TRIB TOTAL MEDIA • 43
KNOCH • GREATER ALLEGHENY
TYLER BUTERBAUGH
KNIGHTS COMING BACK
TO GREATER ALLEGHENY
The Knoch football team has a
clear goal in mind this season.
The Knights are focused on returning
to the WPIAL playoffs for
the first time since 2014, and with
a core group of starters back along
with others ready to make an impact,
coach Brandon Mowry is optimistic
his team can make a run in
its revamped Class 4A conference.
“We are really looking forward
to renewing rivalries with our
old Greater Allegheny Conference
opponents,” Mowry said.
Gone from Knoch’s conference
schedule are South Fayette,
Blackhawk, New Castle, Montour,
Beaver and Ambridge. Only rival
Highlands remains, and the
Knights also will face Armstrong,
Greensburg Salem, Hampton, Indiana,
Mars and Plum.
“Back before we went to six (classifications),
we were the Greater
Allegheny Conference,” Mowry
said. “We were playing these teams
all the time. We are familiar with a
lot of the teams because the coaching
staffs, in some cases, have been
there for 10 to 12 years.”
With the WPIAL adopting a
shortened season in response to
the coronavirus pandemic, Knoch
no longer will face defending
WPIAL Class 3A champion Central
Valley in Week Zero. The Sept.
4 game against rival Freeport now
is a scrimmage, and the Week 10
conference game against Highlands
has been moved to Sept. 11.
The nonconference contest against
Deer Lakes originally on Sept. 11
has been eliminated.
“It’s good to have concrete plans
for the season, even though it’s a
change,” Mowry said. “Us football
coaches, we tend to be very detail
oriented with scheduling things
and scripting things out. We were in
a holding pattern for a while, so now
we know what the situation is, and
we can put together a gameplan and
get ready for the season.”
Despite the changes, Mowry said
his team remains focused on getting
better before the start of the
season.
“No matter how you look at it,
it’s going to be a meat grinder because
we aren’t going to have the
opportunity for any of those nonconference
games,” Mowry said.
“We are going to have to learn
about ourselves more in the practices
leading up to the season or
on the fly in the scrimmages and
early games.”
Knoch returns six starters on
offense and five on defense. Three
of those players, seniors Hunter
Roegnik (offensive tackle/defensive
end), Dalton Reed (offensive
tackle/nose guard) and Keith
Washington (running back/cornerback)
were two-way performers
in 2019.
Others back include senior Eli
Reese (offensive guard), junior
Keagan Fraser (running back), senior
Tyler Buterbaugh (linebacker)
and sophomore Jake Murphy
(linebacker).
Roegnik, Reese, Reed and Buterbaugh
earned honorable mention
all-conference honors in 2019.
“I am very excited for this season,”
Buterbaugh said. “It’s my senior
year, and myself and the other
seniors, we are making sure we
help the team do the right things
to be prepared for whoever we go
up against.”
Junior J.J. Szebalskie, who saw
starting time at running back last
year, will move into the quarterback
spot in the triple-option offense.
“J.J. understands the offense and
all of the reads,” Mowry said. “He
knows when to call an audible to
get us out of bad plays. With the
option, you have to be a running
quarterback, and he can hold his
own that way.”
Mowry said Washington and
Fraser could also factor in at quarterback.
Others expected to see time
include seniors Zane Inklovich
(running back/linebacker), Kyle
Lauster (running back/linebacker)
and Dustin Schlagel (guard/
nose guard); along with juniors
Nevin Peart (tackle/defensive
end), Alex Cotton (guard/defensive
end/linebacker), Gavin McGowan
(running back/middle linebacker)
and Luke Goodlin (running back/
defensive end).
“I think things can kind of play
to our advantage offensively and
defensively being an odd front. Not
a lot of teams run those,” Mowry
said. “The schemes we have on
both sides of the ball should play
to our strong suits.”
by MICHAEL LOVE
Coach: Brandon Mowry
2019 record: 6-4, 4-3
in Class 4A Northwest 8
Conference
All-time record: 303-302-13
SCHEDULE
Date Opponent Time
9.11 Highlands* 7
9.18 at Greensburg Salem* 7
9.25 Armstrong* 7
10.2 at Indiana* 7
10.9 Mars* 7
10.16 Plum* 7
10.23 at Hampton* 7
*CONFERENCE GAME
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Passing Kam Grassi*
37-75, 517 yards, 5 TDs
Receiving Scott Fraser*
20-255 yards, 4 TDs
Rushing Matt Goodlin*
145-1,017 yards, 12 TDs
*GRADUATED
FAST FACTS
• Tyler Buterbaugh led the
Knights defense with 62 tackles
last year. He added three
sacks.
• Knoch missed out on a trip
to the playoffs on a Gardner
Points tiebreaker each of the
past two seasons.
• The Knights were 2-2 last
year in games decided by
seven points or less.
• The Knoch defense surrendered
17.1 points a game in
2019. It ranked fourth in all
of Class 4A behind Thomas
Jefferson (4.3), Belle Vernon
(14.3) and South Fayette
(14.8).
ELI REESE