EAST MARLBOROUGH — When Tre Green takes the field, the only thought going on in his mind is doing the best job he can to help West Chester Henderson win.
That formula has been working with the way Green has been carrying the football this season.
Friday night was no different.
Green had 16 carries for 131 yards and three touchdowns to lead West Chester Henderson to a 30-12 win over Unionville in a nonleague game at Unionville.
The Warriors (4-1) veer rushing attack amounted to 243 yards on the ground, 162 of which came in the first half.
114 of those yards came off two explosive plays to give Henderson both its scores in the opening 24 minutes. The first was a 51-yard burst by Green as the Warriors took a 7-0 lead with 1:26 left in the first quarter.
The play was set up by a huge fourth down sack by Jack Dingfelder at the Henderson 39, ending Unionville’s 13-play drive on its opening possession.
Two plays later, Green saw a block from James McDonald on the right side. From that point, all he could see was the end zone.
“I was on my track for the veer and saw big Jimmy Mac smash some kid,’ Green said. “From there, I just ran off his block and was wide open. I feel pretty safe running behind massive kids that are 290-plus (pounds).’
Unionville cut the deficit in the second quarter on two Alex Pechin field goals of 46 and 39 yards to make it 7-6.
On the next Henderson possession, the Warriors got their next explosive run of the night. This time, it was in the hands of Matt Dinacci.
Henderson’s quarterback kept the ball on the option and juked past two defenders for a 63-yard touchdown run to up the Warriors’ lead to 14-6 with 3:10 left in the second quarter.
Dinacci admitted he doesn’t have the best speed on Henderson’s offense, but was elusive enough to cover the pitch and create another big play for the Warriors.
“I just wanted to not get caught from behind,’ Dinacci said. “Before that, I just happened to see the outside backer running to get the pitch man, so I kept it and cut back against the grain. Fortunately, I was able to get in the end zone. I don’t have the best speed on the team. That’s kind of obvious.’
With the Warriors clinging to a 14-12 lead late in the third quarter, it was up to their special teams to make a big play with Alex Pechin set to kick a 29-yard field goal that would have given the Indians (3-2) their first lead of the night.
In came Brian Armstrong, who blocked Pechin’s kick and kept Henderson’s lead at 14-12. According to Unionville head coach Pat Clark, that block was the play of the night.
“That was a momentum killer,’ Clark said. “That’s a direct result of Henderson. They made more plays against us than we did against them. Give Henderson all the credit. They took it to us in the second half.’
Unionville made its deficit larger with two miscues in the second half that allowed Henderson to pull away. Pechin received a bad snap and was tacked by Jason DePhillips in his end zone as the Indians trailed 16-12 heading into the fourth quarter.
On Unionville’s next drive, another botched snap led to a fumble recovery by DePhillips as the Warriors regained possession.
Green capped the drive with a seven-yard touchdown run to give Henderson a 23-12 lead with 7:05 left. He later sealed the win for the Warriors with a six-yard touchdown run late in the game.
Henderson head coach Steve Mitten thought the win was a tough one to earn, considering the strengh of Unionville on its home field.
“That’s an excellent team with some great kids on defense that took a lot of things away from us,’ Mitten said. “We were lucky to get two big plays to take the lead in the first half and grind some yards out in the second half. Pat (Clark) and his guys are first rate. Not a lot of people come down here and win. We’re very fortunate to do so.’
Notes: Pechin finished 12-for-22 for 128 yards…Brian Boyle had 79 total yards (43 rushing, 36 receiving). Dinacci had 12 carries for 93 yards…Green has 766 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns through five games.
