Rivalry battle kicks off 2025 season for Leechburg, Apollo-Ridge

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, August 20, 2025 | 4:33 PM

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Last year, the Leechburg and Apollo-Ridge football teams played down to the wire in their annual season-opening clash.

The Blue Devils trailed the Vikings by a touchdown in the fourth quarter at Veterans Memorial Field before rallying for 12 points to earn a 19-14 Week Zero win in the rivalry that dates, in one geographic form or another, to 1919.

Apollo-Ridge hopes for a different outcome Friday as the series shifts back to Owens Field in Apollo. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

“The kids are ready to get the season going, and they’re extra excited to do it against who we play,” Apollo-Ridge coach John Skiba said.

“The two communities get really excited for it. The kids know each other so well from different things throughout the year, and they interact with them. And we have two co-ops with them through soccer, so there is just so much familiarity. We talked after film (Monday) that it’s a different feel this week.”

Leechburg was 25-18-6 against the original Apollo Area High School, but Apollo-Ridge holds a 25-22 edge in the series that dates to 1969.

The Vikings edged the Blue Devils, 18-16, in the 2023 meeting and won 34-28 in 2022.

“It’s been three close games with Apollo-Ridge since I’ve been here (at Leechburg),” sad Blue Devils coach Randy Walters, who saw his team finish last season 8-3 overall with a fourth straight trip to the WPIAL Class A playoffs.

“Good competition always makes for a good rivalry. So many people have stories, and they talk about just how much this rivalry means to them. It’s the same way for everyone at Apollo-Ridge. This game is intense, but it also is a lot of fun. There should be a big crowd there Friday, and I am sure it will be another good game. Our kids have put in so much work to get to this point. They will be ready.”

Skiba said he saw a lot of good things from his team in Saturday’s scrimmage against Riverview, Summit Academy and Brashear.

“I thought we played well and battled,” he said. “We had a unique situation with three other teams there. They got to see three different defenses and three different offenses, so it was good to see us have the ability to jump in and out of different things. Our kids reacted really well to that.

“I liked how much we were physical at the point of attack. I don’t think we were as physical last year, so that was good to see. And it was important to get both quarterbacks (Alex Clawson and Chris Dailey) reps and have them face a number of situations. The biggest thing was that we came out of it healthy, so we are full go on Friday.”

Walters said he saw progress from his players in a limited sample size in Saturday’s scrimmage with Burrell and Washington.

“We went out there and performed well,” Walters said. “Our line is pretty good, and we’re going to lean on them. We took the ball down the field and scored (on Burrell), and then we made a stop. We saw some good things and also some things we know we need to work on. That is a given coming out of the scrimmage.”

Familiarity breeds understanding when teams play each other as much as Leechburg and Apollo-Ridge. Walters and Skiba said it always is a challenge to game plan for the other based on the talent each team has.

“Leechburg didn’t get as many (first-team) reps in against Burrell in their scrimmage as they would’ve liked, but we did see some things where we know we are going to have to bring our best game to counteract what they do,” Skiba said.

“They’re experienced and strong up front. That is where it all starts for them. The biggest thing for us will be to handle the line of scrimmage. The point-of-attack stuff will be big for us, and we will have to be able to match that. We didn’t play well up front in the game last year.

“We know they have a really good tailback in (senior) Timmy (Andrasy) who is a quick and hard-nosed runner. They can ground-and-pound you with the run game and then spread you out. We have to be ready for both. We just have to play sound football to get a win Friday.”

Andrasy leads the Blue Devils’ run game, whereas junior Jaxon Vargo, the backup to Valley News Dispatch Offensive Player of the Year Jayden Floyd the past two seasons, takes over at quarterback.

Walters said he sees an improved Apollo-Ridge team ready to bounce back from last year’s 1-8 record.

“Apollo-Ridge is the same type of team I’ve seen the previous few times we’ve played them,” he said.

“Coach Skiba does a nice job with them. They are big, strong and well-coached. They are going to be extremely amped up for this game. They have good experience on both sides of the ball. We have to be ready to take it to them and make plays because there won’t be too many times where we will be able to take advantage of their mistakes. It will probably be down to the wire again.”

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, Leechburg