Coatesville stages furious second-half rally, tops Perkiomen Valley 36-27
CALN >> In a back-and-forth non-league clash that had the feel of a district playoff showdown, Coatesville took it on the chin in the first half only to turn it around the rest of the way to stage a 36-27 come-from-behind victory over Perkiomen Valley in the Red Raiders’ home opener.
“Our kids play with the mindset that we call ‘Ville Mentality,’ which represents our tradition and the culture in our program,” said Coatesville head coach Matt Ortega. “They played their butts off in the second half. That was one of the best second half comebacks we’ve had in a long, long time.”
The Vikings (1-1 overall) ripped off huge chunks of yardage in the first half, took a 13-point lead into the intermission, and then were blanked 21-0 the rest of the way. It was the 118th career win for Ortega, who moves into first place on the school’s all-time football win list.
“It’s about this community, and the history and tradition of Coatesville football,” said Ortega, who has dropped only 29 games in 13 seasons. “The guys before me led the way and created this winning culture and all we’ve done is keep it growing.”
Now 2-0, the Raiders looked to be in big trouble at the break as they had no defensive answers for PV quarterback Ethan Kohler, or 6-foot-3 wideout Dawson Debebe. But Coatesville quarterback Harrison Susi engineered a 64-yard scoring march to start the third quarter, and finished it off by hooking up with Tommy Ortega for a 15-yard score.
Still down by six, Susi then put the Coatesville offense on his back. The junior turned a third-and-long scramble into a key first down, and then carried it in from the seven to complete an 11-play drive to put the Raiders ahead for good, 28-27, early in the fourth.
“At that moment, there was nothing open so I knew I had to take it myself and run through somebody,” Susi said of the scramble.
“(Perkiomen Valley) ran a 3-3 stack, so there weren’t many down linemen. We kind of knew we could run against it.”
With the outcome still uncertain, the Vikings attempted a fake punt on the next possession, but the pass was tipped and intercepted by Coatesville junior Drew Domurat. One the very next play, Susi went around end and scored from 20 yards out.
“We sniffed it out, which was unbelievable,” Ortega said.
“We were down by one and in my mind we were going to leave it all on the field tonight,” said PV head coach Rob Heist. “We’ve never beaten (Coatesville) in football so we didn’t want to have any regrets.
“We liked that play but we didn’t execute it the way we needed to. But in my mind, there is no difference losing 28-27 or 35-27.”
Susi finished with 269 yards of total offense, including a team-high 114 rushing yards on 18 carries. He also accounted for all three second half TDs.
“We really wanted this one,” he said. “We did not want to walk off our first home game with a loss.”
It was tight early until Perk Valley scored two touchdowns in the final three minutes of the first half to turn a one-point deficit into a 27-14 statement. In all, the Vikings scored 17 straight points to end the half, and they did it with big plays, including an 81-yard aerial strike from Kohler to Debebe on third-and-long.
Perkiomen Valley then got the ball back with 1:22 on the clock and needed just 66 seconds to find the end zone again, this time on the 13-yard toss to running back Rasheem Grayson. A 44-yard screen pass to Ryan Klimek set up the score.
“Rob (Heist) has Perk Valley playing at another level, and we knew that heading in,” Ortega said. “They are going to be a problem in the PAC.”
In a preview of what was to come, the Vikings marched 90 yards on eight plays, culminated by a 19-yard TD catch by Debebe to open the scoring. Coatesville tied it soon thereafter on a short scoring run by Bryan Lacey, and then took a brief lead when RJ Rickabaugh hauled in a seven-yard scoring pass from Susi early in the second quarter.
Klimek finished off two other first half drives with field goals of 39- and 32-yards.
“Coatesville is a perennial District 1 contender and we like our team,” Heist said. “I thought it was going to be a great game, and it was. Credit to them. They made some adjustments and played great in the second half.”
The Vikings rolled up 312 first half yards, but only managed 61 the rest of the way. Kohler finished with 285 yards passing, but he was sacked eight times, including four by senior lineman Chayse Scott.
“I’m floored at how our kids came out and played in the second half,” Ortega said. “We were getting a little too fancy on defense in the first half.”
Debebe wound up with eight catches for 181 yards and two TDs, but he only had 32 receiving yards in the second half.
“Everyone knows we have one of the best defenses around,” Susi said. “We had a rough start but I knew they would pick it up.”
Coatesville 35, Perkiomen Valley 27
Perkiomen Valley 10 17 0 0 – 27
Coatesville 7 7 7 21 – 35
Scoring
PV – Debebe 19 pass from Kohler (Klimek kick)
C – Lacey 2 run (Ashbee kick)
PV – Klimek 39 FG
C – Rickabaugh 7 pass from Susi (Ashbee kick)
PV – Klimek 32 FG
PV – Debebe 81 pass from Kohler (Klimek kick)
PV – Grayson 13 pass from Kohler (Klimek kick)
C – T. Ortega 15 pass from Susi (Ashbee kick)
C – Susi 7 run (Ashbee kick)
C – Susi 20 run (Ashbee kick)
Team Totals PV C
First downs 22 20
Yards rushing 93 267
Yards passing 285 155
Total yards 378 422
Passing 17-30-1 11-22-0
Fumbles-lost 3-0 0-0
Punts-ave. 1-30 3-32.3
Penalties-yds 5-35 9-88
Individual stats
Rushing – PV: Grayson 4-14; E. Kohler 11-(-38); Klimek 10-101; Debebe 1-17; Pascoe 0-0; D. Kohler 1-(-1). C: Wesley 12-85; Susi 18-114, 2 TDs; Lacey 12-68, TD.
Passing: PV: E. Kohler 17-28-0, 285 yards, 3 TDs; Grayson 0-1; Pascoe 0-1, Int. C: Susi 11-22-0, TD.
Receiving: PV: Poruban 4-37; Grayson 2-39; Debebe 8-181, 2 TDs; Klimek 3-56. C: T. Ortega 3-23, TD; Bessick 1-32; Molina 6-83; Rickabaugh 1-17, TD.
Sacks – C: Scott 4; Massey, Rickabaugh 1.5, Hall .5, O’Hara.
Interceptions — C: Domurat.
