JEFFERSON TWP — Knoch was looking for a strong start against South Fayette at home Friday night.

The Knights got it.

On the second play of the game, Knoch's Scott Fraser intercepted a pass thrown by South Fayette quarterback Drew Saxton that started the Knights in enemy territory.

But two plays later, South Fayette's Johnny Beck read and snagged a pitch by Knoch quarterback Jake Herrit and returned it 73 yards for a touchdown to send the Lions on the way to a 52-14 win.

Herrit left the game midway through the first quarter. He was holding his arm.

“That was a huge blow,” Knoch coach Frank Whalen said. “Offensively, he makes it go for us, and defensively he makes it go for us.”

Herrit also plays cornerback and has a few interceptions this season.

“He's our shutdown corner, he's our quarterback, and when we lost him, it was an uphill battle,” Whalen said.

Whalen said Herrit's injury is to his arm, but the nature of it is undetermined.

“We're not sure exactly what the issue is, and we don't even know what the prognosis is,” Whalen said.

Without Herrit, Knoch's offense struggled to produce. The Knights lone touchdown in the first half came on a 86-yard kickoff return by Matt Goodlin.

Knoch scored once more on a 6-yard run by running back Ivan Stapchuck, who finished with 79 yards on 21 carries.

Whalen said backup quarterback Heath Erdos did a good job taking control of the game.

“Our game plan going into this was to pass the ball more,” Whalen said. “When Jake went down, we had to kind of tweak that game plan a little bit and run some routes we were a more familiar with.”

Erdos completed 5-of-11 passes for 51 yards, including a 38-yard strike to receiver Joey Wojciechowski that set up Stapchuck's touchdown run late in the third.

“When you change quarterbacks, it's a different timing, so from that aspect it was tough,” Whalen said. “But, I thought Heath, going in there, did a super job.”

South Fayette finished with 274 passing yards with three passing touchdowns, 122 rushing yards with three touchdowns and one 33-yard field goal by kicker Ryan Coe.

Despite the large margin, Whalen said he saw some things he liked in the defensive effort.

“We had a couple of series defensively that I thought we played very well,” Whalen said.

In addition to Beck and Saxton, Whalen said South Fayette tight end Noah Plack, who had two touchdown receptions, was tough to cover for a secondary that also had injuries heading into the game.

“We would stop the run, stop the run, stop them, and then that kid would get open, and it was just really difficult for us to cover him,” Whalen said.

Whalen said the loss stings less because it came from a good football team. But, with Herrit's injury still undetermined, its impact could be felt moving forward.

“Losing Jake, having the situation with the injuries, was very difficult for us to overcome against probably one of the best teams in the state,” Whalen said.

South Fayette 29 16 0 7 — 52

Knoch 7 0 7 0 — 14

First Quarter

SF — Johnny Beck fumble recovery 73 (Ryan Coe kick), 10:45

SF — Beck run 65 (Coe kick), 8:37

SF — Beck run 5 (Coe kick), 3:49

SF — Drew Saxton pass 51 to Mike Trimbur (Coe pass to Nolan Lutz), 1:29

K — Matt Goodlin kickoff return 89 (Matt Gore kick), 1:13

Second Quarter

SF — Ryan Coe field goal 33, 10:43 left

SF — Saxton pass 13 to Noah Plack (Coe kick), 7:10

SF — Saxton pass 5 to Plack (kick failed), 0:23

Third Quarter

K — Ivan Stapchuck run 6 (Gore kick), 5:49

Fourth Quarter

SF — John Obenour run 5 (Coe kick), 11:55

Individual Statistics

Rushing: South Fayette, Johnny Beck 8-91, John Obenour 3-34, John Zaramba 2-4, Shay Aitken 1-0, Mike Trimbur 1-(-1), Drew Saxton 1-(-6). Knoch, Ivan Stapchuck 21-79, Matt Goodlin 1-5, Ej Simms 2-3, Chase Mullen 1-2, AJ Karenbauer 2-0, Jake Herrit, 2-(-3), Heath Erdos 7-(-4).

Passing: South Fayette, Drew Saxton 12-18-274-1. Knoch, Heath Erdos 5-11-51-0, Jake Herrit 0-1-0-0.

Receiving: Mike Trimbur 4-79, Noah Plack 5-78, Johnny Beck 1-57, Ryan Kokoski 1-49, Peyton Tinney 1-11. Knoch, Joey Wojciechowski 1-38, Ivan Stapchuck 1-7, Chase Mullen 1-6, AJ Karenbauer 1-0.