MURRYSVILLE - Knoch football coach Mike King figured the way to upend Franklin Regional was through the air.

The Panthers made sure to ground that notion.

Starting quarterback Jordan Shoop, who sat out last week's game against Plum with a shoulder injury, completed just three of 20 passes for 44 yards.

"The goal coming in was, with (Franklin Regional's) size and strength of the team and its run defense, we'd have to throw to be successful, and we weren't," King said.

The Panthers received a 262-yard rushing effort and two touchdowns from Jim Rockovich and went on to post a 32-0 Greater Allegheny Conference victory Friday.

"Nobody's happy with no points," said King. "We have to fix what's smack-dab in front of us."

The Panthers (5-2, 4-1) used two different quarterbacks - sophomore Lenny Gallo and junior Brad Phillips - with both helping to fuel the running game.

"They're a nice change of pace," said Panthers coach Greg Botta. "We were preparing for both to play. Both have speed and it was tough to make a decision, so we started Lenny.

"I thought during the week one would surface but both had a good week so why not play both?" Botta added.

It was Gallo who helped the Panthers score first when he scampered in from 36 yards just 4:07 into the game. He then ran in the conversion for an 8-0 lead.

Franklin Regional added to that later in the quarter when Rockovich carried the ball seven of the first eight plays before Ryan Ziacik intercepted Gallo at the Knoch 1-yard line.

After Knoch went three-and-out, Shane Barie returned a punt 37 yards for a touchdown early in the second quarter for a 15-0 lead.

The Knights had a golden opportunity when a Franklin Regional punt returner fumbled the ball and Jamison Dohn made the recovery on the FR 27-yard line.

On the first play from scrimmage, Shoop was called for intentional grounding, which pushed the Knights (2-5, 2-2) back to the FR 42.

On a third-and-25, David Bergamasco broke through for a 22-yard run, but on fourth-and-3 at the 20, he gained just one yard and the Panthers took over on downs.

With just over two minutes remaining until halftime, Phillips led the Panthers down the field on a seven-play drive that culminated in a 32-yard field goal by Greg Halperin on the final play for an 18-0 lead.

The opening drive of the second half was almost entirely on the legs of Rockovich, who carried five times for 69 yards, including a 24-yard score with 8:01 left in the quarter.

"He's a great running back and we'd hoped to come in and contain the running game," King added.

Rockovich added a 1-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.

After running a combined 13 plays on their first two possessions, the Knights went three-and-out in six of their next eight possessions. The other two were four plays each, both when the team went for it on fourth down.

Knoch's final drive, however, went for eight plays, led by backup quarterback Dan Pickard.

The final play of the game saw Knights receiver Curtis Compton outleap a Panthers defender and come down in the end zone, but the pass was ruled incomplete.

"There were times you could see our kids playing hard-nosed defense," said King. "It's a matter of consistency. They had it and we didn't."

Notes:

Bergamasco finished with 48 yards on 15 carries and the Knights finished with 70 … Rockovich eclipsed the 1,000-yard plateau on a 40-yard run in the second quarter. He has 1,169 yards on the year.