Wesley, Coatesville D dominate Dtown East to claim 6th-straight CM Nat’l

CALN >> On the first miserable night of the season, with rains drenching the field and winds blowing it everywhere, Coatesville made one thing perfectly clear through all the chaos: The Red Raiders own the Ches-Mont National Division.

Thanks to a career night, running the ball, by Ashon Wesley, a shutout by the defense, and three efficient completions by Harrison Susi, Coatesville claimed its sixth straight National Division title, with a 42-7 romping over visiting Downingtown East.

“It’s amazing,” Coatesville coach Matt Ortega said. “It’s a testament to the belief our kids have in each other and the culture and program we have. It’s a shame more of the community couldn’t be here, with the weather, but we got it done and now we move on to the next phase.”

The Raiders (4-0 division, 9-1 overall) will host a playoff game as the No. 3 seed in District 1-6A, next week. Downingtown East (3-1, 8-2) will also host a first-round game as the No. 4 seed, but for the seventh time in the last eight tries, the Cougars could not find the answers against Coatesville.

“They outplayed us,” East coach Mike Matta said. “They had a great game plan and they executed it really well. Their defense was aggressive and we had a hard time moving them. We knew their QB would be an issue, and he was.”

Coatesville and East were the top-two running teams in the National, by far, putting up 234.1 and 235.1 a game, respectively. But while a rainy night may have seemed to suit the ground-and-pound Cougars, Wesley and the Raiders went off for 427 yards, while East’s starting unit could only muster 103.

“It feels good,” Wesley said. “When the season started, I had this one circled. I got hurt in this game last year and it was my worst game, so it was really important to me.”

A year ago, Wesley had five carries for three yards against East, but Friday, he scored on runs of 24, 65 and 33 and tallied 267 yards on 18 carries, nearly matching his season total of 305. Wesley credited his offensive line of Davion Labik, Oscar Ortega, Rodrigo Castaneda, Ozzie Ortega, Jacob Chmielecki and Kyle VanConia for his breakout game.

Heading into the game, Matt Ortega pulled Wesley from his safety spot on defense, in lieu of a taller defender for East’s George Bousum, and let Wesley know he’d be getting the bulk of the carries. The senior back did not disappoint.

“Ashon had been running the ball so hard the last couple games, and we told him he was going to be our No. 1 running back,” Matt Ortega said. “He said he’d do whatever he could for the team, and he showed what he can do.”

On East’s first play from scrimmage, Bo Horvath broke free for a 55-yard scamper, but the Cougars could not finish the drive. 

Both teams tread water, early, with the heaviest rain in the first quarter, and the Cougars caught a break when Coatesville touched an un-fielded punt and East recovered. Nolan O’Hara picked off Jamy Jenkins on the next play, and it was off to the races for Coatesville.

Susi completed only three passes on the night, but all three resulted in touchdowns. The first was a 38-yarder to Tommy Ortega. Later he found RJ Rickabaugh from seven yards out, and on an un-timed down for the last play of half, following a pass interference, Susi connected with Ortega again, for his ninth TD catch of the season.

East’s only touchdown came on a kick return by Mike Waite, but the Cougars never threatened a defense that seems to be peaking at the perfect time. Coatesville entered the game giving up over 300 yards and 18 points per game.

“We’ve been a little banged up,” Matt Ortega said. “We knew we could be a dominant defense and we’re getting there. We have to build on this heading into the playoffs.”

The Raiders have lost just one divisional game, a 28-24 defeat against East, the last six seasons, and have been outright champs five of them, while sharing it with East and Downingtown West in 2019.

Coatesville 42, Downingtown East 7

Downingtown East 0 7 0 0-0

Coatesville  13 14 15 0-42

                                     Scoring

First Quarter

CV- Ortega 38 pass from Susi (Kick failed)

CV- Wesley 24 run (Ashbee kick)

Second Quarter

CV- Rickabaugh 7 pass from Susi (Ashbee kick)

DE- Waite 80 kick return (Marks kick)

CV- Ortega 12 pass from Susi (Ashbee kick)

Third Quarter

CV- Wesley 65 run (Ashbee kick)

CV- Wesley 33 run (O’Hara pass from Susi)

                                      Team Totals

                         DE              CV

Yards rushing  37-144   45-427

Yards passing  47            57

Total yards      191          484

Passing      6-13-1         3-7-0

Fumbles-lost    0-0           1-1

                                    Individual Statistics

Rushing: Downingtown East — Horvath 21-116; Lammey 7-38; Bono 1-5; Asante 2-4; Helverson 2-1; Marks 1-(-9); Jenkins 3-(-11). Coatesville — Wesley 18-267, 3 TDs; Susi 12-86; Lacey 6-27; Lopp 4-24; Watson 2-21; Bessick 1-12; Galarza 2-(-10).

Passing: Downingtown East — Jenkins 5-10, 40 yards, INT; Helverson 1-3, 7 yards. Coatesville — Susi 3-7, 57 yards, 3 TDs.

Receiving: Downingtown East — Asante 1-17; Rossetti 2-10; Leo 1-8; DiLullo 1-7; Giardino 1-6. Coatesville — Ortega 2-50, 2 TDs; Rickabaugh 1-7, TD.

Interceptions: Coatesville — O’Hara.