Tristan Bedillion sacks West Allegheny’s Gavin Miller in South Fayette’s 38-14 win Friday night at South Fayette High School. High school football coverage,
Offensive outburst, seven turnovers spark big victory
A clash Friday night for Three Rivers Conference supremacy between Sto-Rox and WPIAL Class 2A No. 4-ranked Western Beaver was expected to be a battle of the Vikings’ explosive offense versus the Golden Beavers’ suffocating defense.
Instead, it was Sto-Rox who dominated on both sides of the ball, forcing seven turnovers on defense and blowing the game open with a second-quarter barrage on its way to a 50-14 home win. Sophomore quarterback Josh Jenkins had another sensational outing for the Vikings (5-1, 3-1), completing 10 of 13 passes for 191 yards and three scores while also adding a 4-yard rushing touchdown and an 11-yard touchdown reception.
“He’s an amazing talent,” StoRox coach LaRoi Johnson said of Jenkins. “He can play all over. He can play any position on the field if we really need him to.”
The Vikings defense came out fast and aggressive from the opening whistle and caused havoc for Western Beaver all game long, holding the Golden Beavers (5-1, 3-1) to 115 yards of offense on the night. Senior Dakari Bradford caught both of Western Beaver’s touchdowns and finished with three catches for 47 yards.
“We just constantly stress ripping the ball out, interceptions and returning it back to the crib,” Johnson said. “We don’t allow any play to stop in practice if there’s an interception or a fumble. We let it go, because we want to make sure that we get in our mentality that we take things to the house.”
After an interception by Drevon Miller-Ross, Sto-Rox sophomore Zay Davis opened the scoring with a 7-yard touchdown run followed by a 2-point conversion. Western Beaver then answered with a scoring drive, capped off by a 10-yard touchdown catch by Bradford, making it 8-7.
Jenkins’ 4-yard touchdown run and another 2-point conversion by Davis made it 16-7, then Jenkins found sophomore Jaymont Green-Miller for a 14-yard score followed by yet another 2point conversion by Davis. Jenkins then connected with MillerRoss on a 37-yard touchdown just before halftime, and the rout was on.
Green-Miller caught five passes for 91 yards and a touchdown, while Miller-Ross finished with four catches for 52 yards and a score to go with two interceptions.
“They came out with a lot of emotion tonight. They’ve got a heck of a team,” Golden Beavers coach Ryan Matsook said. “They’re the best team we’ve faced thus far. ... I think they put themselves in that echelon as one of the top four teams [in Class 2A], in my opinion.”
After catching the first touchdown of his high school career to put the Vikings up, 37-7, in the third quarter, Jenkins went back under center and made perhaps his two best throws of the night — although one of them didn’t count.
First, Jenkins lofted a perfect 47-yard completion down the left sideline to sophomore Deigo Ellis, which set up a 13-yard touchdown pass to senior Diontae Givens, Jenkins’ fifth touchdown of the game. On the previous play, Jenkins — who is lefthanded — scrambled out of the pocket to his right and fired a strike into the end zone while on the run for a would-be touchdown, but the play was called back because of offsetting penalties.
Perhaps the most frightening development out of this game for Sto-Rox’s future foes is that Jenkins wasn’t the only quarterback getting it done for the Vikings. Austin Jones, a junior, completed 10 of 15 passes for 66 yards and also ran the ball 11 times for 72 yards and a touchdown, putting the finishing touches on StoRox’s victory with a 4-yard score.
“We just work really hard,” Jenkins said. “We just come out here and work every day, and just try to come out with the best results.”
With the win, the teams move into a tie for first place in the Three Rivers Conference with one week left in the regular season. The Vikings haven’t lost on the field yet this year, with their only loss coming via forfeit in Week 1.
“My job was to create a culture that they loved, and I think we’re doing that,” Johnson said. “It’s about love, it’s about brotherhood — it’s not about anything other than supporting each other and trying to do the best we can to make a way to be great people before great football players.”