FOX CHAPEL — No Tim McNerney? No problem.

Knoch lost its 1,700-yard running back to a foot injury early in the second quarter Friday night. But the Knights used a quick start, a staunch defense and some clutch pass plays to defeat Highlands 28-7 in a WPIAL Class AAAfootball quarterfinal game at Fox Chapel High School.

"Our kids rose above it,"Knoch coach Mike King said. "We had to rely more on our passing game — and Highlands knew that, too — and our kids still made some big plays, beating double coverage on the perimeter.

"We sat in a base defense all night and asked our kids to react, come up and make plays. And that's what they did."

McNerney suffered a ligament injury to a foot and will be further examined this weekend. His status for next week is questionable.

"We'll take stock in what we have early in the week and go from there,"King said.

The Knights (9-2) will face unbeaten Montour, a 20-7 winner over Trinity, next Friday. That winner earns a trip to Heinz Field to face the Thomas Jefferson-Pine-Richland survivor in the WPIAL final.

Knoch took a major step toward survival early against Highlands (8-3) when the Knights took the opening kickoff and needed just three plays to score. McNerney had runs of 11 and 10 yards before quarterback Zach Gross connected with Kyle Reiser for a 36-yard touchdown pass.

Three plays later, Highlands quarterback Jeff Sinclair ran the option and pitched the ball well behind the trailing running back. The Knights' John Zellhart recovered the ball at the Rams' 13-yard line.

McNerney scored on a 5-yard run and Knoch had a 14-0 lead with 8:42 left in the first quarter.

"We came out firing and that was big, especially with what happened to Timmy,"King said.

The score remained 14-0 into the fourth quarter. Highlands' best chance to score in the first half occurred early in the second quarter.

The Rams faced a second-and-1 at the Knoch 13 when Knoch's David Govan nailed Sinclair for a 4-yard loss. A delay-of-game penalty set up third and 10.

Josh Susa was ready to catch a pass for a would-be first down, but Zellhart hit him and jarred the ball loose. On fourth-and-10, Devaugn Mitchell was set to catch a pass for the first down, but was upended by Brandon Flick and couldn't hang on.

"We have to make plays there,"Highlands coach Sam Albert said. "We had our opportunities in the passing game most of the night and didn't connect."

"Our defensive backs set the tone,"King said. "Their passing game never got in synch the whole game."

Knoch's passing game was a different story.

After Jake McTighe intercepted a pass at the Knights' 3-yard line to end Highlands' first possession of the third quarter, Gross found Michael Gallagher for 22 yards down the left sideline on a third-and-8 play from the 6. On a second and 21 from the 17, Reiser caught a 28-yard pass.

On their next possession, the Knights put together a 10-play, 62-yard drive to go up 21-0. On third and 10 from the Knoch 38, Gross was nearly sacked, but he dumped the ball off to Kevin Brodeur for 12 yards. Gross found Reiser for 20 yards on a third-and-11 play to extend the drive, then hooked up with Reiser for 14 yards and the TD with 10:40 left in the game.

"We were jamming their receivers at the line, running with them and doubling them along the sidelines. ... They were making incredible catches,"Albert said. "What more could we do?"

Gross threw for 169 yards. Reiser had six catches for 105 yards.

"I'm so lucky to have those guys,"Gross said of Reiser and Gallagher. "All I have to do is lay the ball up there and they'll go get it. I believe in them."

"We do those floating lob passes in practice all the time,"Reiser said. "He (Gross) throws them perfectly."

Highlands avoided the shutout when Sinclair tossed a 29-yard touchdown pass to Mitchell, capping a 71-yard drive with 3:23 left.The Rams got the ball back again, but Flick intercepted a pass and returned it 22 yards to the Highlands' 3-yard line. Lance Christie scored on a 1-yard plunge to end the scoring.Knoch's defense forced three turnovers on the night."This was all about passion and heart,"defensive lineman Tyler Krahe said. "Our defense played that way tonight. Everybody did."We have confidence in our running game no matter who's back there. We came out fired up."When McNerney left the game, Albert knew his team still faced a tough task in coming back."With that offensive line they have, even without (McNerney), they can still move the ball," Albert said. "McNerney's great, but they're more than one guy. That's a great football team."<B>Knoch 28, Highlands 7Highlands 0 0 0 7—7Knoch 14 0 0 14—28H K</B>16 First Downs 1826-83 Rushes-Yards 46-168157 Passing Yards 16915-31-2 Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 8-15-1240 Total Yards 3371-1 Fumbles/Lost 4-12-10 Penalties-Yards 4-25<B>First Quarter</B>K — Kyle Reiser 36 pass from Zach Gross (Kevin Wood kick), 10:38K — Tim McNerney 5 run (Wood kick), 8:42<B>Fourth Quarter</B>K — Reiser 14 pass from Gross (Wood kick), 10:40H — Devaugn Mitchell 29 pass from Jeff Sinclair (Nick Bouchat kick), 3:23K — Lance Christie 1 run (Wood kick), 1:24<B>Individual Statistics</B><B>Passing:</B> Highlands, Jeff Sinclair 15-31-157-2. Knoch, Zach Gross 8-15-169-1.<B>Rushing:</B> Highlands, Jeff Sinclair 14-38, Marty Karlo 3-3, Bill Devlin 8-52, Team 12-(-10). Knoch, Zach Gross 9-12, Tim McNerney 11-58, Kevin Brodeur 9-38, David Govan 6-23, Lance Christie 10-37, Mitchell Shaw 1-0.<B>Receiving:</B> Highlands, Josh Susa 9-81, Rob Bock 4-36, Steve Panchik 1-11, Devaugn Mitchell 1-29. Knoch, Kyle Reiser 5-105, Michael Gallagher 2-42, Kevin Brodeur 1-12.

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