Week Eight brings many interesting league games

We are heading into the homestretch of the scholastic football regular season and this week many area teams are still in the hunt for league championships and playoff spots. The games of Week Eight will go a long way to deciding many things. Here is a look at all the Week Eight action.

Downingtown East (6-1) at Avon Grove (4-3) 7 p.m.

Downingtown East travels to West Grove to play an Avon Grove team that has won three straight games and is above the .500 mark this late in the season, something that has not happened since 2009. The Cougars will unleash running back Bo Horvath who leads all area rushers with 1,356 yards on the ground. Horvath almost never goes down on first contact. Cougars quarterback Jamy Jenkins may throw the ball more than usual this week.

Avon Grove likely will be without quarterback Frank Hoogerwerff, who left last week’s 14-0 win over Bishop Shanahan with an injury. Senior Owen Yoder came inland completed four of five passes, including a pretty 38 yard touchdown pass to Harrison Watson. The Downingtown East run game should allow the Cougars to prevail here but Avon Grove is a much improved team that will fight for 48 minutes.

Pick: Downingtown East 28, Avon Grove 14.

Coatesville (6-0) at Bishop Shanahan (3-3), 7 p.m.

Coatesville’s defense is allowing just eight thin points per game and the Red Raiders had an unscheduled week off last week due to online threats for their game with Downingtown West. Look for Red Raiders quarterback Harrison Susi to have a big game through the air here. Coatesville is a big play offense and look for some long pass plays here.

Bishop Shanahan has scored six points total in its last two games, one of which was a 6-3 win over Great Valley. The Eagles will try to control the ball and the clock with Pat Gallagher and Trevor Barbadora running the football, a tough task against the Red Raiders defense.

But the strength of the Red Raiders defense is their run defense and the Eagles have not shown they can move the ball through the air consistently this season.

Pick: Coatesville 31, Bishop Shanahan 13.

Chester (7-0) at Downingtown West (5-1), 7 p.m.

Chester is a very good 5A squad and the Clippers have pitched five shutouts so far this season. Freshman quarterback Jalen Harris has thrown 24 touchdown passes so far this season but the Whippets are a big step up in class for the Clippers.

Downingtown West quarterback Quinn Henicle has completed 32 of 47 passes for 692 yards and 10 touchdowns this season. receivers Jake Kucera and Dean Hangey are two of the better pass catchers in the area.

I think Chester is going to have to run the ball little to keep the Downingtown West defense honest here but the Whippets are too strong for the Clippers.

Pick: Downingtown West 28, Chester 14.

Great Valley (6-1) at Unionville (3-4), 7 p.m.

Great Valley is coming off a 28-6 win over West Chester Henderson and the Patriots defense, which has been strong all season allowed the Warriors just 102 total yards of offense last season.

The Patriots front seven is the heart of the Patriots team and they have allowed just 12 points in the last two games. On offense, the Patriots seem to just do enough win games and I think they do just that here.

Unionvillle was routed, 37-7, last week in a rivalry game with Kennett. The Longhorns couldn’t get any offense going against the Blue Demons as they rushed for just 87 yards in 32 attempts.

Pick: Great Valley 20, Unionville 14.

Kennett (4-3) at WC East (0-7),  7 p.m.

Kennett is driving towards a possible Ches-Mont American Division title and the Blue Demons looked very impressive in blowing out Unionville 37-7 last week.

The Kennett defense was strong again as the Longhorns could not move the football against the Blue Demons last week. Julian Sparacino has 944 yards rushing on the season and the West Chester East defense, which allowed 339 yards rushing to Sun Valley last week, will have to improve vastly to keep the Vikings in the game.

Pick: Kennett 31, WC East 14.

WC Henderson (0-6) at Oxford (2-5), 7 p.m.

West Chester Henderson has been having trouble scoring points so far this season. The Warriors garnered only 102 total yards in a 28-6 loss to Great Valley last week. Oxford fought very hard in a 28-20 loss to WC Rustin last week.

Look for Hornets quarterback Dustin Long to throw the ball a lot here. Long has over 1,400 yards passing so far this season and he may have a very big game here.

Pick: Oxford 28, WC Henderson 7.

WC Rustin (3-3) at Sun Valley (4-3), 7 p.m.

West Chester Rustin is hoping to get running back Damion Jacobs back from a calf injury this week as well as a couple of more key players. Chase Hatton had a big game in the Golden Knights 28-20 win over oxford last week.

Hatton rolled for 177 yards on the ground last week. The Golden Knights will run their wing-t offense and the Vanguards, who my be the most improved team in the Ches-Mont League. The Vanguards will have trouble staying with WC Rustin up front.

Sun Valley dominated west Chester East, 50-14, last week and the Vanguards rolled up 414 yards of total offense.Sun Valley quarterback Steve Eskridge is a dual threat and he rushed for 117 yards in the win over the Vikings. This game may be tighter than a lot of people think.

Pick: WC Rustin 27, Sun Valley 21.

Ridley (3-4) at Conestoga (5-2), 7 p.m.

Conestoga could not garner any points in a 15-0 loss to Springfield last week. The Pioneers mustered just 131 yards of total offense in the loss.Quarterback Peter Costigan threw for just 34 yards on a six for 15 passing night.

This is an easier spot as the Green Raiders defense is not as strong as the unit Springfield put out on the field last week. This is the last regular season home game for Conestoga and I expect a very good effort from the Pioneers in this one.

Pick: Conestoga 27, Ridley 14.

Saturday game

Malvern Prep (5-0) at Penn Charter (4-1), 2 p.m.

The undefeated Friars begin inter-Academic League play as they travel to take on a very good Penn Charter squad. Malvern has been playing excellent defense, allowing just under an incredible four points per game.

The Friars got a big game from senior running back Yaadhir Nash, who rolled for 14 yards on the ground in a 31-0 rout of Delaware Military Academy last week.

Pick: Malvern Prep 24, Penn Charter 7.

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