Apollo-Ridge gets KO’d from playoffs by Keystone Oaks

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, October 13, 2017 | 11:57 PM

Last season, Keystone Oaks knocked Apollo-Ridge out of the postseason with its win over the Vikings.

Going into Friday night's game against the Golden Eagles, the Vikings were a long shot to make the 2017 Class 3A postseason bracket but still had a mathematical chance. But again, Keystone Oaks made sure the Vikings will be home for the postseason as the Golden Eagles to rode the arm of freshman quarterback Logan Shrubb's four-touchdown performance in a 35-13 victory over Apollo-Ridge in an Allegheny Conference matchup at Dormont Memorial Stadium.

“(Shrubb's) getting it, you now what I mean?” Keystone Oaks coach Greg Perry said. “This is his seventh start, and he's 14 years old and we do a lot with our quarterbacks. It's not easy, and I've never started anybody under a junior in the 26 years I've been coaching football and quarterbacks.”

Apollo-Ridge (4-4, 2-4) took the early lead when freshman running back Logan Harmon scored on a 2-yard dive for a 7-0 first-quarter lead. The Vikings came back and scored their second touchdown when freshman quarterback Jacob Fello dropped a beautiful pass over the shoulder of junior wide receiver Bradley Milko for a 25-yard touchdown to give the Vikings all the momentum and a 13-0 lead with 6 minutes, 17 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

“We came out and had a nice drive and scored, came out and had a nice drive and scored, made some plays and then we started getting dinged up,” Apollo-Ridge coach John Skiba said. “It's the inexcusable stuff that we do to ourselves and then all of the sudden we melt.”

The Vikings' second touchdown of the night served as an alarm clock for the Golden Eagles. Keystone Oaks (5-1, 4-1) came back, drove right down the field and scored when Shrubb found CJ Morrow for a 13-yard touchdown pass to make it 13-7.

Just when Apollo-Ridge thought it might be able to get out of the first half with the lead, the Vikings turned the ball over on their 34-yard line. One play later, Shrubb spotted Tyler Hrivnak for a 34-yard touchdown pass to give the Golden Eagles the lead for good at 14-13.

“We turned the ball over and gave them a nice gift down there on the (30-yard line),” Skiba said. “We shoot ourselves every week, and somehow we're trying to get back into this thing and win some games. We've struggled with the rebound part and to stop the bleeding, but somehow they're letting it continue.”

Shrubb went 20 of 32 for 231 yards and four touchdowns, and Hrivnak led all receivers with 86 yards.

Keystone Oaks owned the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball in the second half. Fello had no time to pass, and the Apollo-Ridge running game wasn't there. The Golden Eagles sacked Fello six times in the second half and eliminated the mobile quarterback from picking up any significant yards rushing, as well.

“We kind of told our guys at halftime that we got to stay in our rush lanes, and they did a good job of that,” Perry said.

With Keystone Oaks getting the push up front, it opened the running game for junior running back Michael Daure. He finished with 100 yards rushing on 15 carries, with 84 yards coming in the second half. Daure scored on a 32-yard run to widen the Golden Eagles lead to 21-13 in the third quarter. Duare also had three touchdowns called back due to penalties.

“(Daure) had four (touchdowns) called back against Valley in Week 1, so we haven't progressed any,” Perry said.

Shrubb connected with Morrow on a 16-yard touchdown pass to extend Keystone Oaks' lead to 28-13, and in the fourth quarter, Shrubb found Ryan Musulin from 27 yard for the game's final touchdown.

Fello finished 8 of 14 for 90 yards, and Harmon had 70 yards on 18 carries for Apollo-Ridge.

“It would be phenomenal to play a full 48 (minutes),” Skiba said. “It's getting frustrating. I know that because each week we put a pretty good game plan together, and when we're fresh and on top of our game, we're pretty good.”

William Whalen is a freelance writer.

Tags: Apollo-Ridge, Keystone Oaks