Kennett rallies in second half to beat Octorara

By Mike Murphy

KENNETT SQUARE >> No one could have told Kennett High School freshman Mitch Kosara that he would be playing in the Homecoming game against Octorara on Friday night in their Ches-Mont American divison matchup. He not only played, but he was ray of sunshine on the cold, inclement night.
Kosara orchestrated the game-tying drive in the final 40 seconds of the fourth quarter that sent the game into overtime. Myles Robinson scored to cap a comeback and give the Blue Demons a 27-21 win over the Braves.
Down 14-0 at the half, Kosara said he needed to ignite a spark under the team that had just lost senior quarterback, Nick Dunlevy, to an injury on the first drive of the game.
“We just got hyped,” he said laughingly. “We realized we were down by a lot and shouldn’t be. We believed we were better than them.”
Following Kosara’s first touchdown pass to Kerry Tomasetti, the Blue Demons’ defense forced Octorara (0-2, 0-5) to punt it to Myles Robinson who promptly returned it to the Kennett 43.
With 1:32 remaining on the clock Kennett (1-0, 2-3) was given one final shot, down 21-14.
Facing a 3rd-and-12, Kosara connected with Robinson for a 15-yard pass and a first down with 46 seconds left.
The crowd began to buzz as many could sense the drive by the freshman was turning into a special one.
Almost like clockwork, Kosara connected with Ryan Boyle for an 11-yard pass and then dramatically threw up a pass to Dominic Perigo for 25 yards.
Perigo had to turn his entire body around on the run to catch the pass in his bread basket down to the Octorara 5-yard line.
Following a spike to stop the clock, Kosara connected once again with Tomasetti in the corner of the end zone for the score. The extra point tied the game with 18 seconds left as the crowd that battled the rain, let out cries of joy and excitement.
“The corners lined up inside and Mitch gave me a great ball,” said Tomasetti. “(At the half) we just talked about playing hard and playing for each other. And that’s what we did and came out on top, it was a great win.”
Octorara was given a first try in overtime at the 10. Kennett’s defense would stop them on fourth down as Octorara QB Trent Pawling threw the ball into the turf, opening the door for Kennett.
The Blue Demons’ go-to man at running back all night was Robinson. He gained five yards on his first carry, and then completed the improbable comeback on the next carry to send the team and the Kennett Stadium faithful into pandemonium.
“Mitch, he came in and did his thing,” He said. “First drive, it sucks to lose your starting quarterback. We lost momentum for a little bit and we were down. When we got back in that locker room at half time we knew, we were not giving up and we came out here and got done what we needed to do.”
In the first half, it looked to be a game dominated by the Braves. Pawling had three rushing touchdowns, including an electrifying 71-yard improvised run.
Pawling received a high snap in the shotgun formation and scrambled back 10 yards to recover the ball as a slew of Octorara defenders swarmed him. Pawling looked like Johnny Manzel back at Texas A&M, fumbling around and creating a play with his feet.
Pawling dodged four Braves defenders and sprinted to the end zone.
Unfortunately for the Braves, a freshman from Kennett stole the show.
Kennett coach Doug Langley could only sum up the victory in one word.
“Determination,” he said. “That’s what we talk about all the time. Play with determination and that’s it.”

Kennett 27, Octorara 21
Octorara    8    6    7    0    0    —    21
Kennett    0    0    7    14    6    —    27
First Quarter
O — Kennett Saftey
O — Pawling 22 run (run fail)
Second Quarter
O — Pawling 5 run (kick fail)
Third Quarter
O — Pawling 71 run (Schilinger kick)
K — Robinson 6 run (Tuley kick)
Fourth Quarter
K — Tomasetti 12 pass from Kosara (Tuley kick)
K — Tomasetti 12 pass from Kosara (Tuley kick)
Overtime
K — Robinson 5 run (no kick)