KANE — It certainly wasn’t the way Kane had hoped or expected to earn a playoff berth, but the Wolves are in nonetheless.
After beginning the season on a five-game win streak, which included a 25-21 win over District 9 Large School champion Ridgway and saw Kane outscore its opponents 194-72, the Wolves dropped their final four contests to limp into the playoffs at 5-4.
That record places Kane as the sixth and final team to qualify in Class AA this year, setting KAHS up with a road contest at No. 3 Brookville to begin the postseason. The winner will face No. 2 Clarion.
“When we were sitting at 5-0, I didn’t expect to come into (the postseason) at 5-4,” Kane head coach Jim Hillman admitted. “But the chips fell where they did.”
Despite the skid, Hillman says his team is ready for what lies ahead. Kane ended its regular season with a bye week, giving the Wolves a chance to heal both mentally and physically. Hillman says the group spent most of its week off simply watching film, allowing Kane’s players to heal and become “better football-minded.”
That rejuvenation begins up front.
“The first four games, our quarterback (Zuke Smith) never got touched,” Hillman said. “Then we had some injuries up front and moved guys into places they didn’t normally play, and we aren’t very deep. But we’re getting some of our seniors and juniors back, and that will be huge. These two weeks we’ve had to prepare, the rest has been tremendous for us.”
One player in particular that will be back and healthy is Reese Novosel. The junior anchors Kane’s front on both sides of the ball as the Wolves’ star center and defensive tackle.
Behind the line, feature running back and linebacker Teddy Race is back to full health after battling through an ankle injury down the stretch.
Race leads the Wolves in tackles with 121, and on offense he’s rushed for 424 yards and four touchdowns on 66 carries.
And now, fully healthy and rested, the Wolves want to prove that four-game skid is behind them.
“The kids had a tremendous week of practice,” Hillman said. “It was probably the best week of practice we’ve had all year. It’s been a long time since everybody could play up front. Now we have everybody back and healthy, and we’re ready to go.”
The Raiders (8-2) will certainly be ready, as well. Brookville’s only losses on the season are to 1-seed Ridgway and 2-seed Clarion.
“They’re a very good football team,” Hillman said of his opponents. “They’re well-coached, and everybody will have to play their A-game for us.”
The Raiders’ high-powered offense finished the year scoring 31 points, primarily through an air attack that centers around quarter Jack Krug.
Krug finished the regular season 167-for-281 on pass attempts, and threw for 1,955 yards, 20 touchdowns and just eight interceptions.
Of those eight, though, four came during the Raiders’ win over Kane — a number Hillman wants to see his team put up again.
To do so, the Wolves need to put Krug into uncomfortable situations according to the coach, and also contain him when he takes off running. Krug leads Brookville’s ground game with 428 yards and seven scores on 52 carries.
“We have to keep him in the pocket and force him into things he doesn’t normally do,” Hillman said. “Defensively, we did that at times during the last go around, but we have to get a better effort, especially up front, to get pressure on him and make him move around.
“If we’re able to do that, then our secondary has to really cover well. (Brookville has) some fantastic athletes, so if we can contain them, we’ll be in good shape.”
Capitalizing on Brookville’s mistakes and eliminating unforced errors of their own are also of the utmost importance to the Wolves.
Despite the four picks, Kane scored no points off of those takeaways. In addition, Kane was picked off five times itself on the night and penalized nine times for 65 yards in what ended as a 33-14 loss to the Raiders.
“I thought we played Brookville very well up until the point we threw five interceptions,” Hillman said. “You have to win the turnover battle and minimize penalties, and we didn’t do that the first time around. We have to this time.”
Kickoff at Brookville is slated for 7 o’clock.
