Coatesville remains undefeated to earn chance for Ches-Mont title next week
By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times
Tyler Burke makes a first quarter sack. Burke, who has been Coatesville’s best defensive player all year, went on to return an interception for a touchdown.
CALN – To be a team means not just relying on one player to do all the work. It means having multiple threats that can excel in all aspects of the game. Even when the best players go down, great teams have the depth to replace them and continue their success.
Even with senior starting running back Daquan Worley playing just one half and sophomore starting quarterback Jordan Young not playing at all, Coatesville continued its unbeaten streak on Friday night at home, blowing out West Chester East 42-20.
Worley, who left early in the third quarter with what appeared to be a hamstring injury, should be ready to play next week at Downingtown West, and Young, who left last week’s game with a sprained finger, will be looked at on a week-to-week basis.
Even though he did not play most of the second half, Worley was not without his first half contributions.
Combining with junior quarterback Sami Warren, Worley led his team on a 12-play, 80-yard drive to open the game. Though much is made of Worley’s speed, he showed strength on his 4-yard touchdown run. Taking the handoff inside, the defense seemed to fill any possible running lanes. But Worley kept his feet moving and pushed the pile into the endzone to open the scoring.
West Chester East put together a solid drive of their own, using shovel passes and screens to take advantage of Coatesville’s aggressive defense. However, an incomplete pass to the endzone forced a 35-yard field goal attempt, which went wide left to keep the visitors off the board.
A big hit on the following drive forced a fumble, giving East the ball back soon enough, but another missed field goal kept Coatesville in control.
Worley took advantage of that control, this time showing off his speed to take a handoff down the left sideline for a 57-yard touchdown run.
With two running touchdowns, Worley decided it was time to show what the special teams could do.
Early in the second quarter, Coatesville’s solid defense forced an East punt. Worley took the ball at his own 18, weaved through some coverage, and raced down the right sideline of an 82-yard touchdown return to make the score 21-0.
East’s strategy of trying to take advantage of the aggressive defense paid off in the second quarter when a middle screen to senior running back Dan Genthert set up good blocking to allow him to take the ball 49 yards. Though Coatesville’s junior safety Jay Stocker made a touchdown-saving tackle at the 5, East followed up with a touchdown pass.
The visitors appeared to take momentum back, grabbing an interception the following drive. The Vikings put together a 9-play drive into Coatesville territory, but Coatesville’s defense matched the offense and special teams, providing the second pick-six in two weeks.
On a play that started at Coatesville’s 35, the defense brought pressure and got into the backfield. Senior defensive end Mike Boykin hit the quarterback as he released the ball, resulting in a pass that traveled just a few yards. Nearly reaching the quarterback himself, senior linebacker Tyler Burke was in perfect position to grab the floated ball. With nothing but open field ahead, he took it 55 yards for the touchdown.
“Those are game changers, and we expect that from our defense,” said Coach Matt Ortega, who was surprised that it took so long for the defense to open up its scoring for the season. “We kept getting on our defense, ‘You have to score,’ and the last two weeks we’ve been able to do that.”
Keenan Coleman takes a Sami Warren pass down to the 1. Warren looked solid, stepping in at quarterback for the injured Jordan Young.
With the score 28-7 at halftime, Coatesville looked comfortable, but Worley’s exit early in the third quarter could have raised questions about the team’s ability to control the clock in late parts of the game.
But with Warren’s arm and senior running back Isaiah Flamer stepping into Worley’s spot, Coatesville quickly put any concerns to bed.
Flamer provided consistent yards, while Warren’s connection with junior wide receiver Keenan Coleman put the ball at East’s 1. Warren would end up punching the ball in on a sneak, to put the score at 34-7 midway through the third quarter.
“We come out, and we just try to dominate. We take it one step at a time to win the ChestMont League,” said Flamer.
After making adjustments in the second quarter, Coatesville’s defense held strong until garbage time.
“We just kind of wheeled back and played our base defense, and that helped us a little bit,” said Ortega.
That base defense kept East’s receivers covered and stopped the visitors on fourth down near the end of the third quarter.
Flamer, who has split time with Worley all season, showed why there are multiple ground threats to worry opposing defenses.
Starting from his own 35, Flamer took a handoff to the right and showed his speed, blowing past everyone for a 65-yard touchdown.
“We just dominated on blocks,” said Flamer. “My linemen, they came, they blocked, they made great holes, and I just hit them.”
East would go on to get two touchdowns back in the fourth quarter, but Coatesville fans were already looking ahead to next week’s matchup.
The Steel City team will go to Downingtown West next week to decide the winner of the ChesMonts. The Whippets are 7-2, including winning a 29-28 over Downingtown East on Friday.
For all of Coatesville’s success last season, they were unable to secure a ChesMont Championship. The team has been talking about that aspiration all year.
“When we lost to Downingtown East [last year’s loss, which prevented Coatesville from winning the league], we all came together as a brotherhood,” said Flamer.
While next week’s game could provide another milestone for Coatesville’s football program, Ortega said that his team will prepare like they do for any other game.
“We’re just going to do what we do; it’s one game at a time like we had all year, but obviously we’re going to be excited because we have a chance to do something we haven’t done,” he said. “As much as they accomplished, they still haven’t won that ChesMont Championship, so that’s been our number one goal from day one.”
