JEFFERSON TWP — Knoch’s defense had a “spell” cast on it Friday night.

That spell was McKeesport’s Kemon Spell, who ran over the Knights for 310 total yards and helped the Tigers secure first place in the Greater Allegheny Conference with a 46-14 road win on Friday night. The outcome erases Knoch’s playoff hopes.

“We started off a little slow this year with a tough schedule so to finish up conference champions means a lot,” McKeesport head coach Matt Miller said.

The Tigers (6-4, 4-0) will be taking a five-game winning streak into the postseason.

Spell ran the ball for 172 yards and three touchdowns, while adding 138 yards and another score receiving.

Miller said despite Spell being just a sophomore, the running back has already committed to Penn State University as a running back, but that still leaves him two more years with the Tigers.

Spell also plays defense, as well, as one of the Tigers’ top cornerbacks.

“(Spell) is a great and humble kid,” Miller said. “He is very dynamic with the ball in his hands. Him taking the next step on the defensive side of the ball would be the next step for us.”

Knoch finishes the season with a 3-6, 2-3 record on the season, missing the playoffs, but it was able to go punch for punch with the conference champions early on. In the second quarter, the Tigers began to pull away from the Knights.

“We have a great group of kids,” Knoch head coach Tim Burchett said. “These seniors have helped change expectations here from a team that could barely put a team out there to a team that was competing every week.”

Knights quarterback Codi Mullen was able to muster 110 rushing yards and 170 passing yards during the contest, adding to his totals as he has already clinched the Knoch all-time passing record.

After the first quarter is when Mullen really stepped up, as he was able to get plenty of time in the pocket, which opened up the offense.

“I know the score doesn’t look like it, but we played right with McKeesport,” Burchett said. “They are probably going to be playing for a championship in three weeks.”

Knoch has taken a slight step back after finishing last season with an 8-3, 4-1 record which landed it second place in the conference in Class 3A.

The Knights will need to turn to new faces such as Colt Sprankle at the quarterback position among others, but for now coach Burchett is just focused on the present.

“I’m not ready to comment on next year yet,” Burchett said. “The wound is still too fresh. I think we have done a good job of changing expectations and hopefully we can continue that.”

McKeesport 7 20 13 6 — 46

Knoch 0 7 7 0 — 14

First Quarter

M — Kemon Spell 42 run (Ian Shiffler kick), 6:09

Second Quarter

M — Anthony Cromerdie 19 run (Shiffler kick), 6:57

M — Spell 75 pass from Brady Eastman (Shiffler kick), 3:57

K — Keaton Oprosky 25 pass from Codi Mullen (Kannon Trofimuk kick), 2:29

M — Spell 15 run (Shiffler kick blocked), :47

Third Quarter

K — Mullen 5 run (Trofimuk kick), 7:41

M — Spell 42 run (2pt fail), 7:22

M — Cromerdie 1 run (Shiffler kick), 3:56

Fourth Quarter

M — Caulan Smith 11 pass from Eastman (conversion failed), 5:14

Individual Statistics

Rushing: McKeesport, Brady Eastman 12-28, Kemon Spell 14-172, Anthony Cromerdie 5-40, Anthony Boyd 9-55. Knoch, Codi Mullen 16-110, Sam Skurka 7-21.

Passing: McKeesport, Brady Eastman 7-14-165-1. Knoch, Codi Mullen 10-27-120-0.

Receiving: McKeesport, Kemon Spell 4-138, Javien Robinson 1-8, Anthony Cromerdie 1-8, Caulan Smith 1-11. Knoch, Vinnie DeFelice 3-28, Keaton Oprosky 3-44, Ethan Rouleau 2-35, Sam Shurka 1-6, Wyatt Fraser 1-7.

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