Knoch football team sends 4 on to college
JEFFERSON TWP — Four key members of Knoch's 2007 WPIAL Class AAA semifinal football team are moving on to college.
Running back Tim McNerney, who rushed for a school-record 2,903 yards and scored 31 touchdowns, is headed to Washington & Jefferson College.
The Presidents are 40-7 overall over the past four seasons, 22-2 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference.
Offensive tackle Tim McCorkle is going to Geneva College, guard-defensive end Henry Cypher is headed to Edinboro and cornerback Brandon Flick will play at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland.
"Timmy broke A.J. Pagano's career rushing record here and Pagano owns the rushing record at W&J, too," Knights coach Mike King said. "Wouldn't that be ironic?"
Though W&J has eight running backs returning from last year's 10-1 team, including Seneca Valley graduate Billy Burns, McNerney has a chance to play right away.
Derek Taylor, a junior from Kittanning, is the Presidents' leading returning rusher with just 300 yards last season."Not only does Tim have the chance to play right away, I think he can get them to run the ball a little more," King said. "They've been pretty pass-dominated in recent years."Tim's been working out a great deal. He's in the best shape I've ever seen him in and he's focused on keeping things going. W&J may have really lucked out in getting him."Three members of King's coaching staff played at Geneva, where McCorkle is now headed."They've been waiting for one of our guys to go there," King said. "I'm glad Timmy's going there. It's a solid, Christian-based school that fits him."Clarion had interest in McCorkle before he decided on Geneva. The Golden Tornado were 5-5 last season, 8-3 in 2007.Cypher was recruited heavily by PSAC schools Slippery Rock, Clarion and Edinboro before deciding on the latter.The Fighting Scots were 9-2 last fall and are 22-11 in three years under coach Scott Browning. Fellow Knoch grads Greg and Josh Bzorek had stellar careers at Edinboro as offensive linemen."Exercise science is the field Henry wants to go into and Edinboro has that program," King said. "He wants to be a weightlifting coach some day."
Flick is going to a Case Western program that is 21-2 over the past two seasons and returns quarterback Dan Whalen, a top-10 finalist for the Gagliardi Trophy as the best player in NCAA Division III."Brandon is strong academically and that's a strong academic school," King said. "He's looking at their pre-law program."What I like about the choices of these four kids is that they're level-headed decisions based on schools that fit them beyond football."All four have strong support systems at home that enabled them to make these decisions and stand by them. It's really refreshing to see that," King added.
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