WPIAL Class 4A final notebook: South Fayette wins title in 3rd different classification

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, November 17, 2018 | 10:11 PM

South Fayette’s thrilling victory over Thomas Jefferson in the Class 4A title game Saturday was the sixth WPIAL title in school history and the third different classification the Lions have won in.

They won their first in Class A in 1936 with a 20-7 victory over Aspinwall and won it in 1964 without a playoff since South Fayette was the only undefeated, untied team in the classification.

The Lions were Class 2A champs under Rossi in 2010, ’13 and ’14.

As for Thomas Jefferson, the Jaguars were going for their ninth championship — the eighth under Cherpak’s tenure.

It turned out to be the fourth title-game setback for the program.

Keep away

Ball control was the Jaguars’ trademark, especially in the first quarter.

South Fayette had the ball for just three plays during the quarter. The Lions’ time of possession was just 50 seconds.

Things were a little better in the second quarter. The Lions had the ball 3 minutes, 38 seconds, and that gave the Jaguars a time of possession advantage of 19:24 to 4:36 for the half.

For the game, South Fayette had the ball for just 13:50. Nearly the final minute consisted of taking a knee to seal the victory.

Still stellar

Despite the loss, Cherpak’s all-time record with the Jaguars is 256-48. TJ has made the playoffs all 24 seasons under Cherpak.

Rossi’s resume isn’t bad, either. The veteran coach is 156-43 altogether — 26-23 at Riverview and 130-20 at South Fayette.

Defensive leader

The Lions were led in tackles by defensive back Ryan Kokoski, with 12 unassisted and two assisted stops. Nolan Lutz had seven tackles and Dave Trimbur six. Trimbur also had an interception at the 2-yard line in the final minute to secure the win for South Fayette.

Cracking the 3K barrier

For many years, WPIAL passers had trouble breaking the 3,000-yard mark for career yardage, let alone single-season yardage.

But the game has changed.

South Fayette’s Jamie Diven became the third WPIAL quarterback to break the 3,000-yard mark this year, passing for 249 yards Saturday to reach 3,016 yards for the season.

Eric Wilson of Sto-Rox and Tyler Bradley of OLSH reached the mark earlier.

Diven also has thrown for 44 touchdowns.

Thomas Jefferson running back Max Shaw finished the season with 1,970 yards and 35 touchdowns.

Up next

South Fayette will enter the PIAA playoffs either Friday or Saturday against Cathedral Prep.

The game is expected to be played somewhere in the Erie area.

Scoring summary

South Fayette 31, Thomas Jefferson 24

Score by quarters

South Fayette 0-10-21-0 — 31

Thomas Jefferson 0-21-3-0 — 24

How they scored

TJ: Max Shaw 1 run (A.J. Meshanko kick)

SF: Mike Trimbur 82 pass from Jamie Diven (Ryan Coe kick)

TJ: Shaw 6 run (Meshanko kick)

TJ: Shaw 2 run (Meshanko kick)

SF: Coe 39 field goal

SF: Andrew Franklin 1 run (Coe kick)

TJ: Meshanko 29 field goal

SF: Trimbur 10 pass from Diven (Coe kick)

SF: Charley Rossi 14 pass from Diven (Coe kick)

Team statistics

South Fayette Thomas Jefferson

First downs 9 21

Rushes-Yards 15-26 20-252

Passing yards 249 175

Passing Att-Comp-Int 23-12-0 26-10-1

Total offense Plays-yards 38-275 76-427

Punts (number-avg.) 4-34.0 2-23.5

Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-1

Penalties-yards 6-40 3-26

Possession time 13:50 34:10

Individual statistics

Rushing: SF: Andrew Franklin 6-13, Rayquin Glover 2-13, Jamie Diven 6-1, team 1-minus 1; TJ: Max Shaw 40-211, Nathan Werderber 4-28, Shane Stump 6-13

Passing: SF: Diven 12-23-249-0INT-3TD; Stump 10-26-175-1INT-0TD

Receiving: SF: Mike Trimbur 5-138, Charley Rossi 3-70, Glover 2-33, Peyton Tinney 2-8; TJ: Daniel Deabner 9-156, Shaw 1-19

George Guido is a freelance writer.

Tags: South Fayette, Thomas Jefferson