Heading into this Saturday afternoon's game, Mount Oliver resident Clint Alexander has scored four touchdowns in four games for the Pittsburgh Colts.

A 6-foot-3, 205-pound receiver, Alexander, 31, who graduated from Center High School in Beaver County, has been consistently the semipro Colts' top receiver over the past five seasons.

But his contributions to the team go well beyond catches, receiving yards, touchdowns or even blocking, Colts owner and head coach Ed Brosky said.

"He's a refined receiver," Brosky said. "I use him to help me decide how we're going to attack an opponent's defense based on what he sees and what I see. We always sit down and talk about what patterns we're going to run or what king of passing offense to use. He understands the game so well."

Alexander graduated from Center in 1996, helping the Trojans advance to the PIAA semifinals in 1994, and played at California University of Pennsylvania.

He is now one of the core of veterans on a Colts team that is 5-0 heading into a game Saturday at 4 p.m. against the Cleveland Cobras at Ambridge High School's Moe Rubenstein Stadium.

"I see myself as a student of the game," Alexander said. "That's how I like to play, that's how I like to watch the game. I think that's how I have always played, especially in college.

"You could say I am a preparation geek."

Alexander said much of his love for film study and the knowledge of the X's and O's of football came while he was at Cal, during which he was a key contributor for four years during a time of growth for the Vulcans' program from perennial also-ran to Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference title contender.

"There was a learning curve coming out of Beaver County, where we didn't throw the ball too much, so I didn't know a lot about the passing game and about offense in general or reading defenses," Alexander said.

"When I got into college, one of my teammates was a real film junkie, so it kind of started there, watching film and breaking down defenses, finding weaknesses in defensive schemes ... I think a lot of times, what helps us win games is just being the smarter team, the team that's better prepared."

Brosky said the Colts' passing offense has been effective thus far all season, averaging about 180 yards per game through the air.

Brosky also gives some credit to Alexander for the development of the team's younger and less experienced receivers.

"Not only does he understand the game, but he's able to translate that so that everybody else understands what it is we're trying to accomplish," Brosky said. "He tells them what to look for, how to run the patterns, running into an inside hit or an outside hit, at what depth to make the cuts. He's one of the big reasons our passing offense has done pretty well."

Always a speedster, Alexander worked for the Born2Run athletic performance complex in Grove City upon graduating. Brosky was looking into using parts of the facility for the Colts, and that led to a connection in which he implored Alexander to come out for the team.

Born2Run would ultimately go bankrupt, and when Alexander moved back to Pittsburgh, he joined the Colts.

Alexander's day job is in admissions with South University, which has an online campus headquartered in Pittsburgh. He said he has grown to love the camaraderie of playing for the Colts.

"We're playing pretty good ball," Alexander said. "It feels a lot better than last year.

"We've got a good group. We always have our veterans ... and a good group of young guys who are starting to make some plays for us. When those young guys are coming to practice all the time, it creates a strong nucleus of players being on the same page, and that makes it a lot easier for coaches to call -- and us to run -- plays when everybody's on the same page."