Apollo-Ridge QBs commiserate in return from injuries

By: Michael Love
Saturday, August 9, 2025 | 8:57 PM

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Two years ago, Alex Clawson suffered a serious ankle injury during an early-season game for the Apollo-Ridge football team and was lost for the rest of his sophomore campaign.

Last year as a sophomore, Chris Dailey suffered the same fate as an ankle injury in the second game of the Vikings’ season led to surgery, and he was forced to miss the rest of the season.

Fast forward to now, and Clawson and Dailey are healthy veteran quarterbacks who are ready to contribute to what Apollo-Ridge football hopes is a run that returns it to the WPIAL playoffs for the first time since 2022.

“We’re both working and splitting reps right now,” said Dailey, also an outside linebacker on defense.

“We’ll see what happens. We’re both competitors. I definitely think that in certain situations and packages, we could be rotating in and out. Alex and I have a good connection. We work well with each other.”

Apollo-Ridge coach John Skiba said the quarterback situation within the overall team dynamic is solid.

“Both Alex and Chris are working incredibly hard, and they are smart, strong leaders on and off the field,” Skiba said. “It gives us things to think about. Both have played a lot of football, and they understand so much of what we are doing now. They both can do what we ask them to do. Alex likes to take off a little bit more than Chris does, and Chirs is more of a drop-back, pocket passer who can sit in and deliver.

“We can also put them out there together, too.”

Clawson said it was devastating to see Dailey go down with his season-ending injury.

“Sophomore year is such a crucial one. I knew how he felt having to go through the recovery process and lose a lot of time and opportunity to play,” said Clawson, who went down in the third game of the 2023 season with torn ankle ligaments that required surgery.

Dailey’s injury gave Clawson an opportunity last year in his return to take over the full-time quarterback role.

He completed 136 of 241 passes for 1,762 yards, an average of 176.2 yards per game, with 12 touchdowns against eight interceptions.

“It felt great to be back on the field with the team,” Clawson said. “The camaraderie was there. At the same time, with my game, there were a lot of things I had to clean up for this year. The interception to touchdown ratio was not where I wanted it to be, at all. We might have had a decent amount of yards, but at the end of the day, I felt I didn’t do enough to help my team.”

Apollo-Ridge finished the 2024 season 1-8 overall with its win coming in the season finale against Ligonier Valley.

Dailey was in at starting quarterback in the Vikings’ Week 1 game against Jeannette.

During a first-quarter run, he was brought down by a Jayhawks defender, and his ankle gave way.

“I was tackled at a weird angle, and it just twisted,” Dailey said. “I knew right away that something was really wrong.”

Surgery was required to repair the torn ligaments, and rehab and physical therapy followed. He was out of action for three months.

The wait was over in early December when he was cleared for winter agility and resistance training.

“It felt really good to be back, especially since I went down as a starter and had to sit and watch the rest of the season,” Dailey said. “I wish I could’ve helped the team on the field.”

But Dailey was there to support his teammates, including Clawson, in practice and on the sideline during games.

“I wanted to help with some of the mental stuff, and also in practice or a game, relaying something I saw that he might not have seen,” Dailey said. “I wanted to be a second set of eyes. I just wanted to help the team however I could while I recovered.”

Putting the helmet and shoulder pads back on this summer and now in practice as the season gets closer has Dailey energized.

“Normally, after a whole offseason, it feels good to be out here anyway, but after missing a whole season, it means so much more,” Dailey said. “I am so excited to compete and be in the best position to win football games.”

Clawson credits offensive line coach Max Yonko for what he has done with the line up front, which gives all the skill positions, including he and Dailey at quarterback, the confidence to go out and do their jobs for the team.

“I have a good feeling knowing the line is conditioned, they’re playing as one and they know what they are doing to protect us and give us lanes to run when we need to. I trust them, and they trust us to produce.”

Clawson again will help man the secondary as a third-year starter at free safety.

Apollo-Ridge players will test their mettle in a scrimmage Saturday with Riverview and Brashear.

The Vikings then open the season with their annual Week Zero rivalry matchup with Leechburg at Owens Field. The Blue Devils took last year’s game 19-14.

“I believe that we, with so many people back on both sides of the ball, can have a big year,” Clawson said. “We only lost four or five seniors from last year. We put in so much work all summer. We’ve been showing up every day and building towards the season. I am excited to see what we can do.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Apollo-Ridge