D-East beats D-West, clinches Ches-Mont National title

DOWNINGTOWN >> If you are a football fan you really could not have asked for anything more at Kottmeyer Stadium on Friday night. Both Downingtown East and Downingtown West played their respective hearts out in an intensely played 48 minutes that came down to the very last play.
Downingtown East held off a chaotic, last drive bid by the Whippets to take home a 21-14 win. The unbeaten Cougars clinched the Ches-Mont League National Division title and will be the top seed in the District 1 Class AAAA playoffs.
East (6-0, Ches-Mont, 10-0 overall) got a big sack of West quarterback Thomas Mattioni from Shane Hogarth at the Cougars’ 29 yard line to end the contest. The Whippets had moved from their own 20 on the final drive.
“We have worked since last December for this moment,” Hogarth said. “To beat West and win the Ches-Mont is an unbelievable feeling. My job is just to get to the quarterback and I knew i had to get him on that last play. Mattioni is a great player and he played great tonight, but we did what we had to do to get the win.”
The Cougars got a huge game from senior running back Jack Kincade, who carried 28 times for 165 yards. Cary Angeline caught six passes from Saunders Healy for 99 yards and two scores. East ran for touchdowns as the East offensive line, led by big Mike Clark led the way for the Cougars 221 yard rushing night.
“Our first goal this season was to beat Coatesville, then to beat West and win the league,” Clark said. “Now we have our second season. We got to the third round last season, and I believe we can go further this season.”
After a scoreless first quarter, where both teams missed field goals, the Whippets (5-1, 9-1), who will open the playoffs next Saturday night at home, took a 7-0 lead early in the second when Mattioni, who threw for 287 yards, went around the right side from three-yards out. The play was set up by a fake punt as Mattioni, the up back, took the snap and hit Wayne Anderson for a first down into Cougars territory.
East came right back to tie the game when Angeline went high in the air to haul in a four-yard throw from Healy to knot the game at halftime. East recovered a fumble late in the second period deep in West territory with a little over a minute left in the second period. The Cougars moved to the Whippets 12 with 7.5 seconds left in the half and elected to try one more play instead of a field goal attempt. Healy was sacked on the play by Braden Harper and time ran out on the threat.
“I take the blame for that,” head coach Mike Matta said. “I told (assistant coach) Rick Daniels to not let me have a drive end without a kick, but I got too emotional there.”
East took the lead in the third after forcing a West punt. one of 16 combined in the game. Jack Kincade got things going as he rambled 43 yards to the West 28. On the next play, Healy hit Angeline for the score and a 14-7 advantage.
The lead did’nt last long as Braden Harper took a flare pass from Mattioni on the left sideline and tip toed his way 46 yards to score and tie the game at 14-14.
East came right back on a 75-yard, seven-play drive that featured a lot of Kincade off tackle. Healy barely got in from the one for a 21-14 lead.
“Our offensive line did a great job tonight, led by Mike Clark,” Matta said. “They all did a great job and Jack Kincade really ran the football hard all night. “
The fourth period was scoreless with both defenses forcing two three-and-outs. The Whippets had one last chance. Things looked glum for West after Jake Barr lost 18 yards on a lateral, but Mattioni threw a perfect 50-yard pass down the right sideline to Barr to put the ball at the East 29 with 16 seconds to play.
After an incompletion over the middle, Mattioni had one last chance, but Hogarth recorded his third sack of the night and the Cougars celebrated wildly.
“I was proud of our effort,” West coach Mike Milano said. “It was a championship effort and I thought our defense played well. But offensively, we were in wrong formations some of the time and made some mistakes. We let the moment get to us. But give East credit. They are very good defensively.”

Downingtown East 21, Downingtown West 14
Downingtown West    0    7    7    0    —    14
Downingtown East    0    7    14    0    —    21
Second Quarter
Downingtown West — Mattioni 3 run (Bascardi kick)
Downingtown East — Angeline 4 pass from Healy (Brennan kick)
Third Quarter
Downingtown East — Angeline 28 pass from Healy (Brennan kick)
Downingtown West — Harper 46 pass from Mattioni (Bascardi kick)
Downingtown East — Healy 1 run (Brennan kick)
team statistics
    DW    DE
First downs    18    20
Rushes-yards    36–62    47-221
Passing    17-34-1    12-19-0
Passing yards    287    207
Total yards    349    428
Punts    3-40.0    7-37.0
Fumbles-lost    4-2    1-1
Penalties-yards    3-40    9-83