Kyle Cichanowsky reaches 2,000 yards; leads WC East in district opener

West Goshen >> Host West Chester East controlled the football in its 38-6 win in its PIAA District 1 5A opener against West Chester Henderson Friday evening, and leading the way was senior running back Kyle Cichanowsky.
The 5-foot-10, 180-pound Cichanowsky passed the 2,000 rushing yard mark for the season Friday evening. In the first half, he ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries as the No. 2 seed Vikings built a 28-0 halftime lead. At that point, he was only 26 yards shy of the 2,000 yard mark.
On the second play of the fourth quarter, with East leading 35-6 and Cichanowsky at 1,996 yards, the senior running back took a handoff, found a hole on the left side and pounded away for a 14-yard gain that put him over the mark. The PA announcer at Harold Zimmerman Stadium duly noted the milestone, the fans cheered, then on the following play, Cichanowsky ran for 10 more yards before retiring to the sidelines for the night.
“I don’t normally hear the PA announcer because I’m focused on playing the game,” said Cichanowsky. “But I heard him say that I had passed the [2,000] mark, and it made me very happy. When I came over to the sideline [after the following play], everyone started coming over and congratulating me – that means a lot to me, it shows what kind of team we are.”

Cichanowsky was asked what reaching 2,000 rushing yards meant to him.
“It shows me that I can trust my offensive line, and how much work, how much time and effort, everyone has put into this season,” said Cichanowsky. “The [offensive] line did a good job tonight; they were creating a lot of holes for me, and that’s how I got my yards.”
West Chester East head coach Scott Stephen said, “It’s a great accomplishment for Kyle, and he’s worked extremely hard for it, but football is a team sport, and that [2,000 yards] would not have happened without the linemen, without everyone contributing their role for each of those plays. I think the [milestone] says a lot about our team in terms of our run game.”
With its victory, the No. 2 seed Vikings (9-2) advance to the second round of the PIAA District 1 5A playoffs, where they will host seventh seed West Chester Rustin Nov. 8. The Golden Knights shut out No. 10 seed Upper Dublin, 23-0, in its opener Friday evening.

West Chester East fired up its potent running game as soon as it received the opening kickoff – an onside kick – Friday, scoring on its inaugural drive with a nine-play, 54-yard drive that included eight running plays, the final one an 18 yard run into the end zone by Cichanowsky.
“We had a lot of energy tonight, knowing that we were coming into the [district] playoffs, this is really a big time for us, a special time for us,” said Cichanowsky.
West Chester East had defeated Henderson (3-8), the No. 15 seed, during the regular season by a count of 35-14 on Sept. 20. But to Stephen, that was ancient history during the past week.
“I told our players this week that the playoffs are a whole new season for everyone, it’s a clean slate; our previous 10 games really don’t matter [in the playoffs], and anything can happen,” said Stephen.
Late in the first quarter Friday, with the score 7-0, East senior defensive back Lathan Collins picked off a Henderson pass at midfield. Following Collins’ interception, the Vikings gave the ball to Cichanowsky five consecutive times, the final handoff a 38-yard run up the middle for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
The Viking runners were getting good openings to rush through, and Stephen praised the blocking of senior offensive linemen Andrew Dunleavy, Joe Carozza, George Andraos and Syncere Cooper, as well as sophomore lineman Max Bowman and junior tight end Scott Cummings, adding, “And there’s been a host of others, there have been a lot of players who have contributed.”

East’s defense stood tall in the first half as well, with two key interceptions. Viking senior defensive back Kunal Maheshwari, celebrating his 18th birthday, picked off a Henderson pass at the Warrior 30 yard line late in the second quarter, taking it all the way down to the visitors’ 2. On the following play, East senior running back Mitch Zingani ran through the middle for six points and a 21-0 lead.
“Defensively, our guys were locked in tonight,” said Stephen. “They were executing, and we talk about it all the time, they did a great job of reading and understanding their keys, and playing assignment football, doing your assignment and getting to your spot, and there was a lot of communication out there from our linebackers and our free safety, Kunal [Maheshwari]. Our entire defense in the first half played really good football; some things we’ll need to clean up heading into next week [against Rustin], but they played a really good game.”
Henderson went three-and-out, then a short punt was caught by senior Colin Warner on the Warriors’ 35 yard line, and he found daylight all the way to the end zone for a 28-0 lead, which they took into halftime.
Henderson received the second-half kickoff and put together its best drive of the night, a 15-play, 73-yard touchdown drive. The key plays were an 8-yard scramble by sophomore quarterback Eddie Smink on 4th-and-3 from the Henderson 46, and a 20-yard pass from Smink to senior Cole Cooper that put the Warriors on the Vikings 1 yard line. Two plays later, Smink snuck over for a touchdown to make it 28-6.
The Warriors recovered the ensuing onside kick at midfield, but failed to get a first down, turning the ball over to East on downs at the Henderson 41 yard line. The Vikings gave the ball four times to Cichanowsky for a total of 23 yards, then junior running back Joey Wileczek found daylight on the right side for an 18-yard touchdown run.

Following a three-and-out by Henderson at the end of the third quarter, the Vikings gave the ball to Cichanowsky a couple of times as he passed the 2,000 yard mark. The Vikings later took the ball all the way down to the Henderson 6 yard line, thanks to a 28-yard romp by Wileczek, but when the drive stalled, senior kicker Tyler Grenell booted a 23-yard field goal to put the host ahead 38-6 with 5:45 left.
West Chester East, who will face Rustin Friday in the second round of the District 1 5A playoffs, defeated the Golden Knights during the regular season, a 27-7 victory Oct. 18.
For Henderson, the loss marked the end of an unsettled 2019 campaign in which John Lunardi had to take over the head coaching reins late last summer.
“This was an unusual season, but I’m proud of the way our guys stuck together and worked,” said Lunardi. “I told our players after the game that I was proud of them and loved their effort. I’ll never forget them.”