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Avella in a Rush to make playoffs

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Holly Tonini/For the Observer-Reporter

Avella’s Noah Markle hopes to have much to celebrate this season as the Eagles attempt to make the WPIAL Class A playoffs for the second consecutive season.

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Mark Marietta/Observer-Reporter

As his team works to condition for the 2020 season, Avella Eagles quarterback K. J. Rush sharpens his cornering skills.

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Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter

Avella quarterback K.J. Rush hoists teammate Cole Jaworowski celebrating the Eagles 21-20 victory over West Greene Thursday night at the Pioneers’ Kennedy Field.

By Joe Tuscano

Staff writer

jtuscano@observer-reporter.com

He is not your typical quarterback.

One look at K.J. Rush and you can tell that right away.

He stands 6-3 and weighs 240 pounds, more the size of a lineman than a quarterback. But his arm produced 935 yards and 14 touchdowns last season for Avella.

He was shifty enough to gain 340 rushing yards, tops on the team in 2020.

And now that most of his receivers have graduated, Rush’s role on the team will be more important than ever. And his name is Rush, right?

“The run game is going to be big in our game plan,” said Rush, a senior. “Me and Noah Markle are back and we have another player, Austin Oiler. So there are some good starters there.”

One positive is Brandon Samol, the leading receiver for the Eagles, is back this year for his senior season. Samol caught 26 passes for 238 yards. No one else returning on the team caught more than four passes.

“We lost a tight end and three wide receivers so we’ll have to lean on the running game until our wide receivers are ready to step up,” said Cecchini.

Markle wasn’t far behind Rush in the rushing stats, carrying the ball 77 times for 303 yards, nearly four yards per carry.

Keeping the defense guessing will be key. Avella finished tied for second place in the Tri-County South Conference last year with a 5-2 record. The Eagles had a big 21-20 victory over West Greene last year. In that game, Rush was intercepted four times but threw two touchdown passes, intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble to help secure the win.

Beating West Greene put the Eagles’ record at 3-0, the first time that had happened since 2013. It was the first victory for the Eagles over the Pioneers since 2016, when Avella won 32-26. Since that game, West Greene had outscored the Eagles, 160-7.

“I like running the football because that’s all I ever did,” Rush said. “My dad used to coach us and that’s all we ever did.”

Avella had close wins, a touchdown or fewer, over Mapletown and Carmichaels last year and the path to the playoffs is more narrow this season.

“We’ll need to make some big plays this year,” said Rush. “We’ll be trying to get first downs, little by little. You know what they say: Run the ball to run out the clock.”

Avella lost six players on offense and defense to graduation. Tanner Terensky was second on the team with 22 catches and a team-high 436 yards. Matt Kidwell and Gabe Lis were lost to graduation. They combined for 43 receptions for 832 yards and nine touchdowns.

But the real losses might be on the offensive line, where Robbie West and Blaze Allen gave Avella two of the best tackles in decades. Guard Dylan Gzikowski also was lost to graduation.

“We’re going to be young in certain spots. We graduated eight seniors and six of them we two-way starters; so we lost a lof of experience,” said Avella head coach Ryan Cecchini.

Seniors Braden Rankin (5-7, 263) and Garrett Horr (6-1, 225) get first shot at plugging the holes left by West, who had been a starter for all four years, and Allen.

Avella might have the biggest player in the conference in Harrison Fischer, who stands about 6-2 and weighs around 365 pounds. He is a clog at tackle, especially with Rankin playing the other defensive tackle position.

That should make it easier on the defensive end but Cecchini said he isn’t sure who will be there yet.

Samol and Rush are back at their linebacker positions but the secondary spots are all up for grabs and will be determined in camp.

Cecchini thinks the conference comes down to West Greene or California. Both teams are experienced and play a physical brand of football.

“You look at West Greene’s roster and I believe they bring back 11 starters on both sides of the ball,” said Cecchini. “Cal lost some guys but they always seem to just reload.”

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