Downingtown West does it all in first half, shuts out West Chester Henderson

WEST CHESTER >> In a game that saw no second half scoring, Downingtown West was plenty dominant enough, as the Whippets pitched a shutout against West Chester Henderson Friday night, opening Ches-Mont League National Division play with a 49-0 shutout.

Downingtown West was lifted in the first half by a strong and nearly flawless performance by sophomore Quarterback Will Howard.

Howard ended the night 9-for-10 with five touchdowns and 292 yards passing.

“He’s got a lot of colleges interested, he is going to have a great career and we’re glad he’s on our team,” said Downingtown West head coach Mike Milano.

Howard had a special connection working with senior wide receiver Dan Byrnes, who finished the night with five receptions for 193 yards and caught four of Howard’s five touchdown passes.

While the Downingtown West offense did hurt Henderson, it was the dominance on defense that made the difference. Downingtown West was able to force three turnovers and allowed only 143 yards of total offense.

“It makes my job a lot easier,” said Howard of the defensive performance. “They have had their struggles, but it is amazing to see how much they have grown and how much better they have gotten.”

Henderson’s offense struggled to get off the ground as it did not have an answer for the Whippet defense. Warriors quarterback Pat Esemplare finished the evening 5-for-13 for 59 yards and one interception, before being taking out in the fourth quarter.

“We challenged the kids to come out early and take care of business, and they came out and did that,” said Milano. “We’ve played a really tough nonleague schedule and we certainly didn’t want to have a let-down, so I’m very proud of them.”

Although the scoring might not have been there for West Chester Henderson, coach Stefan Adams sees the silver lining.

“We are continuing to find the bright spots,” stated Adams. “We’re learning things every single week about our team and it’s going to show at some point in time, the score can’t always tell that.”

The scoring opened halfway through the first quarter when junior running back Tyriq Lewis took a pitch from Howard the distance from 22 yards out. Lewis then took the very first play of Downingtown West’s next possession 34 yards into the end zone, which opened the floodgates at 13-0.

From that moment on, Downingtown West took to the air to score its next 35 points and close out the Warriors.

“We knew we had to jump on them early, that is kind of our philosophy, to get out early and get points on the board,” said Howard. “Our first drive wasn’t great but we came back out and bounced back.”