DiGIOVANNI: Downingtown West, W.C. East the big winners after Week 3

This past weekend of football was a rather wild and crazy one, as five games were suspended Friday night and finished on Saturday. And with three full weeks of the regular season already in the books, some things have become pretty clear.

Coatesville, Malvern Prep and Downingtown East are all undefeated and as advertised. Coatesville has done nothing to dispel the notion that it is the team to beat in the District 1 Class 6A race.

Two surprise teams — West Chester East and Oxford — both sit at 3-0 and look like locks for the 16-team District 1 Class 5A playoff bracket, even though there is a lot of football left to play. But both head coaches, Scott Stephen of West Chester East and Mike Means of Oxford, deserve a ton of credit for where their respective teams are right now.

But, the team that has caught my eye, and actually first got my attention in the summer, is Downingtown West. The Whippets have had a couple of unfamiliar seasons the past two years, and things got a little ugly among the Whippet faithful, forgetting that West head coach Mike Milano was a regular in the district playoff and Ches-Mont National races just a few years back. There were some ugly, lopsided losses, and now West has remembered how to fix them. The 2018 edition of Downingtown West football is determined to bring back the glory to Manor Avenue.

All the Whippets have done in the first three weeks is go to a very tough place to play, Perkiomen Valley, and ring up 44 points in a wild 44-33 victory. The naysayers said that it was the same old West, giving up a ton of points with an undersized front like they have had the past two years.

Well, the naysayers were wrong. West comes home to Kottmeyer Stadium, and in the second game of the season, shut down Central Bucks South, 37-0, in a dominant performance on both sides of the ball. We knew junior quarterback Will Howard was special, but receivers Dan Byrnes and Jackson Luneberg, along with speedy back Tariq Lewis, have burst on the scene, and given the Whippets a bevy of weapons for Howard to choose from.

But what really has stamped Downingtown West as a legitimate Ches-Mont National Division and District 1 contender was the impressive 35-14 manhandling of Neshaminy Saturday night. Not only did the Whippets pile up 410 yards of total offense, with Lewis scoring three touchdowns and Luneberg catching five passes for 122 yards, the Whippet defense hit any Redskin that moved and controlled the line of scrimmage for the entire game, stopping Neshaminy on four fourth down chances.

Late in the fourth period, the Downingtown West offensive line really showed the Whippet growth as they dominated the Redskins front seven and moved the chains for a five-plus minute scoring drive that salted the win away. Not only was Downingtown West playing flashy football, it was playing old-time Downingtown power football, something the Whippets have lacked the last two years.

No one knows where this season is going to go with seven regular season games left on the schedule, but one thing is certain: Downingtown West is for real and not just a team that can beat you with fancy offensive sets and trick plays.

The Whippets can line up and knock you on your rear end and still find time to dazzle you with Milano’s varied formations. So, what looked like a Coatesville walk to the Ches-Mont National title may be a little tougher now.

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One team that did not let the elements derail its fast start was West Chester East. The Vikings won their third in a row as they took two days to defeat West Chester Rustin, 31-21.

The upstart Vikings got big defensive games from Liam Montgomery, who had 11 tackles, and Mike Gray, who added 10. Offensively, Pierre Marchant rushed for 144 yards and three scores and Kyle Cichanowsky picked up 149 with one score. On the other side, Tim Clifford had 14 tackles to lead a stout defense.

West Chester East head coach Scott Stephen talked about the challenges of starting a game on Friday and finishing it Saturday.

“Playing one game over two days was unique in that we have not been in that situation before,” Stephen said. “But our players have shown great focus and resilency the past two weeks with the heat, regarding changed and modifications to our practice times, practice schedule and overall practice structure.

“Those situations, like Friday night and postponing until Saturday, were out of our control,” Stephen said. “Instead of worrying about them, we spoke to them about the things we could control in order to be prepared again for the 2 p.m. start on Saturday. Our guys listened, responded and we are really proud of how they handled everything.”

Peter DiGiovanni covers high school football for the Daily Local News and Pa. Prep Live.