Multi-talented Fraser hopes to have healthy season, be key player for Knoch

By: Michael Love
Saturday, August 21, 2021 | 6:33 PM

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Keegan Fraser is on multiple missions entering football season.

The Knoch senior running back, H-back and free safety hopes to be a major factor on both sides of the ball to help the Knights rebound from a winless 2020.

To do that, a personal crusade Fraser is hoping to accomplish is to stay healthy, something that has been an issue the past two seasons.

“I hurt my ankles last year, so I did a lot of physical therapy and worked to get them better the whole offseason,” said Fraser, who missed four of his team’s seven games during his junior season. “I feel really good right now.”

Despite the games lost last year, Fraser finished with a team-best five rushing touchdowns in the triple-option offense, carrying the ball 50 times for 213 yards.

At about 200 pounds — up 10 to 15 pounds from last year — Fraser is ready to carry the load in the backfield in the new wing-T offense with fellow senior Gavin McGowan, who led the Knights with 58 carries for 277 yards and two scores in 2020.

“Keegan has missed a lot of time with injury, but we definitely need him to be healthy and productive on both sides of the ball,” Knoch coach Brandon Mowry said.

“With the changes to the offense, it’s about getting guys in the right spots. He’s ready to show his versatility, whether it be at the tailback running the ball or at H-back with the opportunity to catch the ball.”

Fraser said he values his connection in and out of football with older brother Scott, a 2020 Knoch graduate and current sophomore on the football team at Grove City.

Scott earned second-team Valley News Dispatch all-star honors as a senior in 2019 after catching 20 passes for 255 yards and four touchdowns while also recording 36 tackles and a team-best five interceptions.

“I’ve always looked up to my brother,” Keegan said. “We’ve always been best friends. I’ve gone to him for football advice a lot, and he’s always there for me. When he’s at school, we try to talk a couple of times a week to see how each other is doing. It’s pretty cool.”

Keegan, as a freshman, carried the ball for the JV team and also was on the kickoff team for varsity.

“That was a little scary,” he said concerning the high-speed collision course he was on each time the Knights kicked off.

He entered his sophomore season ready to step up into larger roles for Knoch in its final season in the Class 4A Northwest Conference.

But because of injuries (knee/leg) he suffered in preseason camp, he missed all but the final two games of that season.

“I had worked really hard all summer to be ready for the season,” Fraser said. “I was hoping to play a lot with my brother, and I also wanted to help the team win games. We had a good team, and I was really looking forward to the season. It was very frustrating to miss those games, but it was a great feeling to get the chance to play with my brother, even if it was just for those couple of games.”

Fraser and the rest of the Knights hoped to make their marks Saturday in a home scrimmage against Beaver Falls, last year’s WPIAL Class 2A champion.

Knoch will kick off its season Friday at home with a stiff challenge in Week Zero against defending WPIAL and PIAA Class 3A champion Central Valley.

“We’re really excited to get the season started,” said Fraser, who, at free safety, makes a lot of the defensive calls.

“Last season definitely stung with how it went. We were all really close and were there for each other, but we just wished we could’ve won a little more. That definitely fueled us to work hard in the offseason and to keep working hard every day.”

Fraser likes the way the new wing-T offense is shaping up. With the talent on the offensive line and the weapons at the skill positions, he feels it can create a lot of headaches for opposing defenses.

“We all had to pay attention and listen closely as everything was put in during the offseason,” he said. “I think we have it all down now. The line is blocking really good so far, and being a little further back, it gives me time to think and make the best read running the ball. I know the offense can be really productive.”

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: Knoch