KARNS CITY, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Three weeks ago, the Brookville football team was 2-3, on its third quarterback and was facing the prospect of rebuilding its offense from the ground up.
A daunting situation, for sure. One that usually sinks teams and seasons.
Not so for the Raiders.
Senior Noah Peterson stepped into the breach at quarterback after Charlie Krug went down in the opener and backup Easton Belfiore was injured a few weeks later.
On Friday, the former wide receiver had his best game, throwing for 117 yards and rushing for another 125 and a touchdown to lead Brookville to a 34-7 road win over Karns City.
“When it first happened, of course I was uncomfortable with it,” Peterson said. “I had to get to know the quarterback position. I mean, I do miss receiver, but I love playing quarterback behind this line.”
It was the Raiders’ third straight win with its new run-heavy approach.
“It took us awhile to find our identity,” said Brookville coach Scott Park. “In the last couple of weeks I guess we’ve found out what we’re gonna be. I’m very proud of them.”
In the past, Brookville has been a dangerous passing team, producing 2,000-yard passers annually. That philosophy had to go out the window with the injuries at quarterback during the season.
These days, the Raiders line up and run it behind a big and physical line. Even the passes are quasi-runs: Brookville ran jet sweep pop passes several times against the Gremlins with Brayden Kunselman the recipient.
Kunselman had nine receptions for 82 yards. Peterson hit his first 12 passes and finished 13 of 14.
“It’s funny, I always joke around with him about those pop passes,” Kunselman said, smiling. “He was like, ‘Hey, I had my first passing touchdown.’ I’m like, ‘That’s a run. That’s a jet run.’ We joke about it all the time.”
Whatever works.
And it has been working for Brookville.
“It’s nothing like what we used to do,” Kunselman said. “We had to figure out ways to get the ball into the hands of our playmakers and (running back Jackson Zimmerman) gets the ball more. We really worked on finding be plays and new ways to get us all the ball.”
Zimmerman has turned into a workhorse and he was again for Brookville on Friday night.
His 4-yard touchdown run got the Raiders on the board with a little more than five minutes remaining in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead.
Both offenses sputtered until Zimmerman was able to plow into the end zone again, this time from the 2, with 18 second left in the half to put the Raiders up 14-0.
The biggest drive of the game came on the opening possession of the third quarter.
Brookville marched 76 yards on 14 plays, eating up 7:10 off the clock. Zimmerman again punched in from the 1 and the Raiders led 21-0.
“Getting the time off the clock was more important, really,” Park said. “Scoring was just a bonus.”
Zimmerman finished with 81 yards on 25 carries.
Meanwhile, the Raider defense was shutting Karns City down.
The Gremlins has just two first downs in the first half — both by penalty — and was held to 39 yards in the first two quarters.
Karns City did show signs of life in the third quarter with 61-yard scoring drive on its first possession. Nathan Hess capped it with a 16-yard run to cut Brookville’s advantage to 21-7.
But the Raiders’ secondary, a ball-hawking unit this season that came into the game with 17 interception, was at it again.
Kunselman picked off Karns City quarterback Eric Booher twice in the fourth quarter and Peterson also had a pick.
Kunselman now has seven interceptions this season and 16 in his career, which ties the school record.
“It’s been really important for me to be able to get the ball back to our offense,” Kunselman said. “We need as much time as possible on offense. We’re not the same team that we were last year. We’re running the ball now and effectively. With our second wide receiver playing quarterback, that changed a whole lot and our defense really needs to step up.”
It has.
Brookville turned those turnovers into points. Peterson scored on a 10-yard run and Carson Weaver capped things off with a 6-yard scoring run.
For Karns City, it was just a long night on both sides of the ball.
“We just weren’t prepared,” said Gremlin coach Joe Sherwin. “We weren’t prepared to play for whatever reason and that’s my job to have the kids prepared. We just couldn’t do anything offensively.”
Levi Hawk rushed for 72 yards on nine carries for Karns City. Hess finished with 41 yards on six attempts.
Both teams are now 4-4 and may be on a playoff collision course in Class 2A.
“This is a big win,” Park said. “The kids wanted to come down here and get a good win. As far as resetting, after game five we said we have a five-game season. We’re 0-0. We want to win the second half. We want to be 1-0 after the week and we’re now sitting here at 3-0.”
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