West Chester East learns some lessons in easy win over Council Rock North

WEST GOSHEN >> Learning from your mistakes can be just as important in week 1 as it is in week 15.

For the West Chester East Vikings, Friday night’s 41-7 win over Council Rock North almost went an entirely a different way. The Vikings were beset with penalties in the first half and had the Indians knocking on the door twice to take an early lead.

However, making adjustments at halftime seemed to work in the Vikings favor as they ran away with the game in the second half, blowing open a 7-0 game with 34 points to just 7 for the Indians.

“One of our goals coming into the year was to create turnovers” said West Chester East coach Scott Stephen. “In the first half, the defense dug us out of a hole with the two picks.”

It was the defense that stepped up in the first half, as two interceptions by Kunal Maheshwari stopped Council Rock in the end zone. It was the first of those two intercepts that gave the Vikings their first scoring opportunity.

After returning the ball from the CRN 10 to the 47, West Chester East got on the board via a 3-yard run from Mitch Zingani with 9:27 left in the second for a 7-0 lead. Maheshwari’s second interception of the second quarter with just 10 seconds left until half, stopped another Indian drive.

From there, the Vikings offense unit revved up with Kyle Cichanowsky scoring three times on runs of 1, 26 and 82. He finished the night with three scores and 226 yards on 22 carries. John and Joey Wileczek scored on runs of 15 and 49 yards respectively, as the Vikings went for 423 yards on the ground with most of it coming in the second half.

“The offense came out and played a great second half. Our offensive line (coach Boyd) have done a great job developing these guys for the last three years. In a game like this, you expect the guys up front to set a good tone. They did a great job in the second half, and this year, we also have depth,” Stephen added.

Council Rock’s lone score came in the third when quarterback Jack Owens, who was knocked out of the game briefly in the first quarter, plunged from 1-yard out with 1:23 left in the third quarter.

West Chester’s defensive unit held the Indians to just 214 yards in the game.