WC Rustin gets another shot at Strath Haven

The West Chester Rustin football team will travel to play Strath Haven in the District 1 5A semifinals in a rematch of last season’s District 1 5A championship game, a contested 34-33 win by Strath Haven. It’s stuck firmly in the craw of every returning Golden Knights’ player and coach ever since.

The Knights felt that the officials had too much of an impact on the game. The Panthers jumped offside twice late in the fourth period on successful extra point attempts, negating the extra point. On the third try the snap was fumbled and the game went to overtime instead of a one-point Rustin win.

In overtime on a fourth down play, Panthers’ quarterback Sam Milligan rolled to his right and dove for the touchdown pylon. The officials ruled Milligan was in for the score, while everyone associated with the Rustin program believed Milligan was short of the goal line. And the home crowd at Rustin roared its disapproval for a very long time.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for a team that is used to winning. Since 2006, when Rustin became a high school, the Knights have known nothing but winning under head coach Mike St. Clair, and are one of the most respected teams in District 1.

And they do it the Rustin way: with its patented Wing-T offense, and big, physical offensive and defensive lines. It seems that the Knights always have a great running back, with Rondell White and Dayshawn Jacobs coming to mind.

This year the Knights feature three backs in Daimon Jacobs, Antonio Santangleo and Chase Hatton. The trio is tough to stop and they punish opponents because they are always fresh and are running as hard in the fourth period as they are on the first snap of the game.

So, Rustin will travel to Strath Haven looking for revenge for what is deemed an injustice. They have not spoken at all about the bitter loss but the hurt is still there. And under St. Clair, the Knights have always let their play on the field do their talking.

You will not see or hear any Rustin player mouthing off during the game or in the handshake line after the game. Knights have always been a class operation, and St. Clair will not have it any other way.

Since its inception the Golden Knights program has respected every program they have faced, and Strath Haven will be no different. Even after the bitter, season-ending loss in the 2021 district title game — while Rustin felt they were wronged – it still gave praise to the Panthers players and coaches and congratulated the winners.

There were no outward “we were robbed’ proclamations publicly, even though the loss still stings a year later. It is not the Rustin way to cry foul. The Knights have always been known to be a team that just straps it up and goes after teams very hard for the entire 48 minutes.

So, here we are again with Strath Haven and the Golden Knights, only this time it is in the semifinal round, and the Knights will be visitors this time. Last year may be in the past, but every Rustin player and coach will have the 2021 game tucked somewhere in their minds.

Semifinal games do not really need any extra motivation as it is truly a survive-and-advance situation. Somewhere the ’21 game may get a little extra push for the Rustin players, maybe an extra lunge on a third down rushing attempt or a bigger hit on a Panthers running play.

Whatever happens in this game is still uncertain, but what is certain is the Knights will do their talking on the field and not in the newspapers or on social media. And that makes them winners regardless of the final score.