Henderson explodes in 2nd quarter for happy Homecoming win
West Chester >> West Chester Henderson put on an entertaining show for the Homecoming crowd Friday evening with a 38-7 win against Great Valley, but the real fireworks came in the second quarter.
The Warriors lit up the scoreboard with four touchdowns in the second quarter, and three of the six-pointers were scored from 56, 82 and 38 yards out. With 1:40 to go before halftime, Henderson held a 31-0 lead.
“We came out fast tonight, and it carried through the whole game,” said senior co-captain Jon Hamm, whose 82-yard interception return for a TD gave the Warriors a 24-0 lead. “It was our goal all week to come out strong for the Homecoming game, and we worked really hard at practice the whole week.”
Henderson senior co-captain Quinn Keegan, whose blocking at fullback and tight end help trigger the Warriors’ solid ground game Friday evening, added, “This was a great win for our team.”
The victory improves the Warriors’ record to 2-5 overall (2-3 Ches-Mont American Division), while the Patriots fell to 2-5 overall (1-4 Ches-Mont American).
For Henderson, whose only 2019 victory prior to Friday was a 33-32 win against Oxford Sept. 6, it was their best game of the season to date.
“It was all in the execution tonight; guys doing their job,” said West Chester Henderson head coach John Lunardi. “Our whole defense did a great job tonight, particularly the 7-8 guys up front, guys like [junior] Alex Bilotti, [junior] Jordan Laudato and Quinn Keegan.”
The Warriors allowed Great Valley only one first down in the first half, and that first down came just two minutes before halftime, by which time Henderson held a 17-0 lead.
The Warriors controlled the ball in the first quarter with a solid ground game, running the ball the first 16 plays they ran from scrimmage. With 2:20 left in the first period, Henderson junior Joe Shur broke the scoring ice with a 35-yard field goal to make it 3-0. Great Valley only ran six plays (a couple of three-and-outs) in the first quarter.
On the first play of the second quarter, Henderson senior running back Jay Pierce exploded up the middle for a 56-yard touchdown run to make it 10-0.
Following another three-and-out by Great Valley, the Warriors began an 11-play, run-oriented 47-yard scoring march that ended with sophomore quarterback Eddie Smink scoring on a 2-yard QB keeper to make it 17-0 with 5:04 to go before halftime.
Lunardi said, “Our offensive line really did a great job, particularly in the first half, with [senior] Ryan Caruso, [junior] Alex Bilotti, [sophomore] Wyatt Hampton, [senior] Stephen Amplo, [senior] Anthony Otero, and our tight ends, Jordan Laudato and Quinn Keegan.”
With two minutes to go before halftime, Great Valley penetrated deep into Henderson territory, thanks in large part to a 25-yard pass completion that began when Jake Baugher took a handoff from QB Andy Talone, ran to the right, then pulled up and tossed a pass into the hands of wide receiver Ryan Banavitch.
Two plays later, another Great Valley pass, this time to the right sideline, was bobbled by a Patriots’ receiver. The ball wound up in the hands of Hamm, who raced 82 yards for a touchdown. It was Hamm’s second pick-six of the season – the first one came against Coatesville Sept. 13.
“Great Valley was running a bubble screen, I came up to make the tackle, but the receiver bobbled the ball, and I grabbed it and ran,” said Hamm, whose touchdown made the score 24-0 with 1:58 to go before halftime.
With the hometown crowd [and the Warriors] revved up after the pick-six, Henderson kept up the pressure on the next play from scrimmage, as junior Thomas Washington intercepted a Great Valley pass and returned it to the Patriots’ 38 yard line.
On the next play, Henderson ran a reverse, with senior back Cole Cooper taking the second handoff down the left sideline for a 38-yard touchdown run and a 31-0 Henderson lead.
A Great Valley fumble on the next play from scrimmage gave the hosts the ball at the Patriots’ 32 yard line, but three plays later, it was the visitors’ turn to shine. Baugher intercepted a Henderson pass and returned it 65 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown to make the score 31-7 just 27.2 seconds before halftime.
After the wild second quarter, both teams settled down for a much quieter second half. The only scoring play after halftime came with 6:49 left in the game, when Smink, on third-and-12 from the Great Valley 35 yard line, hit Cooper with a pinpoint pass down the middle into the end zone for a touchdown.
Hamm said, “When the game was over, my first reaction was relief – this was a good win for our team.”
On the Great Valley side, Patriot head coach Jeff Martin talked about the challenges his team has faced this season.
“One thing we’ve learned this season is how to deal with adversity,” said Martin. “We’ve had some injuries and we’re a young team. Jake Baugher had a good game for us tonight, he plays both sides [offense and defense] and he’s a good kid. I thought Ben Maslowski [who made an interception in the second quarter] and Jake Smith [who completed some passes for solid gains in the second half] also did a good job.”
