West Chester Rustin’s defense heats up as Golden Knights prepare for district final

Westtown >> As the weather has been getting colder, West Chester Rustin’s defense just keeps heating up.
In the Golden Knights’ last seven games, Rustin has been yielded only seven points per contest.
And they’ve gotten even better during Rustin’s 3-0 district playoff run, allowing just a single offensive touchdown.
Last Saturday, Rustin’s defense really rose to the occasion in the District 1 5A semifinal against top seed Penn Wood and its quarterback, junior Desman Johnson, who has thrown for a Delaware County record 2,884 yards this season.
The Golden Knights held Johnson to just 113 passing yards, sacking him three times and recovering two fumbles for a 10-8 win. With the victory, the No. 5 seed Golden Knights (10-2) advanced to the District 1 5A championship game, to be played Friday evening against Upper Dublin.

West Chester Rustin football team preparing for District 1 5A championship final Friday @DLNSports pic.twitter.com/bLvNDZru7k

— Main Line Sports (@MLineSports) November 20, 2018

“We knew Penn Wood was going to come out throwing the ball, so we worked on our pass defense all week,” said Rustin middle linebacker Owen Walsh. “We wanted them to run the ball.”
Midway through the fourth quarter, Walsh, considered the leader of the Golden Knights’ defense, made a hard hit on Johnson and recovered the resulting fumble in Penn Wood territory. Three plays later, Tommy Powers booted a 32-yard field goal to put Rustin ahead to stay.
“Owen is the captain of our defense, and he’s doing a great job at middle linebacker,” said Rustin head coach Mike St. Clair. “Our two defensive ends, Sean Hopkins and Matt Montgomery, are the anchors of our defense – they’ve been doing an unreal job, pressuring the quarterback, tracking everything down. Our secondary is a bunch of seniors, with Michael Burke, Collin Hurley and Pat Quinn – they’ve just got a lot of experience and they know how to play together.”
While the Rustin defense has no one standout, it features a cohesive unit that works well together.
“The key for our defense has been everyone doing their job, team tackling, coming out and playing as a team,” said Hopkins.
The Rustin defense is resilient. Last Saturday, Penn Wood rolled down the field on its opening drive, scoring a touchdown three minutes into the game. But the Golden Knights didn’t scare, shutting the Patriots out the rest of the way.
“Penn Wood came out with a good opening drive, caught us a little off-guard, but then we woke up and played defense like we’ve been playing the past two months,” said St. Clair. “We basically shut them down and forced them into doing things they didn’t want to do.”
Coming off the field at the end of the 10-8 win against Penn Wood, Hopkins said, “It was like a dream come true. We’ve been working all year for this.”
Early this season, Rustin’s defense hit a few bumps in the road. In the second game of the 2018 campaign, the Golden Knights lost to West Chester East, 31-21.
“After our loss to East, we had to clean a lot of things up,” said Walsh. “We watched film and corrected a lot of mistakes, and since then we’ve been playing good team defense.”
After beating Kennett 28-7, then outscoring Penn Wood, 43-28, to improve to 3-1, the Golden Knights suffered one more defeat, to powerful Coatesville, 52-21. Rustin hasn’t lost since, allowing only 53 points during its 7-0 run.
“I think the turning point for us was the Coatesville game,” said St. Clair. “They’re the best team in the state, and we went toe-to-toe with them for a little bit before we ran out of gas. If you can play with them, you can play against anybody in the state.”
“We want to keep improving,” said Walsh. “Every day, every game every year.”
Every season, Rustin has been improving. Three years ago, the Golden Knights missed the district playoffs; in 2016 they lost in the first round of Districts; then last year won its district opener.
The improving Golden Knights feature a lot of two-way players, such as Hopkins, who has caught four touchdown passes (including Rustin’s lone TD against Penn Wood); and Michael Covert, the team’s leading running back and a productive cornerback. Defensive stalwarts Walsh and Hurley stepped in for injured runner Nick Madonna in the district quarterfinal and gained productive rushing yardage.
“We have a lot of guys who are dangerous both ways,” said St. Clair. “They’re just good athletes, which is always nice to have.”
And now, the Golden Knights’ athletes face No. 2 seed Upper Dublin Friday for the District 1 5A championship. The Cardinals defeated 11th seed Unionville 40-7 in their District 1 5A semifinal last Saturday.
“Upper Dublin runs the ball very well, so we’ll have to shut that down early,” said Walsh.
St. Clair said, “Upper Dublin has a very good offense, they can run the ball, they can throw the ball; they’ve got a great fullback, a great running back. They’re going to be one tough team to contain for 48 minutes.”
Incidentally, this year marks the 10th anniversary of Rustin’s first District 1 title in 2008.
“With the weather as cold as it’s going to be Friday night, I think whichever team has the fewest turnovers is going to have a better chance of winning that game,” said St. Clair. “Both teams have been turnover-free, so hopefully the ball bounces our way [laughs].”