Yurkovich five sacks leads Red Devils defense in 21-7 win over Kennett

WEST GROVE—Neither Avon Grove nor Kennett was entirely sure what to expect when the Red Devils and Blue Demons squared off on the opening night of Chester County football. The Red Devils had a slew of new players in the mix, while the Demons were not just young, but with an entirely new coaching staff.

Both teams had a lot to be happy about at the end of the game, but after giving up an early score, the Avon Grove defense pitched a shutout over the final three quarters while scoring 21 unanswered points to top visiting Kennett 21-7.

“We have a very good offensive line, but we’re trying to break in some new running backs,” said Devils coach harry O’Neill. “Dino (Arhontakis) had a nice game. It was his first Friday Night Lights in the spotlight and I thought he performed well. We had a lot of first time starters out there. We just had to relax and play.”

The Demons got on the board on its first possession. After Kennett forced a long field goal try on the Devils’ first drive, Kennett returned the short kick to the 40, where they reeled off an eight play scoring drive, helped along by a pair of pass interference calls against Avon Grove, the second of which gave Kennett a first-and-goal from the nine. Sam Forte (17 for 27, 132 yards, TD) passed to the end zone, where the ball was deflected, but fell into the arms of Josh Ploener for the score.

“It never feels good to let up a score so early like that,” said Devils’ defensive end Eric Yurkovich. “You spend the rest of the game trying to make up for it, and I think the whole defense really just stepped it up after that.”

The next time the Demons had the ball, things didn’t go nearly as well, as the Devils, helped along by the first of five sacks from Yurkovich, forced a Kennett punt from the end zone, and took over at midfield. Three plays later, Arhonkatis ran it in from three yards out and the game was tied 7-7.
After forcing a three-and-out on the Demons’ first possession of the second half, Avon Grove wasted no time taking its first lead of the game. Tyre Stead, who transferred to Avon Grove from Conestoga Valley in Lancaster County in the off-season, went in motion, and took the hand off on a jet sweep. Following a great block from Arhontakis, Stead turned the corner and sprinted 63-yards for the touchdown.

“I saw Dino made a cut and made a big block and I just hit the gap,” said Stead. “once I got outside, I knew I was going to score. It just feels great to be back here. I’ve wanted to come back since I left after eighth grade. These guys here are what really got me to love football.”

The Devils would tack on one more score. Kennett, stopped short deep in its own territory, tried a fake punt. Avon Grove was not fooled, and took over at the Kennett 23. Arhontakis, who led all rushers with 93 yards on 15 carries, scored his second TD of the day, this time from three yards out.

Arhontakis’ Kennett counterpart, Garrett Cox, had a solid night carrying the ball, picking up 71 yards on 17 carries, and caught 3 bals for another 27 yards.

“There are a lot of things you can point to in retrospect that we wished we’d done better or differently,” said Kennett coach Lance Frazier. “But we battled. We just have to start over Monday, see what we’ve learned and work on the things we need to to get better. We’re going to be fine.”

Final Score
Kennett 7 0 0 0 –7
Avon Grove 0 7 14 0 — 21
First Quarter
K—Ploener 12 pass from Forte (Schwarz kick) 7-0
Second Quarter
AG—Arhonkatis 26-run (Smith kick) 7-7
Third Quarter
AG—Stead 63-run (Smith kick) 14-7
AG—Arhontakis 3-run (Smith kick) 21-7
Team Statistics
Kennett Avon Grove
First downs 5 14
Rushes-yards 26-93 22-159
Passing 17-27 1-6
Passing yards 132 33
Total yards 225 192
Punts 3-27 3-29.6
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties-yards 2-10 5-53
Individual statistics
Rushing — Kennett Cox 17-71, Forte 6-16, Brooks 2-1, Schwarz 1-5, Avon Grove Arhontakis 15-93 2TD, Stead 2-65 TD, Kirby 4-7, McDonald 1-(-6)
Passing — Kennett Forte 17-27, 132, TD; Avon Grove McDonald 1-6, 33
Receiving — Kennett Cox 3-27, Brison 5-30, Ploener 4-59 TD; Kosara 3-13, Shacknai 1-3
Interceptions — none
Sacks — Kennett Cox, Avon Grove Yurkovich (5), Gula, Curan