Oct 6, 2017 3 min read

Name: Joey Koroly

School: Trinity

Sport: Football

Class: Senior

Koroly’s week: The Hillers’ tailback set the school’s single-game rushing record by gaining 358 yards in a 62-34 victory over Blackhawk in a nonconference game Friday.

The total broke Bill Burns’ previous record of 341 yards in a 1992 game against Uniontown. Koroly also is chasing the career rushing record at Trinity, 3,304 yards, set by Ben Jennings (2003-05). He is just under 200 yards away from that accomplishment. The next milestone would be 4,000 career rushing yards. He is a little more than 800 yards away from that total.

Koroly also scored four touchdown to break the school’s career record. Koroly has 43 touchdowns, two more than the 41 by Ben Jennings. Koroly scored on runs of 9, 21, 1 and 40 against Blackhawk.

“I heard I was close to the career touchdown record, but the single-season scoring record? I had no clue,” said Koroly. “I just went out there and played the game the way I always do. I was surprised when they told me (how many yards I had).”

Another record fell in Friday’s game when Dylan Kern broke the career mark for touchdown passes with 21. Cody Endres previously held the record with 20.

Style change: When Koroly began his varsity career, he was undersized. At 5-11 and 170 pounds now, he still is not the largest tailback in the WPIAL. As a junior, he gained 1,264 yard with a running style that attempted to avoid hard hits.

“Joey can do anything on the football field,” said Trinity head coach Jon Miller. “He’s a very unique player.”

The offseason gave Koroly the opportunity to put on a few more pounds and become a stronger runner with a commitment to the weight room.

“I wanted to be more explosive,” he said. “I worked hard all summer. In my junior year, I ran as fast as I could to get by people. Now, I see the hole and I hit it.”

What’s impressed Miller is Koroly’s ability to bust tackles for extra yards.

“As a sophomore, he would make people miss,” Miller said. “As a senior, he can make people miss or he can run right through you.”

Koroly also plays basketball and has not decided what sport he’ll play in college. He has interest from schools in all three divisions for football. but he wants to see what develops in basketball before making a decision.

“I know this, he is very humble and a leader on this team,” Miller said. “He has high expectations from everyone around him, including himself. I’m fortunate to have him.”

Compiled by Joe Tuscano