The quarterbacks' quest: Which one will succeed?

Whoever does will likely determine the outcome of Knoch's football game at Moon come Friday night.

"No doubt, this is a battle of top guns at quarterback," Moon coach Mark Capuano said. "Both of these kids can do a lot of things."

Both demonstrated that last weekend. Knoch's Jordan Shoop had a combined 180 yards rushing and passing, including a 36-yard touchdown run in the Knights' 14-7 win over Freeport.

Moon's Casey Williams rushed for 115 yards and threw for 100 - including a pair of touchdown tosses - in the Tigers' 29-15 win over Ringgold.

"The quarterbacks hold the key, but Jordan had a nice supporting cast last week, too," Knoch coach Mike King said. "Alex Whisler was impressive in his first varsity game at tailback and Justin McGowan had an outstanding game defensively. Rob Briggs had a big first down catch, so he (Shoop) had some help.

"Jordan has the ability to take over a game, though … and I know their kid does."

Williams played tailback for Moon last year and rushed for 1,284 yards and 22 touchdowns. The Tigers finished 9-2 and advanced to the WPIAL playoffs for the 10th time in 11 years.

The one year they missed - 1997 - they finished 8-2.

"We should have gone that year," Capuano said. "We had a pretty good team, but they only took the top two in each section back then."

Williams moved to quarterback this year out of necessity. Moon graduated 24 seniors from last year's squad.

"He's the kid who makes us go," Capuano said. "Casey does so many things well. We can line him up in the shotgun and let him run, or we can shift him into the tailback spot.

"He can roll out, throw on the run, or we can play-fake with him. He's a weapon on special teams, too. He ran two kickoffs back for touchdowns last year."

Like Shoop, Williams has a solid supporting cast. Michael Battles rushed for 93 yards in the first half against Ringgold, then cramped up early in the third quarter and did not return.

Chris Jeannot, at 6-foot-6, is Williams' favorite receiver, but may see limited action Friday because of a nerve problem in his foot.

"We had five turnovers against Ringgold last week and did a good job of overcoming those mistakes, but it's going to take us a while to be totally on our game," Capuano said.

Steve Gabert, a 277-pound starting tackle, will miss Friday's game, and possibly the season, with an injured ACL.

Tackle-defensive end Mike Burns returns to action this week for Knoch, but receiver Joel Berger (shoulder) and lineman Mark Yoest (concussion) will not play.

Berger and Yoest are expected to be ready for next week's section opener at Hampton.

"We're not in bad shape physically for this game," King said. "We need to be ready to play a physical game.

"Moon has a big offensive line, but not as big as last year. We can't let their quarterback take over the game. He's an offensive threat in so many ways."

Capuano has confidence in his offense - and expects a true test for his defense.

"Ringgold's quarterbacks couldn't throw the ball that well, so our secondary wasn't tested that well" he said. "Knoch can throw the football, so we'll see how good we are back there."