Chester County Football: Week Six Review

@PeteDLNontwitter

 

Week Six of the scholastic football season saw some shocking developments as both league and District 1 playoff standings were turned upside down. Maybe the biggest surprise of the weekend came when Avon Grove downed previously undefeated and the top ranked team in 5A, Academy Park, 14-8.

 

Second year head coach Joe Coffey is always preaching to his kids to get better each week and is trying to bring Red Devils football back to relevance. The defense won the game for Avon Grove as they consistently pushed a Knights offense that was averaging 33 points per game, backwards when they entered the Red Devils side of the field. Senior lineman Josh Reuter is the leader of the Red Devils defense and suddenly the Red Devils are in contention for a District 1 6A playoff spot.

 

The second shocker was Kennett toppling Downingtown West 14-3, holding the Whippets to just three points and no touchdowns. Kennett, under head coach Lance Frazier has shown steady improvement since Frazier took over, but it is fair to say the win over the Whippets was the biggest victory ever for Kennett football. The Blue Demons love to play smash mouth football and they did it well Friday night. The loss severely hurts the Whippets 6A playoff chances as Downingtown West fell to 3-3 on the season.

 

Bishop Shanahan improved to 5-1 on the season with a 34-0 win over Sun Valley. Once again, Eagles senior quarterback Cooper Jordan was the best player on the field, throwing for 123 yards and four scores. Jordan also rushed for 144 yards and the Bishop Shanahan defense allowed just three points, a week after holding Penn Wood to six points. The Eagles defense was led by Liam Blakely, Brandon Choi and Kenny Daniels. Colin McGrory caught three touchdown passes and rushed for over 100 yards for the Eagles.

 

Downingtown East bounced back from a tough 16-14, loss to west Chester Rustin with an impressive 46-13 win over a previously undefeated Unionville squad. The Cougars were boosted by the return of senior running back Josh Asante, who came back from injury. The road does not get any easier for the Cougars as a fired up Academy Park team, fresh off an upset loss to Avon Grove, come calling next Saturday at Kottmeyer Stadium.

 

West Chester Rustin continued to roll as the Golden Knights blew out Interboro 42-14. It was the Golden Knights fourth straight win after an opening week loss to Unionville. West Chester Rustin is very good up front and with elusive running back Dayshawn Jacobs doing amazing things, the Golden Knights are major players in the District 1 5A playoff race once again.

 

The Ches-Mont American Division is more balanced than at any other time in the short history of the division. A case could be made for West Chester Rustin, Unionville or Kennett as the top team in the  American. and Great Valley and Oxford are not pushovers and almost every game in the division is a battle, unlike past years when West Chester Rustin and Unionville were miles ahead of the rest of the pack. 

 

Coatesville improved to 5-1 on the season with a 50-20 blowout win over Oxford. The Red Raiders have scored 133 points the past three weeks and only allowed 20 points in that span. And those 20 points allowed this week against Oxford came late in the game when most of the Red Raiders starters were out of the game. Coatesville rolls into Kottmeyer Stadium this Friday to play a wounded Downingtown West squad that will really need to win the game to keep its playoff hopes alive.

 

Around District 1, Garnet Valley hung up 65 points on Ridley and North Penn doubled up a bad Neshaminy team, 42-21. The district playoffs are only five weeks away and the in 6A bracket, it looks like both Garnet Valley and North Penn will go undefeated and be the top two seeds in District 1. The District 1 5A bracket is in more of a flux as Academy Park, Unionville, West Chester Rustin, Strath-Haven and Kennett all have a legitimate shot at the top two spots.

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