ROYERSFORD — Downingtown East graduated 10 starters off last season’s historic defensive unit and experienced some early growing pains in its first two games of 2024.
But in Friday night’s come-from-behind, 17-14 win at Spring-Ford’s Coach McNelly Stadium, the Cougars showed they’re well on their way to developing another stout unit.
Downingtown East held the Rams scoreless for the final 30 minutes of the game, sacking Spring-Ford quarterback and Missouri commit Matt Zollers five times and recovering a muffed snap inside the 10-yard line with under 20 seconds to play to seal the victory.
“That is Downingtown East football,” said linebacker and leading tackler Jack Griffiths. “I’d rather win a 17-14, hard-fought battle than blow somebody out 35-0 any day.”
Griffiths, the lone returning starter for D-East, is a throwback player, a hard-nosed linebacker who calls the shots for the Cougars’ defense and remains on track to set the school record for tackles by the end of the season. This game was right up his alley.
“We have a long tradition of tough, hard-nosed teams,” said Griffiths. “So what we’re down 14? We fought back, which is what we preached since January.”
Of course, the Cougars needed to score some points as well, and the offensive effort was led by junior halfback Alex Rios, who carried for 175 yards, finishing with well over 30 carries in a performance that turned from workmanlike to spectacular over the course of the second-half rally.
“That’s definitely a career high in carries for me,” said Rios.
Like a true workhorse, Rios got stronger as the game went on. Runs that were stopped for no gain turned into three-yard carries, and three-yard carries became five or six-yard gains. He capped the performance with his game-high 27-yard run that set up Michael Brown’s 21-yard touchdown catch from Mason Ippolito (12-for-14, 122 yards, TD) to give the Cougars their first – and permanent – lead with eight minutes to play.
“That’s all about my offensive line,” said Rios. “I can only run through the holes they make, and they push me to make those plays.”
Over an 11-1 season a year ago, the Cougars allowed only 56 total points — a figure eclipsed by their first two opponents in an uncharacteristic 0-2 start.
Again on Friday night, the defense started slowly when Zollers escaped pressure on a 3rd-and-8 at his own 22-yard line, evading would-be tacklers in the backfield, through the secondary and down the sideline for a career-long 78-yard touchdown run to give the Rams a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the game.
Early in the second quarter, Zollers doubled the lead when he pulled the ball on a zone read and rumbled 24 yards for a 14-0 advantage.
Meanwhile, Spring-Ford’s defense was managing Downingtown East’s varied tempos, making Rios earn each of his 53 first-half yards over 18 carries. The Cougars didn’t break through until a long completion from Ippolito to Zach Lindsay set up Rios’ three-yard scoring run, chopping the lead in half.
The defensive effort for Spring-Ford was led by senior safety Anthony Earley and linebacker Brady Welsh with multiple tackles for loss.
Ryan Hornack’s 25-yard field goal brought the Cougars within 14-10 late in the third quarter, but the D-East defense was the story, holding Spring-Ford to negative-10 yards of total offense over their first couple second-half possessions. In the interim, Brown’s touchdown reception gave D-East their first lead with 8:08 to play.
But Spring-Ford would rally behind further heroics from Zollers, who stood up physically to repeated hard hits. Zollers scrambled for 26 of his 132 rushing yards to move the ball into D-East territory with two minutes to play, then hit freshman Rowan Harmon for SF’s biggest pass play of the night to move into the red zone with 1:06 left.
But it wasn’t to be, as Downingtown East pounced on a botched snap in the red zone with under 15 seconds to play, sealing their first win.
Zollers led the Rams with 132 yards rushing and the two scores but was held to 91 passing yards on 25 attempts. The senior’s efforts were the main bright spot for a Spring-Ford offense that was without top receiver Jordan Marsilio for a second game, and also struggled in last week’s loss to Easton.
“The difference between this week and last is everybody fought,” said Spring-Ford coach Chad Brubaker. “Guys left it all on the field. No, we don’t like the outcome, but we’re going to build off the effort.”
Things get no easier for the 1-2 Rams, who remain at Coach McNelly Stadium next week to host the Cougars’ crosstown rivals, Downingtown West. Downingtown East improved to 1-2 on the season and looks to even their record next week when they welcome Boyertown to Kottmeyer Stadium.
“We’re ready to go after that rough start,” said Griffiths. “We’ve got some dogs on this team, a bunch of guys who people are going to know very soon.”
Downingtown East 17, Spring-Ford 14
Downingtown East — 0 7 3 7 — 17
Spring-Ford — 7 7 0 0 — 14
SCORING PLAYS
SF — Zollers 78 run (Fields kick)SF — Zollers 24 run (Fields kick)DE — Rios 3 run (Hornack kick)DE — Hornack 25 FGDE — M. Brown 21 pass from Ippolito (Hornack kick)
TEAM STATISTICS
DE SFFirst Downs 21 12
Rushing Yards 207 162
Passing Yards 122 94
Total Yards 329 256
Passes C-A-I 12-14-0 14-26-0
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties-Yards 6-50 4-44
Punts-Avg. 4-28.5 5-36.8
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Downingtown East – Rios 38-175; TD, Ippolito 6-20, Sehwah 2-9, M.Brown 1-3, Brunner 1-0.
Spring-Ford – Zollers 15-132; 2 TD, J. Lewis 11-27, Hinkle 1-3.
Passing
Downingtown East – Ippolito 12-14, 122 yards, TD.
Spring-Ford – Zollers 13-25, 91 yards; Yoder 1-1, 3 yards.
Receiving
Downingtown East – M. Brown 5-54; TD, Lindsay 4-40, Kierbert 1-20, Keenan 1-8, Rios 1-0.
Spring-Ford – B. Turner 6-31, Harmon 3-31, Kerchner 2-24, J. Lewis 2-8, Wickersham 1-0.
Sacks: Downingtown East – Aikens 2, J. Smith 2, Webb.