Schrock carries load for Apollo-Ridge in win over Leechburg

By: Michael Love
Friday, August 25, 2023 | 10:46 PM

Purchase Photo Options

Karter Schrock missed almost the entire 2022 season with a left knee injury.

The Apollo-Ridge senior got back to game action Friday, and his return against rival Leechburg was triumphant.

Schrock carried the ball 28 times for 134 yards and touchdown runs of 2 and 4 yards in the second half and finished with 34 carries for 152 yards overall as the Vikings held off the the Blue Devils, 18-16, in a Week Zero opener at Leechburg’s Veterans Memorial Field.

Apollo-Ridge’s power running game took over in the second half.

“The first half didn’t go as planned, obviously,” Schrock said. “The second half was more of a mental change for all of us. We were getting our butts kicked in the first half. We always had that heavy formation, and we ran it really well when we needed it the most. The linemen stepped it up and blocked great, and we all worked hard together to get the job done.

“I worked hard all offseason to get my leg back to normal and even better. It was a great feeling to be back on the field with my teammates. It was a great win against a really good Leechburg team.”

Apollo-Ridge ran 34 plays in the second half, and 33 of them were on the ground. That was a big difference from the first half when the Vikings held possession for only about five minutes and totaled 42 yards of total offense at halftime.

Apollo-Ridge took the second-half kickoff and marched 82 yards. Schrock finished the drive with a 4-yard run. The conversion run failed, and it was 12-7 Vikings.

Leechburg came back with a field goal as senior Ryan Shaw converted from 36 yards at 5 minutes, 20 seconds left in the third to draw the Blue Devils to within 2.

The winning score, a 2-yard keeper from Schrock out of the shotgun, came with 4:57 left. Leechburg stuffed the 2-point conversion run, and Apollo-Ridge led 18-10.

The Blue Devils responded quickly as junior Jayden Floyd found senior Sebastian Mason for a 42-yard catch-and-run touchdown at the 3:40 mark.

A penalty on the 2-point conversion attempt pushed Leechburg back to its 8. A pass from Floyd was broken up in the end zone, and the score remained 18-16.

That is when Apollo-Ridge took the ball and ran out the clock. Schrock ran eight times, the final one for a first down with 30 seconds left to ice the victory.

“Karter has put so much hard work in to come back and be the guy everyone can look to for leadership on and off the field,” Apollo-Ridge coach John Skiba said.

“We have to use him in positions I don’t think he’s ever been fully comfortable with, but he went in and played that tailback in the second half because we had to get some run game going. We wanted to get the ball and run the clock, which we did. Everyone really did their jobs well in the second half. I am pleased for Karter, and I am pleased for the guys who dug deep and got a really nice win.”

Said Leechburg coach Randy Walters: “That is what we expected Apollo-Ridge would do the whole time.

“Coach Skiba does a really nice job coaching that team. He has some big kids, and they run the ball with power really well. Kudos to them. We tried to stop them but just couldn’t. They had too many bodies at the point of attack, and we just couldn’t get there.”

Leechburg took the opening kickoff and moved the ball well, using 12 plays and more than seven minutes off the first-quarter clock to reach the Apollo-Ridge 20.

Floyd mixed the run and the pass on the drive.

The Blue Devils set up for a 32-yard field goal, but the attempt from senior Ryan Shaw was blocked. Apollo-Ridge’s Alex Wurmb corralled the ball and raced 80 yards to score.

The point-after kick was blocked, but the dramatic turn of events gave Apollo-Ridge a 6-0 lead and momentum.

Leechburg possessed the ball for the entire first quarter and nearly 19 of the 24 minutes in the first half.

The Blue Devils’ second drive moved the ball inside the Apollo-Ridge 10, but a bad snap pushed the ball back to the 30 and a fumble on a reverse on the first play of the second quarter was recovered by Schrock to end Leechburg’s hope for points.

But Leechburg again drove the ball deep inside Apollo-Ridge territory, and with 2:05 left in the half, Floyd gave the Blue Devils the lead with a 22-yard scoring keeper. Shaw added the point-after for a 7-6 advantage.

Leechburg collected 14 first downs in the first half. Apollo-Ridge tallied one.

Floyd had a big game for Leechburg as he completed 18 of 26 passes for 198 yards and added 12 rushes for 116 yards.

Senior Jake Cummings caught seven of Floyd’s passes for 93 yards.

“We had our chances a number of times, but we just made too many mistakes,” Walters said.

“That is going to happen in a first game. We had a big point swing early with the blocked field goal, and we missed another big chance to score when we got inside their 10. I am proud as hell of the kids. They fought so much. We have to learn from this game and learn from our mistakes and work to get better.”

Before the game, Leechburg recognized the house explosion in Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood Aug. 12 that claimed the lives of six residents, including 12-year-old Keegan Clontz.

Clontz was a member of the Plum Midget Football Association, and Leechburg and Apollo-Ridge played the game in his memory.

The Blue Devils wore camouflage jerseys from the Army National Guard in recognition and in honor of Armed Services personnel as well as emergency first responders.

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