PINE TWP - In the grand scheme of things, what happened on the Pine-Richland High School football field Friday night had little meaning for Knoch.

The Knights' fate was decided 58 miles away on the field at Indiana High School.

Sure, Knoch coach Mike King was dismayed about a lot of what he saw in his team's 42-14 loss to the Rams, but Franklin Regional beat Indiana 21-7 to give the Knights the final playoff spot out of the Greater Allegheny Conference.

"Some way, some how we are going to wake up tomorrow morning, the sun is going to come up and we're going to realize we're in the playoffs," King said.

There was little playoff-like performance from the Knights Friday.

Knoch (3-6 overall, 3-3 in the section) had just two first downs and 63 yards at the half while Pine-Richland racked up 340 yards and a 28-6 lead at the break.

Knights' quarterback Jordan Shoop was chased and hunted all night by the Rams' defense. He did manage to throw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Curtis Compton on a play in which the receiver and Pine-Richland cornerback Dan Guerra both went up for the pass near the goal line and fell with the ball nestled on Compton's chest for a touchdown.

Shoop also scored on a nifty 26-yard run in the fourth quarter, but by then the outcome had long since been decided.

"The name of the game is blocking," King said. "I don't care what you got. You could have Michael Vick in the backfield, if you can't get blocking up front, you are in trouble."

Shoop finished with 52 yards rushing and 85 passing.

But the passing star of the game was Rams' quarterback Jake Long.

The junior left-hander threw for 189 yards in the first half and finished 14-of-23 for 207 yards and two touchdowns.

His favorite target, Bill Massaro, was also busy, catching nine passes for 156 yards and two scores for the Rams (7-2, 5-1).

"Jake's a junior who has a lot of potential," said Pine-Richland coach Clair Altemus. "I think his best games are still in front of him."

Long came to Pine-Richland from Bradford two years ago and Altemus has had to defend himself against whispers of recruiting.

"We didn't even know where Bradford was," Altemus. "What a find for us. He just fell into our lap."

Tim Newman spearheaded Pine-Richland early, rushing for 106 yards in the first half and 124 yards on 19 carries in the game. He also scored a pair of touchdowns as the Rams took a 42-6 lead late in the third quarter to start the mercy clock churning.

For Altemus, the margin of victory was a bit surprising.

"I was extremely excited because I believed Knoch had a good football team and weren't given a lot of credit for some of the things they have done," Altemus said.

"We prepared for Knoch. It wasn't one of those things where we just threw our helmets out there and expected to win."

For better or worse, Knoch is a playoff team. The Knights, who went three-and-out on their first four possessions of the game and who were out-gained in yardage 199-4 in the first quarter, were able to mount some offense in the second half to take with them into the playoffs.

Knoch will also take something else with them.

"We take one thing from this," King said. "If you're not going to come out at the top of your game, you're going to get a tail whippin.'"

Knoch will have to wait and see its opponent in the first round. The WPIAL pairings come out Monday, but the Knights will most likely face a Goliath in the league like Thomas Jefferson or West Allegheny.

"I don't want to take anything away from our kids," King said. "Our kids beat the people they had to beat to get into the playoffs."