Downingtown East holds off Vikings in hard-fought gridiron battle

DOWNINGTOWN >> Football is a sport that is not for the faint of heart. Saturday night at Kottmeyer Stadium, both Downingtown East and West Chester East hit anything that was moving, as the two teams went at each other like dueling packs of pit bulls.

When West Chester East quarterback Ryan Duell missed John Wileczek on a slant pattern in the end zone as time expired, the host Cougars came away with a very hard-fought 24-19 nonleague win over the game Vikings.

“All the credit goes to West Chester East,” Downingtown East head coach Mike Matta said. “That is the best we have been defensed in a very long time. We came through with the stop at the end but they are a very good team. Their No. 2 [Kyle Cichanowsky] is quite a player.”

Cichanowsky, the leading rusher in Chester County, churned out 192 yards on 25 carries and scored two touchdowns on long runs of 71 yards in the first period and 59 yards late in the third period. The West Chester East star seemed to get big yardage every time his team needed it.

West Chester East (3-1) held a 13-6 lead at halftime, but the Cougars (4-0) came out on fire in the second half. The Downingtown East defense forced a fumble and blocked a Viking punt that led to 12 Downingtown East points and the Cougars took a 18-13 lead late in the third period. The Cougars pounded out 288 yards rushing with the trio of Spencer Gull, Stanley Bryant and Josh Assante up front leading the way.

But, West Chester East would not go away on this night. The Vikings started a drive at their own 23 yard line and four plays later, Cichanowsky burst through a hole on the right side and sprinted 59 yards to score. Suddenly, West Chester East had a slim 19-18 advantage after three periods.

“West Chester East really came to play tonight,” Downingtown East linebacker and receiver Connor Noble said. “It was so physical out there. Both teams were really going after each other out there tonight. We messed up in the red zone three times and let them get a couple long runs so we have to fix those little things to become the team we want to be.”

With the Vikings holding a slim 19-18 lead, Downingtown East embarked on a typical Cougar drive. This one was a 13-play, 61-yard drive that lasted over five minutes and ended in a touchdown when Cougar quarterback Drew Person hit Matt Glazer for a two yard touchdown pass. Glazer just got in the end zone as the Cougars had a 24-19 lead with just over 10 minutes to play.

Both teams then had three and outs, but the Vikings stopped the Cougars on a fourth down play and took over at their own 21 late in the fourth period. Behind the running of Cichanowsky and a clutch 25-yard completion on fourth down from Duell to John Wileczek, the Vikings put the ball deep in Cougar territory.

On fourth and goal at the Downingtown East six yard line after a timeout, Duell dropped back and looked for John Wileczek in the end zone, but the Cougar secondary had great coverage and the ball landed harmlessly on the turf. Downingtown East barely survived a gallant Vikings upset bid.

“We talked about the play in the timeout,” Downingtown East linebacker/running back Stanley Bryant said. “Our coaches had the play snuffed out and we defended it just right and came together to get the win. I made some mistakes tonight, I fumbled once but we stayed together, came tighter as a family and got the win. That is what we did. We fight together and as a family.”