Apollo-Ridge grad Duane Brown leads IUP into PSAC championship game

Long before becoming wide receivers coach at IUP prior to the start of the 2022 season, Brett Brice knew one of the Crimson Hawks’ most prolific playmakers all too well.

Now a fifth-year senior, IUP wide receiver Duane Brown set what was then the WPIAL single-game rushing record as a junior at Apollo-Ridge with a 480-yard, eight-touchdown performance in a 2015 victory against Deer Lakes.

“He’s an Indiana County guy,” said Brice, a 2015 Indiana High School graduate, of Brown. “I always knew about him when I was in high school. We were joking that my mom went through and found my old high school papers that talk about all the tackles I had at Indiana and then on the front page was Duane’s face.

“Everyone around town knew who he was.”

Now Brice and Brown are hoping to help bring about some more Indiana County history.

IUP (8-1, 6-1 PSAC West) will host Shepherd, W.Va., (10-0, 7-0 PSAC East) in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship game at 3 p.m. Saturday at George P. Miller Stadium in Indiana.

“We wanted to go undefeated. We couldn’t get that done,” Brown said. “I’m still grateful for everything we’ve been able to accomplish this year and obviously hope we can win the PSAC championship at IUP, which hasn’t been done in 10 years.”

IUP is ranked No. 3 in the Super Region One rankings, which were released Monday by the NCAA DII football committee. Shepherd is ranked No. 1.

“To us, we are going to treat it like we are 1-0 and we are going to attack it like every other week,” Brice said of the PSAC championship game. “You can expect the same thing this week as you can any other week.”

In nine games, Brown has racked up a team-high 66 catches, 1,045 yards and 16 touchdowns. He ranks second in the nation in touchdown receptions behind only Concord receiver Jarod Bowie, who has 17, and seventh in the country in receiving yards.

“He doesn’t have 50/50 balls, they’re 80/20,” Brice said. “He’s going up to get it. He’s working on his game technically, for a fifth-year senior to consistently work on his game as a pass catcher and route runner and blocker, it’s impressive.”

And that work ethic has helped Brown to continue to ascend higher in IUP’s record books.

Brown ranks second all time at IUP in career receptions and touchdowns. He also needs just 10 more receptions this year to break the Crimson Hawks’ record for most in a single season. The 6-foot, 190-pound receiver has 113 receptions, 1,982 yards and 29 touchdowns in his career.

“In terms of catching the ball, there’s very few people in the country, maybe that’s an overstatement, but there’s very few people I’ve met who can do what he does in terms of catching the football,” Brice said. “Is there limitation? No, but are there things he can improve upon? Absolutely. He takes pride in that. He is wanting to get better every day.”

While Brown is proud of his statistical output, he said his focus remains on a singular goal.

“I hope I get remembered as a guy that won a PSAC championship, but also a national championship and bring that back to Indiana,” Brown said. “The records are cool and all, but having a ring and getting to accomplish that with your brothers is big. I think that’s bigger than all that stuff.”

And Brice is excited to see Brown get that chance.

“I call him the ‘War Daddy,” Brice said. “He is the toughest kid I know. I’m lucky to have the opportunity to not just know Duane but all the guys in our room.”