District 1 5 A Semi-Final West Chester Rustin-Strath Haven Preview
Tagged under: District 1, News, Playoffs
Willie McGonigle | November 17, 2022
American football field illuminated by stadium lights
It’s been almost a year since the West Chester Golden Knights and Strath Haven Panthers last met on the football field and people talk about that dramatic 34-33 Panthers double-overtime victory. Now Friday night the two teams will once again square off. This time the Golden Knights will travel down to Wallingford and the teams are playing for a spot in the District final instead of for the championship. Let’s take a closer look at this match-up.
The Game
Friday, November 18, 2022
Kickoff: 7 pm
200 S. Providence Ave, Wallingford, PA 19086
For updates: Follow @williepafn and @BPRicciardi
The Details
2nd Seed
Strath Haven Panthers
Head Coach: Kevin Clancy
League: Central League
This season (12-0) Overall (9-0) Conference
Last Week: Beat Springfield Delco 36-19
Panthers Notables: The Panthers enter the semifinals undefeated and co-champions of the Central League sharing it with Garnet Valley and they are looking to defend their district title from a year ago. The Panthers are PFN’s fifth-ranked team. The Panthers’ wing-t style offense comes into this week averaging a whopping 37.7 points per game and 365 yards rushing per game. Sr Antony Crawford has rushed for a school-record 1,896 yards this season and has found the endzone a whopping 26 times. Bob Fooskas is second on the team with 1,053 yards and 13 touchdowns. While he has only thrown the ball a total of 14 times all season, QB Sam Milligan has 3 touchdown passes with 10 more on the ground. Defensively Fooskas (89) Crawford (80). Ben Farabaugh (76) and Marco Kaufman (74) lead the team in tackles. Alex Glavicic leads the team in interceptions with four. With a win, the Panthers will advance to their 13th district championship they have won all but one of their previous trips
3rd Seed
West Chester Golden Knights
Head Coach: Mike St. Clair
League: Chest-Mont American
This Season: (10-1) Overall (6-1) League
Last week: defeated Kennett 31-7
Golden Knights Notables: The Golden Knights enter this weekend’s game as one of PFN’s Honorable Mentions in 5A, a win will go a long way in helping them jump into the top 10. Last week Rustin got revenge for their only loss this season dominating Kennett 31-7. Like the Panthers, the Golden Knights run the wing-t offense. Daimon Jacobs leads the team in rushing with 1048 yards on 123 carries. Chase Hatton is right behind him with 1001 yards himself. If a defense can contain Jacobs and Hatton the Golden Knights turn to FB Antonio Santangelo whom last week rushed for 141 yards on just 12 carries. Sophomore David McClain handles the quarterbacking and has thrown for 505 yards and 6 touchdowns. Nelson Murphy is favorite target with 10 catches for 260 yards. Defensively the Golden Knights are anchored by Mike Labus Jaysin Huynh Jake Law and Connor Corrigan. Merrick Seaman. Jacobs is also a ball hawk on the defensive side with a team high six interceptions. Defensively the Golden Knights are only averaging giving up a mere 154 yards per game
Things to Watch
1: Revenge Factor: Look for the Golden Knights to come with a little extra fire as they get a chance to pay back the Panthers for last year’s district championship.
2: Air Attack?: In the past couple of weeks the Panthers’ pass defense has struggled it will be interesting to watch if the Golden Knights don’t come out and maybe try to throw a little more than what they normally do
3 Similar Offense: Both teams run the wing-t offense it’ll be interesting to see what wrinkles each team adds to keep the other off guard.
Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews
You must be logged in to post a comment.