EAST MARBOROUGH >> Already low on numbers to begin the football season, Kennett was never going to easily overcome all of the injuries that have beset the program this fall.
Battered and bruised, the Blue Demons entered Friday’s clash at archrival Unionville having been shutout in each of the previous outings and four times overall. But in addition to its usual stingy defense, Kennett got a fierce all-around performance from junior Ian Guyer, and a gutsy effort from hobbled quarterback Chase Patalano, and turned its season around with a 27-14 victory over the Longhorns.
“This week I challenged our guys,” said Blue Demons coach Lance Frazier. “What have we learned from all of our struggles? I challenged them to learn from what’s happened, and they did. They answered a lot of questions tonight.
“You have to use adversity as a motivator. But you also have to remember this is a game and you want the players to have fun doing it. And winning is a lot of fun. I’m very happy to get back on the right track here.”
Now 3-1 in the Ches-Mont American and 3-4 overall, Kennett has a home game against West Chester East and road games at Sun Valley and Great Valley to close out the regular season. The Demons entered the day ranked 16th in the District 1 5A Power Rankings, so the squad is still in the postseason mix.
“This feels amazing,” added Guyer, who scored two TDs, ran for over 100 yards and came up with a huge play on special teams. “Nothing is better than beating your rival at their place and on Homecoming.”
It was Unionville’s fourth setback in a row. And at 2-5 overall (2-2 in the C-M American), it may have sunk the ’Horns postseason aspirations.
“We need everybody on this team to look within,” said first-year coach Tim Murphy. “We have three games left, so we want to finish it off for our seniors and the younger kids who are the future of the program.”
Deadlocked 7-7 at halftime, Kennett took the lead for good on its first possession of the third quarter. On fourth-and-eight Patalano hit junior wideout Xavier McGreal for a 34-yard touchdown.
But the contest turned when an errant snap on a punt early in the fourth quarter changed everything. Instead of pinning the Demons deep in their own end, Guyer tackled punter Unionville Luciano Palagruto for a negative 30 yards after he retrieved the snap that sailed over his head.
And on the next play, Guyer hauled in a TD pass from Palatano that covered 30 yards to make it 20-7.
“A play on special teams can flip the switch of momentum,” Guyer said.
A good return on the ensuing kickoff put Unionville at the Kennett 36, but moments later senior Jackie Good picked off a pass by Longhorns’ sophomore quarterback Tommy McGinnis returned it 78 yards the other way. A couple plays later, Guyer scored from the one to up the margin to 20 with 6:59 on the clock.
“It’s always tough,” Murphy said. “It was a young kid trying to make something happen.”
Guyer finished with 119 rushing yards on 22 carries.
“Ian is the most determined guy on our team,” Frazier said. “He puts his body on the line for his teammates.”
Murphy added: “He’s a tough runner who is hard to bring down after first contact. He keeps his legs moving.”
A 66-yard kickoff return by Charlie Almeida, set up the ’Horns second touchdown – a short run by McGinnis – but it was too late.
“We always had this in us – we just needed to find it,” Guyer said. “It’s all in front of us the rest of the season.”
For the first time since being injured on Sept. 14 against West Chester Rustin, the Blue Demons had Patalano back in the lineup. And even though he suffered a leg injury in the first quarter, he played the bulk of the remainder of the game and accounted for three touchdowns.
“With Chase back it threw a new wrinkle on the offense. It kept (Unionville) guessing,” Guyer said.
“Chase brings balance back to what we do on offense. He adds another level,” Frazier added.
Averaging less than 11 points per game so far, the Longhorns struck first with an 86-yard TD toss from McGinnis to receiver Mick Levendis. And it came on Unionville’s third play from scrimmage.
But the Blue Demons came right back. A 45-yard wide receiver screen to freshman Joalex Carbajal set up the tying score, a 5-yard run by Patalano late in the opening quarter.
With shutouts in its previous three contests, it was Kennett’s first points since Sept. 9th. But on the score, Patalano – a transfer from St. Mark’s in Delaware — was injured on the play and limped off. He did return, but was clearly nowhere near 100 percent.
“He was able to stand but he wasn’t able to move or run,” Frazier said. “Talk about courage. Today he earned a lot of respect from his teammates. He has earned the title of being a team leader.”
The ’Horns had a rough evening on special teams, surrendering an onside kick, failing on a fake punt, and missing a 30-yard field goal – all in the first half. And then there was the bad punt snap in the fourth quarter.
“We had some mistakes, like the onside kick,” Murphy said. “And when we tried to pin (Kennett) deep in its own end we have the bad snap on the punt. We put ourselves in some bad situations.”
McGinnis was 7-for-23 for 162 passing yards, but was intercepted twice. The Demons defense limited Unionville with just 75 rushing yards and 237 total yards.
“Some of our issues on offense have been our inability to finish drives,” Murphy said. “We left some points on the board.
“We have to look at ourselves. We had opportunities, but we made some mistakes at bad times.”
Kennett 27, Unionville 14
Kennett 7 0 6 14 — 27
Unionville 7 0 0 7 — 14
Scoring
U – Levendis 86 pass from McGinnis (Palagruto kick)
K – Patalano 5 run (Barker kick)
K – McGreal 34 pass from Patalano (Barker kick)
K – Guyer 30 pass from Patalano (kick failed)
K – Guyer 1 run (Barker kick)
U – McGinnis 1 run (Palagruto kick)
Team statistics K U
First downs 9 12
Rushing yards 139 75
Passing yards 111 162
Total yards 250 237
Complete-Att-Int 4-15-0 7-23-2
Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-0
Punts-ave. 4-26.7 1-26
Penalties 5-37 5-30
Individual statistics
RUSHING – K: Guyer 22-119, TD; Patalano 7-13; Good 1-1; Carbajal 1-(-2); Dougherty 2-11; Ritch 3-(-3). U: McLaughlin 12-45; McGinnis 17-52, TD; Kelly 1-4; D’Amico 1-4; Palagruto 1-(-30).
PASSING – K: Patalano 4-15, 111 yards, 2 TDs. U: McGinnis 7-23, 162 yards, TD, 2 Int.
RECEIVING – K: Carbajal 1-45; Good 1-2; McGrea 1-34; Guyer 1-30, TD. U: Levendis 2-100. TD; Holt 2-20; Tarr 1-12; D’Orio 2-30.
Interceptions – K: Good, McGreal.
Sacks – K: Schaub, Thompson, Lower. U: McIlrath, Holt, D’Orio.
