Keystone Oaks drives past Waynesburg
By The Observer-Reporter
WAYNESBURG – Brenden Quarles ran for one touchdown and passed for another, Sean O’Brien caught two TD passes and Keystone Oaks used three long, time-consuming scoring drives to beat Waynesburg 27-7 Friday night in a Class 2A Century Conference game.
Waynesburg (2-2, 4-4) had a chance to move into second place in the conference but the Raiders gave up two first-half touchdowns – one with 14 seconds left before halftime – and were unable to generate enough offense to fuel a comeback.
Keystone Oaks (4-1, 4-3) is in second-place behind conference leader Seton LaSalle. The Golden Eagles are a half-game ahead of Washington (3-1, 5-3), which defeated Charleroi, 41-6.
Waynesburg drove inside the KO 35-yard line on each of its first two possessions but was unable to come away with points. The Raiders’ opening possession ended with an interception that Keystone Oaks returned to its own 20-yard line. The Golden Eagles then embarked on a 13-play, 80-yard drive that was capped by Quarles’ one-yard touchdown plunge that gave KO a 7-0 lead with 90 seconds left in the first quarter.
Keystone Oaks, which had only five possessions in the game, put together another 80-yard scoring drive that reached the end zone late in the first half. O’Brien caught a 26-yard TD pass from Quarles in the back middle of the end zone to give the Golden Eagles a 14-0 lead heading into halftime.
Keystone Oaks took the second-half kickoff and embarked on a 16-play, 72-yard drive that consumed the first 11:33 of the half. The Golden Eagles switched to a wildcat offense during the drive and Billy Bricker scored on a three-yard run off right tackle that made the score 21-0.
Waynesburg swung the momentum early in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Jake Stephenson connected with Zach Jiblits on a 28-yard touchdown pass with 10:22 remaining in the game, cutting the KO lead to 21-7. The Golden Eagles were penalized for roughing the passer on the TD and it was enforced on the ensuing kickoff. The Raiders successfully recovered an onside kick at the KO 35-yard line but eventually turned the ball over on downs back in their own territory.
Keystone Oaks capped the scoring on a 23-yard halfback pass from Bricker to O’Brien with 5:30 remaining.