Coatesville uses ground game, powerful defense on cold, windy night
By Kyle Corrazza, Staff Writer, The Times
Coatesville’s football team is about to power the ball in for a score, Friday night against West Chester East. After three straight dominant wins, the Red Raiders have to be in the discussion about which high school football team is best in Chester County. Kyle Carrozza photo.
COATESVILLE –Throw out the records. Coatesville is making a very strong argument that it is best high school football team in Chester County — combining a stout defense and explosive offense and for the third week in a row, the game was pretty much over by halftime.
The Red Raiders continued their roll on Friday night, spoiling West Chester East’s homecoming 35-0. Once again, all seven touchdowns came in the first half.
Coatesville is now 5-2 overall and 2-1 in the Ches-Mont National Division, sparked by three straight dominant performances.
In the previous two games, Coatesville has dominated from the opening whistle; last week, the offense scored on their first play. The week before, special teams returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. This week, the defense stepped up. After receiving the kick, East started from their own 23. Looking to put the Red Raiders on their heels early, East attempted a long pass. Instead, Coatesville’s sophomore defensive back Jay Stocker read the lofted ball perfectly to come up with the interception followed by a solid return to give his offense the ball at the opponents’ 29.
Three plays later, Coatesville was in the end zone. On a play they have had success with all year, senior quarterback Emmett Hunt found senior wide receiver Dre Boggs with a swing pass. Showing off his athleticism, Boggs weaved through the defense and found his way past the goal line for a 15-yard touchdown. Junior kicker Jon Bollenbach converted the extra point to put his team up 7-0 less than two minutes into the game.
On the ensuing East possession, Coatesville’s defense continued its dominance, forcing the Vikings to go three and out. Maintaining that performance throughout the night, the Red Raiders defense forced East into five three and outs and allowed only one first down in the first half.
“They’re a confident bunch,” coach Matt Ortega said of his defense. “They’re confident in the scheme and in each other.”
Even though the autumn weather made passing difficult all night, Coatesville showed the versatility of its offense, as junior running back Daquan Worley, who finished with over 100 yards and two touchdowns, earned some tough running yards throughout the first half. Starting from their own 36, Coatesville’s next drive consisted of 11 plays, including seven runs. Worley capped off the drive with a one-yard run for a fourth down score.
“I work hard every practice to make myself and my team better,” said Worley. He also said that he enjoys the games where he grinds out short runs just as much as the ones where he is able to break the defense open for big plays. “It doesn’t matter; I take every practice the same. We put our team in the best situation to win.”
After gaining a consistent short yardage on the previous drive, Coatesville’s next possession only took one play. Senior wide receiver Chris Jones beat the entire defense on a deep post over the middle. Hunt dropped a bomb to him in the end zone, resulting in a 60-yard touchdown pass.
Their next two drives displayed Worley’s flexibility as a running back. On the first, Worley showed his consistency, gaining a few yards at a time to keep the offense moving, eventually resulting in another Hunt to Boggs swing pass for a 17-yard touchdown, Hunt’s third of the night. After a good punt return by Boggs, the following drive took only one 34-yard run from Worley to find the end zone.
“It was windy, so we wanted to establish the run,” said Ortega. “We grinded it out.”
Though a fumble prevented Coatesville from another first half touchdown, sophomore running back Jalen Hudson showed how much of a threat he could be with the ball. Beating the defense around the corner on an outside run, Hudson sprinted for a 40-yard gain before being forced out of bounds inside the opposition’s one yard line.
Once again, the halftime scoreboard showed Coatesville up 35-0.
The large halftime margins have allowed the Red Raiders to rotate the second half lineup, spreading time among players. Hudson, in particular, has seen quite a few carries, allowing him to gain experience as well as assist his team in running out the clock.
“Those kids, work hard in practice, too,” said Ortega.
The defense held off the Vikings in the second half to complete the shutout. On East’s first drive of the second half, they picked up three first downs and appeared to gain some momentum. Consecutive sacks from senior lineman Tyree Smith—who later added a forced fumble—and sophomore lineman Jermaine Reynolds stopped all that, forcing East into a long fourth down. The Vikings failed to convert and would not gain another first down for the rest of the game.
“The scheme allows them to get better every week,” Ortega said of his defense.
The next two weeks will be season-defining games for the Red Raiders. Next week they face a 6-1 Henderson at West Chester, which could be one of the biggest matchups of the 2012 season. Henderson’s only loss came to Downingtown West, who Coatesville will face in two weeks, also 6-1 and also away. With Coatesville and Henderson at one conference loss each and Downingtown East and West both undefeated in the conference, the next couple of weeks should prove interesting in deciding the Ches-Mont National title.
