair atempts the extra point after a touchdown by teammate Austin Herrod during Friday's game at South Fayette High School. Blair missed the kick.
MCDONALD — Waynesburg Central ended an 11-year playoff drought with its first-round appearance in the Class AA football postseason Friday night, but the Raiders were no match for top-seeded and defending Class AA champion South Fayette in a lopsided 65-6 defeat.
The Lions (10-0) pushed their winning streak to 26 games. The last time South Fayette saw defeat was in the semifinals against Washington in 2012.
South Fayette out-gained the Raiders (6-4) by a 443-127 margin and forced four critical turnovers in the first half that lead to easy, quick scores.
Despite the loss, Waynesburg coach Russ Moore was pleased with the effort and the overall fight of his team and his senior class.
“Our senior class was so special for us,” Moore said. “They fought through so much adversity this season. I told them that, hopefully, three years from now they can look at this night as a launching point for our program. One game doesn’t define a season. I told them to think about the fireworks we had after the game last week when we clinched the playoffs. Think about the wins on the opener, homecoming and our senior night.”
After Waynesburg stopped the home team on its opening drive near midfield, the Raiders fumbled it back to the Lions three plays later at the 30-yard line.
Two plays later, South Fayette made it 7-0 when quarterback Brett Brumbaugh, the WPIAL career leader in passing yards and passing touchdowns, found wideout Logan Sharp for a 21-yard scoring toss.
On the ensuing kickoff, Waynesburg’s all-purpose tailback Hunter Cenname was injured and did not return to the game. Coming into the contest, Cenname was the fourth-leading rusher in all of the WPIAL with 1,471 yards.
“It was a knee for Hunter,” Moore said. “It was on the kickoff and it was just one of those moments that he just fell down on it awkwardly. We have had so many knee injuries this year and it’s a head-scratcher. It seems like it’s contagious with us and it makes you sick to see a kid like that spend his last game on the sidelines.”
In the game, Cenname only carried the ball two times for one yard.
Stepping in his place was running back Austin Herrod, who made an immediate impact on his first carry with a 70-yard rumble into the end zone at the 8:32 mark of the first quarter. The Raiders would miss the PAT and trailed 7-6.
Herrod carried 22 times for a season-high 133 yards.
“Austin stepped up tonight,” Moore said. “He had that long touchdown run on that misdirection run and that was a huge play for us. He got a lot more carries than what he thought he would tonight, but he is a tough kid and answered the call for us.”
The Lions got separation the rest of the quarter with three interceptions by Jack Relihan and five touchdowns on its next nine plays.
Brumbaugh started the scoring spree with a 58-yard touchdown connection to Nick Ponikvar, followed by a one-yard plunge into the end zone by Hunter Hayes.
SF made it 28-6 after a 29-yard scoring toss to Logan from Brumbaugh and then the Lions gave themselves a 28-point cushion in the first with a two-yard touchdown run by Hayes. Hayes finished with 10 carries for 124 yards
Brumbaugh tallied his final score of the night, a 56-yard scoring pass to Relihan, two plays into the second stanza. Brumbaugh threw for 205 yards on seven-of-10 passing with four touchdowns and no interceptions.
The final score of the first half was a seven-yard scoring run by reserve running back Jasper Wolfe. The Lions held a 49-6 lead at halftime.
With the mercy rule in effect and after a scoreless third quarter, SF put up 16 points in the final 12 minutes to end the scoring blitz for the Lions.
South Fayette will play Beaver next Friday in the quarterfinals at a site to be determined.
WPIAL Class AA Playoffs
Waynesburg Central 6-0-0-0 — 6
South Fayette 35-14-0-16 — 65
First Quarter
SF: Logan Sharp 21 pass from Brett Brumbaugh (Brian Coyle kick), 8:50 (7-0)
WC: Austin Herrod 70 run (kick failed), 8:32 (7-6)
SF: Nick Ponikvar 58 pass from Brumbaugh (Coyle kick), 8:18 (14-6)
SF: Hunter Hayes 1 run (Coyle kick), 6:40 (21-6)
SF: Sharp 29 pass from Brumbaugh (Coyle kick), 1:44 (28-6)
SF: Hayes 2 run (Coyle kick), 0:51 (35-6)
Second Quarter
SF: Dan Trimbur 56 pass from Brumbaugh (Coyle kick), 11:43 (42-6)
SF: Jasper Wolfe 7 run (Coyle kick), 7:11 (49-6)
Fourth Quarter
SF: Team safety, 10:23 (51-6)
SF: Robert O’Kelly 1 run (Jared Renz kick), 6:48 (58-6)
SF: Ryhan Culberson 10 run (Renz kick), 2:24 (65-6)
Records: South Fayette (10-0), Waynesburg Central (6-4)