Coatesville turns anticipated matchup into another laugher, blanking West Chester Rustin

CALN >> If you had a few Coatesville football players in your fantasy league, you would be sitting pretty right now.

Friday night in a nonleague Ches-Mont crossover against West Chester Rustin, the Red raiders piled up 553 yards of total offense, 305 on the ground and 258 more through the air courtesy of quarterback Ricky Ortega, as the fifth ranked team in Pa. Prep Live’s Top 20 destroyed No. 19 West Chester Rustin, 49-0.

Not only was the Coatesville (5-1) offense on fire, the Red Raider defense, led by senior Alex Raimondo, held Rustin (4-2) to just 92 yards of total offense in a completely dominating performance. Rustin had averaged 42 points per game in its last three outings, but the Red Raider defense shut out the Golden Knights.

“These kids like to play together and in front of this home crowd,” Coatesville head coach Matt Ortega said. “They play for the community and they are a very close group. When one of our junior varsity guys scored late in the game, the whole team went to greet him because he works on the scout team and gives everything he has in practice all week. These kids have fun together.”

The fun started early for the Red Raiders as they took the opening kickoff and went on a 10-play, 68-yard touchdown drive with Ortega hitting Avery Young from 15 yards out to make it a 6-0 game. Then, Rustin fumbled on the second play after receiving the kickoff and Jimmy Limpett fell on it at the Rustin 33 yard line. The longest offensive play the Golden Knights had all night was a 19-yard pass play from Will Pileggi to Tyler Kaliner.

Five plays later Coatesville was in the end zone again when Dapree Bryant caught a pretty six-yard slant pass from Ortega. Ortega finished the game completing 16 of 25 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns and had another 66-yard bomb called back due to a penalty.

“We never lose our focus no matter what the score is,” Bryant said. “We are locked in right now. Offense, defense and special teams are all playing very well and we want to keep things going the way they are now.”

With a 13-0 lead, Coatesville racked up 22 points in the second period to take a commanding 35-0 lead at halftime and put the second half into the mercy rule. Coatesville, leading 28-0, took a Rustin punt at its own 43 yard line with 17 seconds to play and it looked like the Red Raiders would run the clock out and go into the locker from with a nice lead.

Not these Red Raiders. Ortega threw a screen pass to Aaron Young, who weaved his way through traffic and carried Golden Knights defenders down to the one yard line with one second to play in the half. One play later, Young waltzed into the end zone for a 35-0 lead and the home crowd wildly roared its approval. Young rushed for 134 yards on 14 carries with three scores on the night.

“I don’t think we lose our focus even with the big leads we have been having in these games,” Young said. “I think I can do a lot of things in the backfield. I am pretty shifty and I like to catch the ball out of the backfield. Tonight, we played very well.”

Coatesville scored again in the third period when Frankie Sherman went in from a yard out and Ortega cleared his bench, but that did not stop the Red Raider onslaught. Daryl Perry busted through the Golden Knights’ line like he was shot out of a cannon and rumbled 46 yards to make it a 49-0 game and close out the lopsided affair.

“These kids love to play in front of this crowd because of all the support they get,” Ortega said. “It is a throwback town and the team is as close as the community is.”