DORMONT, Pa. – As the South Fayette football team savored yet another victory, the marching band played the school’s alma mater, which is the same tune as the hymn “The Old, Rugged Cross.”

 

 For home-standing Bishop Canevin, South Fayette’s varied and multiple offensive sets proved to be too big a cross to bear.

 

 South Fayette (9-0) rolled to 28 first half points and never looked back, crushing Bishop Canevin (4-5) 35-15 Saturday night from Dormont Stadium.

 

 The Lions did it all in this one. In their first three plays, they went from a shotgun four-wide set to a straight-I to a single-back formation. The Crusaders couldn’t match the Lions’ speed. Rarely did the Lions gain fewer than five yards on a play.

 

 In all, South Fayette ran up 477 yards of offense and 26 first downs. Twenty-one offensive plays gained 10 yards or more this night. For a school whose marching band is nicknamed “The Little Green Machine,” the Lions’ football team resembled a well-oiled one.

 

 “We’ve got the ability to run and throw it,” said Joe Rossi, head man for South Fayette.

 

 After forcing a Crusader punt, the Lions wasted no time in finding paydirt. Six plays, 84 yards and two minutes later, Jeff Davis darted in from 54 yards out, giving SF a 7-0 lead.

 

 Canevin countered on its next possession. Six straight Chris Walko running plays helped put Drake Greer in position to nail a 44-yard field goal, slicing the green and white’s lead to just 7-3.

 

 All Greer’s field goal did was poke the Lions right between the eyes. SF scored 21 points in the second quarter – two on Davis runs of 4 and 8 yards, and the third on a 21-yard pass from Christian Brumbaugh to Tyler Challingsworth.

 

 The Crusaders tried to make things interesting in the third quarter. Matt Butter hit Walko on a 9-yard touchdown pass to slice South Fayette’s lead to 28-9, but that 19 point margin didn’t last long.

 

 The Lions embarked on a very long drive, spanning nearly seven minutes. After 14 plays, Alex Henry’s 33-yard field goal attempt was no good, but Canevin was flagged for roughing the kicker. Davis’ 8-yard scoring run, his fourth of the night, salted the game away. SF led, 35-9.

 

 “Jeff’s a great running back,” said Brumbaugh. “He went over 1,000 yards tonight. He’s a great threat to have in the backfield.”

 

 Butter capped the scoring with a 72-yard touchdown pass to Steve Frost down the visitors’ sideline. Frost finished with four catches for 118 yards.

 

 In all, the Lions ran for 271 yards. Davis got most of those yards – he finished with 182 on 17 carries. Jonathon Gardner added 67 yards on 11 carries. Trevor Fiorentini added three rushes for 16 yards.

 

 Brumbaugh didn’t practice much during the week because of the flu, but he finished the night with 206 yards passing, completing 15-of-28 passes. Seven different Lion receivers caught a pass.

 

 Butter finished 10-of-19 for 167 yards and two scores for Canevin. Walko finished with 61 yards on 15 carries. Fullback Travis Lohr added six rushes for 34 yards for the Crusaders, which finished with 274 yards of offense and 10 first downs.