Whippets use big second quarter to rout Vikings

By Bryan Davis
bdavis@medianewsgroup.com
@btdavis25 on Twitter

DOWNINGTOWN >> There might have been a few murmurs going through the crowd at Kottmeyer Stadium after the Downingtown West High School football team only had a slight lead over West Chester East after one quarter of their Ches-Mont League crossover game Friday.
But, after five minutes of play, they could breathe easy after the Whippets (3-2 overall) exploded for four touchdowns en route to a 35-7 victory that the winless Vikings to 0-5.
“We’re starting to find out who we are,” said West coach Mike Milano. “We’ve been battling a bunch of injuries. We have a lot of kids who have been dinged up for different reasons. We’re starting to figure out who we are, I think.”
The Vikings needed things to go perfectly for them to beat the Whippets, and perfection disappeared almost immediately.
East fumbled on the opening kickoff, with D-West recovering on the Vikings’ 28-yard yard. The subsequent drive turned into a showcase for John Mulville. The junior carried the ball on the first four plays, going for 27 yards down to the 1. Quaterback Evan Wickersham burrowed in from there to give West the early 7-0 lead.
“We have a stable of three back we rely on between John, (Will) Mahmud and (Ryan) Waters,” said Milano. “John is the fastest of the three, but he just happen to be the guy there when we called the plays. It was not on purpose.”
It stayed that way for the rest of the quarter. Both teams took turns being stopped on downs later in the period. First, West stopped on a 4th-and-4, missing by inches.
Then, East mounted a drive built on the running of Mitch Ragni. He racked up 30 yards on five carries, but his sixth tote of the drive on 4-and-1 on the East 41, resulted in a stop at the line and the ball went back over to the Whippets.
They went on a drive that was paid off on the fifth play of the second quarter as Mulville plowed in from the one to make it 14-0.
The next East possession ended in disaster for them as they turned the ball over for the third time in the half. Will Mahmud made a spectactular one-handed interception of a Ryan McIntire pass in the flat, and waltzed in 19 yards for the defensive interception.
“We were in man coverage and it stuck to my hand,” said Mahmud.
The play also turned his coach into a fan.
“It was awesome, awesome,” said Milano. “Will is a smart kid who has been making plays like that his whole career.”
A quick three-and-out gave the ball back to West, An illegal man down the field penalty pushed the Whippets back to a 2nd-and 14 on the Vikings’ 47. They went for the home run and got it as Wickersham hit a wide open Elijah Ford for a 47-yard score and a 28-0 lead.
They made it 35-0 a short time later after Ford returned a punt 52 yards to the East 27. Five plays later, Mulville, who gained 114 yards on 20 carries, took an option pitch eight yards into the end zone.
Milano emptied his bench at the beginning of the third, and East took advantage of it to get on the board.
Drew Steele galloped 40 yards up the middle for the score. But, that was the end of the scoring as West posted its 15th win in 18 games against the Vikings.
The only sour note for the Whippets came when star lineman Drew Shelton limped off with an appearent ankle injury in the second quarter.
“I’m anxious to see,” said Milano. “They said he rolled his ankle. It doesn’t sound like its going to be a season thing, it sounds like what he can tolerate and how fast he can get well.”

Downingtown West 35, West Chester East
West Chester East 0 0 7 0 — 7
Downingtown West 7 28 0 0 — 35
First Quarter
Downingtown West — Wickersham 1 run (Cacciavillano kick)
Second Quarter
Downingtown West — Mulville 1 run (Cacciavillano kick)
Downingtown West — Mahmud 19 interception return (Cacciavillano kick)
Downingtown West — Ford 47 pass from Wickersham (Cacciavillano kick)
Downingtown West — Mulville 8 run (Cacciavillano kick)
Third Quarter
WC East — Steele 40 run (Ramos kick)
team statistics
WCE DW
First downs 11 13
Rushes-yards 27-135 41-197
Passing 7-21-1 3-7-0
Passing yards 57 49
Total yards 192 246
Punts 5-27.0 3-32.0
Fumbles-lost 2-2 1-0
Penalties-yards 4-25 6-45
Individual statistics
Rushing — West Chester East: Ragni 19-91; Steele 6-48 1TD; McIntire 1-0; Wileczek 1-(-4). Downingtown West: Mulville 20-114 2TD; Waters 7-36; Mahmud 3-19; Grear 1-19; Wickersham 2-5 1TD; Henicle 2-4; Burke 6-0.
Passing — West Chester East: McIntire 7-21-1 57 yards. Downingtown West: Wickersham 3-7-0 49 yards 1TD.
Receiving — West Chester East: Grear 2-22; Laird 2-19; Corporal 1-11; Trubiano 1-5; Wileczek 1-(-7). Downingtown West: Ford 2-54 1TD; Mahmud 1-(-5).
Interceptions — Downingtown West: Mahmud.