Sparacino runs wild as Kennett claims outright Ches-Mont American crown

KENNETT SQUARE >> The lengthy, and at times discouraging quest – dating back to when the football program was reinstated nearly 20 years ago — to bring a championship to Kennett is now a reality.

The Blue Demons toppled Great Valley 30-7 on Friday to secure the outright Ches-Mont American crown for the first time in school history. In his fifth season at the helm, head coach Lance Frazier now leads this historic squad into the District 1 5A Playoffs.

“A personal goal of mine was to be where we needed to be to get a championship within five years,” Frazier said. “I didn’t know what the build would look like, but everybody that’ve bought in have a part of it.

“I am extremely proud our guys and the coaching staff. It feels really nice to know that the group we have were able to overcome a lot. Hopefully we have a lot more football to play.”

During pre-game Senior Night festivities, several Demons’ players harkened back to 2013 when, as members of the Kennett-Unionville Titans 80-pound varsity squad, the team won a Bert Bell Memorial League title. But now, they have a brand new crown to cherish.

“All of the hard work we’ve been putting in is finally paying off,” said two-way senior lineman Connor Tuk.

“We are going to have a big banner in the gym now,” added senior runner Julian Sparacino, who had a record-shattering day. “We are the first to ever do this, so we will always remember this season.”

With touchdown runs of 68-, 25-, and 78-yards, Sparacino was a dominant figure for the Blue Demons (7-0, 7-3). In all, he rolled up a school-record 311 yards on the ground on 24 carries, and broke a bunch of tackles along the way.

“Jules put in the work in the weight room and on the track in the offseason and we are seeing the benefits of that,” Frazier said.

“I just had fresh legs tonight,” Sparacino added. “I give a lot of credit to the offensive line, but sometimes you need to break a tackle and make something happen.”

The visiting Patriots finish the regular season at 5-2 in the division (7-3 overall), and have also qualified for the District 1 5A Playoffs.

“This is the most successful team we’ve had in the last five-six years,” said Great Valley head coach Jeff Martin. “We have to correct the mistakes we made tonight and make a run in the playoffs.”

Sparacino gobbled up 154 rushing yards in the first half alone, including a 68-yard scoring run on the game’s second play from scrimmage. The senior added a 36-yard burst that set up a 25-yard field goal by Ryan Barker, and then found the end zone again on a 25-yarder that put the Demons ahead 17-0 midway through the second quarter.

The Pats came back to get on the board with a 49-yard pass from quarterback Braeden Melia to Colin Kiselak. The possession came courtesy of Jack Coffey, who recovered a fumble near midfield.

But Kennett went 82-yards in nine-plays in the final 73 seconds to take a 23-7 lead into the half. The big play was a deflected 37-yard fourth down reception by Ian Guyer, and culminated with a 5-yard toss to tight end Colin Jung.

“Hats off to (Kennett),” Martin said. “Football is a simple game – you have to block, tackle and make plays. We didn’t do that tonight.”

The only second half score came on the last play of the third quarter, when Sparacino took a handoff and raced 78 yards to the end zone. It was enough to establish a new single-game school record, surpassing Garrett Cox, who ran for 259 yards against Great Valley in 2019.

“He is a great running back. The problem was we didn’t tackle well, and he is a strong back,” Martin said.

“What a great run to break the record,” Frazier added. “It’s like when you are a kid, playing a video games, you want that record-breaking run to be an explosive one. And it is great that it happened that way.”

In all, the Kennett defense limited the Pats to just 53 yards on the ground. A junior, Melia threw for 178 yards.

“We beat ourselves tonight,” Martin said. “We had guys wide open who literally dropped the ball. Our quarterback actually played an excellent game.”

In seven games against Ches-Mont American foes this fall, the Demons outscored its opponents 219-49. But despite the strong finish, Kennett was whistled for 13 penalties, put the ball on the ground six times (but turned it over just once) and had trouble with snaps on special teams.

“It gives us as coaches a chance to keep the kids humble,” Frazier said. “We made some history today, won a division championship for the first time in school history, and everybody in the community is going to be telling them how good they are. Having that film will show them how poorly we actually played at times.”

Kennett 30, Great Valley 7

Great Valley                         0 7 0 0 — 7

Kennett                                 10 13 7 0 — 30

Scoring

K – Sparacino 68 run (Barker kick)

K – Barker 25 FG

K – Sparacino 25 run (Barker kick)

GV – Kiselak 49 pass from Melia (Turner kick)

K – Jung 5 pass from Kauffman (kick failed)

K – Sparacino 78 run (Barker kick)

Team Totals

First downs              9  14

Yards rushing          53  366

Yards passing           178  64

Total yards               231  430

Passing                      17-30-0-1  5-10-0-1

Fumbles-lost            2-2  6-1

Punts-avg.                7-33.8  3-41.3

Penalties-yds           7-75  13-102

Individual Statistics

Rushing – GV: Coffey 6-14; Melia 12-18; Snyder 4-21. K: Sparacino 24-311, 3 TDs; Lillis 5-52; Kauffman 7-0; Guyer 2-3.

Passing — GV: Melia 17-30, 178 yards, TD. K: Kauffman 5-9, 64 yards, TD; Barlow 0-0.

Receiving – GV: Maslowski 4-34; Kiselak 3-63 TD; Crouse 3-31; Newell 1-1; Ricciardi 1-20; Stedman 1-5; Coffey 2-7; Callahan 3-17. K: Good 1-7; Barlow 2-15; Guyer 1-37; Jung 1-5 TD.

Sacks – GV: Clearfield, Lee. K: Jung, Tuk, Pardo 2.

Interceptions – None.