KNOX, Pa. (EYT/D9) — It took just one play and 13 seconds for the Keystone football team to take the first step on the way to ending a 33 year drought.
Kyle Nellis raced 67 yards for a touchdown on the game’s first offensive play and the Panthers scored on their first four possessions on the way to a 35-15 home win over Union/A-C Valley in the District 9 Class A quarterfinals on Friday night.
It was the first playoff win for Keystone since 1989.
“It feels great,” said Nellis, whose father, Jason, was on the last team at the school to taste playoff victory. “There’s been teams in the past that have come close. They’ve been good teams, 9-1 teams, teams with really good records, but it’s nice to get it done and get the win.”
Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.
It was a balmy night for Nov. 4 with temps in the 60s.
The Panther offense was scorching hot early.
Aidan Sell scored on a 16-yard run with 4:05 remaining in the first quarter to give Keystone a 14-0 lead out of the gate.
“Our guys really, really did what they needed to,” said first-year Keystone coach Todd Smith. “I think they really wanted it. I don’t think it was because of the number of years (between playoff wins), but because they want to keep going. I thought in the first half, our offense played very well.”
The fast start took Union/A-C Valley out of its game plan.
“You blink and we were down 14-0,” said Falcon Knights’ coach Brad Dittman.
Nellis cracked 100 yards on his first five carries.
By the time Union/A-C Valley made key adjustments on defense, the Panthers were up 21-7 with just nine seconds gone in the second quarter.
“We probably switched our defense too late,” Dittman said. “We came in wanting to put some of our better athletes on the field against their three guys on the edges. At the beginning of the second quarter, we switched our defense and we did a lot better when we did that. In hindsight, looking back, maybe we should have done that sooner. Maybe we should have done that from the get go.”
Still, thanks to a drive full of big passing plays from Brody Dittman to Ryan Cooper, Union/A-C Valley was able to cut Keystone’s lead down to 14-7 in the second quarter.
Cooper caught a 40-yard pass to set up his 30-yard touchdown reception on the drive.
Cooper finished with seven receptions for 160 yards.
That momentum didn’t last long.
Drew Keth hit Drew Slaugenhaupt, who was wide open on a post pattern, for a 49-yard pitch and catch to put Keystone up 21-7 on the first play of the second quarter.
That lead swelled to 28-7 at the half thanks to another TD pass from Keth, this one a 4-yard hookup with Sell.
Keystone’s defense held Union/A-C Valley to minus-5 yards rushing in the first half.
“They took us out of our run game,” Dittman said. “They handled us up front.”
Union/A-C Valley (5-6) had an opportunity at the start of the second half, driving 57 yards down to the Keystone 6. But a lateral bounced out of bounds for a seven-yard loss and then Brody Dittman was intercepted by Keth at the 10 to end the threat.
“That’s kind of been our Achilles heel all year long,” Dittman said. “We have these drives we’ll put together and we’ll get down there inside the 20 and we can’t finish and we end up with no points. If you look back over the past month, we’ve done that quite a bit.”
Keystone’s defense had a lot to do with the Falcon Knights’ troubles.
Tyler Albright had two interceptions and Elijah Will another off a tipped pass at the line.
In all, the Panthers forced five Union/A-C Valley turnovers.
“In the second half, our defense really stepped up,” Smith said. “Our defense was really good.”
The offense didn’t have nearly as good of a second half as it did a first, but that was partially by design.
With a three-score lead, the Panthers played things a bit conservatively in the second half.
Still, Nellis ended up with 146 yards on 20 carries. Sell added 69 yards on the ground on 12 attempts and Albright 59 yards on 12 rushes.
Keth was 3 of 5 for 60 yards and two scores.
“I didn’t want to do anything dumb (in the second half),” Smith said. “We had a big lead and I just wanted to run clock and get this win and move on. We were able to do that.”
Keystone did have one sustained drive in the second half that resulted in points.
Slaugenhaupt plowed into the end zone from the 3 to end an 11-play, 54-yard march in the fourth quarter.
Union/A-C Valley capped the scoring on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Owen Bish to Cooper with 46 second left in the game. Bish then ran in the 2-point conversion.
Brody Dittman finished 12-of-22 passing for 172 yards. Bish was 3 of 6 for 61 yards.
The loss marked the end of a very up-and-down year for Union/A-C Valley.
“These seniors won a ton of ballgames for us over the past few years,” Coach Dittman said. “They have nothing to hang their head about. We fell short tonight. We didn’t have the season we wanted. We didn’t have the number of wins we wanted, but they fought hard and we’ve been to the playoffs five years in a row.”
Keystone (7-4) will get another shot at No. 1 seed Port Allegany (9-1) next week at a site and time to be determined.
The Panthers lost to the Gators, 20-10, two weeks ago in a game Keystone led 10-8 deep into the second half.
For now, they’ll enjoy this one, at least for one night.
“We wanted a home field game and we worked hard for it,” Smith said. “The schedule was tough. These kids never made excuses, no matter what. They just stepped up and played hard. I’m just happy for the guys and I’m happy for the community.”
Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.
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