More history: Kennett posts first-ever win over archival Unionville
EAST MARLBOROUGH >> In the span of just eight days, the Kennett football squad has been transformed from a perennial cellar dweller to the top of the Ches-Mont American standings by doing something even second-year head coach, Lance Frazier, didn’t think possible. The Blue Demons knocked off the league’s two powerhouse programs in historic back-to-back victories that rank at the top in school history.
A week ago, it was West Chester Rustin. And on Friday, Kennett toppled archrival Unionville, 27-13, to move to 4-0 overall (3-0 in the league) on the heels of going 4-7 in 2018. Since reinstituting football in 2005, the Demons have gone 0-14 against their neighbors to the north in the annual Battle of Route 82.
But all that’s changed.
“This is a big deal to our community,” Frazier said. “One of the first things I heard when I got here was that we have to find a way to beat Unionville.
“I said, ‘give me 4-5 years to get that done.’ And even that was a long shot.”
In front of a huge crowd at Unionville, Kennett did what it’s been doing all season, which is relying on powerful runner Garrett Cox on offense and a technically sound group on defense. A senior, Cox scored on two long runs and finished with 213 rushing yards on 26 carries.
“We don’t have the biggest guys and we are not very deep. But they care,” Frazier said.
“What we’ve done the last two weeks is legendary,” Cox added. “In the offseason we put in so much work, and once we got to Week One we kind of knew that all of this could be possible.”
The three-time Ches-Mont American champs from 2015-17, The Indians fall to 2-2 in the league and overall.
“(Kennett) played very well, they put 27 points up, they did a nice job in the run game and limited us to a bunch of field goals,” said Unionville head coach Pat Clark. “It was a very nice effort on their part.
“I thought we were prepared. They gashed us with a four-man, unbalanced line. I guess I have to own that. I look like an idiot because everybody in the stadium knows that Cox is going to get the ball, and we couldn’t stop it.”
Trailing 13-10 midway through the third quarter, Cox went off tackle and rambled 37 yards for what ended up the winning TD. The Demons wound up scoring the game’s final 17 points.
“We can overcome any and everything if we stay together,” Frazier said. “We just need to have the belief, and that’s what’s been missing here, along with a lack of consistency, and the lack of leadership that actually believes in the kids and can bring the best out of them.”
On its next possession, Kennett got a 22-yard field goal from Ryan Barker, but on the ensuing kickoff, Connor Schilling returned it 59 yards to set up Unionville inside the 30. But on fourth and 11 at the Kennett 28, senior Zach Good sacked Indians QB Blake Charlton.
A few plays later, Good got behind the Unionville secondary and Sam Forte hit him for a 79-yard scoring toss midway through the fourth quarter to make it 27-13.
“I’ve never been so wide open,” Good said. “That was my first high school touchdown.
“I just remember being in open space, concentrating on catching it and then all I saw was green.”
It was also Good’s second sack of the day. The Kennett defense had trouble corralling Charlton, who had 286 yards of total offense, but it did limit Schilling to just 17 rushing yards (on just six carries) and 24 more through the air.
“I think it was just kind of the way the game unfolded,” said Clark, when asked why Schilling only touched the football eight times.
Indians’ kicker Stefan Twombly opened the scoring with a 33-yard first quarter field goal, but Cox responded almost immediately with a 48-yard run in which he bulldozed a defensive back. A botched snap and a penalty, however, forced a 34-yard field goal make by Barker to tie it.
Unionville inched ahead once again on a second quarter Twombly boot, which came moments after Sean Kelley picked off a Forte screen pass, but Cox ended the half with another electrifying run. This time he went 54-yards for a touchdown to make it 10-6 at the half.
“You talk about the greats, and nobody sees the preparation they put in before they hit the field,” said Frazier, who played in the NFL and CFL. “They don’t see the work. The thing about Garrett Cox is that he is passionate about the game, and he’s done everything we’ve asked of him, and then some.
“I also have to mention the linemen. All are undersized guys who nobody believed in. They didn’t think they could do what they are doing, and look at them now.”
Unionville opened the second half with a 70-yard march which culminated with a 49-yard keeper by Charlton. The senior finished with a team-high 134 yards on the ground. The Indians hurt themselves, however, with eight penalties, and more than a few came in key situations.
“Not to diminish anything Kennett did, but we put ourselves behind the sticks a lot,” Clark said. “And against a really good defense – which Kennett is – we became one dimensional.”
As for Cox, Unionville learned the hard way that once the 210-pounder gets to the second level, he is a handful – just as likely to run away from a defender as he is to run over one.
“Coach (Frazier) talked me into running track. I ran the 100 and 200-meters and that improved my time by a lot,” Cox explained.
“If (Cox) gets into the clear, he is tough to catch,” Clark added. “He is a real good athlete. He’s over 200 pounds and the average high school defensive back is in the 175 range. You can go your best form-tackling him and still not win that battle sometimes.”
To be 4-0, and equal last season’s win total through four weeks, is an eyebrow-raising turnaround. And to see Kennett’s crowd celebrating its first-ever win over Unionville just one week after accomplishing the same feat against Rustin, Frazier was a big chocked-up afterwards.
“To see how the community responded last week when we beat Rustin, and then to see the crowd tonight — this is a huge deal for Kennett,” he said. “We are just so happy to put a product on the field they can appreciate and feel proud of.
“This will go down in the history books.”
