By John Reid

Daily News Staff Writer

Stanford redshirt freshman Joey Alfieri survived the fire that was USC last week fairly well. The outside linebacker had six tackles, recording the Cardinal”s only sack of Trojans quarterback Cody Kessler.

“The sack felt good,” Alfieri said. “It was the first sack for me. The defensive line got the penetration. I was in the right place at the right time.”

Alfieri”s performance could merit his first career start when the Cardinal visits Oregon State on Friday at 7 p.m. With Palo Alto High grad Kevin Anderson doubtful because of an injury, Alfieri may get the nod as Anderson”s replacement.

The Cardinal”s main priority will be stopping Beavers quarterback Seth Collins, a dangerous, spontaneous runner.

“He”s a great quarterback,” said Alfieri of Collins. “He”s a young guy who has come in and made big plays. We just have to read our keys. He could be pitching or keeping it. We have to keep on our assignment.”

One person who will be in attendance Friday will be Alfieri”s high school coach at Jesuit in Portland, Ore., Ken Potter.

“I”ve been at Jesuit 29 years and Joey Alfieri is one of the top four of five players I”ve coached,” said Potter, whose Crusaders are the No. 1-ranked team in the state of Oregon by Maxpreps.com. “First off, he”s a great person. Secondly, he has a fantastic motor. He never stops running.”

Alfieri was a star on both sides of the ball for the Crusaders. So was former Jesuit player Owen Marecic, who played on both sides of the ball while at Stanford as a fullback/linebacker.

“Alfieri was a faster runner than Marecic,” Potter said. “He was an explosive runner.”

Alfieri rushed for five straight 300-yard games as a senior before breaking his femur bone in a game against Aloha High, curtailing his season. Even without Alfieri, Jesuit went on to be state 6A state runner-ups.

“If we had Joey, we would have won the state title,” Potter said.

Playing in Corvallis is a homecoming, of sorts, for the 6-foot-2, 240-pound Alfieri. His father, Phil, was a defensive end for the Beavers from 1982 to 1985. His mother, Kelly, ran the 400-meter hurdles for OSU. His sister, Jamie, was video editor for the Beavers” football team from 2009 to 2012.

“My parents are rooting for me this week,” Alfieri said. “They switched when I got here. When I was younger, I rooted for the Beavers, but times have changed.”

Alfieri, the third of five boys in the family, will have his share of fans at the game.

“It”s always nice to have family and friends rooting for you,” Alfieri said. “I have a good amount of people telling me they”ll be there. I need to focus on football, though. Oregon State is a good team. We can”t look over any team. We have to take it to them.”

Email John Reid at jreid@dailynewsgroup.com; follow him at twitter.com/dailynewsjohn.