Trick plays help Coatesville take care of Gratz
CALN >> It took a while, with a couple of missteps for the Coatesville High School football team to get going on a sultry, season-opening August evening. But once the scoring started, they couldn’t stop.
Ricky Ortega scored on three short touchdown runs and Mekhi Alexander was in on three more scores as the Red Raiders rolled to a 51-14 victory over Simon Gratz on Friday.
“I’ll take the ‘W’ anytime,” said Coatesville coach Matt Ortega. “I knew the first half would be sloppy, but I bet there was a lot of sloppy first halves all over the state with the short week of practice. But, as I told the team, it was team football, with guys making plays all over the place.”
The Red Raiders reached into their bag of tricks early, on their first posession, the Young brothers hooked up as Aaron hit Avery on a 46-yard flea flicker to put the ball on the Gratz 29. Two plays later, however, the drive ended as Amir Gillis caught a tipped ball in the end zone for an interception.
One series later, Coatesville thought they were on the board, but a 24-yard TD run by Aaron Young was called back due to a holding penalty.
Early in the second quarter, the Red Raiders broke through. Working with a short field following a punt, Ortega heaved a pass while scrambling to his left, and could only watch as the ball went through the hands of a Gratz defender and nestleed into the arms of Kathero Summers for a 19-yard gain.
On the next play, Aaron Young broke through the left side and sprinted 28 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 8:33 left.
The Bulldogs kept a drive going by converting a fourth-and-2 on a 9-yard run on a fake punt by Najea Richburg. But, three straight incomplete passes gave the ball back to the Red Raiders.
It didn’t take long for Coatesville to cash in, thanks, once again, to a little trickeration.
Alexander took a pitch, pulled up and hit Avery Young, who spun off a tackle and eased into the end for a 14-0 lead.
“The coaches drew up the play, and we just executed,” said Alexander.
“You have someone who’s supposed to be responsible for it, but it doesn’t always work that way,” said Simon Gratz assistant coach Ryan Flanagin, who was filling in for head coach Erik Zipay, who missed the game after the birth of his daughter earlier in the day.
Ricky Ortega scored the first of his three short TD runs — this one from two yards out — to complete the 21-point quarter with 55 seconds left.
Coatesville fumbled the ball on its first play of the second half, but responded with an even bigger takeaway. Alexander corraled a tipped Gillis pass and scampered 51 yards into the end zone for a 28-0 advantage. Ortega scored twice more, and Alexander threw a TD pass to complete the opening night rout.
NOTES >> Amir Gillis, one of the top dual-threat quaterbacks in the state, ripped off a 51-yard run in the second quarter. He totaled 122 yards on the ground and 158 yards in the air. … Ortega was a very efficient 8-12 passing for 89 yards in his first varsity start. “He’s going to better every week,” said his father, Matt. “He made the plays he had too. One sour note to the evening, freshman Shamur Hall electrified the crowd with a 48-yard scamper on his first varsity, but hurt himself on the play and left the game.
