OXFORD>>On paper, a match-up of a 1-4 team against a 4-1 team had the makings of a mismatch. But for the first half, at least, Friday night’s Ches-Mont American contest between Rustin and Oxford was as tight as could be. Both teams scored on every possession in the first half, but the Golden Knights’ defense pitched a shutout the rest of the way, while the offense put up 21 unanswered points as Rustin (5-1, 3-0 American) grounded out a 42-19 victory over the host Hornets, who fall to 1-5 (1-2 American) on the season.
“Oxford came out and really got us off balance, exploiting some weak areas,” said Rustin coach Mike St. Clair. “We went to halftime and made a few adjustments on defense, and offensively, we scored on every possession of the game.”
Oxford kicker Will Smith bookended the half with a pair of long field goals, putting the first points on the board with a 47-yarder, then connected from 39 as time expired in the second period, sandwiched around a pair of Oxford touchdowns to Justin Tyre, the first a 3-yard revers, the second a 14-yard pass from Aiden Kane.
“Will was kind of struggling in the beginning of the year,” said Oxford coach Mike Means. “But we think we figured out the issue, and he’s been on it the last few games.”
Rustin, meanwhile, ran just 14 plays in the first half, but found the endzone three times, an 11-yard run from Will Garner, and a pair of TD scampers from Chase Hatton; the first from 8-yards, the second from 19, and the teams went to halftime tied at 19-19.
Coming out of the break, Hatton, who led all rushers with 170 yards on just 12 carries, broke free on a 51-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage in the half.
“That was big for us, but none of that happens with the guys up front,” said Hatton. “We’ve got Billy Tigue, Chuck Covington, Noah Kitabjian, Mickey Santangelo and Brock Cummings working hard and getting it done all year for us. Without them, we aren’t getting it done.”
The Golden Knights ground game did more than get it done, rolling up 330 yards on 35 carries. Rustin quarterback David McClain didn’t even attempt a pass until a single try in the fourth quarter.
“The offense executed really well all game,” said St. Clair. “We’ve been throwing a bit more this year than in the past, but when we’re getting the kind of yards we were getting running the ball, getting seven or eight yards a carry, you stick with it.”
The Rustin defense turned it up a notch in the second half, holding the Hornets to just two first downs the rest of the way, and closed out the win with an interception by David Jacobs.
“It’s all about the coaches, and we’ve got the best around,” said Rustin’s Patrick Maychak. “We made the adjustments we needed to make, and just played ball out football.”
West Chester Rustin 42 Oxford 19
WC Rustin 7 12 7 14–42
Oxford 3 16 0 0—19
Individual Scoring
First Quarter
OX—Smith 47- FG 3-0
RUS—Garner 11-TD (Marsh kick) 7-3
Second Quarter
OX—Tyre 3- run (pass failed) 9-7
RUS—Hatton 8-run (kick failed) 13-9
OX—Tyre 14-pass from Kane (Smith kick) 16-13
RUS—Hatton 19-run (kick failed) 19-16
OX—Smith 39-FG 19-19
Third Quarter
RUS—Hatton 51-run (Hatton run)27-19
Fourth Quarter
RUS—McClain 3-run (Hatton run) 35-19
RUS—Garner 3-run (Marsh kick) 42-19
Team Statstics
RUS—OX
First downs 13 14
Rushes-yards 35-330 27-141
Passing 0-1 13-18
Passing yards 0 104
Total yards 330 244
Punts/avg 0-10 3-32.5
Fumbles-lost 3-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 3-25 3-25
Individual statistics
Rushing—RUS Hatton 12-170, 3TD; Loper 8-66; McClain 5-34; Garner 5-29, 2TD; Magolon 2-27; Rodriguez 1-4 OX Boyer 12-50; Kane 12-87; Tyre 2-2, TD; Anderson 1-2
Passing — RUS McLain 0-1, OX Kane 13-18-104, TD, INT
Receiving—RUS None OX Anderson 3-22, Boyer 4-31; Tyre 3-27, TD; Schaible 1-15; Winters 2-9
Interceptions—RUS D. Jacobs
