Connect with us

District 1

Downingtown West staves off Haverford comeback bid to advance to 6A finals

DOWNINGTOWN—With two prolific offenses squaring off in the District 1, Class 6A semi-finals in Haverford and Downingtown West, everyone expected a lot of points on the board. No one in the capacity crowd left disappointed, as the two teams combined for 841 yards of offense and 13 touchdowns, with the Whippets advancing to next week’s finals, holding off a furious Fords comeback bid to win 49-42.

Will Howard pitches to Tyriq Lewis (BILL RUDICK for MediaNews Group)

With the win, West moves on to the District 1, Class 6A finals, where they will face a familiar foe in Coatesville, a 48-27 winner over Garnet Valley Friday night.

“It’s just sick,” said West defensive end Max Hale on moving on to the championship game. “We were confident through the whole game, no matter what the score was. We’re all brothers and we’ve got each other’s backs.”

The Whippets’ balanced attack proved to be the difference. Quarterback Will Howard threw for 252 yards on 14-24 passes, connecting with six different receivers, including a pair of touchdowns to Will Mahmud, and another 52-yarder to Jake DePitetro. Meanwhile, West ran the ball for another 250, led by Tyriq Lewis, who churned out 136 yards on 27 carries, along with two touchdowns. 

Julian Williams hauls in a 52-yard touchdown pass (BILL RUDICK for MediaNews Group)

“If we’re running the ball well, great, if we need to pass, great. We will do what it takes to get yards and score touchdowns,” said Howard. “Tonight we got it done in all aspects of the game. Having that balanced attack is tough to defend. The line did a great job up front, and Tyriq ran the ball great.”

Tyriq Lewis hits the hole. Lewis led the Whippets rushers with 136 yards on 25 carries (BILL RUDICK for MediaNews Group)

Lewis bailed Howard out on possibly his only mistake of the night. Haverford came up with a big interception right at the line, and, at the very least, would be getting the ball in excellent field position. But Lewis was able to punch the ball loose, and West recovered, then went on to score to go up 35-7

“I told him he saved my butt,” said Howard. I made a bad decision to throw there, but having a guy like him there to have my back is great. But that is this whole team. We all know we’ve got each other’s backs.”

One big question entering the contest was the health of Fords’ quarterback Trey Blair, who suffered a hip pointer in last week’s win over Downingtown East. The answer to that was that he was going to be just fine.

The Fords’ Trey Blair follows the block of Chasen Wint. Blair led all rushers with 213 yards on 17 carries, scoring twice (BILL RUDICK for MediaNews Group)

Though the Fords’ star was seen limping a little towards the end of the game, it didn’t stop him from leading all rushers with 217 yards on 17 carries, two going for touchdowns. Blair had a couple of huge runs, including a 74-yarder that set up the Fords first score of the game.

“He is just amazing,” said Ford’s coach Joe Gallagher. “He came in here 75-percent at best and look what he did. He is, without question the best player I’ve coached in my 28 years. Might be one of the best players I’ve been on the field with.” 

But for a couple of big plays from Blair, this very well could have been a Mercy-rule game by halftime. West’s defense was about as tough as you could want in containing a talent like Blair. 

Max Hales celebrates after forcing a Haverford fumble (BILL RUDICK for MediaNews Group)

“We knew that Blair was going to make some plays,” said Howard. “He’s an amazing talent that is going to do big things in college, so getting to play with a 35-7 lead is a testament to our defense. They simply weren’t going to have enough time to come back.”

Down 42-14 at one point, Haverford never once hung their head or let down. And they darn near came all the way back, scoring four of the last five touchdowns of the game.

“I can’t express in words how proud I am of the effort these guys put forth,” said Gallagher. “West is one of the best offensive teams you’re going to face, but this team just kept answering and coming back. We don’t like the loss, but these guys played with guts and all the effort you can ask for.”

As West began to stop Blair on the ground, he went to the air, twice hitting tight end Chris Dempsey for huge gains, including a 52-yarder to set up a score from Blair and another to Dempsey for a 21-yard

West’s Max Hale and Ryan Waters stop Trey Blair cold (BILL RUDICK for MediaNews Group)

touchdown.

Following Blair’s keeper for a touchdown, Haverford recovered an onside kick, and made it a one-touchdown game when Blair hit Will Higson for a 9-yard touchdown.

But West recovered the next onside try, and ran out the clock for the win.

“We had to modify what we did to try to get (Blair) to give the ball to someone else, but he still found his spots,” said West coach Mike Milano. “But my kids played their brains out in the first half. We’re looking forward to playing for a district title next week.”

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

More in District 1

situs slot gacor provider terbaik agen toto slot terpercaya 2023 agen toto togel terpercaya 2023 situs toto togel pasaran resmi terbaik bandar toto macau pasaran resmi toto togel bandar toto slot gacor 4d 2023 bo togel online pasaran terlengkap sepanjang masa bo toto slot terlengkap sepanjang masa situs toto togel 2023 bet 100 perak daftar toto slot dan toto togel 2023 bermain toto togel dengan bet hanya 100 perak daftar toto slot bonus new member terpercaya bermain toto slot pelayanan 24 jam nonstop situs toto togel terpercaya situs toto togel online terbaik winsortoto winsortoto winsortoto winsortoto winsortoto winsortoto unsurtoto unsurtoto unsurtoto winsortoto winsortoto winsortoto rasa4d rasa4d rasa4d gampangtoto gampangtoto gampangtoto winsortoto unsurtoto gampangtoto rasa4d bungtoto bandar toto togel terbesar hadiah 4d 10 juta daftar winsortoto situs toto terbaik winsortoto situs toto slot gacor dengan toto togel terbaik winsortoto situs toto terpercaya bet 100 perak winsortoto agen toto togel dan situs toto slot 4d winsortoto situs toto togel online deposit 10rb winsortoto situs toto togel online resmi hadiah 4d 10 juta winsortoto agen toto togel online terpercaya winsortoto agen toto slot dan situs toto togel resmi winsortoto situs toto togel 4d terpercaya winsortoto bandar toto togel dan toto slot winsortoto situs toto togel online resmi terbesar winsortoto situs toto togel dan agen toto slot terpercaya winsortoto situs toto terpercaya beragam bonus winsortoto situs toto terpercaya toto togel dan toto slot gacor winsortoto situs togel online dan slot online terpercaya winsortoto situs togel online hadiah terbesar winsortoto agen toto togel bonus harian terbesar winsortoto agen togel online terlengkap bet 100 perak winsortoto situs toto togel 4d dan toto slot 4d terbaik winsortoto situs toto togel dan toto slot terpercaya winsortoto bandar toto togel online terpercaya 2023 winsortoto agen toto togel 4d dan toto slot 4d winsortoto agen toto togel online banyak bonus terbesar winsortoto situs toto terpercaya bonus new member winsortoto situs togel online resmi terpercaya pasaran terlengkap winsortoto situs toto togel online 4d terpercaya situs toto togel deposit pulsa tanpa potongan winsortoto situs toto slot pasti slot gacor winsortoto situs toto slot dan toto togel hadiah terbaik winsortoto situs toto terpercaya permainan resmi dan terpercaya winsortoto situs toto resmi bonus new member 100rb tanpa potongan winsortoto toto slot gacor dan togel online resmi terpercaya winsortoto situs toto toge online terpercaya di Indonesia winsortoto toto togel online bonus new member terbesar winsortoto agen toto togel resmi hadiah 4d 10 juta terpercaya winsortoto toto togel online hadiah 4d 10 juta bet 100 winsortoto situs togel online terlengkap dan terpercaya winsortoto situs togel online resmi dan toto slot gacor winsortoto situs toto togel dan agen toto slot gacor winsortoto situs toto togel permainan toto togel dan toto slot winsortoto situs toto terpercaya bonus menarik winsortoto situs toto togel online terpercaya winsortoto bandar toto togel dan toto slot terpercaya winsortoto situs toto togel online terlengkap dan terpercaya winsortoto situs toto togel online winsortoto situs toto terpercaya togel online dan slot online resmi winsortoto situs toto dengan permainan togel 4d dan slot 4d winsortoto situs toto terpercaya permainan togel online terlengkap winsortoto situs toto togel terpercaya permainan resmi winsortoto situs toto togel resmi bet 100 perak tanpa potongan winsortoto agen toto togel dan situs toto resmi winsortoto toto togel dan toto slot terpercaya dan terbaik winsortoto unsurtoto gampangtoto bungtoto rasa4d titi4d ltdtoto bobatoto bobatoto situs toto togel slot situs bandar toto togel slot terpercaya titi4d titi4d login titi4d daftar titi4d slot titi4d togel situs titi4d titi4d login titi4d daftar titi4d titi4d togel titi4d slot situs titi4d agen titi4d bandar titi4d