Offense, defense, special teams fire on all cylinders to take team to 4-0 this year
By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times
Tyler Burke takes a punt to the house. Burke caught the short kick after it was partially blocked by Danny Glass.
CALN – Though offense tends to garner cheers and make highlight reels, a football team that is going to challenge for a title at any level needs special teams and a defense that can make plays when called upon.
Coatesville excelled in all facets during its 42-13 home victory over Avon Grove on Friday night.
In its first game in Ches-Mont National Division play this season, Coatesville opened with a strong drive that ended up stalling in Avon Grove’s red zone.
But the defense, which has looked strong all night and all season, made sure Avon Grove could not capitalize.
Coach Matt Ortega made sure his team was not stopped a second time, opening the next drive with three consecutive passing plays, followed by five runs from senior running back Isaiah Flamer who finished the drive by powering his way in from the one.
The beginning of the second quarter saw Coatesville’s defense stepping up again, forcing a three-and-out and then a turnover.
Committed to getting penetration all year, senior linebacker Tyler Burke gave Avon Grove’s quarterback Tanner Peck no time, stripping the ball and allowing his team to come up with the fumble.
Starting in the opponent’s red zone, the home team committed penalties on the first two plays of the drive, including a holding call that negated a touchdown. Backed up to Avon Grove’s 42, Coatesville’s sophomore quarterback Jordan Young looked unfazed. Facing first and 32, Young found junior wide receiver Jay Stocker racing down the sideline with a step on his man. Stocker ran under Young’s floated pass and into the endzone.
“We need to get our passing game going because teams are just going to load the box to try to stop the run,” said Young, who threw for three touchdowns on the night.
After a slow start—slow for the reigning District One champions, anyway—Coatesville’s special teams made the score line look a little more familiar to make the score 21-0 midway through the second quarter.
After the defense forced another three-and-out, senior lineman Danny Glass got into the backfield and stuck a hand up to partially block the punt. Burke caught the wobbling ball near midfield and raced down the sideline for the touchdown.
With Coatesville’s smothering front seven on defense, teams have been trying to find success through the air all year. The Red Devils were most recent team to try and the most recent team to find only nominal success. Helped by consistent quarterback pressure, Coatesville’s secondary kept Avon Grove’s completion rate under 50% with four sacks in the first half.
“It’s a veteran group [the secondary], and all four of those guys are probably going to end up playing at the next level, so I do have a lot of confidence in that group,” said Ortega.
A fourth down sack by senior linebacker Devonte Suber turned the ball over on downs, and Ortega, more than he has done all year, opened up the playbook for Young to gain yards through the air. Combined with a 24-yard run from Worley, Young had three completions on Coatesville’s next drive, including 9-yard touchdown to junior wide receiver Jalen Hudson.
“We’ve been working on it [the passing game]. We just haven’t had to do it because we’ve been having so much success running the ball, but we knew there is going to come a point in time where we’re going to have to stretch the field, and we did tonight,” said Ortega.
With more pressure and more sacks, the defense kept Avon Grove off the board for the remainder of the half, allowing the home team to keep their 28-0 lead.
The defense did not allow a touchdown for most of the game, with Avon Grove’s first touchdown coming from a Coatesville botched snap, which was recovered and taken in for the score.
Daquan Worley races past the defense after looking like he would be stopped at the line.
But the Coatesville offense redeemed itself immediately. On the first play of the ensuing drive, Worley found his way through a small hole in the line, cut outside, and outran everyone to the endzone.
Coatesville tacked on one more in the third quarter. Young hit Hudson on a bubble pass, allowing the wide receiver to beat the defense down the sideline for a 15-yard touchdown.
“That’s [the passing game] a big thing we’re going to work on, and we’re going to try to do that a little bit more each week,” said Young.
Avon Grove’s offense would finally put on points early in the fourth quarter, but the lead was already too large, with Ortega’s team completing a comfortable win in their first ChestMont game of the season.
Coatesville will face Bishop Shanahan next Saturday at 1:00pm. Favorites to win the league, Ortega and Young both said that they work each week to guard against complacency.
“We work hard every day in practice and pretend every team is like the number one team,” said Young.
Young said that he does not feel pressure, even with the talent and expectations around him.
“It’s no pressure; we have enough talent and the team believes in me. I think we can get back to states,” he said.
