Roberts makes history; leads Vikings to victory

West Goshen >> It was not a question whether or not Jon Jon Roberts would reach 7,000 yards passing for his career on Friday night, rather it was how much he would surpass that number by.

Roberts is the first Ches-Mont quarterback ever to throw for over 7,000 yards and rush for 2,000 in a career.

“It’s fantastic but I owe it all to the situation I was put in,” said Roberts. “The past four years I’ve been blessed with some great teammates and great systems. I thank God for blessing me with the ability.”

The senior quarterback finished the night 7-10 with 123 yards and three touchdowns.

Roberts led the Vikings attack beating Sun Valley 35-7 Friday night in their Ches-Mont League crossover game at Harold I. Zimmerman Stadium.

East’s (3-2, 4-4) head coach Dave Gueriera expressed how thankful he is to have Roberts in his spread offense.

“We expected him to play a good game and he pulled though as he normally does,” he said. “On the ground and in the air he made some nice checks out there too and threw a couple nice balls.”

Sun Valley (1-4, 2-5) was deferred the ball on the opening drive of the game. Two minutes into the first drive of the game Vikings cornerback Jared Cooper intercepted Gabe Boccella on the Viking 23-yard line.

East marched 77 yards in 1:07 minutes thanks to a 54-yard run by Cooper. The sophomore running back concluded the quick drive with a six-yard score up the middle. From that point on East’s offense did not look back.

“It was a good play, I guess but the team did a lot also,” said Cooper. “They (the defensive line) caused pressure on the quarterback, he got rid of the ball quick, and I was just there (in the right place).”

“Jared is a heck of a player and a game-changer,” Gueriera said. “It was an unbeliable pick that really set the tone for our offense to get on the field. Offensively he’s got great vision and he’s got great speed.”

East proceeded to post 35 unanswered points in the first half.

Jared Cooper scored his second of two touchdowns on a 20-yard run at the 10:16 mark in the second stanza. Cooper rushed four times for 86 yards.

Roberts followed by connecting with Alex Hirsch (14 yards), Emmanuel Creekmur (20 yards), and JD Carroll (26 yards) for three scores.

The home team’s defense gave Gabe Boccella a night to forget, picking him off four times. Cooper, Creekmur, Matt Erfle, and Drew Wahn were the Vikings to do so.

Guereira was very impressed with his defense, especially a week before they take on a feared Downingtown East team.

“After last week, giving up 59 points to Downingtown West our defensive coordinator, coach Scott Taylor really challenged the defense this week to answer the bell,” said Gueriera. “That wasn’t us last week. D-East is a fantastic football team, they are big, strong, and fast. We’re hoping to run our offense and we will have our hands full against them.”

Sun Valley was able to reach the score board late in the fourth quarter. They found the red zone for the first time at the 7:51 mark. Three plays later John Kester dashed across the goalline from one-yard out.

Kester finished with 97 yards on 20 carries.

For Roberts this was a night to savor: a homecoming victory, a homecoming king runner-up at half time, and having his mother, father, and little brother in the stands together for the first time all season to watch him.

“It’s pretty awesome,” said a smiling Roberts. “It’s good to see them because I haven’t seen them in a little bit, especially my little brother. I haven’t seen him in forever and it’s great to have him here.”

First Quarter

WCE —  Cooper 6 run (Phillips kick)

WCE —  Hirsch 14 pass from Roberts (Phillips kick)

WCE —  Creekmur 20 pass from Roberts (Phillips kick)

Second Quarter

WCE —  Cooper 20 run (Phillips kick)

WCE —  Carroll 26 pass from Roberts (Phillips kick)

Third Quarter

No scoring

Fourth Quarter

SV — Kester 1 run (Smith kick)

team statistics

SVWCE

First downs 10 7

Rushes-yards 49-237 20-154

Passing 1-8-4 10-14-0

Passing yards 8 136

Total yards 245 290

Punts 4-33.5 5-36.4

Fumbles-lost 2-1 1-1

Penalties-yards 4-35 10-105

Individual statistics

Rushing — Sun Valley: Kester 20-97, TD, Jones 9-70, Boccella 6-36, Windsor 2-5, Robinson 2-28, Kilgore 1-1. W.C. East: Cooper 4-86, 2 TD, Creekmur 2-20, Roberts 2-19, Ridgeway 6-16, Hirsch 1-13, Delaney 1-3, Thompson 1-(-2), Williams 2-0, Bernhardy 1-(-2).

Passing — Sun Valley: Boccella 1-8-4, 8 yds. W.C. East: Roberts 7-10-0, 123 yds., 3 TD, Thompson 3-4-0, 13yds.

Receiving — Sun Valley: Sabree 1-8, W.C. East: Hirsch 2-36, TD, Carroll 3-61, TD, Creekmur 1-20, TD, Wahn 1-32, C. Erfle 2-1, Cassidy 1-12.

Interceptions — Sun Valley: none. W.C. East: Cooper, Creekmur, M. Erfle, Wahn.

Sacks — Sun Valley: none. W.C. East: Gaspard.