High school roundup: Saxton leads No. 2 South Fayette past Mars

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, September 2, 2017 | 2:27 AM

Drew Saxton completed 20 of 28 passes for 267 yards and a touchdown to lead South Fayette to a 30-6 victory over Mars (1-1, 0-1) in a Class 4A Northwest Nine Conference game Friday night.

Johnny Beck added 129 rushing yards and two touchdowns for South Fayette (2-0, 1-0) while teammate Ryan Kokoski caught one touchdown pass and returned an interception 20 yards for another.

Class 6A

Penn Hills 54, Butler 21 — Tank Smith ran for 128 yards and three touchdowns and Jaquay Sears added 117 rushing yards and two TDs in Penn Hills' Northern Seven win over Butler (0-1, 0-1). Hollis Mathis threw for 177 yards and a touchdown for Penn Hills (2-0, 1-1), which led 34-7 at halftime.

Central Catholic 40, Shaler 0 — Troy Fisher threw for 197 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another as Central Catholic (1-1, 1-0) blanked Shaler (0-2, 0-0) in the Northern Seven Conference. Austin Vigliotti added two rushing touchdowns for the Vikings.

Peters Township 13, Seneca Valley 8 — Josh Casilli scored on a 66-yard pass from Jake Cortes in the fourth quarter to seal a nonconference victory for Peters Township (2-0). Cortes finished with 237 yards passing. Jake Bunofsky scored on a 6-yard pass from Gabe Lawson for Seneca Valley (0-1).

Class 5A

Upper St. Clair 21, North Hills 7 — Jack Hansberry threw for 156 yards and a touchdown and he ran for two more scores to lead No. 5 Upper St. Clair (1-1, 1-0) to the Allegheny Nine Conference win at North Hills (1-1, 0-1). North Hills scored the first points of the game on Tyler Brennan's 80-yard run in the first quarter.

West Allegheny 41, Fox Chapel 20 — The defending WPIAL Class 5A champions put up 27 first-half points to take a commanding lead as No. 2 West Allegheny won an Allegheny 9 game. West Allegheny (1-0, 1-0) got interception returns from Noah Ledford (27 yards) and Will Weber (21 yards) in the win.

Woodland Hills 40, Baldwin 6 — Naszhir Taylor scored on a 70-yard punt return and a 15-yard run as Woodland Hills (1-1, 1-0) defeated Baldwin (0-1, 0-0) in the Allegheny Nine Conference.

Plum 9, Kiski Area 6 — Jackson Gildea's 38-yard field goal as time expired gave Plum a victory over Kiski Area in the teams' Big East Conference opener at Mustangs Stadium. Corey Thomas rushed for 108 yards for Plum (1-1, 1-0), which also turned in a pair of goal-line stands on defense. Ryne Wallace threw for 146 yards and a touchdown for Kiski Area (0-2, 0-1), which had a pair of scores called back by penalty.

Armstrong 28, Moon 21 — Dawson Porter threw for 180 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 216 yards to lead Armstrong (2-0) to a nonconference win against Moon (1-1). Nate Baillie added two short rushing touchdowns for Armstrong.

Class 4A

Thomas Jefferson 55, Uniontown 7 — In the Big Nine Conference, top-ranked Thomas Jefferson (1-0, 1-0) scored 48 first-half points in its win over Uniontown (0-2, 0-1). Justin Vigna ran for 139 yards and three touchdowns, and Shane Stump threw for 122 yards and three TDs.

Knoch 39, Blackhawk 13 — Ivan Stapchuck ran for 194 yards and five touchdowns to lead Knoch (1-0, 1-0) to a Northwest Nine Conference win against Blackhawk (0-1, 0-1) at Geneva College.

Class 3A

Apollo-Ridge 34, Deer Lakes 21 — Kyle Fitzroy threw for 225 yards with a pair of touchdown passes and rushed for one more score to lead Apollo-Ridge (2-0, 1-0) to an Allegheny Conference victory over Deer Lakes (0-1, 0-1). Keighton Reese caught two touchdown passes and had 107 yards receiving. Aris Hasley had 121 yards passing in relief, threw for a touchdown and rushed for another for the Lancers.

Keystone Oaks 16, Valley 6 — Michael Daure scored on runs of 2 and 3 yards in the fourth quarter to lift the Golden Eagles (1-0, 1-0) to an Allegheny Conference victory. Daure finished with 25 carries for 116 yards. Deonte Ross had 102 rushing yards and a touchdown on 25 attempts for the Vikings (0-1, 0-1).

Seton-La Salle 35, Shady Side Academy 20 — Despite Skyy Moore's 284 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 30 carries, Shady Side Academy (0-1, 0-1) lost to No. 3 Seton-La Salle (1-0, 1-0) in the Allegheny Conference.

Aliquippa 36, Beaver Falls 0 — In the Beaver Valley Conference, Avante McKenzie ran for 157 yards and four touchdowns as top-ranked Aliquippa (2-0, 1-0) blanked No. 5 Beaver Falls (1-1, 0-1).

Central Valley 42, Ellwood City 7 — Danny Santia ran for 100 yards and four touchdowns and Central Valley (1-1, 1-0) scored 28 points in the second quarter as it stormed past Ellwood City (0-1, 0-1) in the Beaver Valley Conference. Nico Battista threw for 180 yards in the win while teammate Jaeden Gordan scored on a 24-yard interception return.

Beaver 42, Freedom 0 — Tyler Wallace scored on interception returns of 29 and 44 yards in Class 3A Beaver's shutout at Class 2A Freedom (1-1). Beaver (2-0) scored 28 points in the third quarter.

Hopewell 12, Burrell 6 — An 8-yard run by DeShaun Sanders with 1:01 to go gave the Vikings (1-1) a nonconference victory. Sanders carried 23 times for 147 yards and two touchdowns, including a 53-yard, first-quarter run. Burrell (1-1) was led by Logan Bitar with 185 rushing yards, highlighted by an 86-yard scoring run with 3:58 to go.

Quaker Valley 52, McGuffey 20 — Ricky Guss threw for 175 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 97 yards and two TDs as Quaker Valley (2-0) defeated McGuffey (1-1) in nonconference play. Isaiah McNair caught seven passes for 118 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Christian Clutter paced McGuffey with 100 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Class 2A

Burgettstown 35, Frazier 6 — Ryan Lounder scored on a 55-yard kickoff return and an 80-yard punt return in Burgettstown's Century Conference win at Frazier (0-2, 0-1). Jarred John added two touchdowns for Burgettstown (1-0) — on a 44-yard pass from Lounder and a 45-yard interception return.

Washington 36, Charleroi 8 — Nick Welsh ran 17 times for 307 yards and two touchdowns as Washington (1-0, 1-0) beat Charleroi (1-1, 0-1) in Century Conference play. Zach Swartz hit Isaiah Schoonmaker with scoring passes of 50 and 9 yards in the win. Charleroi's only touchdown came on a 49-yard pass from George Lukach to Travis Lytle in the fourth quarter.

Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic 12, Neshannock 7 — Zach Rocco threw for two touchdowns as Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic (1-0, 1-0) opened its season by beating Neshannock (0-1, 0-1) in the Midwestern Conference. Each team turned the ball over four times.

Avonworth 49, Carlynton 0 — Derek Johncour completed 10 of 14 passes for 194 yards and a touchdown as Avonworth (1-0, 1-0) shut out Carlynton (0-1, 0-1) in the Three Rivers Conference. On defense, Alex Osborn intercepted one pass and returned a fumble 51 yards for Avonworth's final touchdown.

Brentwood 33, Serra Catholic 13 — In the Three Rivers Conference, Austin Veatch caught four passes for 126 yards and a touchdown and scored on an 87-yard kickoff return as Brentwood (2-0, 1-0) beat Serra Catholic (1-1, 0-1). Brentwood's Michael Trent threw for 211 yards, and teammate Evan Vickless ran for three touchdowns. Evan Honick threw for 134 yards in the loss.

East Allegheny 36, South Allegheny 14 — Tamaine Underwood threw for 278 yards and two touchdowns to lead East Allegheny (1-1, 1-0) to the Three Rivers Conference win at South Allegheny (0-1, 0-1). Tyler Padezan caught seven passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns, and T.J. Banks added eight receptions for 108 yards.

Class A

Northgate 29, OLSH 28 — Herman Darjee's 44-yard field goal with 30 seconds left in the game gave Northgate (1-0, 1-0) the Big Seven win at OLSH (0-2, 0-1). Eric Hogan threw for 123 yards and a touchdown in the win.

Rochester 36, Shenango 7 — Mahlik Strozier ran 12 times for 260 yards and touchdowns of 88, 21 and 45 yards to lead Rochester (1-0, 1-0) over Shenango (0-1, 0-1) in the Big Seven Conference.

California 49, Fort Cherry 0 — In the Tri-County South, Jelani Stafford rushed for four touchdowns as California (2-0, 1-0) shut out Fort Cherry (0-1, 0-1).

West Greene 53, Avella 7 — Ben Jackson scored on runs of 85, 64, 10 and 58 yards and West Greene (2-0) won big over Tri-County South opponent Avella (0-2). West Greene led 33-0 at halftime.

Mapletown 42, Cornell 14 — Dylan Rush ran for 318 yards and six touchdowns to lead Mapletown (1-1) to a nonconference victory over Cornell (0-1).