Football: Kitchin beats nerves, Strath Haven pours it on Kensington
NETHER PROVIDENCE — Jake Kitchin was prepping all week for his shot.
The Strath Haven junior quarterback knew that starter Sam Milligan played through a hand injury for most of last week’s win over Interboro. He saw the two-year starter report to practice this week with his right wrist and hand heavily wrapped.
Kitchin knew Thursday night’s nonleague game against Kensington would be in his hands. And at just about the time that Chase Nangle ran past a blitzing cornerback with no deep safety help late in the second quarter, Kitchin started to feel up to the task.
Kitchin hooked up with Nangle on a game-changing 72-yard touchdown, fueling Haven to a belated 16-point halftime lead and an eventual 50-6 rout of Kensington.
“I’m the next guy up,” Kitchin said. “I was nervous at first, but my teammates, they got me through it. They told me, ‘calm down, we’ve got this for you.’ They helped me a lot for this. I thank them for what I did today.”
Kitchin took time to warm to the job, though a seven-yard touchdown from Anthony Crawford on the first series meant Haven never trailed. By the middle of the second quarter, Haven (2-0) led by that solitary score. And it got clipped further when Kensington’s Alani Coto buried a punt at the 1-yard line.
On Haven’s first snap, Kitchin bobbled the snap, the ball popping just above head height for defensive tackle Shawn Turino to get his hands on it a yard inside the end zone.
The kick failed, leaving Haven up 7-6. But the damage could’ve been done, if not for a quick conference between Milligan and Kitchin, the veteran telling him to keep his head up.
Three snaps later, on third and 11, Kitchin found Nangle over the top of the defense to sprint down the Haven sideline.
Not far behind him was a euphoric Kitchin, in a fist-pumping frenzy.
“They had their corners blitzing, so he was open the first second that he ran,” Kitchin said. “I saw him, threw it. It was kind of a weird pass, but he got it and scored a touchdown. That’s what really made our offense explode for the rest of the game.”
That would be Kitchin’s only completion in three attempts, an improvement over the zero in Week 1. Kitchin did hit Marco Kaufman for the two-point conversion to make it 15-6.
From there, Haven’s superior running game took control. The backfield committee toted 43 times for 330 yards, led by Crawford’s 17 for 143. He scored three times, including a 21-yard jaunt with 42 seconds left in the first half and a six-yarder at 8:51 of the third.
“I think everyone realized they had to step up,” Crawford said. “Sam’s our leader. He’s one of our captains. Having Jake in there, a young guy who’s never really played before, everyone had to elevate their play. Everyone had to step up. I think initially it was a little unsteady, then we rose to the occasion.”
Bob Fooskas added seven carries for 90 yards, bludgeoning his way to a 30-yard score in the third. Shane Green and third-string QB Matt Jones added rushing scores.
That was plenty for the defense. Kensington showed glimmers, with Jason Slevenski putting together one good first-half drive by hitting his first four passes. But he was picked off twice, an Alex Glavacic pick setting up Crawford’s second TD and Green returning an interception 46 yards ahead of Jones’ 17-yard scamper.
Crawford and Jack Dougherty recovered fumbles. Slevenski was sacked five times – twice by Ben Farabaugh, twice by Austin Conner and a strip sack by Vince Hales.
“The speed of the ends and the experience and the size and the strength of the two interior guys, I don’t know of any O-line that can handle that,” Crawford said. “They were fantastic all night.”
Kitchin proved he could handle the pressure fine. With a TD and a win under his belt, he’s ready for more.
“It does a lot for me,” he said. “I’m going into the game nervous, and that is like, oh my teammates, they’re really here for me. I have to do this for the next couple of weeks until Sam comes back.”
