Blackhawk quarterback Zack Hayward is listed as a lean 165 pounds, but he is showing he may have what it takes to be a bigger player at the college level.

Hayward already has excelled at one of the highest levels of scholastic football while stepping it up during the playoffs.

A 6-foot-3 signal caller, he has led the Cougars (11-1) to the WPIAL Class AAA final Saturday against two-time reigning champion Thomas Jefferson (11-1) with another great passing performance.

Hayward led the Cougars on three quick touchdown drives in the final 7:21 of the first half as Blackhawk routed No. 2 seed Highlands, 36-7. It is the third consecutive week that Hayward has thrown three touchdown passes in a playoff game -- he also performed the feat in routs of Mars and Ringgold in the first two rounds. The Cougars have outscored postseason opponents by a whopping 118-21.

Blackhawk scored on its final three possessions of the first half to wipe out a 7-0 deficit against previously unbeaten Highlands. The final scoring drive took only 31 seconds in the waning moments of the half. Hayward finished with 18 completions in 26 attempts for 236 yards and three touchdowns, two of them to Jake Delmonico. Blackhawk only punted once the entire game.

"[Hayward] is smart and he's been the guy who's kept us going all year long through all the injuries we've had," Blackhawk coach Joe Hamilton said.

Marshall University of Conference USA has shown interest in Hayward, but he has been getting more serious recruiting pitches from 1-AA scholarship programs such as Robert Morris and Dayton.

"Our coach always says that team success will lead to individual success, so the more I keep the team going, the more recognition there is for everybody," Hayward said.

Hayward has completed 141 passes in 218 attempts for 1,865 yards and 24 touchdowns and only three interceptions. Hayward has not thrown an interception in 56 attempts in three playoff games. In fact, Hayward has gone five consecutive games without throwing an interception.

The Golden Rams scored the game's first touchdown with 10:25 left in the second quarter. The touchdown drive consumed about eight minutes as Highlands ran 16 plays.

Blackhawk got its first touchdown when Matt Engle scored on a 1-yard plunge midway in the second quarter to cap a 77-yard drive.

Hayward then threw a pair of touchdown passes to Delmonico in the final 1:26 of the first half, staking the Cougars to a 21-7 halftime lead.

"The coaches told us to take one more shot there to see what we could do," Hayward said. "I know Jake's athletic, so I just laid it up there and he went up and got it, which made my job a lot easier ... and the coaches made sure we stayed up in the second half and didn't take anything for granted."

Highlands made the second half interesting momentarily by driving to the Blackhawk 42 after the opening kickoff. However, Austin Wulf picked off a screen pass and returned it to the Highlands 35. Hayward then used a flea-flicker to hit Mike Pearson in the end zone on first play after the turnover with 10:27 left in the third quarter.

"We call that our super-duper, but you've got to disguise it," Hamilton said. "We run it from certain formations. Sometimes you can catch a team a little bit down [after a turnover], so we came back with that play and it worked."

Delmonico caught a 2-point conversion pass from Hayward to make it 29-7. Bryan Stefanik, with 105 yards rushing on 14 carries, finished the Blackhawk scoring with a 12-yard run with 7:05 left in the game.

The Cougars are in the WPIAL title game for the 10th time in Hamilton's 33-year tenure at Blackhawk.

Blackhawk has won four WPIAL titles under Hamilton, but none since 1996. The Cougars are 0-2 in title games since the last WPIAL crown, losing to Moon in 1998 and Thomas Jefferson two years ago.

Thomas Jefferson is seeking its third consecutive WPIAL title, appearing in a record six WPIAL finals in a row. Thomas Jefferson has won 36 games in a row against WPIAL competition. Its last loss in the WPIAL came at the hands of Franklin Regional in the 2005 WPIAL finals.Class AAA final

• What: Blackhawk (11-1) vs. Thomas Jefferson (11-1).

• When: 5 p.m. Saturday.

• Where: Heinz Field.

• TV: FSN Pittsburgh.

• The skinny: This is a rematch of the 2006 final which Thomas Jefferson won. The Jaguars are in the final for the sixth consecutive year.