West Goshen – The West Chester East football squad got off to a fine start Friday, scoring on their first offensive series of the season en route to a 20-0 win against Academy Park at Harold I. Zimmerman Stadium.
Viking senior linebacker/running back Fenton Kulp said, “I think our defense played really good; we really prepared coming into this game. We have a great coaching staff that prepares us for every single play they can throw at us. We played tough, physical; we tackled; it was a good all-around game.”
After the opening kickoff to Academy Park, the Vikings held the visiting Knights to a three-and-out series, then the hosts went on an eight-play, 44-yard march into the end zone, capped by a 15-yard run up the middle for a touchdown by Kulp.
Kulp said, “On our first drive, we were running, passing, giving it to (Academy Park) on all fronts. On that (touchdown) play I got a good push from the big boys up front, and I broke one free.”
That touchdown was the only score in the first half, as the Vikings kept that 7-0 lead into halftime.
East senior quarterback Nate DeRosa said, “Our defense did well, and I think they’re probably riding the wave from last season (only 14 total points allowed in the Vikings’ last four regular-season games, all wins), and I really feel good about that.”
The first nine minutes of the third quarter didn’t feature much offense by either squad (four punts, two by each team). With 3 ½ minutes left in the period, East suddenly exploded for a 64-yard touchdown on a short hitch pass from DeRosa to junior wide receiver Kyle Keefe near the left sideline.
“Kyle’s just a great athlete,” said DeRosa. “All he did was run a five-yard hitch, make a move, and he was gone, he’s a fast kid.”
East head coach Scott Stephen said, “I think Keefe showed what kind of athlete he is on that play when he got into the open field and found another gear.”
The touchdown gave the hosts a 14-0 lead with 3:31 left in the third quarter.
Academy Park then began a long drive that started at their own 24 yard line and ended on the East 30, where they turned the ball over on downs following an unsuccessful fourth down play. Three plays later, on third-and-one from the East 39 yard line, Kulp broke free down the right side for a 61-yard touchdown that gave the hosts a 20-0 lead with 8:13 remaining.
Kulp said, “It was a nice power play, we pulled our guard (junior Landon Messina) and I followed him; he made a great block, I saw an open lane, and I just took it.”
DeRosa said, “Benton just read the block (by Messina) perfectly and took it all the way down the field; he’s fast and quick.
“We had a pretty set (offensive) game plan to get the ball on the outside and defeat them with the run game, to wear them down. We did that pretty well today. Academy Park blitzed a lot, but our offensive line handled it pretty well.”
On the following series, Academy Park moved the ball from its own 29 yard line down to the East 36, but then a pass from Knight junior quarterback CJ Moore was intercepted by East senior defensive back Prince Crooms.
“I think he took the life out of (Academy Park) with that interception, it was a great play,” said Kulp. “Their quarterback rolled out and threw it deep, and Prince made a really great play on the ball and got in front of the wide receiver.”
East ran the ball the remainder of the game, preserving the shutout.
Stephen said, “I think we rallied well to the football (defensively) at times, I thought our pursuit was really good. We have to shore up some tackling stuff. But to play defensive football you need 11 guys playing, and I think we did a good job of 11 guys taking care of their assignments and responsibilities. When our guy was there to make the play, we had other guys there to kind of help out.
“I thought it was a good opener, but I think we need to do a better job of playing in that middle half (second and third quarters). We started well and we finished well, but there was a little bit of a lull in between.”
For Academy Park, Moore, who passed for 800 yards as a sophom*ore last fall, completed 12 of 19 passes for 114 yards against West Chester East.
Academy Park head coach Jason Vosheski said, “I think for our first game of the season, we played well. Individuals made some mistakes, and we’re going to look to grow from here. We need to execute our stuff (better).
“I thought our defense collectively played really well, and our quarterback (Moore) was one of our better players today, at least on the offense. He played well, I can’t say enough good things about him.”
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