Football: Defense, East turnovers spark Chester to easy victory

WEST GOSHEN — A stingy Chester Clippers team ignored the weather and focused on stopping everything West Chester East could throw at them on Saturday.

The visiting Clippers held East to less than 100 total yards and took advantage of some first-half Viking turnovers for a 32-0 win. Along the way, Chester piled up six sacks, three by defensive end Damon Fitzgerald. East also lost three fumbles.

“Damon had a tremendous game today, and (defensive lineman and UConn commit) Dominic Toy played lights out,” Chester head coach Dennis Shaw said after his team improved to 4-1.

The Vikings had an early scoring opportunity when Chester fumbled the opening kickoff and the Vikings recovered it on the Clippers’ 33-yard line. But East failed to make a first down, and on fourth-and-eight at the Chester 31, a Viking pass was intercepted by the Clippers’ Shamar Williams.

Four plays later, Chester running back Dayshon Jackson broke free down the right side for a 56-yard gain to the Vikings’ 9. Jackson, who also had a 41-yard run in the fourth quarter, ran for 159 yards Saturday.

“We wanted to establish our running game, keep the clock moving,” Shaw said. “Our running game is a point of emphasis for us this year. Yes, we have an all-state quarterback (sophomore Jalen Harris), but in order for us to take the next step and play playoff football, we’ve got to establish our running game, so that’s what we did in the offseason. We’ve been tremendous at it, and we’re just getting our three-headed monster going with our three backs (Jackson, Nahree Melvin and Larry McDaniel). Our running backs are our strength this year.”

Two plays after Jackson’s 56-yard run, Harris plunged into the end zone from the 1, and a conversion pass from Harris to Toy made it an 8-0 lead with 8:13 to go in the first quarter.

Two Viking fumbles late in the second quarter proved costly to West Chester East.

The first fumble, at the Vikings’ 41 yard line, was recovered by Chester’s Jerrell Palmer and returned for a touchdown to give the visitors a 16-0 lead with 5:01 left before halftime.

Four plays later, another East fumble was recovered by the Clippers at the Vikings’ 41. Two plays later Harris hit his twin brother, sophomore Daron Harris, over double coverage for a 39-yard touchdown and a 24-0 lead.

The Clippers’ finished off the Vikings late in the game with a three-yard TD run by Jackson. Things didn’t go perfectly, though, as the Clippers committed 17 penalties for 150 yards.

“Those are mistakes we have to correct; the number of penalties we had today is upsetting,” Shaw said. “Addressing those penalties is a point of emphasis for us because we can’t beat ourselves. When we get into the thick of things we can’t have those things, we can’t go backwards, we can’t have touchdowns pulled off the scoreboard. Because if you’re trying to win a district championship, everything counts and you can’t beat yourself.”