No knocking these Knights
This is the second in a series of articles profiling the 2018 inductees into the Butler County Sports Hall of FameJEFFERSON TWP — Tim Karrs could see a WPIAL championship contender coming.And Knoch's football coach wanted to build it through a strong running game and aggressive defense.“We had a bunch of talented, hard-nosed football players, like Knoch usually has,” said Karrs, who coached the Knights from 1976-80. “We won eight games in 1976 and lost to Farrell in the first round of the playoffs.“We had a bunch of injuries in 1977 and went 4-3-2. Our co-captains went down with injuries and our coaching staff made the decision to start four sophomores in the last couple of games. We beat our rival Mars — which won the conference — in our last game with a lot of those young kids.“That's how I knew we had something,” Karrs added.He was right.The 1978 Knoch football team went 11-1 and won the WPIAL Class AA championship. The Knights became only the second Butler County school — joining the 1950 and 1977 Butler squads — to claim WPIAL football gold.That team will be inducted into the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame during the organization's annual banquet April 28 at the Lyndora American Legion Hall.“Our rushing yardage was pretty well divided that year and we had 34 interceptions on defense,” Karrs recalled.One of the tri-captains, Todd Tudor, had a number of them from his linebacker position. Other captains were two-way tackle Pete Albert and running back-cornerback Brian Dietz.The Knights opened that 1978 season with a 27-0 shutout of Slippery Rock. The only loss of the season — a 14-13 decision to Freeport — followed.Knoch ran the table from there, shutting out Riverview (26-0), Northgate (3-0) on a third-quarter Bill Zadernak field goal, Deer Lakes (27-0) and Richland (18-0).Wins of 26-6 over Quaker Valley, 19-10 over Hampton and 27-14 over Mars ended the regular season.The playoffs began with wins of 26-14 over Beth Center and 19-14 over Leechburg.“That Leechburg game, we had to score on our final drive to win and we did it,” Karrs said. “We had a determined group of kids.”The Knights hammered Beaver Falls — led by eventual Pitt star and Minnesota Viking Dwight Collins — 40-15 in the championship game.“We had great linemen on that team who led the way,” assistant coach Ken Elliott said. “Our captains were leaders and that team played with confidence.”Quarterback Don Griffin threw for 759 yards and seven touchdowns. He went on to the Naval Academy. Albert played at William & Mary. Tudor, who also started at guard, played for VMI. Fullback-linebacker Buddy Durand played at Lock Haven.Dietz, who went on to play at Montana Tech, rushed for 604 yards and 10 touchdowns, John Rebhun 596 yards and six scores.“Dietz was a power runner while Rebhun was a sprinter on the track team,” Karrs said. “We could throw a lot of different types of running backs at teams.”Knoch rushed for 2,416 yards and 34 touchdowns in 1978.Scott Dombart led the passing game with 10 catches. Dietz caught three touchdown passes.Knoch's defense recorded 49 takeaways in 1978, a whopping average of four per game. Tudor had 112 tackles, linebacker Bill Yockey 94, Durand 75 and Albert 72.Karrs coached high school football for 32 years. He coached Titusville, Highlands and Knoch in western Pennsylvania and also coached teams in North Carolina.“Everything just came together that year at Knoch,” Karrs said. “I'll never forget it. That was a tight group and I believe a lot of them will be on hand at the banquet.“We're looking forward to quite a reunion.”Karrs now lives in Sunset Beach, N.C. He retired from high school coaching in 2013.Other coaches on that 1978 Knoch team included John Malobicky, Denny Atkinson, Dan Schwertering, Steve Sprowles, Dave Bracco, Dan Roenigk and Elliott.Tickets to the BCSHOF banquet are available at Moses Jewelers at the Clearview Mall, Snack n' Pack in Butler, Saxonburg Drug, Parker's Appliance in Chicora and Maddalon Jewelers in Zelienople.
