WEST SUNBURY, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Charlie Krug wasn’t a big fan of sitting out last week against Keystone.
It was an unsettling position for the senior quarterback on the Brookville football team to be in, especially after missing all but two quarters last year with a torn ACL.
But Krug felt a twinge in his surgically repaired left knee while getting pushed out of bounds in Week 2 at Struthers (Ohio).
The coaching staff thought it best that Krug take a week off. Krug, though, wanted to play.
“I wasn’t OK with that,” Krug admitted. “But I gotta do what’s best.”
Krug made up for lost time on Friday at Moniteau, throwing for 227 yards and five touchdowns in Brookville’s 47-28 victory.
(Pictured above, Brookville quarterback Charlie Krug)
Krug shook off some early rust to have his big night.
“It was great. It was a real confidence-builder,” Krug said. “Last week I was out and that broke me down a little bit, but coming out here and throwing five touchdowns passes was big for me. Obviously, the interception early wasn’t ideal, but I was getting used to the pace.”
Krug did that in part because of his legs.
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With the Warriors playing the pass, Krug and running back Anthony Ceriani found ample running lanes in the first half.
Ceriani had 125 of his 144 yards in the first two quarters as the Raiders (2-2) built a 34-12 lead. Krug had 58 yards in the first half. He ended up with 50.
“We found in the first week that when (Krug) is able to run the football, it seems to loosen him up,”said Brookville coach Gabe Bowley. “It allows him to feel more confident with this throws and opens up our offense to do a lot of things we need.”
Moniteau was forced to adjust.
Maybe a little too late, lamented Moniteau coach Bob Rottman.
“They did run on us pretty well,” Rottman said. “It was just one of those things where we were just sitting too long making reads instead of attacking. We made a few changes and that seemed to help out, but we were probably a little too late getting them that information. We coached them up one way and it wasn’t working and we needed to make an adjustment. We didn’t do it soon enough.”
The success on the ground allowed Krug to find open receivers zipping through the Moniteau secondary.
Krug threw his five TD passes to five different receivers.
Sam Krug caught his first, from 16 yards out, to put Brookville up 13-6.
Jack Pete, who returned an interception 51 yards for a TD to jumpstart the scoring in the first quarter, was the next touchdown pass recipient from Krug, this from 15 yards out.
Krug then found Hayden Freeman for a 34-yard, juggling TD catch in the waning minutes of the first half to put the Raiders ahead comfortably at 34-6.
Ceriani then got in on the act with a 17-yard touchdown reception to open the second half to increase Brookville’s lead to 40-12.
Easton Belfiore hauled in the final scoring strike of the game from Krug from the 8 to trigger the mercy rule at 47-12 with 11:20 in the fourth quarter.
“I mean, they made some beautiful catches,” Bowley said of his receivers. “We have some real skill guys that we can spread the ball around to out there. That really gives defenses trouble.”
Krug, who finished 15-of-27 passing, was happy to get everyone involved.
Freeman had five catches for 81 yards; Pete five for 62 and Sam Krug three receptions for 63 yards.
“That was great, sharing the ball,” he said.
It was the second straight win for Brookville after an 0-2 start.
Like last year, the Raiders have struggled at times with injuries.
Ceriani has filled in admirably at running back for banged up starter Kolton Griffin.
“That offensive line blocked great,” Bowley said. “That’s as hard as I’ve seen (Ceriani) run the ball since he’s been here and that’s just great for us to see that because he started the year at running back No. 2 and we had an injury and boy he’s really filling that No. 1 running back role well.”
Moniteau (1-3) made things a little interesting, even with a running mercy clock.
The Warriors trailed just 7-6 in the first quarter when Blaine Jamison caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Trent Beachem two plays after Moniteau forced and recovered a fumble.
Jamison also had a first-quarter pick of Krug.
Brendin Sankey caught a TD strike from Beachem late in the first half to close the gap to 34-12 at the break.
Moniteau put up two touchdowns in the fourth quarter under the mercy clock.
Sankey took a handoff and found Peyton Kohlmeyer all alone in the end zone for a 25 yard touchdown pass to make it 47-20 after a Beachem 2-point conversion pass to Sankey.
Moniteau scored again on a 6-yard Beachem to Ashton Grossman quick slant with 28 seconds remaining in the game.
It had Rottman thinking positive, even after a loss.
“We’re on the rise,” Rottman said. “I truly believe we are on the rise. We’ve probably talked about this eight times, but it’s just the little things here and there. A missed tackle. A missed assignment. We have talent. And you can see the kids have fight.”
Beachem finished 17-of-36 for 168 yards and two touchdowns.
Grossman caught five passes for 72 yards.
Moniteau, though, struggled on the ground, managing just 36 yards on 17 attempts.
“It’s just a matter of learning how to put it together for four quarters of football, not just in spurts, but to maintain it through the course of a football game.”
Brookville Area High School sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Redbank Chevrolet and DuBrook.
