Smink, Patton drive WC Henderson past Great Valley

WEST CHESTER — Eddie Smink did just about everything he could to put West Chester Henderson in a comfortable place, heading into halftime.

That’s not unexpected, from a three-year starter. Brett Patton stepping in as a defensive hero in the second half, on the other hand, may have surprised some people, but the combo was exactly what the Warriors needed, Friday.

Henderson shook off any memories of a blown 20-point lead two weeks ago against Kennett and finished off visiting Great Valley, 38-14, in a Ches-Mont American Division contest.

Smink ran for two touchdowns, threw another, hit a 24-yard field goal and was masterful as a punter in the first half, while Patton scored twice, defensively, to seal the deal.

“You could call it luck,” Patton said. “I got super lucky. Or you could say that I’m the G.O.A.T., I don’t know. I was in the right place at the right time.”

Patton’s first march to the end zone came on a run by Jake Snyder, who was being pushed in a  pile by his offensive line. The referees were slow to the whistle and Patton was able to reach in and snatch the ball before running it in from 23 yards out. 

“I figured something might happen if I reach in there,” said Patton, who’s listed at 5-foot-7, 155 pounds. “I always try to go after the ball. I’m the smallest guy out there, so they don’t see me. I got my hands on the ball and got it out and didn’t hear a whistle so I just kept running to the end zone.”

Patton’s second score put the game away for Henderson (1-2 division, 2-2 overall), when a tipped pass landed in his hands and he followed a block by Connor Griesser to pay dirt.

The Warriors have recovered a league-high 11 fumbles through four games, and also picked off Great Valley (1-2, 2-2) three times to give them 15 takeaways this season.

“We challenged the guys this week to settle in and do their jobs,” Henderson coach John Lunardi said. “They did that early in the game and settled in and played fundamental football. We got some turnovers and that really swung the game for us.”

The first half was dictated by field position. Henderson’s scoring drives started at its own 46 and then the Great Valley 43, 34 and 39. 

The Warriors did not play a totally clean game, either, losing three fumbles and punting six times, but three of those punts by Smink pinned the Patriots at their own seven, three and eight-yard lines.

The one time the Pats had great field position, after recovering a fumble at the Henderson 30, they fumbled it away on the next play.

“We couldn’t flip the field in the first half,” Great Valley coach Jeff Martin said. “Besides those two big plays, we played good defense. (Smink) is a good quarterback so we expected a couple big plays, but the problem was six turnovers. They capitalized on them and we did not.”

Smink, who ran for 86 yards and passed for 116, connected with Terrance Turman for a 35-yard TD on a fourth-and-11 in the second quarter.

Great Valley’s defense shut Henderson out in the second half, but never got its running game going (79 yards on 24 carries), and got sloppy with the ball after only turning over three times its first three games.

“I’m proud of what we did in the second half, but we made too many mistakes, and as coaches, we take that responsibility of cleaning things up,” Martin said.

Seamus Murphy had the first two interceptions for Henderson, who will travel to Coatesville next week for the Ches-Mont crossover game.

“We certainly have a lot to work on and improve on,” Lunardi said. “I’m proud of the way we responded. We talked a lot about being better in practice this week so we’re the most prepared, and I think we did that, but there’s still a lot to clean up.”

West Chester Henderson 38, Great Valley 14

Great Valley 0  0 14 0-14

WC Henderson 7 17 7 7-38

                                     Scoring

First Quarter

WCH- Smink 48 run (Smink kick)

Second Quarter

WCH- Smink 1 run (Smink kick)

WCH- Turman 35 pass from Smink (Smink kick)

WCH- Smink 20 FG

Third Quarter

GV- Talone 4 run (Riccairdi pass from Talone)

WCH- Patton 23 fumble return (Smink kick)

GV- Pellicciotta 43 pass from Talone (pass failed)

Fourth Quarter

WCH- Patton 25 interception return (Smink kick)

                                      Team Totals

                         GV    WCH

First downs      12 9

Yards rushing  24-79 39-164

Yards passing  175  116

Total yards      254 280

Passing      17-37-3 6-18-0

Fumbles-lost    4-3           4-3

Punts-avg.       6-31.3      6-32

Penalties-yds  5-20         6-49

                                    Individual Statistics

Rushing: Great Valley — Talone 13-45, TD; Snyder 6-28; Pellicciotta 5-6. West Chester Henderson — Smink 14-86, 2 TDs; J. Porter 17-49; Pron 4-17; Turman 1-8; Foster 2-5; Team 1-(-1).

Passing: Great Valley — Talone 17-37-175, TD, 3 INTs. West Chester Henderson — Smink 6-18-116, TD.

Receiving: Great Valley — Cave 7-65; Pellicciotta 3-52, TD; Deegan 2-20; McDaniel 2-19; Magargal 1-10; Callahan 2-9. West Chester Henderson — Turman 2-39, TD; Himsworth 1-33; W. Porter 1-19; Griesser 1-15; Krapf 1-10.

Interceptions: Henderson — Murphy 2, Patton.