Keystone Oaks KOs Quaker Valley 27-20

The Keystone Oaks Golden Eagles knew that winning Friday night’s game against Quaker Valley was crucial. Not only were they looking for their first “home” win of the season, but their first conference victory as well. And while it took overcoming some late game obstacles, the Golden Eagles prevailed.

“We just need to learn how to finish— we seem to start fast and then whether it’s a lack of experience or thinking, ‘Oh this will be easy,’ we need to realize it’s never easy,” KO head coach Nick Kamberis said. “It’s my job to get these guys focused. As coaches, we take a lot of time talking about adversity, how to deal with it, how to bounce back, but we don’t talk a lot about how to deal with success.”

Success was experienced by the Golden Eagles almost instantly in the first quarter when senior captain Cody Alward scored a nearly flawless 76-yard touchdown 17 seconds into the game. Shortly after, Quaker Valley quarterback, Brian Moser, threw a pick right into the hands of junior captain, Cory Sevacko, which he turned into a 17-yard Keystone Oaks gain.

"Being a team captain means a lot to me since I am only a junior,” said Sevacko. “Going into this game, I was focused. I knew we needed to not only get this win but to win the first conference game also.”

After struggling in the red zone to capitalize on the interception, Dom Canello made a 20-yard field goal to up the score 10 to 0 Golden Eagles with 7:22 still left in the first quarter. 

Another Quaker Valley interception was thrown during their next offensive drive; however, this time, the Golden Eagles could not come up with any answers. And when the Quakers offense gained possession of the ball back with just shy of four minutes left in the first, they started to get into their grove. 

Then the tables began to turn. Wilson Perez, a senior, became explosive on both sides of the field for the remainder of the half, notably nabbing the team’s first first down of the night. Cue freshman Aaron Cunningham, who made a debut for himself, scoring a 3-yard touchdown after several attempts to break through the Golden Eagle D-line.

“I’m just honored that the coaches trust me enough and that the players trust me enough, to allow me to play,” Cunningham said. “I want to go to playoffs, I want to go all the way to Heinz Field.”

During their last offensive possession of the half, junior running back Dale Klubichur did damage on the turf with a 30-yard run into Quaker’s territory.

At the half, the teams each had only five first downs a piece, with a score of 17-7 Keystone Oaks. KO quarterback Matt Buckley threw two touchdowns as well as two interceptions and was 4 of 9 for 184 yards. On the contrary, all 77 Quaker yards were on the ground, 36 of which belonged to Perez.

The second half got off to a slow start as Quaker Valley struggled to surpass midfield after a 15-yard return by senior Jordan Vescio. Vescio later added to his highlight reel by scoring two of the team’s touchdowns, one of which came from a fumble recovered by David Flewelling.

With the extra point in tact, the score was now 17-14 with the Golden Eagles fighting to hold on to their early lead.

Keystone Oaks’ next possession saw more misfortune as they experienced two 5-yard penalties and two incomplete passes, leaving them stranded at midfield and forced to punt.

Another short and ineffective Quaker drive forced kicker Nelson Westwood to punt; however, the 18-yard punt was muffed by Vescio, granting the Quakers control of the ball. Although, the Golden Eagles used this as a chance to get aggressive, and the KO defense stopped the Quakers dead in their tracks.

“The old motto is defense wins championships, but we’re looking for our kids to play hard on both sides of the field,” Kamberis said.

Although the offense wasn’t able to go all the way on their next drive, Keystone Oaks rounded out the third quarter with a field goal setting them ahead 20-14.

The fourth quarter opened with Cunningham buzzing through holes in the Golden Eagles special teams for a 27-yard run back to midfield. Following a fumble recovered by Vescio, Moser completed a perfect 23-yard pass to Vescio to tie the game at 20. A 15-yard celebration penalty was awarded and the 35-yard extra point was no good. 

Keystone Oaks’ Mark McCann felt the urge to win as he took the ball an impressive 61 yards to the Quaker 36-yard line, which in due course led to the final score of the game, a diving catch in the end zone made by Sevacko. With the extra point good the score was now 27-20.

“I think we are good but we are going to need to get better on both sides of the field,” Sevacko said in regards to his team’s future.

The Golden Eagles were able to hold the Quakers for one last drive to claim their victory after a tumultuous game of ups and downs.  Keystone Oaks’ defense was outstandingly led by seniors Mike Sloan and Cody Alward and sophomore John Beveridge.

“We have to learn how to win. We have to learn how to take advantage of situations,” said Quaker’s head coach John Tortorea. “We need to learn how to capitalize on these specific types of situations when they present themselves.”