La Salle shows strength in routing Malvern

By PETER DiGIOVANNI

cpn11716@comcast.net

MALVERN -- As advertised.
That about sums up what the La Salle High School football team displayed Saturday afternoon at the Pellegrini Athletic Complex against host Malvern Prep. La Salle is widely regarded as a favorite to claim the Class AAAA PIAA crown and if Saturday’s performance is any indication, plan on seeing the Explorers in Hershey.
La Salle dominated Malvern in all phases of the game, blocking, tackling, special teams and anything else that happens on a football field en route to a 38-6 triumph over the Friars. La Salle (4-0) took advantage of two short fields, garnering great field position to jet out to a early 10-0 lead.
“It is always great to have to not go the length of the field,” La Salle quarterback Chris Kane said. “And we wanted to jump on them early and get them back on their heels a bit. Our offensive line was missing two guys, but the guys who came in really stepped up and did a great job.
“That is what we are going to need, everybody helping out as we go into the Catholic League schedule. Roman Catholic, St.Joseph’s Prep and other teams are very good, so we feel good about how we are playing rigght now, but we know there is a long way to go.”
Kane was a stellar 13 for 20 for 146 yards on the day and La Salle head coach Drew Gordon said that his signal caller is a very hard worker.
“Chris played tight end and fullback for us the last two years,” Gordon said. “He played a little quarterback as a junior but this season he has done a tremendous job for us. He makes good decisions and he is very accurate with his passing. The short fields early in the game helped us get our confidence and we just went from there.”
Malvern (2-2) did not have a first down in the first quarter, and being down 10, things seemd to snowball from there. A 30-yard strike from Kane to Sean Coleman put the ball at the Malvern 5-yard line early in the second.
It took just two more plays for Kane to sneak in from the one and La Salle had a 17-0 lead. From there, Malvern imploded, as the Friars, who managed just 31 yards rushing on the game, turned the ball over twice via fumbles less than four minutes apart.
Both turnovers were turned into touchdowns. The first was a six-yard pass from Kane to Taj Naji and the other was a 31-yard fumble recovery return by Chris Rocco to make it a 31-0 game at halftime.
Malvern averted the shutout when Ryan Ammermann scored on a 67-yard pass from quarterback Bill Ford with a little over five minutes left.
“We gave them short fields to work with early and they turned it into 10 points,” Malvern head coach Kevin Pellegrini said. “And we could not get anything going offensively and things started to go downhill for us.
“I don’t know if there are many better football teams around than they are and you have to bring your best game to play them and we did not do that. They are so fundamentally sound, they don’t miss tackles, they block well. They are a very well coached team.”
Malvern now has a bye week before they travel to Upper Darby and Pellegrini said it may be good to have a week off to get this loss out of the kids minds.
“The bye week will seem longer after this loss but we go back to work on Monday and we have a lot of time to fix some things,” he said.

La Salle 38, Malvern Prep 6
La Salle  10 21 7 0-38
Malvern  0 0 0 6-6
Scoring
L-Winslow 33 FG
L-Kane 1 run (Winslow kick)
L-Kane 1 run (Winslow kick)
L-Naji 6 pass from Kane (Winslow kick)
L-Rocco 31 fumble recovery (Winslow kick)
L-Hardy 12 pass from Kane (Winslow kick)
M-Ammermann 67 pass from Ford (kick failed)
Team Totals
                    L                   MP
First downs          16                  6
Yards rushing      139               31
Yards passing      192              115
Total yards           331              146
Passing           14-21-0              8-18-0
Fumbles-lost       1-1                   2-2
Punts.avg           3-41.0              8-27.5
Penalties-yds       2-20                1-5
Individual Statistics
Rushing: LAS: Herrmann 9-55; Brady 8-40; Eife 2-25; Buckley 4-16; Kane 4-0, 2TD’s; Herron 1-3. MAL: Gallen 4-21; Purnell 6-4; Bohs 3-11; Ford 4 (-5).
Passing: LAS: Kane 13-20-0, 146 yards 2TD’s; Herron 1-1-0, 46 yards. MAL: Ford 8-18-0, 115 yards TD.
Receiving: LAS: Coleman 6-82; Naji 3-25 TD; Herron 3-27; Herrmann 1-46; Hardy 1-12, TD. MAL: Ammermann 3-83 TD; Purnell 2-14; Carlini 2-12; Gallen 1-6.
Sacks: LAS: Eife, Naji, Coolahan. MAL: Andrews.
Interceptions: LAS: None. MAL: None.

Follow Peter DiGiovanni at twitter.com/dlnsports

Shanahan routs Avon Grove, 57-14, in Ches-Mont opener

By BRAD SPAHR
bspahr@dailylocal.com

DOWNINGTOWN - There wasn’t a fireworks show scheduled for Saturday afternoon at Jack Mancini Field, but one broke out anyway, and the home fans of the Bishop Shanahan High School football team enjoyed every minute of it.
The Eagles put on quite a display, an offensive explosion of sorts, in which they did virtually anything they wanted in clobbering winless Avon Grove by a score of 57-14 in the Ches-Mont League National Division opener for both teams.
Bishop Shanahan (1-0 National, 2-1 overall) put up 442 total yards of offense, had four separate touchdowns of 35 yards or longer, and then called off the dogs down the stretch as the mercy-rule kicked into effect midway through the third quarter.
Senior quarterback Justin Cook wasn’t asked to throw often on a picture-perfect afternoon, but he certainly made the most of his few opportunities. Cook finished 5-of-6 through the air for 170 yards and four touchdowns.
His favorite target was senior receiver Jack Oakes, who had a monster day, with all three of his catches going for touchdowns, totalling 130 yards in receiving.
Oh yeah, and the Eagles ran the ball plenty as well, amassing 272 yards on the ground. Sophomore Pat Corcoran led the way with an outstanding performance that included a near school-record 190 yards on 18 carries to go along with a pair of touchdowns. Freshman running back Braden Harper added 38 rushing yards and a pair of scores as well.
“We ran, we passed, we basically did anything we wanted,” said Cook, the Eagles signal caller who attended Avon Grove as a freshman before transferring to Shanahan. “We were in some kind of a rhythm today and it felt great.
“Our offensive line did an amazing job, and it was just a total team effort. We played hard from start to finish, and we believed in ourselves.”
 Avon Grove (0-1, 0-4) has now been out-scored by a combined margin of 159-49 in what has been an extremely rough start to the season for them. Things went bad for the Red Devils right from the start on Saturday. They went three-and-out on the opening possession of the game, and then in attempting to punt the ball away from deep in their own end, saw the snap sail over the punter’s head and out of the end zone for a safety.
The Red Devils got a 52-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tanner Peck to Ryan Amanto in the first quarter, and a 77-yard touchdown run by Cody Davis in the third quarter, but besides those two plays they were only able to muster 127 yards of offense in the contest.
“I don’t have anything positive to say after this one,” said first-year Avon Grove coach Doug Langley. “We had been improving each and every week, but today we took a giant step backwards. We started hanging our heads right away when things started going bad, and that’s not good. Hopefully we can put this behind us and get back to practice and try to keep moving forward.”
Bishop Shanahan has been trying to move forward ever since suspending eight players, including five starters, prior to the start of the season. And they’ve done a terrific job up to this point, and are just one close loss against Chichester away from being undefeated.
The Eagles defense, although overshadowed by the 57-point offensive performance, was equally good on Saturday. They forced three turnovers, and had six sacks, led by two from Collin Kearns.
“It was a tough loss last week for us but the kids never missed a beat in practice,” said Bishop Shanahan coach Paul Meyers. “I’m really proud of them. It’s a great group of guys and they are giving me everything they have.”
The Eagles stormed out to a 22-8 lead after the first quarter. Oakes hauled in two of his three touchdown receptions in the opening 12 minutes, the first for 85 yards and the second for 2 yards. Corcoran also scored on a 17-yard run in the period.
Corcoran then busted one 75 yards to the house late in the second quarter, as the Eagles took a 29-8 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Shanahan put 28 more points on the board in the third quarter. Cody Smith made a nice 35-yard touchdown catch from Cook on the first drive after halftime. Cook later found Oakes again midway through the third, this time on a 43-yard scoring play. Harper added a pair or rushing touchdowns in the last six minutes of the quarter to close out the scoring.
“Coming in here today we thought we would really be able to run the ball,” said Meyers. “We went a lot of off-balance and that was our game plan.
“It really started up front on both sides of the ball. Our two front lines were dominant.”

Bishop Shanahan 57,
Avon Grove 14
Avon Grove     8 0 6 0 -- 14
Bishop Shanahan     22 7 28 0 -- 57
Scoring
BS-Safety
BS-Oakes 85 pass from Cook (Run failed)
AG-Amanto 52 pass from Peck (Radecki run)
BS-Corcoran 17 run (Johnson kick)
BS-Oakes 2 pass from Cook (Johnson kick)
BS-Corcoran 75 run (Johnson kick)
BS-C. Smith 35 pass from Cook (Johnson kick)
AG-Davis 77 run (Run failed)
BS-Oakes 43 pass from Cook (Johnson kick)
BS-Harper 10 run (Johnson kick)
BS-Harper 1 run (Johnson kick)
Team Totals
    AG     BS
First downs     6    7
Yards rushing     122    272
Yards passing     134    170
Total yards    256    442
Passing     7-16-1    5-6-0
Fumbles-Lost     3-2    0-0
Penalties    5-40    7-65
Punts-Avg.     5-30.2    3-19.6
Individual Statistics
RUSHING - Avon Grove: Davis 8-87, TD; Kush 5-24; Kim 8-22; Amanto 1-6; Peck 6-(-17). Bishop Shanahan: Corcoran 18-190, 2TDs; Harper 8-38, 2TDs; Angelini 4-27; Cook 3-10; Stine 2-6; Ruggieri 1-1; Lindstrom 2-0.
PASSING - Avon Grove: Peck 7-16, 134 yds, TD, INT. Bishop Shanahan: Cook 5-6, 170 yds, 4TDs.
RECEIVING - Avon Grove: Davis 3-25; Amanto 1-52, TD; Braxton 1-32; Lawrence 1-20; Kush 1-5. Bishop Shanahan: Oakes 3-130, 3TDs; C. Smith 2-40, TD.
SACKS - Avon Grove: Lytle. Bishop Shanahan: Kearns 2, Zebrowski, Evans, Judd, Gormley.
INTERCEPTIONS - Avon Grove: none. Bishop Shanahan: Oakes.

Unionville finally knocks off Rustin

Photo by Nate Heckenberger/ Unionville quarterback Tom Pancoast scampers in for a touchdown during Friday's 13-7 win over West Chester Rustin.

By NATE HECKENBERGER
nateheckenberger@gmail.com

EAST MARLBOROUGH -- As if beating West Chester Rustin wasn’t difficult enough, dealing with the ghosts of seasons past made things even tougher on Unionville.
So many times in the past four seasons it was the Golden Knights coming up with the key plays in tight games against Unionville. But at home Friday night, the Indians were the ones converting on fourth-and-goal and making the stop on fourth-and-one inside its own five.
Add Tommy Pancoast’s legs to a valiant defensive effort, and Unionville was finally able to stave off Ches-Mont American Division rival Rustin, 13-7, on a night when another heartbreak looked inevitable.
It was the first time the Indians defeated the Knights (0-1, 3-1) since 2007, snapping Rustin’s 22-game win streak within the division.
“The kids really rose to the challenge,” Unionville coach Pat Clark said. “Our defense was phenomenal, to hold them to seven points and stop them on a couple fourth downs. We kept our poise throughout and our offense was able to control the clock.”
Pancoast got things started for the Indians (1-0, 3-1), sprinting for an 85-yard touchdown on the first play of Unionville’s second series. The senior quarterback finished with 199 yards on 23 carries, after losing four yards on three kneel downs to end the game.
Rustin, who went three-and-out on its first three drives, found life early in the second with Mike Pernsley coming off the bench for a few nice runs. Dave Fithian hit Dan Walls down the left sideline for a 42-yard reception, and two plays later Adam Burke scored his 10th rushing- and 12th total- touchdown of the season to tie it at 7.
It was in the second half that Unionville’s size and depth proved pivotal. The Indians ran the ball 12 times for 80 yards on their opening drive, the final yard coming on a fourth-and-goal TD scamper by Pancoast. It was Unionville’s second fourth-and-short conversion inside Rustin’s 10 of the drive.
“Once we got to their goal line they played really tough,” Pancoast said. “We fought for every yard. It was good to punch it in finally and get the score.”
For Clark, there was really only one option in the biggest spot of the game.
“The kid has been there for us in some big games,” Clark said of Pancoast. “He said ‘let me run downhill, coach’ and that was end of story.”
But a botched snap, leaving it 13-7, brought back bad memories for Clark and his staff of the 2008 matchup in which Rustin won, 7-6, thanks to a missed extra point.
After a three-and-out on the ensuing drive, Rustin caught its break, recovering a fumble on Unionville’s 24. But seven plays later, Burke was stopped by Unionville a half yard short on fourth-and-one at the Unionville three.
“The difference in the game is on the fourth-and-goals they stopped us and we didn’t,” Rustin coach Mike St. Clair said. “(Unionville) did a great job on defense and their quarterback is a very good athlete.”
Though the Indians didn’t score on the following possession, they ran 12 plays and took 7 minutes, 34 seconds off the clock. Prior to Rustin’s final drive, Unionville ran 25 plays to the Knights’ 11, as Pancoast and the offensive line led by Lenny Johnson and Andrew Jones wore on the Knights.
“(Unionville) has a little size up front, and we don’t have the size we’re used to,” St. Clair said. “They wore us down a little bit, but we bent but didn’t break. We just couldn’t get it done at the end.”
With 3:40 remaining, Rustin got its final chance on just its third drive of the second half. A hook-and-lateral to Tyler Seal and then to Jack Muliawan garnered 18 yards, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty took the Knights 15 yards back to the Unionville 40. After a negative run and three incomplete passes, the final broken up by Indians’ Zach Barnes, Unionville could finally celebrate.
“It feels great,” Pancoast said, “to finally beat Rustin after they’d taken us out the last four years. We played a great game offensively, and the defense got it done when we had to.”
Unionville hosts Coatesville next Saturday for its last non-league game, and will then shift its focus entirely to reclaiming the league title it hasn’t won since 2007. With a deeper American Division, the task is far from over, but the Indians have an early leg up.
“I told the kids, once we get to first place in the league we have the opportunity to protect it each week,” Clark said. “It’s going to be a challenge, but it’s better to play up front than to try and catch up from behind. We’ll fight every week to stay first.”

Unionville 13, West Chester Rustin 7
West Chester Rustin     0  7  0  0  -  7
Unionville     7  0  6  0  -  13
Scoring
UV- Pancoast 85 run (Barnes kick)
WCR- Burke 4 run (Jenkins kick)
UV- Pancoast 1 run (snap failed)
Team Totals
WCR UV
First downs  6 12
Yards rushing  111 309
Yards passing  57 9
Total yards  168 318
Passing  4-11-0 2-7-1
Fumbles-Lost  1-0 1-1
Penalties 3-25 4-34
Punts-Avg.  5-42 2-31.5
Individual Statistics
RUSHING - WCR: Pernsley 9-42; Burke 14-41, TD; Muliawan 1-13; Loper 6-11; Fithian 2-4; Lamberjack 1-0. UV: Pancoast 23-199, 2 TDs; Pechin 9-54; Stradling 9-23; Scargill 6-25; DiBaggio 2-8.
PASSING - WCR: Fithian 4-11, 57 yards. UV: Pancoast 2-7, 9 yards, INT.
RECEIVING - WCR: Seal 2-9; Walls 1-42; Burke 1-6. UV: Johnson 1-4; Scargill 1-5.
SACKS - WCR: none. UV: none.
INTERCEPTIONS - WCR: Seal. UV: none.

Oxford dealt first loss

By JAMES BOYLE
Journal Register News Service

ASTON – Sun Valley delivered Oxford its first loss of the season by a score of 21-14, and extended its own record to 3-1 on the young season.
After a tough 32-0 loss at the hands of Academy Park last week, the Vanguards showed up on both sides of the ball in front of an energized home crowd on Friday night.
“We always want to go 1-0,” said quarterback T.J. Mancini, who threw for 123 yards and two touchdowns on the day. “We work hard and we always expect to win. We can beat anyone on our schedule.”
Following a turnover on downs during Oxford’s first drive of the game, the Vanguards took over on their own 46-yard line and promptly scored on the opening play of their series. Sophomore halfback Juwan Chandler took the ball 54 yards to help provide an early lead for his team.
Chandler ran for 113 yards on 12 carries in Friday’s game.
The Hornets scored a touchdown with 30 seconds remaining in the first half on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Ethan Herb to Collin Dawkins, but they couldn’t hold on to the momentum.
In a last-ditch effort, Mancini threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Leon Hunter, who fell into the endzone as time ran out in the half, putting them up 21-7.
“I just put it up there for him,” said Mancini. “And he came down with it.”
Hunter had three catches for 101 yards.
The Vanguards’ three first-half touchdowns were all they needed to seal a victory over the team that defeated them a season earlier.
Friday’s win was retribution for Sun Valley, according to left back Blake Bertrand, who helped force a late fumble that ensured his team’s win.
“We expected to win,” he added.
On a key third-and-goal play early in the second half, Oxford quarterback Ethan Herb was brought down by defensive lineman Mike Bruton for a loss of 9 yards. On the following play, Oxford failed to score, turning the ball over on downs.

Stout D, balanced offense lead Conestoga

By MATTHEW De GEORGE
mdegeorge@delcotimes.com

NEWTOWN SQUARE — You could boil down Marple Newtown’s Friday evening into two sets of plays.
To end the first half, the otherwise sputtering offense found life, moving the ball 47 yards in three plays. Likewise, Marple’s final drive of the game involved moving 48 yards on six plays.
But as was fitting on a day in which the Tigers could only muster 161 yards of offense in limited time of possession, both threats ended in disappointment — and end zone interceptions by Conestoga’s Brendan Caine — as the Pioneers pitched a shutout, 21-0.
“I am very pleased with the way we played today,” Conestoga coach John Vogan said. “We showed the balance that our offense needs to have of run and pass. And I think our defense played a hell of a ball game today. … It was just a great team effort in the three phases: Offense, defense and special teams.”
The Tigers’ offense was kept at bay all night by an active front seven of the Pioneers, led by Riley Pritchett. They forced four turnovers, including the two picks of Marple quarterback Tommy Davis, and corralled the running game to the tune of 29 carries for 106 yards (50 on 10 carries by Mike White, 36 on eight for Anthony Rosanio).
And when you consider that well over half of that production came on two series, it makes for an ugly offensive performance for the Tigers between those rare flashes of brilliance.
“It’s huge,” said Pritchett, who teamed with Nick Johnson, Scott Hirshman, M.H. Moses and Max Dolente to control the line of scrimmage. “Last week, we gave up a bunch of touchdowns. And it’s actually some of our offense too. They didn’t give us bad field position, and we filled the gaps.”
Conestoga’s offense did its part to help its defense, dominating time of possession. Where Marple Newtown had just 13 offensive plays in the first half, Conestoga had three drives of eight plays or more, including scoring marches of 13 and eight. In all, Conestoga took 56 offensive snaps; Marple Newtown (1-3) ran just 37.
“They did some things that we weren’t expecting, but then after that, we adjusted and we turned the ball over,” Marple Newtown head coach Ray Gionta said. “They had the ball, and we didn’t have that many plays in the game.”
The theme of the Conestoga offense all season has been the possession passing offense orchestrated by quarterback Joe Viviano. By Viviano’s lofty standards, that attack wasn’t as prolific as usual, accounting for just 143 yards. But what they lacked in yardage they more than made up for with accuracy. He completed 13 of his 18 attempts and scrambled effectively — including a 7-yard scamper to extend a drive in the first half and a 10-yard jaunt on third-and-long in the fourth quarter. Eleven of his completions found favorite target Andrew DeStefano for 133 yards, including an 8-yard strike in the first half and a beauty of a back-shoulder fade to the 1 for 25 yards on a third-and-22.
“We have a great relationship,” De Stefano said. “He knows when I’m going to cut, and he knows where to put the ball.”
But the added dimension Friday of Marcus Burton’s legs made the difference for Conestoga (2-2). He played the role of workhorse, toting the ball 31 times for 158 yards. He finished off the first drive with an 8-yard score, and he dove into the end zone untouched from the 1 a play after the final Viviano-to-DeStefano connection. Both running back and coach agreed that the lion’s share of the credit belonged to the big guys up front.
“It meant a lot to our offensive line,” Burton said. “They blocked well today, really well, and I did what I came to do. … I guess some teams might expect that pass, but obviously we can run the ball, so they should be looking out for that too.”
The Pioneers, though, made their mistakes. In a flag-filled game that featured four pre-snap infractions for each side, Conestoga left openings. A short punt in the first half set up Marple Newtown at midfield, but the drive ended in a fumble by White. That set off a 14-play march by Conestoga where Marple’s defense held to force a turnover on downs.
After halftime, another Conestoga turnover on downs gave Marple a chance near midfield. A pair of costly holding penalties on other series slowed the Pioneers, but Viviano seemed to always pull out a spectacular play to save the possession. And when they did punt early in the third quarter, it bounced of an unwitting Nik Rhoads in coverage to set up Burton’s second score and set the final margin.

Conestoga 21
Marple Newtown 0
Conestoga    7 7 0 7 — 21
Marple Newtown    0 0 0 0 — 0
Scoring
C: DeStefano 8 pass from Viviano (Toroni kick), 7:05
C: Burton 5 run (Toroni kick), :50.6
C: Burton 1 run (Torono kick), 6:04
Team Statistics
    CON     MN
First downs     18    9
Rushes-Yards     43-170    29-106
Passing yards     143    55
Total yards    313    161
Passing     13-18-0    4-8-2
Punts-Average     1-12.0    3-31.2
Fumbles-Lost    0-0    3-2
Penalties-Yards     8-68    6-29
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Conestoga — Burton 31-158, Viviano 7-10, DeStefano 1-3, Prestipino 1-2, Team 3-(minus-3). Marple Newtown — White 10-50, Rosanio 8-36, Binder 2-18, DiFabio 1-12, Davis 8-(minus-18).
Passing: Conestoga — Viviano 13-18-0, 143; Caine 0-0-0, 0. Marple Newtown — Davis 4-8-2, 55.
Receiving: Conestoga — DeStefano 11-133, Dorsey 2-10. Marple Newtown — Vegso 3-45, Hamilton 1-10.

Whippets take out frustration on Penn Wood

By BRAD SPAHR
bspahr@dailylocal.com

DOWNINGTOWN - The Downingtown West High School football team was looking to take out a whole lot of frustration on somebody a week after suffering its first loss of the season on the road at Ceasar Rodney (Del.), and that certainly wasn’t good news for winless Penn Wood.
Downingtown West rushed for a whopping 277 yards, and basically did whatever it wanted on the way to a 42-0 nonleague blowout over the visiting Patriots on Friday night at Kottmeyer Stadium in a contest that saw the mercy-rule kick in effect for the majority of the second half.
The Whippets (3-1 overall) got a big night from junior running back Jonathan Reyes, who rushed for a game-high 88 yards on nine carries and scored two touchdowns. Junior running back Mitch Meleski also was a force offensively, as he rushed for 86 yards and a touchdown.
Passing wasn’t much of a problem either for Downingtown West. Junior quarterback Nick Pagel was a perfect 5-of-5 through the air for 86 yards and a score.
“We were a very motivated bunch after last week’s loss,” said Downingtown West defensive coordinator John Carroll, who was filling in for head coach Mike Milano as he served his one-game suspension. “We had a great week of practice for this game. We were ready to explode on somebody.
“Our offensive line did a great job blocking tonight, and our kids really ran hard behind them. It was a strong all-around team effort from top to bottom.”
Reyes scored on a pair of touchdown runs in the first half to help the Whippets seize a commanding 28-0 lead at halftime over the Patriots (0-4). Reyes went in from 7 yards out with 2:51 left in the first quarter to open the scoring. Meleski then added a 1-yard scoring run with 35 ticks on the first quarter clock to extend the lead to 14-0.
Reyes’ 12-yard run into the end zone early in the second quarter made it 21-0, and then Justin Schmitt hauled in a 16-yard touchdown pass from Pagel to close out a dominant opening half.
“We were pretty fired up for this one,” said Reyes. “We had plenty of motivation. We wanted to win this one for coach.
“We played full speed the entire time. Our offensive line did an amazing job too. Without them the running backs are nothing.”
Downingtown West added two more touchdowns in the third quarter. Jimmy DiSantis scored on a 1-yard run, and then Evan Wolf intercepted a pass and took it back 62 yards to the house.
Penn Wood was led by Akinshola Jolaoso, who had a team-high 23 yards rushing.
The Whippets were once again outstanding defensively. They allowed only 129 yards and forced three turnovers. In its three wins so far this season, West has given up a combined seven points.
It was a strong final tune-up for the Whippets, as they’ll now gear up to open Ches-Mont League play next Friday night at West Chester East.
“This was a really good win for us going into league competition,” said Carroll. “Hopefully we have another great week of practice and I’m sure the kids will be ready to go for their first Ches-Mont game.”

Downingtown West 42
 Penn Wood 0
Penn Wood     0 0 0 0 -- 0
Downingtown West     14 14 14 0 -- 42
Scoring
DW-Reyes 7 run (Caruso kick)
DW-Meleski 1 run (Caruso kick)
DW-Reyes 12 run (Caruso kick)
DW-Schmitt 16 pass from Pagel (Caruso kick)
DW-DiSantis 1 run (Caruso kick)
DW-Wolf 62 interception return (Caruso kick)
Team Totals
    PW     DW
First downs     7    18
Yards rushing     61    277
Yards passing     68    86
Total yards    129    363
Passing     10-18-2    5-5-0
Fumbles-Lost     1-1    0-0
Penalties    5-30    2-15
Punts-Avg.     3-28.0    1-32.0
Individual Statistics
RUSHING - Penn Wood: Jolaoso 6-23; Zahnee 5-13; Gonwoe 1-11; Lucas-Tillery 4-10; Ringgold 4-4. Downingtown West: Reyes 9-88, 2TDs; Meleski 12-86, TD; Pagel 6-45; Sauder 2-19; Harlow 1-13; DiSantis 4-12, TD; Hess 2-12; Speca 1-2.
PASSING - Penn Wood: Johnson III 10-18, 68 yds, 2INTs. Downingtown West: Pagel 5-5, 86 yds, TD.
RECEIVING - Penn Wood: Broach 6-45; Roberts 3-20; Willingham 1-3. Downingtown West: Meleski 2-57; Schmitt 2-30, TD; Reyes 1-(-1).
INTERCEPTIONS - Downingtown West: Domblesky, Wolf.

Henderson grounds up rival Vikings

Staff photo by Brad Spahr/West Chester Henderson’s Derek Matonti fights for extra yardage during the first quarter of Friday night’s National Division win over West Chester East.

By NEIL GEOGHEGAN
ngeoghegan@dailylocal.com

WEST CHESTER – Some things just never seem to change -- like the notion that West Chester Henderson is going to pound the football.
To the surprise of absolutely nobody, that’s exactly what the Warriors did on Friday evening, and there wasn’t much crosstown rival West Chester East could do about it. Paced by junior halfback Garrett Girafalco, Henderson rolled up 355 yards on the ground en route to a dominating 36-0 win over the visiting Vikings in the Ches-Mont League opener for both at J. Oscar Dicks Stadium.
“It was typical Henderson,” said East’s second year head coach Dan Ellis. “I know there’s a new head coach and a few tweaks in philosophy, but (head coach Steve) Mitten has been on their staff for so long, he is not changing the core of what Henderson is.”
Girafalco didn’t play a down in the first quarter and still ran for 122 yards on 18 carries while sharing time in the backfield with Derek Matonti (77 yards, 13 carries). 
“I just have to jump in there and make the most out of my chances,” Girafalco said.
“We are lucky to have two effective runners,” Mitten pointed out. “Garrett has a little more wiggle to him and Derek runs tough and is a bruiser. It doesn’t seem to matter which one is in there, we don’t miss a beat.”
The Warriors improved to 4-0 and have now topped the Vikings in the last six meetings. East fell to 0-4.
“I am a Henderson grad and I’ve been at games against East for years and years, going back to Thanksgiving games and when we used to play them twice a year when the Ches-Mont had four teams,” Mitten recalled. “It’s always a big game.”
Matonti opened the scoring by capping off a ground-based 10-play, 63-yard drive with a 3-yard scoring plunge in the first quarter. And when East was whistled for offsides on the PAT, Matonti bulled in for the two-point conversion.
On the next possession, the Mitten brothers were the story as Phil hauled in a 40-yard pass from quarterback James Bady to convert a third-and-31, which led to a 5-yard TD run by Chris. Henderson then made it 22-0 at the half when Giralco gobbled up 65 of a 70-yard march on 10 carries, setting up a keeper by Bady with 2:07 in the half.
“I am really proud of all the hard work Garrett did in the offseason preparing for this,” Mitten said. “It’s not something that just happened. It’s really paying off now for him.”
Senior Spencer Rymiszewski picked off a pass late in the third quarter, and later converted it into another TD on a 33-yard option pitch to make it 29-0. In the fourth, with most of the starters on the sidelines, the Warriors drove 94 yards to round out the scoring.
“East is an improving team,” Mitten said. “Coach Ellis has them going in the right direction and when that freshman quarterback gets a little experience, he is going to be a problem for a lot of people in our league.”
Mitten was referring to signal-caller Jon Jon Roberts, who showed a few flashes mixed in with some rookie mistakes. He connected on 4-of-5 pass attempts for 43 yards during the final two minutes of the first half to set up a 30-yard field goal, but Rymiszewski blocked it as time expired. The only other scoring threat for the Vikings came at the very end, and time ran out again. 
“We played some really good defense, and then we gave up a third-down-and-30,” Ellis complained. “That’s where we are right now: about four plays away on both sides of the ball. We are so young, we just aren’t good enough to overcome the mistakes we are making right now.
“We have to get to the point where we aren’t shooting ourselves in the foot, and it’s coming. There is going a point where the light bulb is going to go off.”
W.C. Henderson 36, W.C. East 0
W.C. East     0 0 0 0 -- 0
W.C. Henderson     8 14 7 7 -- 36
Scoring
H – Matonti 3 run (Matonti run)
H – C. Mitten 5 run (Engle kick)
H – Bady 3 run (Engle kick)
H – Rymeszewski 33 run (Engle kick)
H – Armstrong 9 run (Engle kick)
Team Totals
    WCE     WCH
First downs     10    17
Yards rushing     106    355
Yards passing     85    54
Total yards    191    409
Passing     8-20-2    3-5-1
Fumbles-Lost     1-0    1-1
Penalties    4-27    11-100
Punts-Avg.     5-30    1-40
Individual Statistics
RUSHING - E: Costa 7-44; Roberts 8-16; Jackson 8-39; Manes 1-7. H: Matonti 13-17, TD; Rymiszewski 3-43, TD; C. Mitten 5-8, TD; Bady 6-52, TD; P. Mitten 1-0; Girafalco 18-122; Green 3-29; Armstrong 2-24, TD.
PASSING - E: Roberts 8-20-2, 85 yards. H: Bady 3-4-1, 54 yards; Costello 0-1-0.
RECEIVING - E: Corialos 2-12; McKenna 3-33; Ritrovato 3-28; Jackson 1-11. H: P. Mitten 3-54.
SACKS - none.
INTERCEPTIONS - E: Downey. H: Rymeszewski, Lott.