Academy Park thwarts Unionville’s comeback bid

EAST MARLBOROUGH – Revenge may be best served cold, but Academy Park will settle for damp.

A year after falling apart in the final two minutes at Unionville, the Knights found themselves in a similar situation on the same field. But this time, Academy Park made a difference-making defensive play to hold on for a 19-14 non-league triumph over the defending 5A district champs on Friday.

“I don’t know if it’s this field, or what, but we sure make it interesting,” said Knights’ head coach Jason Vosheski.

The start of the game was delayed an hour due to lightning, and the entire first half was played in a constant downpour. Thanks to the running of junior Devon Covert, however, Academy Park established a run game early, raced out to a 19-point lead and then held on for dear life.

A year ago, Unionville scored two touchdowns in the last 109 seconds to stun the Knights, 23-20. But this time, senior defensive lineman Tyree Estes came up with a huge sack in the final minute that thwarted another crazy comeback.

“There was a flashback, but there always is no matter what the situation,” Vosheski acknowledged. “But I was confident in our defense. And they played well, except for the times our offense put them in bad situations.”

A prime example came with just over nine minutes on the clock when Knights’ quarterback Skylor Fillis was stripped of the football in the end zone by Gabe McLaughlin, and it was recovered for an Indians’ TD by lineman Cole Sheehan.

Still in charge, 19-7, and time running out, the Unionville offense finally got untracked, and quarterback Blake Charlton scored the unit’s first touchdown of the season on a one-yard keeper to cut the margin to five with 1:03 to play.

And then things got very interesting when the Indians’ Eli Lyons pounced on the onside kick near midfield. But on the very next play, Estes broke free and sacked Charlton for negative 13 yards, and Unionville wound up turning it over one downs.

“Defense wins games, and that’s how we won it,” said Covert, who ran for 106 of his 113 yards in the first half. “I wasn’t worried – I had faith in my guys.”

The road win ups Academy Park’s record to 2-0, while the Indians fall to 0-2 and equal the loss total for the entire 2017 campaign that ended in the PIAA semifinals.

“Our kids figured out the level of effort they are going to have to play with,” said Unionville head coach Pat Clark. “We were much too inconsistent in the first half. And for as good as Academy Park is, you can’t give them things. We didn’t play to our potentials and found ourselves in a hole.

“But once we decided to play to the Unionville standard, things got better. We played like every play matters. We finally surpassed (Academy Park’s) energy, got a few breaks, and made it interesting.”

The Knights seized the early lead with an 80-yard march that ended with Fillis scoring on a short run. Academy Park then appeared to take control with a turnover deep in Unionville territory as Skylar White blocked a punt. Three plays later, Zion Bradley scored on a 10-yard run to make it 13-0.

“With the way the weather was in the first half, I think everyone wants to establish the run because there is so much uncertainty with footing, pass protection or the ball being soaking wet,” Vosheski said. “It is usually one of our main goals anyway.

“If we can create even a little crease, (Covert) is very good.”

The Knights added another score in the third quarter when Fillis sparked a long march with some nifty scrambles, and finished it off with his second rushing TD. But the Knights didn’t do much the rest of the way, setting up the finish.

The Academy Park defense limited the Indians to 217 yards of total offense and just 39 on the ground on 27 attempts.

“I think we have the best defense in (Delaware) County,” said Covert. “We got a big push up front and that always helps.

“The key was that we never let up. We fought to the end, which is something we didn’t do last year. We wanted it more. We gave (Unionville) the game last year.”

Until the very late going, the Indians attack was unable to put much together. The last possession of the half was emblematic, as Unionville staged a lengthy drive and threatened to score, but was hampered by five penalties and a dropped pass in the series, and ended the half inside the Knights’ 20.

“This was a heck of a lot better than week one (a 42-3 loss at Garnet Valley), to be honest,” Clark said. “We played very hard on defense. We showed some growth and we will use it to build on.”

Fillis finished with 75 yards on the ground but managed just three receptions for 36 yards.

“Hey, we’re happy to be 2-0, but I still think we are trying to find ourselves,” Voskeski said. “In some cases, we don’t know who we are yet.

“We talked about what happened last season, but I don’t know if I would say it was a huge motivation,” he added. “The kids would say it was, but each season is a new one.”