Avon Grove gets first victory in dominant win over Penn Wood
WEST GROVE—The Red Devils were not exactly happy with their performance in week one, and came into the week 2 match-up with Penn Wood looking for redemption. They couldn’t have asked for much more than they got Friday night.
The Red Devils scored in just about every conceivable way. They scored offensive touchdowns. They scored defensive touchdowns. They kicked a field goal. And special teams forced a safety on a punt. When the final buzzer sounded, Avon Grove (1-1) collected its first win, a convincing 31-8 over the visiting Patriots (0-1).
“It’s great we gave up no points on defense, and found some things that worked offensively,” said Devils’ coach Joe Coffey. “We had some adversity this week, with some linemen out of the line-up with COVID, but the kids that were called on to play stepped up and got the job done.”
Avon grove drew first blood, capitalizing on the first of five Patriot turnovers. Patriot quarterback Jason Kempf threw on a second-and-eight play, but the ball sailed over the hands of his intended receiver, and into the hands of a leaping Tern Lucovich for an interception. Lucovich then found some blocks, and took it back 30-yards for the touchdown.
“It kind of just came right to me,” said Lucovich. “Once I got it, I knew my teammates were going to make the blocks for me. I got a great block from Clay (Nagy) early, and then everything just lined up for me across the field. Great to get the first win.”
The lone Patriot score came shortly after. The Penn Wood defense held Avon Grove to a three-and-out, forcing a punt. The punt was a good one, and Avon Grove converged. But Hailey saw enough of an opening to sneak in and pick up the rolling ball, picked up a couple blocks, and returned it 66-yards for the touchdown. Kempf connected with Hallem Butler for the two-point conversion.
“Because we didn’t get on the field last week, or last year, we had quite a few guys playing their first ever varsity football game,” said Patriots’ coach Ato Troop. “But I don’t want to use that as an excuse and take anything away from Avon Grove, who played a great game and earned the win.”
Avon Grove quarterback Connor Walsh led the Devils offense with a passing attack that produced all three of the Avon Grove offensive touchdowns. Walsh finished the day connecting on 9 of 16 passes for 224 yards. Walsh connected with three different receivers for scores, 52 yards to Tommy Delgado, 20 yards to Cooper McDannald, and 38 to Hunter Tras.
“Most importantly, this was just so much fun,” said Walsh. “I really love playing with all these guys. I hope we are showing what we are capable of doing. It’s great to get the win, but I think we have a lot more to come with this team.”
The Patriots never seemed to get any kind of rhythm going on offense, with only one drive exceeding six plays, were held to just 142 yards of total offense, and were further hindered by five turnovers. Running back Jayon Hailey led the Penn Wood offense with 63 yards on 11 carries. Quarterback Jason Kempf completed 5 of 11 passes for 36 yard, and was picked off twice.
“It’s only one game, and we just have to get better,” said Troop. “We have to re-commit to football. You see the score and think it wasn’t very close. But there were quite a few places where we were close, and just didn’t make the plays, and they did.”
Avon Grove 31 Penn Wood 8
Penn Wood 8 0 0 0— 8
Avon Grove 7 16 6 2 –31
First Quarter
AG—Lucovich 36-INT Return (Okonowicz kick) 7-0
PW—Hailey 66-Punt Return (Butler Pass from Kempf) 8-7
Second Quarter
AG—Okonowicz 32-FG 10-8
AG—Delgado 52-pass from Walsh (Okonowicz kick) 17-8
AG—McDannald 20-pass from Walsh (kick failed) 23-8
Third Quarter
AG—Tras 38-pass from Walsh (kick failed) 29-8
Fourth Quarter
AG—Safety 31-8
Team statistics
PW–AG
First downs 8–12
Rushes-yards 24-103 27-36
Passing 5-15 9-16
Passing yards 39 224
Total yards 142 260
Punts/avg 4-16 4-34.5
Fumbles-lost 3-3 0-0
Penalties-yards 6-50 3-25
Individual statistics
Rushing—PW—Hailey 11-63, Stevens 4-50, Keene 3-17, Kempf 5-(-5), Thomas 1-(-2) AG—Watson 14-20, Walsh 5-6, Sheridan 4-6, Tras 1-(-3) Hyman 1-0, Negron-Maxwell 2-3
Passing — PW—Kempf 5-11, 36, 2 INT AG–Walsh 9-16, 224, 3TD
Receiving —PW Hailey 2-8, Stevens 2-31, Keene 1-0 AG Delgado 2-88 (TD), McDannald 1-20 (TD), Tras 2-53 (TD) Brown 1-32
Interceptions—AG Lucovich, Yoder
