West Chester Rustin Rumbles It’s Way to Second District 1 Championship in School History
Tagged under: District 1, Gameday Hub, News, Playoffs
Willie McGonigle | November 23, 2024
SPRINGFIELD: For each of the past three years Chase Hatton and his classmates have seen their season end with heartbreak in the District playoffs. In their senior year, they were determined not to let that happen to their class again on a damp chilly Friday night Hatton and his classmates accomplished one of their goals with a dominating 34-2 victory on the road at top-seeded Springfield Delco capturing their second District 1 Championship in school history.
“The whole senior class there’s 30 of us, freshman year we lost in District Championship, Sophomore year we lost in District Championship, then last year we fell again and didn’t win this year we came in with a different mentality: we got to win.” Hatton added, “It’s amazing feeling so surreal it’s awesome.”
Golden Knights head coach Mike St Clair echoed Hatton’s thoughts saying, “It felt great we’ve been knocking at the door so many times coming up short but this year we’re able to close the deal.” St Clair added “We got a great group of kids ever since Freshman year they wanted it and they went out tonight and earned it.
The Golden Knights got the victory playing typical Rustin-style football combining great defensive play (forced three Springfield interceptions), stellar run game (rushed for 230 yards), and timely passing (116 yards and two touchdowns)
Right from the start, the Golden Knights set the tone behind their offensive line, which consisted of Jackson Wolfe, Nicky Santangelo, Anthony Del Beato, Charlie Covington, Andrew Shallo, and Nick Hombach. On the game’s opening drive, they marched right down the field 80 yards on seven plays, with David McClain finding Jojo Magolon for the 56-yard touchdown.
After the game, the offensive line drew a lot of praise from St. Clair who said “They’re not the biggest kids in the world we may 1 or 2 kids over 200 lbs but they know how to block, John Timko does a great job with them and they know how to wing-t block
On the ensuing Cougars drive, the Golden Knights’ defense stepped up and made a big play. Nate Pechin stepped in front of a Jackson Kennedy pass, intercepted it, and returned 31 yards for the 14-0 Rustin lead.
The next Cougars drive also ended with an interception this time it was David Jacobs who came up with Kennedy’s pass
The lone blemish on the scoreboard for Rustin came in the second quarter when Evan Diblasi broke through the Golden Knights punt protection and blocked the punt the ball sailed out of the back of the endzone making it 14-2 in favor of the Golen Knights
On the ensuing drive, the Cougars appeared poised to cut deeper into the Golden Knights lead driving down to the Golden Knights’ 9 before turning the ball over on downs. The Golden Knight’s offense took the momentum given to them from defense and marched 91 yards on 14 plays with the capper being McClain being inches from the ground getting the ball out Hatton for a four-yard touchdown and opening a 21-2 halftime lead. Hatton was also a force in the ground game picking up 150 yards on 24 carries.
In the third quarter, the Golden Knights’s defense continued to dominate, while Fred Adler added a 22-yard field goal, putting the visitors up 24-2 after three quarters.
In the fourth quarter, Adler added a 27-yard field goal and Pechin got his second interception of the game.
When asked about the defensive effort put forth by his team Friday Pechin said “All out-group effort we’ve been practicing since Monday to get ready for this game. It’s just been an honor to play with these guys all year.” We want more every time we step on the field.’’ He added,
Magolon capped the scoring with a 35-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.
Next week the Golden Knights will look to punch their ticket to the State Championship when they battle District 12 Roman Catholic in the state semi-finals. For complete brackets click Here
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