Downingtown East controls both sides of the ball to beat Perkiomen Valley

DOWNINGTOWN >> All the time the Downingtown East football players put into the weight room paid dividends Saturday night at Kottmeyer Stadium, as the host Cougars dominated on both sides of the line of scrimmage and rushed the ball for 255 yards on 56 carries as East defeated Perkiomen Valley and star quarterback Cole Peterlin, 33-21, in nonleague action.

“That was old time Downingtown football tonight,” said Cougar senior Jack Riley. “It showed that we were physically dominant and that all the time we put in the weight room is really worth it. It showed tonight the was we ran the football and the way the defense chased their quarterback around.”

Downingtown East (2-0) certainly did chase Peterlin around as the Cougars recorded three sacks and came within a whisper of several more. Peterson still found enough time to complete 20 of 34 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns, but the Vikings’ (0-2) signal-caller was running for his life most of the evening.

“Cole is a special player that gives defenses trouble,” said Perkiomen Valley head coach Rob Heist. “Coming into the game it was no secret what Downingtown wanted to do. Mike Matta does a great job getting them ready and they want to run at you and dictate the pace and they did that tonight. But, our kids, I could not be prouder of them. They continued to fight all night long.”

After just one period, the Cougars had a 13-0 lead as Garvey Jonassaint, who rushed for 137 yards, capped a 16-play Cougar drive by going in from two yards out. After a Perkiomen Valley interception by the Cougars’ Cameron Feamster, quarterback Luke Davis found Jack O’Reilly for an eight-yard touchdown and a 13-0 Downingtown East lead.

“Getting out on them early really helped us,” Riley said. “Then we just were able to run the ball right at them.”

Connor Noble, just back from injury, made a nice catch and run and turned it into a 48-yard touchdown from Davis, giving the Cougars a commanding 20-0 lead. Perk Valley was forced to punt and once again, the Cougars went on a long drive, punctuated by runs from Jonassaint and Zach Hamilton, who also went over the 100-yard mark, with 101 yards rushing on 22 carries. Hamilton took the ball the final seven yards and it looked like we were headed from the nmercy rule at 26-0.

But, with less than a second on the clock before halftime, the Vikings struck when Peterlin hit Isiah Domaine for a weaving and bobbing 28-yard touchdown pass to make it a 26-7 game. After the second half kickoff, Davis threw a pick six to Brett Kulken and the Vikings closed the gap to 26-14.

“We played physical dominating football tonight,” Downingtown East head coach Mike Matta said. “But, we made some mistakes like the pick six. That was on us coaches. We should not have thrown the ball there. But, we played old time Downingtown football. That is our brand.’

The Cougars asserted more of their strength in the second half to close the game out. Davis took the ball the final two yards to close out a 14-play drive that was punctuated by 13 running plays and Perkiomen Valley was done, as the Cougars went to 2-0 and started looking ahed to next Friday’s home game against Roman Catholic.

“We played well tonight,” Matta said. “All the time in the weight room showed tonight and we chased a heck of a player in No. 3 (Peterlin) around. He is a very good quarterback.”