Sophomore quarterback Shrubb holds keys for Keystone Oaks

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, August 15, 2018 | 10:33 PM

Keystone Oaks is coming off a winning season, but for the first time in three years, more wins than losses did not lead to a postseason berth.

The Golden Eagles finished 4-3 and in fourth place in the Class 3A Allegheny Conference and 5-4 overall. Hopes of a third straight trip to the playoffs for KO were dashed with a Week 8 loss at Freeport and a Week 9 home loss to Seton LaSalle.

But 2017 was a changing of the guard of sorts for Keystone Oaks under center as they went from the golden arm of Alex Smith, who threw for more than 3,000 yards as the Golden Eagles finished 9-2 and reached the semifinals in 2016, to freshman signal-caller Logan Shrubb. The rookie hit on 109 of 205 passes for 1,280 yards and 10 touchdowns last fall.

“As usual we need good QB play from Logan Shrubb,” Keystone Oaks coach Greg Perry said. “We expect big things from him as he progresses. He is a dual-threat QB who will be a good one.”

The Golden Eagles return seven starters on both offense and defense, including Michael Dauer, who was the team’s leading rusher (1,134 yards), scorer (19 touchdowns) and second leading receiver (28 receptions for 266 yards).

Perry says Daure, an all-conference running back from a year ago and a safety and linebacker on defense, is the team’s “go-to player.”

“Daure is the key on both sides,” Perry said. “He runs in the 4.5s and has good instincts.”

“We expect to be a lot better than last year,” Daure said. “We want it this year; we want to make it back and we expect to get to the playoffs.”

As a senior, Daure is expecting a lot from his sophomore signal caller.

“He (Shrubb) can be as good as he wants to be, it all depends on him,” Daure said. “He’s a hard-working kid, and the sky’s the limit for him.”

C.J. Morrow (29 receptions for 344 yards in ’17) and Tyler Hrivnak (12 catches for 274 yards) will be the Golden Eagles playmakers at wide receiver.

Gavin Harris, Christian Erny, along with Luke Garda, return on the offensive line, while junior Robert Volpe will move to center. Derek Karolak and Garda return to lead the Golden Eagles’ defensive line.

Keystone Oaks moves from the Allegheny Conference to the new Tri-County West Conference. Perry knows the Golden Eagles have to be good if they are going to return to the WPIAL playoffs.

“We move into a powerful conference that we are kind of familiar with. Aliquippa seems to be loaded again so they look like the favorite in 3A,” he said.

“There seems to be a lot of movement of kids from school to school so we aren’t sure what other schools have. All in all, it looks like a really good conference with a lot of tradition. Hopefully, we can meet the challenge.”

Schedule

Coach: Greg Perry

2017 record: 5-4, 4-3

All-time record: 423-428-37

Date, Opponent, Time

8.24, Seton LaSalle, 7 p.m.

8.31, Highlands, 7 p.m.

9.7, at Hopewell*, 7 p.m.

9.14, at South Park*, 7 p.m.

9.21, Central Valley*, 7 p.m.

9.28, Quaker Valley*, 7 p.m.

10.5, at Beaver Falls*, 7 p.m.

10.12, Deer Lakes, 7 p.m.

10.19, at Aliquippa*, 7 p.m.

10.26, at Waynesburg*, 7 p.m.

*Class 3A Tri-County West Conference game

Statistical leaders

Passing: Logan Shrubb

109-205, 1,280 yards, 10 TDs

Rushing: Michael Daure

183-1,134 yards, 19 TDs

Receiving: C.J. Morrow

29-344 yards, 4 TDs

Don Rebel is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Don at drebel@tribweb.com.

Tags: Keystone Oaks