JEFFERSON TWP — Knoch is trying to go three-for-three in its run of early-season football paybacks.

The Knights began last season with road losses at Hampton, Blackhawk and Beaver. They opened the 2019 campaign with a 24-0 shutout of Hampton and a 21-20 triumph over Blackhawk, both at home.

Now Beaver (1-1) ventures into Saxonburg for a 7 p.m. kickoff against Knoch this Friday.

“That was a big win for us last week,” Knights coach Brandon Mowry said. “Our defense came up big with fourth-quarter stops and Joey Wojciechowski got a hand on their extra-point attempt that would have tied the game.”

Beaver owns a 4-2 lead in the all-time series vs. Knoch, including its 35-21 win last season in the teams' first meeting since 1995. The Bobcats return only four starters on both sides of the ball from last year's 7-4 season.

Included among the graduation losses are the quarterback, top three running backs and three of the top four receivers.

“Losing a lot of players isn't that uncommon for us,” 20-year Beaver coach Jeff Beltz said. “We always have juniors and seniors playing for us after coming up through the system.

“It's always on to the next guy. But this year, we do happen to have to fill a lot of holes.”

The Bobcats' would-be starter at quarterback, 6-foot-3 junior Brady Hansen, tore his ACL in the preseason and is out for the year. Tyler Ziggas, another junior, is starting behind center now.

James Finch caught passes for 222 yards and three touchdowns a year ago. Jackson Thomas has emerged as Beaver's primary running back.

Thomas is one of only four seniors playing regularly this year. The others are receiver-cornerback Tyler King, two-way lineman Dante Castagna and outside linebacker Brody Cully.

Following a 30-0 win over Brashear to open the season, the Bobcats took a 55-6 loss to South Fayette last week.

“We're actually playing two quarterbacks right now,” Beltz said. “Marco Mamone has also been taking snaps there. We've had some early injuries we're trying to overcome.

“Knoch has a special kid in (Matt) Goodlin. He's no surprise to anyone after what he did last year. Now he's a little older, stronger and faster ... He's quite a linebacker, too.”

Goodlin has rushed for 310 yards and three touchdowns on 45 carries so far this year. Quarterback Kam Grassi has run for 53 yards and two scores. He also connected with Jared Schrecengost for a 52-yard TD pass last week.

“We're continuing to grow offensively,” Mowry said. We have a number of guys who can make plays.

“Defensively, Brady McKee has really stepped up at outside linebacker. He's a senior playing football for the first time and he's making an impact.”

Beaver plays a 50 defense. Mowry said they “run to zones defensively and their outside backers do a great job with it.

“Offensively, No.'s 7 (Ziggas) and 11 (Thomas) are the ones who make it go for them.”

While his team is 2-0, Mowry knows there's still work to be done.

“Just get more consistent,” he said.