By ANDY EDWARDS
aedwards@dailylocal.com
CALN -- As he walked off the field at halftime on a clear Friday night at Coatesville High School, Emmett Hunt hopped in the back of a BMW and went for a spin around the outside of the track, seated comfortably next to the Homecoming queen and soaking in the cheers from a thoroughly appreciative crowd.
As well as he’s been playing lately, Hunt deserves a joyride every now and then. And on this night, he certainly looked like a king.
Hunt continued his impeccable season, throwing for 187 yards and four touchdowns in the first half before watching the final two quarters from the sidelines as Coatesville engineered a 42-7 rout of the visiting Eagles on a clear night in Caln. Chris Jones caught scoring passes of 13 and 65 yards and Daquan Worley rushed for 93 yards and two touchdowns as the Red Raiders (1-1, 4-2) followed up a 42-0 blowout of Unionville the previous week in similarly convincing fashion with their first Ches-Mont National Division victory of the season.
“It doesn’t get better,” Hunt said of his night to remember. “It was a fun night.”
The fun started early for the Red Raiders, whose high-flying offense was on full display from the opening kickoff. Coatesville had the ball six times in the first half, and six times it hit pay dirt. The Red Raiders had the ball for less than eight minutes in the first half, but it hardly mattered. Hunt threw touchdowns on each of Coatesville’s first three possessions, spreading the wealth equally between his trio of explosive wideouts.
He found Jones for a 40-yard completion on his first pass, then hit Dre Boggs three plays later for a 16-yard score to open the scoring less than a minute into the game. Jones (3 catches, 118 yards) was the on the receiving end of an 11-yard strike on Coatesville’s next drive, which covered 80 yards in six plays. Next up was Vinnie Williams, who burned the Shanahan (1-2, 2-3) secondary for a 29-yard score after a 56-yard return by Jones set the Red Raiders up deep in Eagles territory. Worley capped off Coatesville’s next two drives with touchdown runs of one and 18 yards before Hunt hit Jones well behind the defense for a 65-yard score to make it 42-0 just before halftime.
When the dust settled on an electrifying first half, the Red Raiders had torched the Eagles’ defense for 334 yards and put the game well out of reach. Since dropping a heartbreaker to Downingtown East on the final play of the game two weeks ago, Coatesville has outscored its opponents 84-7.
“Even though it was two weeks ago, Downingtown East is still in our mouth,” Hunt said. “We’re playing every team like it’s them.”
“We learned a lot about ourselves in that game,” said Coatesville head coach Matt Ortega. “We’ve played with a chip on our shoulder since then and it’s shown. We feel like we’ve got something to prove, and we only have one goal in mind, and that’s to finish this thing strong the whole way through.”
Kevin Stine had a touchdown run in the fourth quarter for Shanahan, which mustered just 161 yards of offense against a relentless Coatesville defense and was powerless to stop its opponent’s vast offensive arsenal.
“They’re bigger, faster, and stronger,” Shanahan head coach Paul Myers said. “Their coaches had them ready to play, so we were up against the wall.
“That (touchdown) was one of the positives I talked to them about. I told them they played very well in the second half, and I’m proud of them.”
Hunt has scripted a nearly perfect first half to the season. In six games, the senior has thrown for 20 touchdowns with no interceptions, the ideal combination of ball security and big-play ability. Hunt has made it look almost too easy at times, but then again, with lightning-quick targets like Jones and Boggs to pick out, it frequently is.
“They make my job way easier,” Hunt said. “They believed in me and I believed in them.
“I’m gonna knock on wood with the interceptions. I just practice so hard. I’ve said it over and over again that we know each other so well. It feels like nobody can stop us.”
Color Ortega impressed, but not surprised. The Red Raiders’ coach knew he had a potential superstar in Hunt, part of the rare breed of three-sport athletes. Hunt only has one year to lead Coatesville, and even though everyone associated with the program wishes he had more time, Hunt is making the most of his opportunity.
“I am not surprised,” Ortega said. “I knew how hard the kid works and how much of a competitor he is and how much experience he’s gotten in other sports. His skill set is just unbelievable. We knew he was going to be a one-year guy that was going to come out here and get it done.”
Lost in all the fireworks from the Coatesville offense was a relentless defense that made plenty of its own plays. The Red Raiders pressured Eagles quarterback Justin Cook into a difficult night (6-for-13, 28 yards) and stopped Shanahan for negative yardage on 12 plays.
“In years past we may have come out and played down a little bit, but we came out and took care of business early,” Ortega said. “We played fast and we played hard. It was a good effort, and it’s a credit to how well our kids have been practicing and how much they believe.”
Next on the Red Raiders’ tour of destruction through the National Division is West Chester East. If the last two weeks are any indication, the Vikings could be in over their heads.
“Next week it’s West Chester East,” Hunt said, “and it’s going to be the same thing.”
Coatesville 42
Bishop Shanahan 7
Bishop Shanahan 0 0 0 7 -- 7
Coatesville 21 21 0 0 -- 42
Scoring
C-Boggs 16 pass from Hunt (Bollenbach kick)
C-Jones 13 pass from Hunt (Bollenbach kick)
C-Williams 29 pass from Hunt (Bollenbach kick)
C-Worley 1 run (Bollenbach kick)
C-Worley 18 run (Bollenbach kick)
C-Jones 65 pass from Hunt (Bollenbach kick)
BS-Stine 1 run (Johnson kick)
Team Totals
BS C
First downs 11 16
Yards rushing 118 190
Yards passing 43 187
Total yards 161 377
Passing 8-17-0 6-8-0
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 3-1
Penalties 4-45 7-60
Punts-Avg. 6-35.5 2-32.0
Individual Statistics
RUSHING - BS: Harper 18-52; Cook 3-32; Angelini 5-16; Stine 3-9, TD; Ruggieri 3-8; Johns 2-3; Zebrowski 1-(-2). C: Worley 10-93, 2 TDs; Hudson 10-37; Boggs 1-32; Flamer 2-11; Hunt 3-10; Myles 3-7.
PASSING - BS: Cook 6-13-0, 28 yards; Lindstrom 2-4-0, 15 yards. C: Hunt 6-8-0, 187 yards, 4 TDs.
RECEIVING - BS: Oakes 3-20; Zebrowski 2-12; Roselli 1-12; Angelini 1-1; Dougherty 1-(-2). C: Jones 3-118, 2 TDs; Williams 2-53, TD; Boggs 1-16, TD.
SACKS - None.
INTERCEPTIONS - None.
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