Patient Robinson the latest to keep Garnet Valley cruising

CONCORD >> With each of the 1,000-plus stripes crossed last season at Garnet Valley by Danny Guy, and with every one of the 1,000-plus more passed by Matt Lassik, backup running back Colin Robinson had three thoughts.

Watch.

Learn.

Prepare.

“I was waiting my turn patiently,” Robinson said Friday. “I wasn’t mad or sad about it. I was just letting them do it and trying to help them by giving

them a great look on defense. I just tried to get them better.”

When graduation claimed the two Jaguars’ running forces, there was Robinson, confident it was his turn to have a strong senior year. One game in, he showed that it is likely. Robinson, the 5-10 senior, rushed for 115 yards and three touchdowns, helping the Jags outperform visiting Unionville, 42-3.

In the non-league opener for both teams, Garnet Valley never needed to punt, threw only four times, had one offensive penalty and played with staggering readiness considering such a loss of offensive power.

“They make you be disciplined,” Indians coach Pat Clark said. “And if you’re not disciplined, three yards turns into 13 or 14 yards and they just kind of wear you out.”

Also staggered by graduation, Unionville had some early offensive success, but lost a fumble, with GV’s Cade Brennan recovering, and later settled for a 22-yard Dominic Braithwaite field goal after having penetrated as far as the 2-yard line.

“We couldn’t get an offensive drive going just to stop their momentum,” Clark said. “And it’s a learning experience.”

If so, Garnet Valley was determined to make that a crash course. The Jags opened their season with a 14-play, no-pass scoring drive, methodically putting Robinson in business to score from the four. Rory Glackin, also puzzling Unionville from the option set, added a 12-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. And after Braithwaite provided the three Unionville points, Robinson made the Jags 3-for-3 in touchdown drives, rolling in from six yards.

“We were ready,” Robinson said. “It starts in the weight room, and the preparation all week. I thought we had a great week of practice, and it showed out on the field.”

Garnet Valley had a fourth first-half possession but failed to connect on a 43-yard field goal attempt as time expired. Kicker Bryce Stansfield, though, was otherwise dominant, going 6-for-6 on PATs.

If only to lay it out on tape that it could mix in a passing game, Garnet Valley used a 44-yard pass from Cole Palis to Adam Oldrati to set Robinson up for his Opening Night hat trick, as he blasted in from the 1. Nor did Unionville solve Garnet Valley late, with Dominic LaBricciosa running for a four-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown, and Sam Morin zipping through the middle for a 45-yard score with 2:28 to play.

“Unionville is a great program, great tradition, very well coached,” Jaguars coach Mike Ricci said. “I know they lost a lot of guys from last year, and so did we. We know it’s a big test. And I’m thrilled with the way we executed on both sides of the ball. I was really pleased with the way we played, and I was pleased with our physicality and our execution.”

The Jaguars ran 62 times for 325 yards with few, if any, stumbles, with George Wiesendanger, Jack Markussen, Jake Colelli, Kyle McCullough, Lance

Schwartz and Nick Wiesendanger, among others, supplying effective offensive-line work. Robinson, Morin, Palis, Glackin, LaBricciosa and Greg Reynolds all rushed for 30 or more yards.

“We were trying to grind them down, get them tired,” Robinson said. “That’s what we like to do.”
Wes Grim provided 37 rushing yards on just six late carries for the Indians. Connor Schilling battled a rugged Garnet Valley defense to gain 35 rushing yards.

“Next week, Ridley,” Ricci said, already bracing for a rugged Central League schedule and a visit from the Green Raiders. “That’s always a big game for us. And we’ll see what happens.”

As for the Indians, they will prepare for their home opener, a visit from Academy Park.

“This is not the norm for our program,” Clark said. “So we had a bad game. The only answer in our program is to look at what we did wrong, fix it, and be better next week.”