Kiski School football on upswing, building for future

By: Monday, October 7, 2024 | 1:12 PM

Heading into the fifth game of the season against Penn Charter on Sept. 27, Kiski School football coach David Buran knew his team was not going to have an easy go of it.

"We each have played a common opponent this season and, using the transitive property, it's going to be a tough game for us," said Buran days before the game.

The outcome was just as Buran foresaw as Penn Charter came away with a 45-24 victory and knocked Kiski School (2-3) back under .500.

The Cougars were down 31-14 at the half but put on a tremendous defensive effort in the second half, outscoring Penn Charter, 10-7. Penn Charter iced the game with a late pick-six.

But the best part of it for Buran and Kiski School, which is located in Saltsburg, was they put on a great showing despite the outcome, and it put them in a good place for future recruiting.

"We've been coming on strong and have improved tremendously since the beginning of the year," Buran said. "We're moving in the right direction."

The loss comes on the heels of Kiski School's best win of the season, a 27-8 victory over Peddie School, N.J.

The win brought the Cougars' record 2-2 and meant a lot to the majority of players who grinded through a 1-8 season last year, with the only win coming in the last game of the season.

"We're coming off a real tough year," said Buran, who returned after coaching the team from 2020-22. "Coach Mike Solominsky did a great job pulling the kids together and getting that win."

This season, the Cougars started 0-2 and dealt with tough competition and sloppy play.

Their first game of the season was a 48-7 loss to Calvert Hall, which was ranked 10th in Maryland.

The Cougars jumped out to a 7-0 lead but were down 20-7 heading into the fourth quarter. The Cougars had only two weeks of practice before the game, and Calvert had played two scrimmages and had a game under its belt. It showed in the final quarter.

"Things then got away from us late in that game," Buran said. "They were a large school with 58 kids on their roster. We hung in there, but we weren't play ready."

The next week, at The Hill School in Pottstown, Kiski's quarterback turned the ball over five times in a 14-3 loss.

After making a switch at quarterback to senior Mason Smith, a Holy Cross recruit from Philadelphia, the Cougars posted a 24-20 win over St. James School from Hagerstown, Md.

Smith threw three long touchdown passes in that victory.

In two games at quarterback, he has completed 7 of 13 passes for 226 yards for three touchdowns and no interceptions. He also has two rushing touchdowns.

Defensively, he plays a defensive end spot and has 26 tackles, including six tackle for loss and four sacks.

"He's got a great presence, a great football sense," Buran said. "He can run the offense well. He's very competitive, but at the same time is calm and in control of where he is. Just an all-around athlete."

Smith is also one of nine players from Pennsylvania on the team. The other eight hail from Western Pennsylvania.

Senior defensive end and linebacker Owen Sinclair is from Murrysville and is third on the team in tackles, leads the team in tackles for loss (10) and sacks (3) and has one forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

Junior running back and linebacker Levi Porter (Indiana) leads the team in rushing and kick return yards and is second on the team in tackles (37). He produced more than 150 yards in kickoff returns in the Cougars' loss at Penn Charter.

Porter has drawn interest from schools like Cornell, Brown and Dartmouth. All are at the top of his recruiting list.

Fellow junior Hunter Richardson, a defensive end from Allison Park, has 13 tackles, three for a loss, and one forced fumble. He also plays tight end and has five catches for 55 yards. West Virginia, Toledo and Dartmouth have taken an interest in Richardson.

Junior Adrian Valdez, a Fox Chapel native, plays linebacker and leads the team in tackles with 42, and junior Josh Silnutzer of Monroeville has stepped into a starting role along the offensive line and helps out on defense as well.

The other two local players are Cheo Stevenson from North Braddock and Jonah Hilty of Gibsonia. Both are sophomores and play as reserves.

"We get a whole range of schools that come looking at our kids," Buran said of the recruiting interest. "Our sweet spot is schools coming from the Patriot and Ivy leagues. We're a perfect fit for those programs because of the challenge our academic program provides our kids."

That's the more important part of it for Buran and other coaches at Kiski School. The players are out there playing sports they love, but the main focus is academics, and for Buran it's even more than that.

"We talk to our kids all the time about the classroom, the athletic piece, but the most important thing for us is the character," Buran said. "That's one of the reasons this group has been so fantastic from the beginning."

There are also two players from Texas and one each from New York and Ohio. Of the 26 rostered players, the other half have come from other countries with the bulk hailing from Europe.

A couple of years ago, Buran toured Europe while recruiting and was surprised to see American football fields dotting the landscape.

"They play at a different level over in Europe," Buran said. "When they come here, it's a big step up for them, the game is a little bit faster. They're still learning, but once they get it going it's going to be a wonderful experience for them."

Notable foreign-born players include guard Jeremy Bjick, center Jan-Luca Jenner and kicker Leo Buggeman of Germany, special teamers Noa Seyi and Elijah Diallo of France, linebacker Emanuel Safikhany of Belgium and Sergio DuBois of Mexico.

"We also have two kids from China, and sophomore Zipeng "Stevey" Shen, who has turned into a heck of a lineman, is doing a wonderful job on both sides of the ball," Buran said.

Buran has worked to get the diverse group of players from all different backgrounds to mesh, but knows the credit goes to his players.

"This is an absolutely fantastic group of young men," Buran said. "We have a great group of seniors who are doing well and a solid group of young guys who will be impact players down the road."