Whitemarsh >> On the second play of the game, West Chester Rustin junior running back Ryan Loper found daylight for a 62-yard touchdown run, and the Golden Knights led the rest of the way to defeat No. 4 seed (and host) Plymouth Whitemarsh, 22-14, in the District 1 5A playoff quarterfinals Friday.
With the victory, the No. 5 seed Golden Knights (10-1) advance to face the winner of Saturday’s Chester-Phoenixville game in the District 1 5A semifinals.
“I think that (68-yard run) set the tone for a hard-nosed football game on both sides of the ball,” said West Chester Rustin head coach Mike St. Clair. “Our offensive line did a great job – Brock Cummings and Charlie Covington really did a great job on that sweep, and Lope did a great job cutting back and taking it to the house.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (10-2) picked up only one first down on its first possession, and hit a beautiful punt all the way down to the Golden Knights’ 4 yard line.
The visitors then ran seven consecutive running plays, highlighted by sophomore back Will Garner’s 31 yard gain, until they faced a 4th-and-7 on the Colonials’ 40 yard line. The Golden Knights lined up as if to punt, but junior Jojo Magolon took the snap and ran 30 yards all the way down to the hosts’ 10 yard line.
“We’ve been practicing that play all year, where we try to get them to come upfield, and Jojo cuts it underneath; we were lucky enough for it to hit, and it was a big first down,” said St. Clair.
Three subsequent running plays did not crack the end zone, and senior Ryan Ross trotted onto the field to kick a 24-yard field goal and give Rustin a 9-0 lead with 23.6 seconds left in the first quarter.
Then, Plymouth Whitemarsh’s running attack started to pick up solid gains, and embarked on a 15-play, 74-yard touchdown drive that ended with Colonial junior quarterback Caiden Leszczynski leaping over a pile of tacklers on 4th-and-goal from the 1 yard line for a touchdown to cut Rustin’s lead to 9-6 with 6:30 to go before halftime.
On the third play of the second half, a P-W fumble was recovered by Rustin at the hosts’ 42 yard line. On the very next play, Rustin junior running back Chase Hatton found a hole on the right side for a 32-yard gain to the Colonials’ 10 yard line.
“The left side of our line did a great job on that play, with Steve Bernard and Nick Santangelo creating a nice hole for him to rip through. And our fullback, Will Garner, is just a beast blocking.”
Two plays later Garner broke into the end zone on a nine-yard touchdown run and the visitors had a 16-6 lead with 9:49 left in the third quarter.
Rustin’s rugged defense pinned P-W deep into its own territory late in the third quarter, and a short punt gave the Golden Knights the ball on the hosts’ 24 yard line. Three plays later, Hatton burst up the middle for a six yard touchdown run and Rustin had a 22-6 lead with 16.1 seconds left in the third quarter.
P-W senior back Nazye Boggs (who had several great, leaping catches of passes Friday) made one of them on the final play of the third quarter and took it to the house for a touchdown. A two-point conversion cut Rustin’s lead to 22-14.
In the fourth quarter, P-W went to the air more often, and interceptions by Hatton and Golden Knight junior David Jacobs helped keep the Colonials off the scoreboard the rest of the way.
“We practiced hard on defense all week; it’s really hard to stop (P-W’s) offense, Coach (Dan) Chang running the Veer and his option package, so we had to play disciplined football, bend but don’t break on defense, and that’s what we were able to do tonight.
“Their quarterback and that No. 1 (Boggs) are really great players, we were able to drop in (pass) coverage and start getting our linebackers a little bit deeper underneath those seam routes and we were able to make some nice plays on defense.”
After the game, Chang said how proud he was of his Colonials.
“I told our guys that it was a physical battle the whole way, and I’m proud of how they battled from start to finish,” said Chang. “Rustin is good, they’re tough, they’re physical, they’re downhill, full credit goes to them. They won that game but Nazye (Boggs) is a special kid and he played his heart out tonight and I can’t be more proud of him.
“I think all of our seniors were instrumental in our success this year, and tonight is about sending them off in appreciation for everything they’ve done.”
