Hill does it all as Glen Mills finishes off West Chester Henderson

WEST CHESTER >> Lightning may have delayed Friday night’s West Chester Henderson-Glen Mills football game, but it did not stop the Battlin’ Bulls from coming back Saturday morning.

For that, they can thank running back, cornerback and do-it-all talent Robert Hill.

Hill returned an interception 70 yards for a touchdown, and ran in for another score, on his way to 104 yards on the ground as Glen Mills topped Henderson, 24-9.

With the Bulls up 12-0 upon the resumption of play Saturday morning, Henderson’s Nick Vitucci got in the backfield and sacked Glen Mills quarterback Clentrell George for a safety, putting the Warriors on the board at halftime, trailing 12-2. 

“We got out of the gate a little slow, giving up a safety, then we had to talk to them on the sideline and tell them to wake up. It was 10:30 in the morning but we still got to play football,” stated Glen Mills coach Kevin Owens. “Henderson came out ready and they wanted to play football.”

The pressure was applied even further when Henderson senior running back Robert Thomas punched in a 2-yard carry late in the third quarter, trimming the lead to three at 12-9.

Thomas ended the game with 101 yards on 22 carries.

“Obviously, one of the things we’re trying to do is establish the run and be physical,”, said Warriors head coach Stefan Adams.

Henderson seemed to have all the momentum, when on the ensuing kickoff, Glen Mills muffed the ball and the Warriors came away with it. The energy was high on the field and in the stands, but the air came out of the balloon when Henderson quarterback Pat Esemplare had his pass intercepted by Hill, who took it 70 yards to the house for an 18-9 Glen Mills lead.

“I had a bad week at practice,” said Hill, who capped the scoring with a 77-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. “Last night, I wasn’t able to start but I came back out here today with a better attitude and helped lead us to a victory.”

Owens had nothing but praise for his star running back and defensive back.

“He’s probably our best athlete,” Owens said. “When he’s ready to play, nobody around is better than him.”

Outside of the slow start in the first half and the long touchdown run by Hill, the Warriors’ defense actually did a solid job holding the Glen Mills offense down over the course of the two-day affair.

“The defensive was great, they have a little more experience on that side of the ball, and it shows,” Adams said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t do anything offensively to help them out.”

The game was all but over when Esemplare drove the Warriors down the field late, only to be picked off for a third time, this time by Glen Mills’ Daryl Diggs. Esemplare had a night — and morning — to forget, as he went 14-32 for 123 yards and three interceptions.

Vitucci had some words of encouragement for Esemplare after his rough outing, telling him, “to just keep his head up and know that the team has his back.”

“He is a great kid, he is a very resilient kid. That’s why he is where he is,” Adams said of Esemplare. “There hasn’t been one game yet where he has put his head down. Very positive and upbeat. He is a sophomore so going from ninth grade action to full speed varsity action, when you do that you’re just waiting for the game to slow down for you.”

Both teams spoke to how the energy was a bit different playing on two separate occasions.

“There was a lot of people tired,” Hill said. “It took a couple of hits for people to kinda get back into the game.”

“Getting a few hours of sleep, getting them back up,” Owens said. “It has been a long 24 hours, for all of us.”

As for Friday night’s portion of the game, it was Glen Mills who showed some spark before the lightning ended the evening early.

Glen Mills senior wide receiver Camer Warrington-Curry opened the scoring after catching a slant from George for a 15 yard touchdown.

On Henderson’s ensuing possession, Esemplare telegraphed his pass and Glen Mills’ Robert Jones read it all the way as he returned it for a 40-yard pick six, extending the Glen Mills lead to 12-0.

Play was stopped with 4:18 remaining in the second quarter due to lightning. Play started back up after a one hour and 10-minute delay, only to be postponed for the evening with 2:31 remaining in the first half.