Chester County Football Wrap: Jacobs rushes Rustin to banner victory
Week Five of the scholastic football season was a very interesting and in some case, surprising. League races are starting to take shape and district playoff points are taking some meaning as the district playoffs are only five weeks away.
West Chester Rustin moved to 3-1 on the season with a thrilling 16-14 win over previously undefeated Downingtown East. The Golden Knights rolled up 304 yards rushing and came away with a very big victory. the road does not get any easier for the Cougars who host undefeated Unionville this Friday. For Downingtown East, receiver Mike Giordino had a big game, catching six passes for 135 yards. For the Golden Knights, Dayshawn Jacobs was terrific, rushing for 190 yards and becoming the area leader in rushing yards with 783 yards in just four games.
Coatesville put a big time hurting on West Chester Henderson by downing the Warriors 48-0. It was the second straight shutout for the Coatesville defense which put up some more zeroes last week in a 35-0 win over Avon Grove. This all came after the Red Raiders faced some prolific offenses in Perkiomen Valley and William Penn York in week’s two and three.
Speaking of defense, the Malvern Prep Friars continue to clamp down on the opposition by downing Berks Catholic 37-7. The Friars have now given up a paltry 17 points in four games. Malvern Prep now has a bye week before traveling to play an undefeated Archbishop Spaulding team in Severn, Maryland.
Conestoga is 4-1 on the season as the Pioneers have beaten teams they are supposed to beat in Harriton, Penncrest and Lower Merion. The Pioneers get into the meat of their schedule now with the top half of the Central League coming up on their schedule. Quarterback Calvin Shirley and receiver Peter Detweiller are one of the top combos in the Central League.
Avon Grove defeated Great Valley 20-14 Friday night. The Red Devils got a big game from their defense and defensive end Josh Reuter is one of the best lineman in the Ches-Mont League. Second year head coach Joe Coffey is slowly trying to build the Avon Grove program back to some relevance in the Ches-Mont National Division after some very lean years for the Red Devils.
Downingtown West handled West Chester East easily, 35-7 as the Whippets took a 35-0 halftime lead on the winless Vikings. Whippets linebacker Will Mahmud had a sparkling 19 yard interception return for a touchdown in the win. Mahmud, along with Ryan Waters, form a very capable Downingtown West linebacking corps.
Around District 1, Garnet Valley continues to roll as the Jaguars blew out Strath Haven 42-7. This came on a night that North Penn took a tough 21-14 decision from Pennridge. The only 6A teams that are still undefeated are Garnet Valley, North Penn, Ridley and Quakertown.
And on a losing note, once powerful Pennsbury is now 0-5 and the Falcons, whose fans constantly complained about former head coach Galen Snyder, now has trouble even putting up a one touchdown per game. Under Snyder, Pennsbury was always a force in District 1 and won the District 1 6A crown in 2014 with his ground and pound offense.
