Kiski School earns victories in 6 of final 7 games for 1st winning record in 3 seasons

By: Ted Sarneso
Monday, November 25, 2024 | 11:04 AM

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What a turnaround it was for the Kiski School football program.

After going 1-8 last year, the Cougars opened 2024 with losses in their first two games, won two in a row before losing to the Potomac School on Sept. 27 to sit at 2-3.

The Cougars rallied to close the season on a four-game winning streak to finish 6-3. It was the school’s first winning record since it went 5-3 in 2021.

“It was huge for the school and the program,” coach David Buran said. “How the season went, how we finished so strong, it will be great for recruiting for next year.”

The recruiting process, which is the life blood for prep schools such as the Kiski School, already has started and is yielding promising numbers for the Cougars.

“We’re already talking to a number of kids who are local,” Buran said. “We had some kids come to our open house at the beginning of the week ending Nov. 16. There’s a list of 15 or 16 that we’re talking to right now. We talk to a lot of kids between now and the start of the season, but seeing interest is up is great.”

This year’s Cougars were powered by players with local ties.

Running back Levi Porter, from Indiana, Pa., finished his season with 1,032 total yards of offense. He ran for 775 yards and six touchdowns, amassed 252 kick return yards and returned one for a touchdown. Defensively, he had three interceptions and returned two for touchdowns.

The defense was led by Adrian Valdez, a junior linebacker from Fox Chapel, who had 96 total tackles, two interceptions and four sacks.

Defensive end Owen Sinclair, a Murrysville native, was second on the team with 65 tackles, led the team with 20 tackles for loss and had seven sacks.

“They did a great job,” Buran said. “Owen is a hell of a football player, just a great leader of this team. Adrian did a super job at linebacker, had a ton of tackles and just has a nose for the ball. Between those guys, they did a super job leading the way for us.”

Allison Park’s Hunter Richardson added 22 tackles and eight tackles for loss and one sack.

Quarterback Mason Smith, a product of Philadelphia, threw for 500 yards and six touchdowns, had six more scores on the ground and totaled 149 rushing yards. He was a force from his defensive end spot with 14 tackles for loss and led the team with 12 sacks.

The Cougars will also tap into the international pool. They had players from eight different countries, including Leo Brueggemann and Jeremy Bjick from Germany and Zipeng “Stevey” Shen from China.

“I already had a conversation with a guy we have from Gridiron Imports, an outfit we’ve gotten a lot of our international players through,” Buran said. “We had kids from China, France, Germany and Mexico making significant impacts this year. We’re talking about finding kids that could be a good fit for us next year.”

There is a lot for the Cougars to replace, though not as much as in prior years. They lose 16 seniors from this year’s team, but only five — Smith, Sinclair, Cedric and Ahmad Ragland and Brueggemann — played crucial roles this season.

“We’re going to have kids from this team playing at all three levels of Division I next year,” Buran said. “Smith has offers from multiple D-I programs, and Sinclair is in that ballpark, still looking at Ivy League schools.”

Even with the loss of so many seniors, the Cougars still return the bulk of their roster and are optimistic about how they look for the future.

“We’re really excited about having half the team coming back,” Buran said. “Running back Levi Porter will be a senior next year, and we have linemen coming back, which is something we don’t often have. We’re in a position we haven’t been in for a long time.”

There are also solid players on the interior coming back, including Jeremy Bjick, who will be a senior next season and is currently competing for Kiski’s wrestling team, and sophomore Zipeng “Stevey” Shen who became a versatile player for the Cougars up front.

“Jeremy did an absolutely wonderful job playing on the defensive line,” Buran said. “We’re looking for big things from him next year. It was amazing to see his athletic talent and how he’s grown in such a short time. Shen also grew as a player and was someone we relied on to play every position along the line.”

The Cougars’ defense was the driving force behind the late winning streak, which began with a 47-13 drubbing of the Potomac School out of Virginia on Oct. 5.

In that game Kiski’s defense forced six turnovers, including five interceptions. Cedric Ragland and Porter each pulled in two picks.

“Defense played really well,” Buran said. “Coordinator Jon Shelton did an incredible job of scheming things up against the teams we saw.”

Porter returned both his picks for touchdowns and also ran the ball for 100 yards on seven carries and a touchdown and contributed 131 return yards.

In their next two games, the Cougars beat the Blair Academy in New Jersey, 17-14, and Wyoming Seminary, 17-7.

The Cougars had previously lost their last 10 contests against Blair, but Porter racked up 165 rushing yards on just nine carries.

“He did a fantastic job running the ball,” Buran said. “Playing on both sides of the ball, he’s just an all-around great football player.”

The defense held firm as the game was tight late and Sinclair sacked the quarterback on fourth down at Kiski’s 5-yard line to seal the victory.

Against Wyoming Seminary, Porter broke a 7-7 tie late with a 65-yard rushing TD and the Cougars’ special teams blocked a field goal and a punt.

In the final game of the season, Kiski traveled to West Virginia and took on rival Linsly School.

“We’ve had a long relationship with Linsly,” Buran said. “I played against them when I went to Shady Side for high school. The two schools have a long history, and the feeling when you play Linsly is the records don’t matter.”

The Cougars went ahead 11-0 on a field goal from Leo Brueggemann and a touchdown run and two-point conversion from Porter.

Linsly stormed back with a precision passing game to take a 21-11 lead into halftime.

After a 5-yard score from senior Ahmad Ragland, the defense once again forced an interception as Adrian Valdez made an acrobatic play off a tipped pass. Porter scored from 2 yards out, and Kiski was up again 25-21.

With just over two minutes remaining in the game, Linsly hit on a 55-yard touchdown pass for a three-point lead.

The Cougars drove 50 yards after a strong kickoff return from Cedric Ragland and were at Linsly’s 6-yard line with 5 seconds left.

Kiski snapped the ball and looked to pass, but with no one open, senior quarterback Mason Smith took off and got exceptional blocking as he plunged his way into the end zone as time expired, giving Kiski a 31-28 win.

After the game, there were tears streaming down the faces of the Cougars and hugs were plentiful as the team basked in the success of their season and the seniors took a final lap.

“It was a petty special year,” Buran said. “One of the best parts about the season was the kids. They were positive, worked hard all year and never gave up. The bonds they had with each other and the coaches, it was incredible how they came together as one. It was a great finish.”

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