Bell, Chester send a warning: We will score at will

CHESTER — The game was effectively over six minutes into first quarter, but Chester High coach Ladontay Bell didn’t allow his team to get comfortable.

Too often over the years, Bell has seen his players grow stagnant or disinterested when they get up by three or four scores.

So he challenged them to keep playing hard. Those pesky unwritten rules – don’t run up the score – be damned.

Central High was overmatched, but the Clippers kept attacking. And scoring. And having fun.

Indeed, the Clippers did something that no Delaware County football team has done in 100 years: drop an 80-spot on the scoreboard. The 80-0 bludgeoning of the Lancers put the Clippers in the record books in a runner-up spot; the second-most points scored by a county team. They came two safeties short of the county record set by Lansdowne in an 84-0 shellacking of Swarthmore in 1922. Both of those schools are long since extinct.

“This is the very first time in all my years coaching at Chester that our players didn’t relax, they didn’t allow their opponent to get the best of them, and they believed in themselves the whole game,” Bell said. “They played to their potential…and that’s what I told them today. They were clicking in every aspect of the game.”

The dominance was stunning. Freshman quarterback Jalen Harris threw seven touchdown passes, including four to wide receiver Cymeer Brown, in a high school debut that no one will match anytime soon … or perhaps ever. He completed 12 of 14 attempts for 311 yards and carried himself like a senior.

“It felt good,” said the soft-spoken freshman. “A lot of practice, hard work.”

Brown couldn’t be touched. He ran the deep route with precision and put on the afterburners. His four TD catches went for 33, 58, 62 and 26 yards. The speedy senior finished with 176 yards on five catches.

“Cymeer has been with us since he was a freshman. He’s homegrown,” Bell said. “I truly appreciate Cymeer and everything he has done since he was a freshman. He’s a wonderful young man, laid back. He doesn’t say too much, but he’s a captain. He leads by his actions.”

Dominic Toy was on the receiving end of three Jalen Harris touchdown throws. The junior tight end had six catches for 128 yards.

Jalen and his twin brother, Daron, are stars in the making. The two hooked up for a short touchdown pass in the third quarter to put Chester ahead 72-0. Daron Harris flourished in the defensive secondary with multiple passes defensed and an interception.

And how about that Chester defense? Not to be overlooked in an 80-point victory, the Clippers caused six turnovers. Colin Ferrell  and senior safety Daron Harris each had a pick.

Freshman Deandre Pee scooped up a fumble behind the line of scrimmage – Central had trouble handling the snap – and sprinted untouched to the end zone. Central managed a whopping 12 yards of total offense.

All-Delco linebacker and senior Noble Thompson had 10 tackles.

“We were hungry, we were focused all day,” said senior end/linebacker Lafenis Mays Jr. “Last season we finished the year 0-4 and we don’t want to make the same mistakes. … We want to keep our foot on the gas the whole time.”

Next Saturday another Philadelphia Public League school, John Bartram, heads to the Chester Athletic Complex hoping to avoid a similar fate.