Kiski School football leaning on run game, suffocating defense

By: Ted Sarneso
Tuesday, October 14, 2025 | 5:29 PM

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The Kiski School football team opened the season with a unique opportunity, getting the chance to showcase its talents overseas in a game in Dublin against the National U19 team of Ireland on Aug. 22 as part of the Global Ireland Football Tournament (GIFT), an annual international invitational tournament.

The Cougars put on a stellar performance, shutting out the Wolfhounds, 59-0, beginning the season on the right foot.

“It was great to see the guys get things going for the upcoming season, especially with travel and the five-hour time difference,” coach Aaron Smetanka said. “It was outstanding on their part, adapting to all those changes, and putting it together in all three phases of the game.”

Leading the Cougars that Saturday afternoon was junior quarterback Jaivin Peel, who went 6 of 13 for 138 yards and four touchdowns, three of them to wide receiver Noa Seyi Ono­biono, who accumulated 50 yards through the air.

On the ground, running back Max McMillan carried the ball seven times for 97 yards, and Machael Armstrong, Mason Jones and Adrian Valdez each scored a touchdown. Junior Levi Porter returned a punt 30 yards for a score.

Meanwhile, the defense was in the Wolfhounds’ backfield all day, registering six tackles for loss, a sack and a fumble recovery for a touchdown by Ryan Chambers.

Kiski was riding high as it returned for back-to-back home games against the Hill School and Saint James School, but it appeared to leave its offense back in Ireland.

Against Hill School, the Cougars totaled just 63 yards passing, gaining most of their yards on the ground as five players combined to run for 240 yards and McMilllan and Porter scored in a 16-14 defeat on a late field goal by Hill School.

The next week, the Cougars missed a field goal in the first quarter and had a 55-yard touchdown called back in the second because of a holding call. Most of Kiski’s second-half possessions were hampered by penalties, and Saint James came away with a 10-7 win.

“We’ve shown a lot of good things on the field, but I think our team, players and coaches both, felt like we left a lot of plays out there on the field that we didn’t fully execute on that would have turned those games around and we would have had a different outcome,” Smetanka said.

The Cougars then became road warriors as they traveled to the Peddie School in New Jersey and the William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia, coming away with 27-14 and 22-13 wins, respectively.

Peel threw for 140 yards and a touchdown to Elijah White. McMillan, Porter and Jones combined for 166 yards on the ground. McMillan had a pair of 6-yard touchdowns, and Porter punched in another score against Peddie. Defensively, White picked off two passes.

“Very important to get back to winning football with that win, and it was our first road game back on U.S. soil,” Smetanka said. “We travelled, and the guys spent the night in a hotel and were well-rested, up and ready to go for the game on Saturday.”

Going into the game against Penn Charter, Kiski was looking to atone for a 45-28 loss at the hands of the Quakers last year.

Armstrong got the start at quarterback against Penn Charter and went 9-16 with a pair of touchdown passes, one of which went to Elan McCrorey, who also picked off two passes on defense, returning one 60 yards for the decisive score.

Kiski travelled on the road again the following week and shut out Wyoming Seminary in Kingston, 20-0. Porter and McMillan combined for 155 yards on the ground, with Porter scoring on a 48-yard run and McMillan punching the ball in from 1 and 2 yards.

The Cougars (5-2) beat Blair Academy, N.J., 16-8, on Saturday. Lewin Tauberschmidt hit a 35-yard field goal, Armstrong ran for a 2-yard score, and Porter ran one in from 5 yards.

Through their first six games this season, the Cougars scored an average of 24.8 points, two points more than their average last season (22.6) and through the first six games of last year (22.3).

Porter, McMillan and Jones have combined to rush for 786 yards and 10 touchdowns as the ground game has been a strength for the Cougars.

“At times we’ve had each of them start a game because all three are versatile and can play multiple positions for us,” Smetanka said. “We’ve ridden the hot hand. They’ve all got great vision, are seeing the holes and doing a good job of getting downhill as quickly as possible.”

But what cannot be overlooked is the Cougars defense.

Kiski is allowing 7.8 points a game through their first six games, the most in a game being 16. In comparison, the Cougars surrendered 24.6 a game last season through their first six games. They are on pace to shatter their total points allowed per game last year (21.8).

They have scored two defensive touchdowns, pressured the quarterback 50 times, registered 17 sacks and recorded 50 tackles for loss. Emanual Safikhanyi, who hails from Belgium, leads the team in sacks.

They have also forced 20 turnovers (nine fumbles and 11 interceptions). Elan McCrorey, a transfer from New Jersey, leads the team with five interceptions.

Linebackers Porter (34), McMillan (29) and Jones (19 1/2) have done a solid job tackling, wrapping up opponents and shutting down offenses.

“You have to have a good defense to keep you in games and provide your offense some opportunities,” Smetanka said.

That was never more evident than in the win over Wyoming, when the game was played mostly in the Wyoming end, which allowed the offense to work with a short field all game.

“They’re a physical unit,” Smetanka said of his defense. “They pursue the ball and force a lot of turnovers. It will be nice to see these guys play and keep their foot on the gas over the final games of our season.”

Kiski will look to use its combination of lights-out defense and a solid, deep running game to continue rolling through the rest of its schedule.

“We’re taking it a day at a time and trying to get the most out of each day’s practice,” Smetanka said. “Making sure our guys are preparing for Saturday by making corrections from the prior week and building off the previous day’s practice.”

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