Rustin’s ground game bowls over Sun Valley
ASTON — The game plan for West Chester Rustin entering Friday night’s showdown with Sun Valley was not difficult to guess. The Golden Knights were going to attack the Vanguards defense with a punishing running game and hope to wear down Sun Valley for a season opening victory.
Consider that mission accomplished.
West Chester Rustin battered Sun Valley with 35 rushing attempts for 332 yards to secure a 53-7 win and get the season started with a quality showing.
“We have a great corps of running backs with our halfbacks in (Nick) Madonna and (Alex) Pratzner, and one of our best running backs (Drew) Gallen didn’t even play tonight,” Golden Knights coach Mike St. Clair said. “I’ve got two bruising fullbacks, too, so when you’ve got it, you use it.”
From the outset, Rustin looked sharp and efficient with its ground game. The Golden Knights received first-half rushing touchdowns from Pratzner (66 yards), quarterback John Crispino, and Tommy Dougherty before Crispino found Matt Montgomery on a 29-yard scoring pass.
The end result of that onslaught was a 27-0 lead for Rustin entering halftime and its most effective and efficient player did not even score. Nick Madonna amassed 148 yards on 15 carries for the game, but was an absolute beast in the first half as he tallied 137 yards on just 12 totes.
Clearly, this season’s version of the Rustin rushing attack is not one to be trifled with.
“We were super-confident after going through 2½ weeks of two-a-days and bonding as a team,” Madonna said. “All of the running backs came together as one and got it done out there.”
Madonna eventually did find the end zone as he returned the second half’s opening kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown and the rout, as they say, was on. Travis Riley, Tucker Flynn, and Dayshawn Jacobs also added rushing touchdowns to power the second-half effort for the Golden Knights.
“Coming out of the locker room I knew at 27-0, it was still a game,” said Madonna. “I wanted to put it away and that’s what we did.”
For Sun Valley, it was not the start the Vanguards wanted, but the loss did offer the squad some valuable experience that should help later on this season.
“Rustin is one of the best, if not the best, teams in the league,” Sun Valley coach Greg “Bubba” Bernhardt said. “I thought we started off well with our first drive, which was a six-minute drive where we just stalled out at the end. A lot of our guys are sophomores or juniors that are playing varsity for the first time. I think we’re going to have to get creative and find a way to build some depth because a lot of these guys are playing every snap. We’ll get better. The kids’ attitudes have been great. I’m looking forward to Monday and getting back to work with these kids.”
