East atones in the clutch as Delco Christian rallies
NEWTOWN TWP. >> Abby East broke off his route, put his hands up to try to catch Luke Gutowski’s pass and … dropped it while getting drilled by High School of the Future’s Syree Groce.
On the other side of the ball, the defensive end East felt like he kept getting victimized in the Firebirds’ running game, particularly when Future tasked its tight end with blocking him.
“I’d been having a rough game,” East said.
Given another chance to make a big-time play, East didn’t disappoint, and that’s all anyone will remember from Delco Christian’s 27-20 win Saturday at Episcopal Academy.
After Gutowski gave the Knights the lead with a nifty 33-yard touchdown run with 2:41 to play, his second scoring scamper of the day, East and Delco Christian got to work on defense.
It took all of one play, too. Groce (139 yards on 13 carries) took the handoff and darted up the middle, where East was waiting for him. The sophomore defensive end punched the ball out of Groce’s grasp, and Gutowski quickly recovered. Three plays later, Jalen Mitchell got the five yards he needed for the final first down that sealed the Knights’ win.
“I was just thinking, ‘I’ve got to do my job, just one play,’” East said. “I went up, I start thinking, ‘oh man, I’m doing my job for once,’ and I punched the ball out. I just started celebrating. It’s a big feeling. Did you see the coaches celebrating? It’s a great feeling.”
Future quarterback Jimir Seagraves (69 total yards) gave the Firebirds (5-1) their second lead of the day with a fourth-down, 13-yard scamper late in the third quarter, but the Knights (5-3) never wilted. They stayed true to their wishbone offense and never panicked, their patience rewarded with a four-yard touchdown from Mitchell to tie the game with 10:08 to play. Nearly eight minutes later, Gutowski swept left and broke a couple of tackles to give them all the offense they needed.
“Our guard Eno (Umoh) made a great play and he blocked the guy out,” Gutowski said. “I just saw the lane, made it through two arm tackles and ended up in the end zone. It was just a hard run and some good luck.”
Gutowski finished with 102 yards on 21 carries, to go along with 67 passing yards on 3-for-5 passing. Mitchell was his favorite target, securing all three of the receptions. He also added 69 rushing yards on 18 totes and was never tackled for a loss as part of the Knights’ 192-yard rushing day.
“It’s all about trusting the process, just like the Sixers said,” Mitchell said. “We keep pounding. It gets a little frustrating to not break more big plays, but you’ve just got to trust the process and the results are great right now.”
Trust the Process, indeed.
