Downingtown West runs over Avon Grove

@PeteDLNontwitter

 

DOWNINGTOWN- The current group Downingtown West football seniors have been through a whole lot of adversity during the past two years. A tragic loss of a teammate before the season started and then two excruciating losses to powers Coatesville and Downingtown East. But, for one Friday night at a rain soaked Kottmeyer Stadium, the Whippets could smile. Downingtown West rolled up 353 yards on the ground and played excellent defense as the Whippets took down Avon Grove 33-6, in a Ches-Mont National Division finale for the two teams.

 

“We formed a special bond this season, Downingtown west linebacker Will Mahmud said. “The young guys looked up to us and we seniors all stuck together. Tonight was a good night for us. We came out and put up a lot of points and did not give up many against a team we thought we could beat. We wanted to finish things off well and we did that tonight.”

 

Downingtown West (2-2 Ches-Mont, 5-5 overall) got things rolling right away as Elijiah Ford took a pitch from senior quarterback Evan Wickersham and darted 69 yards down the left sideline for an early 7-0 Downingtown West lead. After a three and out from the Red Devils (0-4, 3-7) offense, the Whippets running game took command again.

 

The Whippets went on a nice 65 yard touchdown drive behind the running of John Mullville and Mahmud. Mullville rushed for 133 yards on 20 carries on the night and he was a load to take down., consistently dragging Avon Grove tacklers. Mulville finished the drive with a one yard plunge to score, the first of his three touchdowns on the night.

 

With a 14-0 lead in the second period and the Whippets performing perfectly it looked like it would be a mercy rule game. But Avon Grove had other ideas, going on a 18 play drive that chewed up over 10 minutes of the second period. The drive culminated when Connor Walsh hit Owen Yoder in the back of the end zone for a 11 yard touchdown pass and it was a 14-6 Whippets advantage.

 

But, just before the half, the Whippets turned a short Avon Grove kickoff into a scoring drive with Mahmud going straight up the middle of the Avon Grove defense for a 26 yard touchdown run and at halftime it was a 20-6 Whippets lead.

 

“We wanted to come out and play well today and we did not know if we were playing for a playoff spot or not,” Downingtown West senior linebacker Ryan Waters said. “We just wanted to winches game. This has been a real close group of seniors and it was nice to play well if this was our last game.”

 

The Whippets took another short kickoff to start the third period but a Downingtown west fumble resulted in a turnover and Avon Grove had the ball at its own 49 yard line. The Red Devils drove the football down to the Whippets 25 yard line but the West defense stiffened and the Red Devils turned the ball over on downs when Walsh pass to Yoder fell incomplete on fourth down.

 

Now it was time for Downingtown West to chew up the clock with its running game. Mulville, Wickersham and Mahmud did the job and the Whippets put the game away on a 10 yard touchdown run by Mulville for a 27-6 Downingtown West lead. The Red Devils could not move the ball in the second half as the Whippets held Avon Grove to just 110 yards rushing on the night.

 

Mulville finished the scoring in the fourth period when he broke two tackles on his way to a 26 yard touchdown run to make it a 33-6 game and the Whippets stormy season ended with a win as they will finish one spot outside the 16 team 6A playoffs.

 

“This is a special group kids,” Downingtown West head coach Mike Milano said. “I can’t even imagine everything they have been through. What a great group.”

 

Downingtown West 33, Avon Grove 6.

 

Avon Grove              0 6 0 0-6

Downingtown West  14 6 0 6-33

 

                              Scoring

                         First Period

DW_ Ford 69 run (Cacciavillano kick)

DW-Mulville 1 run (Cacciavillano kick)

 

                          Second Period

AG-Yoder 11 pass from Walsh (kick failed)

DW-Mahmud 26 run (kick failed)

 

                          Fourth Period

DW-Mulville 10 run (Cacciavilano kick)

DW-Mulville 23 run (kick failed)

 

                            Team Totals

                        AG               DW

First downs      9                  16

Yards rushing  110              353

Yards passing   81                0

Total yards      191             353

Passing          5-10-1        0-1-0

Fumbles-lost    4-1              2-1

Punts-avg.     3-42.5            0-0

Penalties-yds    4-40           2-10

 

                         Individual Statistics

Rushing: AG: Lorusso 13-84; Binstead 5-16; Walsh 13-10. DW: Mulville 20-133, 3 TD’s; Ford 2-79, TD; Barry 5-5; Wickersham 6-40; Mahmud 10-96, TD.

 

Passing: AG: Walsh 5-10-81, TD. DW: Wickersham 0-1-0.

 

Receiving: AG: Yoder 1-11, TD; McDannald 2-26; Delgado 1-40; Pedersen 1-4. DW: None.

 

Sacks: AG: None. DW: None.

 

Interceptions: SG: None. DW: Kester.

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