Downingtown East starts slow, runs away from Plymouth Whitemarsh
DOWNINGTOWN — Downingtown East’s Spencer Uggla saw two things: a loose ball on the ground and a clear path to the end zone.
After he and a couple teammates fumbled the recovery for a few seconds, Uggla finally secured it and raced in for an easy score.
It was that kind of night for the Cougars, who shook off some first-game jitters and eventually blew by visiting Plymouth Whitemarsh, 41-7, in the non-league game at Kottmeyer Stadium, Friday.
The Cougars (1-0) took a quarter and a half to find any rhythm on offense, but a dominant performance the defense, coupled with Uggla’s scoop and score off a punt block, was all the buffer East needed to finally get going.
“I just wanted to make sure I got it,” Uggla said. “Two guys laid a nice hit on the punter. It took a few tries to pick it up and it wasn’t until I was in the end zone that I realized what happened.”
East’s opening possession ended with an anticlimactic three-and-out, but on their second drive, starting on the PW 40, the Cougars got a little something going. Despite a holding penalty, a false start and an overthrown potential touchdown pass, East got a second chance thanks to a pass interference on fourth-and-16 from the 20.
Quarterback Luke Davis found Jack Riley in the left flat and Riley carried defenders with him for a 10-yard TD to open the scoring.
“We only have four guys back on offense and two of them were out (Friday), so it took a little while to find our sea legs,” East coach Mike Matta said.
East’s offense was barely on the field the following seven minutes of game time, as Uggla scored after PW’s ensuing possession and Garvey Jonassaint fumbled a series later.
Fortunately for the Cougars, the defense stifled PW’s option attack, holding the Colonials to 60 yards on 23 carries in the first half.
“We watched a lot of film all week and knew which keys to read,” said Uggla, who made his first start at outside linebacker. “We all did our jobs and just played football.”
The Cougars finished the half with a flurry. Zach Hamilton scored from three yards out and, with just over a minute left, Davis found a wide-open Riley for a 17-yard touchdown.
“Once he got settled in he threw two touchdowns and had a pretty good day,” Matta said of Davis, who was making his first start at QB.
Davis and Jonassaint cashed in during the third quarter to set the running clock in motion. Jonassaint, a 1,000-yard rusher a year ago as a backup, led the Cougars with 85 yards, while Hamilton added 58, getting rotated in often.
The Colonials finally got on the board in the fourth when quarterback Larry McLaughlin scampered 10 yards to paydirt.
“Downingtown East is a great team and we wanted to step up to the challenge,” Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Dan Chang said. “I thought we did some good things but it’s about consistency for us. They worse us down as the game went on, but I told the guys I was happy with the way they stuck together and picked each other up. We’ll build on it this season.”
Downingtown East was without a couple of key figures to open the season. Junior tight end/linebacker Connor Noble was dressed but held out due to a leg injury. Matta said he could’ve played if they needed him.
The Cougars were also without offensive coordinator Tom Wolf, who was injured in an accident earlier in the day. According to Matta, Wolf is ok, and Jeff Whitaker stepped in to call plays.
Next Saturday, East will host Perkiomen Valley, who dropped its opener to Downingtown West.
Downingtown East 41, Plymouth Whitemarsh 7
Plymouth Whitemarsh 0 0 0 7 – 7
Downingtown East 7 21 13 0 – 41
Scoring
First Quarter
DE- Riley 10 pass from Davis (Murlless kick)
Second Quarter
DE- Uggla 23 blocked punt return (Murlless kick)
DE- Hamilton 3 run (Murlless kick)
DE- Riley 17 pass from Davis (Murlless kick)
Third Quarter
DE- Davis 1 run (Murlless kick)
DE- Jonassaint 2 run (kick blocked)
Fourth Quarter
PW- L. McLaughlin 10 run (Choi kick)
Team Totals
PW DE
First downs 10 16
Yards rushing 41-122 45-218
Yards passing 1 76
Total yards 123 294
Passing 1-4-1 6-9-0
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-1
Punts-avg. 2-22 1-37
Penalties-yds 4-22 5-41
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Plymouth Whitemarsh — Martin 12-55; Dresnin 14-48; L. McLaughlin 14-35, TD; team 1-(-16). Downingtown East — G. Jonassaint 16-85, TD; Hamilton 13-58, TD; Diehl 10-37; Lempke 3-32; Rubino 1-7; Davis 1-1, TD; team 1-(-2).
Passing: Plymouth Whitemarsh — L. McLaughlin 1-4, 1 yard, INT. Downingtown East — Davis 6-8, 76 yards, 2 TDs; Riley 0-1.
Receivering: Plymouth Whitemarsh — Martin 1-1. Downingtown East — Riley 3-44, 2 TDs; G. Jonassaint 1-16; O’Reilly 1-9; O’Shea 1-7.
Interceptions: Downingtown East — Long.
