Apollo-Ridge offense to have new look without 'Touchdown' Brown
Welcome to Year One A.D. — After Duane.
Duane “Touchdown” Brown, the star running back, wide receiver, wildcat quarterback, defensive back and kick returner who found the end zone 88 times in his Apollo-Ridge career, is gone, off to IUP's nationally ranked football program.
Suffice to say his alma mater's offense will look a tad different this fall.
“I think the offense changes just because people know we don't have that guy back there who can break it whenever he feels like breaking something,” coach John Skiba said.
Over the past handful of years, the Vikings knew they could rely on a game-breaking talent in the backfield, whether that be Brown, Tre Tipton or Jesse Zelonka. Others, like Jonah Casella, Dillon Shipman and most recently Brett Coleman made their own impact.
Skiba expects more of a committee approach this fall as Apollo-Ridge looks to extend its five-year WPIAL playoff streak.
“We're going to have kids everywhere, so we might be like a hockey change sometimes coming off the boards,” Skiba said. “We're going to try to wear some teams down with our young guys and using our fresh legs.”
Brown missed the first four games of last season with a knee injury, leaving Coleman and quarterback Kyle Fitzroy to fill the void. Coleman (657 yards, seven touchdowns) graduated, so now the onus is on three-year starter Fitzroy to lead the way to replace Brown's enormous production — 1,559 yards and 20 touchdowns in just seven games.
“Kyle's got to take a huge role in the offense,” Skiba said. “Kyle's got to be the biggest piece we have.”
Fitzroy threw for 1,885 yards and 23 touchdowns and just four interceptions as a junior. The Vikings finished 7-4, tied for second place in the Allegheny Conference and lost to Keystone Oaks in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs.
“Our whole senior class was a big loss,” Fitzroy said. “But with the guys we have coming up, I have a lot of confidence in them, and with the kids we had last year. I feel they're really starting to adapt to their roles and starting to comprehend what they have to do for us to be a successful football team.”
Apollo-Ridge lost 13 seniors total, and many of them played on both sides of the ball — Jeremy Dibernardo, Kane Kania, Beau McDermott and Danny Orkwis.
With just five seniors to lean on this fall, plus smaller-than-usual junior and sophomore classes, Apollo-Ridge will rely more heavily on its freshmen, who are coming off junior high success under former varsity coach Jerry Moore.
“I explained to them we're going to have ups and downs, but we're going to continue to work hard and get through it,” Skiba said. “I think the payoff's going to be coming down the road here.”
Besides Fitzroy, seniors like three-year starting lineman Joe Sodowski and tight end/linebacker Cody Peace will provide leadership. Junior Alex Gamble, who played defense the last two years, is expected to take a bigger role on offense.
Other skill players include junior Brad Milko and freshmen Jake Fello, Klay Fitzroy — Kyle's younger brother — Logan Harmon and Keighton Reese.
“We have a very young team,” Peace said. “They're all very athletic, though. They've learned a lot. They're very good learners; they learn quick. (Veterans) have to step up. You don't have the older guys helping you out. You have to take charge and help the younger kids out.”
With Brown gone and a young team, Skiba believes other teams might look past Apollo-Ridge.
That might not be a bad thing.
“I think people are going to think they can just roll on us and especially our young kids,” Skiba said. “But I think those young kids have won a lot of games and played a lot and battled. They have a lot of pride in what we do, so it's going to be fun.”
Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.
