Downingtown West defense stymies CB South
DOWNINGTOWN >> In Downingtown West’s week one win over Perk Valley, the offense showed what it could do, finding an answer to every Perkiomen Valley score. But there were concerns about the play on the other side of the ball, having allowed 500-plus yard of offense.
If Friday’s game against Central Bucks South is any indication, those worries were unfounded. West (2-0) picked up its second win of the year as the defense gave up just 123 yards of offense, and didn’t allow a single point. When the clock hit zeroes at Kottmeyer Stadium, the Whippets were winners under the Mercy Rule, 37-0.
“Last week Perk Valley had us running around in circles and we didn’t tackle very well,” said West coach Mike Milano. “But the kids got better and we’re really excited by the way the team played defense tonight.”
The Whippets needed less than 15 seconds to get on the board, as Dan Byrne took the opening kick-off 86 yards to the end zone for the score, then kicked the extra point himself to put the Whippets up 7-0. Byrne had nearly 200 return yards on the night, just missing on a punt return when he took it 50 yards inside the 10.
“I knew almost as soon as I caught the ball, I was going to go all the way,” said Byrne. “It was a great feeling. You’ve got to set the tone, and we had Jackson (Luneburg) follow up with a big offensive play that set up our second TD and it just kept steam rolling.”
With the score still at 14-0, the Titans put together their only real drive of the night, finding a ground attack to go 60 yards into the red zone. But once they hit the West 11, they would go no further, as the Whippets stopped them cold on four straight plays.
“That was huge, not just for this game, but for our season,” said Max Hale, who had a pair of sacks during the drive. “The morale it builds going forward is big. Coach wanted us to come out more physical and basically punch them in the mouth, and we did it.”
The stop proved to be very important, as the Whippet offense was slowed for the remainder of the half, hampered by the wet, rainy conditions.
“We persevered through some lousy conditions,” said Milano. “It was wet and the ball was tough to keep a hold of. But they just played tough.”
West’s next score was another from special teams, when the punt defense unit came up with a safety in the third quarter.
“We played an all around good team game” said Milano. “The defense was great, the offense did its job, and we got a few big plays on special teams.”
The Whippets tacked on three more scores following the safety. Tyriq Lewis (8 carries, 69 yards, 5 catches for 64 yards) caught a 13-yard TD pass from Will Howard, and broke loose on a 42-yard run. Byrne picked up his second TD of the night hauling in a 26-yard pass from Howard (10 of 17, 145 yds, 3TD).
“It was amazing to see the turnaround on defense,” said Milano. “Every week, you want to see improvement, because every week it gets tougher and tougher, especially when we get into our league. There’s still a lot to fix, but we’re definitely headed in the right direction.”
Central Bucks South 0 0 0 0 –0
Downingtown West 14 0 9 14 — 37
First Quarter
DW—Byrnes 86-yard kick-off return (Byrnes kick) 7-0
DW—Alston 12-pass from Howard (Byrnes kick) 14-0
Third Quarter
DW—Safety 16-0
DW—Lewis 13-pass from Howard (Byrnes kick) 23-0
Fourth Quarter
DW—Byrnes 26-pass from Howard (Byrnes kick) 30-0
DW—Lewis 42-run (Byrnes kick) 37-0
Team Statistics
CB South DTown West
First downs 6 10
Rushes-yards 25-55 31-128
Passing 8-17 10-17
Passing yards 68 145
Total yards 123 273
Punts 4-24 4-31.5
Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-1
Penalties-yards 4-27 5-30
Individual statistics
Rushing — CBS Dilissio 13-29 Prezelski 2-7 Consoletti 5-5, Tobey 5-14 West Lewis 8-69 TD; Alston 9-16; Wetzel 4-7; Howard 3-8; Richard 1-5, Landis 4-16; Moreno 1-2; Williams 1-5
Passing — CBS Consoletti 8-17, 68, INT; West Howard 10-17, 145, 3TD
Receiving — CBS Neil 3-37; Schiavone 1-15; Prezelski 1-12; Tobey 1-3, Dilissio 1-1 West Lewis 5-64 TD; Luneburg 2-48; Byrnes 1-26 TD; Wetzel 1-5;
Interceptions — West Mahmud
Sacks — West Hale (2)
