Downingtown East keeps Perkiomen Valley guessing in 28-13 win

GRATERFORD >> In football, as in life, once your identity or personality is established, people form expectations.

The difference in football is that breaking those tendencies can be beneficial.

That was the lesson from Friday night’s clash of perennial playoff contenders at Perkiomen Valley, where Downingtown East showed just enough counters to their basic smash mouth offense to fight past the Vikings, 28-13.

The Cougars didn’t break character entirely, of course. They ran for 230 yards on the evening and didn’t attempt a single pass in the second half.

But in the early going, quarterback Drew Person and offensive X-factor Connor Noble combined to give Perkiomen Valley something else to think about the rest of the night.

On the roster, Noble is listed as a tight end. But after a play-action pass from Person to Noble set up the Cougars at the PV 21, East came to the line with a different look — Noble, not Person, was under center. Two plays later, the nominal “backup” QB slammed through the middle and out of a tackle for a 12-yard TD and a 6-0 D-East lead.

“We’ve been practicing that look all summer, specifically for this game,” Noble said.

“That’s one of (Downingtown East’s) Coach (Mike) Matta’s best attributes,” said his Perkiomen Valley counterpart, Rob Heist. “He’s one of the best at studying film and incorporating something you’re not expecting into that week’s game plan. Sometimes it’s tempo, tonight was that Wildcat look.”

PV’s best early chance came when D-East fumbled a punt at their own 35-yard line, but the offense went nowhere. When the Cougars took over, Person again found Noble alone down the middle for a 58-yard gain and a 1st-and-goal at the PV 2. Spencer Uggla finished the job two plays later, putting D-East up 13-0.

The Vikings drew closer when a perfectly designed screen pass sprung Jacob Sturm for a 45-yard gain inside East’s 5-yard line. Perk Valley sophomore quarterback Ethan Kohler would roll out and find Logan Holloway to get the Vikings on the board and cut the halftime margin to 13-7.

After halftime, it was back to the bread-and-butter for D-East, as their three-pronged rushing attack (Josh Asante, Stan Bryant, Spencer Uggla) began slowly wearing down the PV defense. An eight-play, 56-yard ended in a 10-yard TD scamper by Bryant, and Uggla would put the game out of reach with an authoritative 23-yard score about midway through the fourth quarter.

“By the start of the fourth quarter, we could see the tide had turned. We felt like we had them,” said Noble. “We didn’t need to do anything fancy at that point. Our goal was to run the ball, play our way.”

Noble and Bryant added sacks on defense, as did PJ Grubb, who anchored a D-East defense that limited Perkiomen Valley to 45 yards rushing on 26 attempts.

For the evening, Person complete four passes for 130 yards — 123 of them coming on those big throws to Noble.

The Vikings had their moments on offense, as running backs Sturm and Jon Moccia had long catch-and-run plays to move the ball deep into D-East territory. The Holloway TD pass got them on the board, but finishing drives was a challenge for PV (1-1).

“We has some nice drives,” Heist said, “but we couldn’t get out of our own way. Too many mistakes against a team this strong and this consistent.”

Randy Washington’s highlight-reel catch over the middle turned into a 48-yard TD to cap the scoring, courtesy of Kohler, who went 23-37 for 284 yards and two scores on the night. Nico Holder paced the PV defense with a dozen tackles.

The 2-0 Cougars travel to take on Philadelphia Catholic League foe Roman Catholic next week, while the 1-1 Vikings attempt to rebound when they play Pennridge.

“Our schedule is built the way it is intentionally,” Heist said of the Vikings’ arduous nonleague slate. “We take our lumps early, but by the time Owen J. Roberts comes here to start PAC play (on September 20), we’ll be ready to rock and roll.”