Football: Chester suffers numbing loss to Perk Valley in season opener

CHESTER — For Chester, Perkiomen Valley represented a significant step up in competition. Last summer the Clippers commenced what would become one of their most successful football seasons ever by scoring 80 points in a shutout of Central High. It was the first of seven consecutive lopsided victories.

To their credit, they beefed up their nonleague schedule in 2023, looking for a stiffer challenge. Perk Valley is the two-time defending Pioneer Athletic Conference champion and a perennial powerhouse in District 1 Class 6A. The Clippers couldn’t keep up with the mighty Vikings, who rolled to a 31-0 win Saturday at Chester Athletic Field.

Vikings junior quarterback Patrick MacDonald threw a pair of eight-yard touchdown passes and finished 13 of 24 for 174 yards. Sophomore running back Nathan Reedy ran for 65 yards and a TD on 13 carries.

“The first game is always the one where you feel most pumped up,” said junior Cole Euker, a menacing 6-3, 270-pound two-way lineman. “It’s different being on a Saturday because we are usually playing on Friday nights, so we had to change what we do a little, change the atmosphere and battle against that. We played well and came out with the win.”

Saturday marked Dennis Shaw’s debut as head coach of the Clippers. He expected a great game aand was disappointed that his players didn’t rise to the challenge.

“That was the worst loss I’ve been a part at Chester,” said Shaw, a Clippers assistant coach for the past eight seasons, prior to taking over for LaDontay Bell in the offseason. “We have to be better. I was disappointed in the effort and we made too many mistakes. … Just for myself and for my coaching staff, winning is the only option. Whenever I take an ‘L’ I take it personally.”

The offensive line of Kyle Gallagher, Richie Strano, Francisco Soto, Andrew Keenan and Euker were in control all day as Perk Valley’s offense averaged nearly 4.5 yards per play. They botched a couple of snaps and MacDonald threw an interception to sophomore defensive back Darron Harris, but for a Week 1 outing the offense showed it has a ton of potential to do damage all season long.

“We harped on energy all camp long and I think that really helped us today,” MacDonald said. “We didn’t stop playing hard.”

“We knew what we were getting, too,” Gallagher added. “We knew it was going to be a very hot Saturday morning.”

By halftime the Clippers seemed to be exhausted. Players on the Vikings sideline observed the Clippers’ body language and wondered if they were ready to play the second half.

“We didn’t stop going at them,” Euker said.

Perk Valley’s fast and powerful defensive front didn’t make things easy on sophomore quarterback Jalen Harris, who burst onto the scene as a freshman with 2,261 yards and 35 touchdowns, one of the best seasons by a frosh in the history of Delco.

Harris struggled to find any sort of rhythm with his receivers and Chester’s offensive line couldn’t keep PV’s pass rush at bay.

“All day we were dominating, getting sacks and making things happen,” said Euker, who notched one of four Perk Valley sacks. “They couldn’t get anything against us, to be honest.”

Harris had the battle scars to prove it. With a bag of ice wrapped around his foot, he had to be helped back to the locker room after the game. According to Shaw, Harris received treatment and should be ready to play next week. Harris was 8-for-18 with 102 yards through the air. Twin brother Daron had three catches for 61 yards. Chester’s running attack was nonexistent (minus-26 yards on 21 carries).

“All day we were in the backfield,” Euker said. “(Jalen Harris) couldn’t get any accurate throws and that’s what the D-line does. We knew we had to get disruption to the quarterback and make sure he couldn’t throw. That was the whole game plan – disruption.”

Gallagher was pleased with the offensive line’s performance.

“I thought everybody did a really good job,” Gallagher said. “Our coaches got us prepared and we had a nice week of practice. We had a lot of guys coming in and out because we have a lot of two-way guys. Some of our young guys played really well today and I thought our running backs delivered.”

Shaw wants to turn the page as quickly as possible.

“This isn’t the same team as last year. We don’t have the leaders we had last year, we don’t have Cymeer (Brown) or a Jeremiah Gates, the guys who took us far,” Shaw said. “My message after the game was, make your mark. I believe we are up to the task.”