Some of the information for this story is courtesy of the Tri-County Sunday out of DuBois

KNOX – In a game that saw 96 points, 1,067 yards of total offense and both quarterbacks throw for over 325 yards, Keystone’s running game proved to be the difference in a 56-40 Panther shootout win over visiting Brockway Friday night in Knox.

Keystone (8-2), who enters the District 9 Class A playoffs as the fifth seed, outgained Brockway (7-3), who enters the D9 Class AA playoffs as the second seed, 215-120 on the ground and ran for four touchdowns to the Rovers one.

The ground game helped Keystone outgain Brockway 546 to 521 and offset another unbelievable performance by Rover quarterback Derek Buganza who was 25 of 43 passing for 401 yards and five touchdowns while throwing two interceptions.

The problem for Brockway, though, was that Buganza’s Keystone counterpart Dan Reed was probably a hair better despite throwing for a little less yardage. Reed went 19 of 32 passing for 331 yards and four scores and also added 10 carries for 37 yards and a touchdown. Reed also picked off two Buganza passes on defense.

Helping Reed greatly was running back Zach Smith who ran 21 times for 179 yards and three scores including a 50-yard touchdown run late in a pivotal third quarter that gave Keystone a 42-28 lead after three quarters.

The game was tied at 28 at the half, but Keystone shutout the Rovers in the third quarter while getting a pair of Smith touchdown runs – he also scored on a 25-yard run early in the quarter.

The teams then traded touchdowns in the fourth quarter with Keystone outscoring Brockway 14-12 in the frame thanks to a pair of extra points.

The big touchdown in the fourth came on a 17-yard Smith run with 2:48 to play that increased Keystone’s lead to 56-34 before Brockway got the game’s final touchdown and its lone score on the ground on a 4-yard Tom Vervoort run.

Believe it or not, the game was scoreless until late in the first quarter when Keystone struck first on a 22-yard pass from Reed to Ben Marchand with 1:46 to go in the quarter.

It took Brockway less than a minute to answer back and tie the game at seven, as Buganza found Zack Freemer with a 33-yard touchdown pass with 49 seconds left. It was the first of four touchdown catches by Freemer, who ended the game with seven catches for 151 yards.

Brockway then took its first lead of the game 1:28 later when Buganza hit Freemer with a 19-yard touchdown score 39 seconds into the second quarter giving the Rovers a 14-7 lead.

Keystone answered back midway through the quarter when Reed found Brett Zuck with a 13-yard pass tying the game at 14. It was the first of three touchdown catches by Zuck who had eight grabs for 197 yards.  

Forty-three second later Brockway had the lead back when Buganza hit Freemer with a 44-yar scoring pass making it 21-14 Rovers with six minutes left in the first half.

Keystone wasted no time retying the game when Reed hit Zuck with a 67-yard pass 18 seconds later making it 21-all.  

Just less than three minutes after that Brockway had the lead back when Buganza found Freemer for a 25-yard score and a 28-21 lead.

Keystone, though, tied the score before halftime on a 5-yard Reed run with 56 second left in the half.

After Keystone shutdown Brockway in the third quarter while taking the 42-28 lead it took the Rovers just 12 seconds into the fourth quarter to make it a one-score game when Jake Shaffer caught a 53-yard scoring pass from Buganza to cut the lead to 42-34 following a blocked extra point. It was one of seven catches for Shaffer who had 108 yards receiving and the one score.

Keystone moved the lead out to two scores midway through the fourth quarter on a 57-yard pass from Reed to Zuck that gave the Panthers a 49-34 lead.

NOTES – Somehow or other there were actually seven punts in the game with Brockway punting four times and Keystone three … The 96 points scored are the most points ever scored in a game involving Keystone surpassing last year’s Keystone-Brockway game that had 95 points (63-32 Brockway win at Brockway) and this year’s Keystone-Karns City game at also had 95 points (60-35 Karns City win at Karns City) … The 96 points are also the second most points scored in District 9 this season behind the 102 put on the scoreboard in Brockway’s 74-28 win over Otto-Eldred … The 56 points are the most scored by Keystone since the Panthers beat Clarion-Limestone 61-8 Oct. 6, 2006.

KEYSTONE 56, BROCKWAY 40

Score By Quarters

Brockway  7          21        0          12        —        40

Keystone    7          21        14        14        —        56

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

K - Ben Marchand 22 pass from Dan Reed (Dylan Ziegler kick), 1:46.

B - Zack Freemer 33 pass from Derek Buganza (Phillip Esposito kick), 0:49.

Second Quarter

B - Freemer 19 pass from Buganza (Esposito kick), 11:21.

K - Brett Zuck 13 pass from Reed (Ziegler kick), 6:43.

B - Freemer 44 pass from Buganza (Esposito kick), 6:00.

K - Zuck 67 pass from Reed (Ziegler kick), 5:42.

B - Freemer 25 pass from Buganza (Esposito kick), 2:44.

K - Reed 5 run (Ziegler kick), 0:56.

Third Quarter

K - Zach Smith 25 run (Ziegler kick), 8:52.

K - Smith 50 run (Ziegler kick), 1:13.

Fourth Quarter

B - Jake Shaffer 53 pass from Buganza (Kick blocked), 11:48.

K - Zuck 57 pass from Reed (Ziegler kick), 6:16.

K - Smith 17 run (Ziegler kick), 2:48.

B - Tom Vervoort 4 run (Run failed), 1:13.

       B         K

First Downs            17        18

Rushes-Yards         24-120 33-215

Passing Yards         401      331

Comp-Att-Int         25-43-2            19-32-0

Total Yardage        521      546

Punts-Average        4-34.75            3-29.3

Fumbles-lost           0-0       2-0

Penalties-Yards      4-30     4-46

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - Brockway: Derek Buganza 11-20, Ryan Terwilliger 8-30, Tom Vervoort 3-33, Kyle Braun 2-37. Keystone: Zach Smith 21-179, Dan Reed 10-37, Colt O’Neil 1-0, Lexan Montana 1-(-1).

Passing - Brockway: Derek Buganza 25 of 43, 401 yards, 5 TDs, 2 Int; Kyle Braun 0 of 0, 0 yards, 0 TDs, 0 Int. Keystone: Dan Reed 19 of 32, 331 yards, 4 TDs, 0 Int.

Receiving - Brockway: Zack Freemer 7-151, Jake Shaffer 7-108, Chris Marshall 4-76, Mike Vervoort 3-32, Ryan Terwilliger 3-19, Seth Galluzzi 1-15. Keystone: Brett Zuck 8-197, Ben Marchand 5-48, Lexan Montana 3-38, B. J. Seyler -28, Zach Smith 1-20.

Interceptions - Brockway: none. Keystone: Dan Reed 2.