PISCATAWAY – Not too long ago Ian Strong and KJ Duff were starring at St. Anthony’s High School on Long Island.

Now they’re in Rutgers football uniforms, establishing roles within the Scarlet Knights offense and becoming go-to weapons for quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis.

“Those two guys are awfully talented, and to think that they were on the same high school team – they won some games,” coach Greg Schiano said. “There's a reason teams win games.”

Strong and Duff are now critical to Rutgers’ ability to win games, if the Scarlet Knights can beat Maryland on Saturday (6 p.m., FS1) at SECU Stadium in College Park, they’d win their sixth game and earn bowl eligibility for a second consecutive season.

Both young receivers have made some big plays through the first nine games.

Going up against the Terrapins could offer opportunities for more −Maryland has the Big Ten's worst pass defense, allowing 265.4 yards per game.

The 6-foot-3, 211-pound Strong is Rutgers’ second leading receiver with 356 yards on 20 catches (he’s fourth in the Big Ten with 17.8 yards per catch) with two touchdowns, while the 6-foot-6, 219-pound Duff is third with 294 yards on 16 catches with one touchdown.

Duff made a great catch in the first quarter of Rutgers’ 26-19 win over Minnesota on Saturday, hauling in a pass from Kaliakmanis down the right sideline on third-and-6 from the Rutgers 29 for a 37-yard gain to get the ball to the Minnesota 34. The drive ended with the Scarlet Knights’ first touchdown of the game.

Kaliakmanis has been impressed by what he’s seen from the true freshman since they’ve been together with the Scarlet Knights.

“Stellar, incredible,” Kaliakmanis said. “Since he got here, he just put his head down, he was a true freshman, he worked out, his body changed. I remember when he first got here, he didn’t look as thick as he is now. He runs well. And he’s only going to get better. He’s continuing to get better. I think he’s going to be a really special player.”

The same can be said about Strong, who as a true freshman last season caught 16 passes for 230 yards with two touchdowns.

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“The best part about Ian is we recruited him to be a safety,” Schiano said. “Ian played wideout in high school, but only on game day. So he trained as a DB all week, and then they would put him in and tell him what route to run. So you talk about a guy who has relatively not a lot of experience, and I think can be as good as we've had here. I think Ian, sky is the limit.”

Both Strong and Duff arrived at Rutgers as highly touted recruits.

Strong was the No. 1 overall prospect in New York for the Class of 2023, according to 247Sports. Duff held the same status for the 2024 recruiting class. He was also rated a four-star recruit according to the 247Sports Composite.

Strong and Duff now are the type of tall, long and fast receivers that Rutgers’ roster had lacked for a while prior to Schiano’s return.

What they’re doing now has made a difference for the Scarlet Knights’ offense.

It also is an encouraging sign for Rutgers’ future at the position – which also includes true freshman speedster Ben Black.

“With (wide receivers) Coach (Dave) Brock and with (assistant wide receivers) Coach (John) Perry, there's not two better receiver coaches in America," Schiano said. "To have them both here I think that's part of the reason the receiver room keeps getting better and better.”

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Rutgers football: Ian Strong, KJ Duff's adding offensive punch