VANDERGRIFT -- Kiski Area's players were wet and slathered with mud from head to toe, but they were smiling from ear to ear.
That's because the Cavaliers beat Fox Chapel, 18-7, Friday night in a Quad East Conference opener at Davis Field.
Slippery Kiski Area senior Tarique Godson rushed for 45 yards and a touchdown on nine carries and returned a punt 54 yards for another score, and the Cavalier defense stood tall in recording two safeties.
Kiski Area improved to 3-2 overall, while Fox Chapel dropped to 3-2. In addition to being the conference opener, the win was important to the Cavaliers for a number of reasons.
It was their first home win since the final game of 2007. It was the first conference win for first-year head coach Troy Wilson. And, most importantly, it gives Kiski Area a leg up on Fox Chapel in the race for a WPIAL playoff berth. The top four finishers in the six-team conference will qualify for the postseason. Last year, Fox Chapel made the cut but Kiski Area didn't.
"This was unbelievable," said Wilson, a former Kiski Area player. "We're trying to build a program here again. The kids are coming together and playing for each other and the school."
Kiski Area got contributions from a number of players besides the versatile Godson.
Offensively, senior Jeremy Salm had 43 yards on 16 carries, while classmate Josh Taylor added 35 on nine. The defense collected an interception and two fumble recoveries and kept Fox Chapel off the scoreboard after the first quarter, too. And Kiski Area's special teams, led by punter Aaron Frye, chipped in, too, constantly pinning the Foxes deep to win the crucial field position battle on a rainy night.
The Foxes, who feature two-way lineman and Penn State recruit Miles Dieffenbach (6-foot-5, 285 pounds), out-sized Kiski Area, but the Cavaliers held their ground.
"We just hit," said Salm, who also plays linebacker. "We didn't get scared. We didn't care about how big they were. Their size didn't matter."
"Disappointing," Fox Chapel coach Bryan Deal said about the outcome. "We turned over the ball and they didn't. We lost the opening kickoff and that set the whole stage for the game."
Fox Chapel junior Montay Green fumbled the opening kickoff and Frye pounced the ball at the Foxes' 42-yard line. Four plays later, Godson weaved through the defense for a 19-yard touchdown. Zach Sharek booted the extra point.
Fox Chapel then went three-and-out and Godson returned the ensuing punt to give Kiski Area a two-touchdown lead less than five minutes into the game.
On Fox Chapel's next possession, Green -- who accounted for most of Fox Chapel's offense with 108 yards rushing on 14 carries and 91 yards receiving -- scored a 71-yard touchdown after catching one of his four shovel passes and finding a lane along the sideline.
Kiski Area added two points in the second quarter. The Cavaliers backed Fox Chapel to its own 5-yard line and forced a fumble that rolled out of the end zone.
In the third quarter, Frye punted to Fox Chapel's 1-yard line. On fourth-and-10 at the 1, Fox Chapel punter A.J. Anderson caught the long snap and stepped out of the back of the end zone.
"Once we got up early, we knew we couldn't let up," Wilson said.
