Oct 13, 2016 By Eleanor Bailey 4 min read

Keystone Oaks football coach Greg Perry knows plenty about his opponent this week even though the Golden Eagles have played Apollo-Ridge once.

“It takes an hour and 40 minutes to get there and they have Duane Brown,” said Perry.

Brown, who has returned to action after suffering an ACL injury during the summer, is a Robert Morris recruit that doubles as a tailback and wide receiver on offense. He played a key role in KO’s playoff loss last season.

“They like to get the ball to him in many ways and our job will be to find out where he is and stop him,” Perry said of Brown. “He makes a lot of big plays.”

But so does Alex Smith. The senior quarterback has led KO to the top of the Allegheny Conference standings. The Golden Eagles are 4-0 in the league and 5-1 overall after a 42-6 win against Burrell.

In the triumph, Smith rushed for five touchdowns and 198 yards. The Duquesne recruit also threw for 196 yards, completing 10 0f 17 passing attempts. Smith’s TD runs gobbled up 27, 37, 16, 24 and 41 yards.

Smith ranks second in the WPIAL with 1,442 yards passing and 13 touchdowns. He is on pace to have a 4,000-yard season, combining both his passing and rushing yardage.

“He’s a dual threat,” said Perry. “He ranks up there as he is very good. He has opened things up for us by using both his arms and his legs.”

Smith, however, is not KO’s only weapon. Dylan Knorr hauled in a 51-yard scoring strike from Smith. He and Nick Hrivank ranked among the receiving leaders in the district. Plus, the WPIAL recently ruled Quran Powe eligible. He was the top receiver for the Golden Eagles against Burrell, pulling in five passes for 100 yards.

“We are excited about our weapons. Plus, all of our wide receivers play defense and that is a big help,” Perry said.

A bigger plus, he added, is KO is playing with a full line-up. Some players injured earlier in the season have returned to the line-up. “We are a healthy team and that is a good thing when you are heading into week seven of the season. I am happy with the way we are playing right now.”

South Fayette at Indiana

The Lions pulled off another impressive win in Northwest Nine Conference action when they downed New Castle, 37-13. The Lions are undefeated at 7-0 overall and 5-0 in the conference.

In the win, Geavonie Love rolled up four scores on rushes of 1, 3, 10 and 33 yards. Dan Trimbur kicked a 33-yard field goal and converted four extra points. Joe Mowod rushed for a 1-yard TD for SF’s other score.

South Fayette now prepares for Indiana. The Little Indians are 3-3 overall and ride a two-game winning streak into battle. They featured Luke Thomas at quarterback and Ryan Hoff is one of his favorite targets. Trajan Jones anchors the defensive line at end and Cam Richards the offensive line.

“Indiana is spread oriented. They like to throw the ball all over the place,” said coach Joe Rossi. “Their offensive line led the way the past two weeks, especially when they beat Knoch. They are very active on defense. We look forward to a great challenge.”

North Hills at CV

The Colts are coming off a disappointing defeat at the hands of Moon, 22-13. With the loss, the Colts dropped to 1-4 in the conference and 2-5 overall.

In the loss, Reed Bruggeman completed 12 of 18 passes for 216 yards and two scoring strikes of 32 and 14 yards to Connor Barrett. Barrett caught six passes for 117 yards.

SLS at Freeport

The Rebels improved to 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the Allegheny Conference after rolling over Deer Lakes, 21-7.

Lionel Deanes rushed for 217 yards and two touchdowns. His 10th and 11th scores of the season accounted for 1 and 4 of those yards.

Nolan Abbiatici accounted for the other score when he caught a 2-yard pass from Nick Kurgh. Cullen Vereb kicked the extra points for the Rebels.

McKeesport at USC

The Panthers get a break from conference action as they look to regroup from their first loss of the season to West Allegheny, 33-7. The Panthers are 5-1 overall but dropped to third place in the section as West-A and Woodland Hills are both undefeated at 5-0. USC visits the Wolverines on Oct. 28.

In the loss to West-A, Blake Kadar’s 48-yard TD run accounted for USC’s lone score. Dom Cepullio caught five passes for 36 yards.