Red Raiders run all over William Penn, winning 42-7

Familiar faces combine with new looks to continue last year’s domination

By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times

Senior linebacker Terrence Wright follows some blocks after grabbing a pick in the second quarter of Friday night’s game.

YORK – The environment of high school sports requires change to be successful. Athletes graduate each year as a new crop steps up to take their place.

Though some of the faces may have been different, the results stayed the same for the Coatesville Red Raider football team in their 42-7 blowout at William Penn Friday night.

With last year’s quarterback and two star wide receivers having graduated, Coach Matt Ortega introduced a new offensive scheme for the 2013-14 Red Raiders. Unlike last year’s deep threat passing attack, this year’s team seems to focus more on a run-heavy foundation.

Even so, the run game was anchored by two guys who were an integral part of last year’s team. Seniors Daquan Worley and Isaiah Flamer provided the dual-threat from the backfield to move the ball steadily.

And the first touchdown of the year came from a player whose name was mentioned quite a few times last year and will only continue to be mentioned as one of the team’s top threats this year.

Senior tight end Tyler Burke opened Coatesville’s scoring for the season on a 19-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Jordan Young.

But Burke was just getting started – for the game and for the season.

On William Penn’s ensuing possession, the Red Raiders’ defense, which returned eight starters from last year, pushed the Bearcats backwards. Burke’s third-down sack secured the three-and-out and gave the ball back to the offense near midfield, which showed it can still strike fear in opposing defenses.

When Worley took a handoff on the first play of the drive, the defense swarmed to him, leaving the other side of the field open for his 58-yard touchdown run.

A botched snap hinted at inexperience on the point-after attempt, but once again, Tyler Burke showed his veteran craftiness, getting open in the end zone to turn the mistake into two points.

“They elected me to be a leader, so that always means a lot,” said Burke. “I just play like I know how to play, read my cues and try to do everything right.”

The rest of the quarter exemplified what Ortega believes to be the team’s strengths this year.

The defense bettered their forced three-and-out when junior cornerback Jay Stocker picked off a deep pass on the first play of William Penn’s drive.

Worley’s steady steps and consistency in the short passing game provided the rhythm for the Red Raider offense, allowing them to string together a 13-play drive capped off by a powerful touchdown run up the middle from the running back. Coatesville once again looked unstoppable, up 21-0 at the beginning of the second quarter.

“Every part of the team wants to be physical. My line did exactly what I knew they were going to do,” said Worley.

Another forced three-and-out was followed by another Worley touchdown, this one for 43 yards.

One of the very few slipups in the game saw Young throw an interception in the endzone, but Coatesville’s defense struck back, with senior linebacker Terrance Wright jumping a curl route to grab an interception.

Given another opportunity near the end of the half, Young hit junior wide receiver Jimmy Clark in the end zone. “Jordan did a great job managing the game and making the throws when he needed to make them,” said Ortega.

Though the team showed a different style, halftime brought the same feel from last year with Coatesville up 35-0. And like many of last year’s games, the second half mostly consisted of the Red Raiders running out the clock. The offense would go on to score one more, off of a 27-yard run by junior running back Jalen Hudson.

As good as the offense was, the defense may have been even better on the night. Even with a secondary player injured, they managed to grab two picks and shut out William Penn until near the end of the fourth quarter.

“We definitely set the tone on defense,” said Ortega.

With the new looks on offense and the experienced defense returning, Friday night’s game may have set the tone for the rest of the season.