Blue Demons cruise past Braves

By Bill Rudick
ATGLEN—Kennett came out of the gate firing on all cylinders and kept the foot on the gas, nearly putting the game away in the first half, scoring five unanswered touchdowns in the first two periods, and another in the third before Octorara got on the board, and handed the Braves a 40-13 defeat to spoil its homecoming festivities.

Danny Mancini and Xavier Feliciano stop Zac Heagy cold after the Braves' receiver hauled in a catch.
Danny Mancini and Xavier Feliciano stop Zac Heagy cold after the Braves’ receiver hauled in a catch.

“We got off to a great start, getting righ at them on the first play,” said lineman Nate Pizzini. “We just never let up and they seemed to get tired. We just wore them down.”
The Demons scored on each of their first three drives, finding nearly equal success through the air or on the ground. Capping the first drive was a seven yard run from Myles Robinson. Robinson finished the night with 66 yards on five carries, and three times Robinson found the end zone.

“The o-line was ridiculous tonight,” said Robinson. “I barely needed to even make a cut. It was great to come in here and get a big win like this. We just have to keep that momentum going and we could find ourselves 4-2 after next week.”
After the Demon defense stopped the Braves cold on its first possession, limiting Octorara to a yard in three tries, the Braves were forced to punt. And just like that, it was 14-o thanks to a 64-yard punt return for the score by Mitchell Kosara.
Seconds into the second half, quarterback Jake Dilcher ran it in 13 yards on a first and goal to make it 21-0. Dilcher led all rushers with 105 yards on five carries, and completed 8 of 15 passes for 108 yards and a TD.
“We made too many mistakes, and let them get a big lead on us,” said Octorara coach Jed King. “As a team, you could see us start to hang our heads just let our frustrations and our emotions get the best of us. We can’t just hang our heads and stop playing because we’re down. There was plenty of football to come.”
Up 34-0 at the half, the Demons kicked in the running clock that comes with the Mercy rule when Robinson scored his third TD of the game, this one covering 41 y

Joes Rodriguez goes up for a TD catch.
Joes Rodriguez goes up for a TD catch.

ards.
“Jake Dicher and I have been playing together since were in the 80 pound and under league,” said Robinson. “Whether he’s handing off or finding me on a pass, it just feels really natural.”
The Braves did manage to score a pair of second have touchdowns, taking advantage of a couple Kennett turnovers, including a Nick Raabe interception.
The first score came when Trent Pawling found John Easterday for a 20 yard scoring strike. A short Pawling pass to Sye Hall then turned into a 61 yard scoring strike to highlight the Braves night.
“We just can’t let ourselves fall into that mental state when we’re behind,” said King. “We played better in the second half, scoring twice and getting some turnovers. But we have to play a full sixty minutes and not hang our heads if we fall behind. I love this group of kids and no one will work harder than they will to get past this one.”

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