District One-5A Playoff Preview: Championship
Tagged under: District 1, News, pfn, Playoffs
Michael Pietrangelo | November 21, 2024
And there were two! Last week went according to chalk with the 2nd seed West Chester Rustin and top seed Springfield Delco being victorious. The 2nd seed Golden Knights used a stellar defensive effort, timely special teams play, and a potent ground game to easily dispatch the 6th seed Upper Dublin 35-14. The Cougars last week needed a kickoff return for a touchdown by Brian Delaney and a late fumble recovery by Evan DiBlasi, deep in their territory, to knock off the upset-minded 5th seed Garnet Valley 21-14 for the second time this season. Despite this being the combined 9th trip to a District Championship game between the Golden Knights and Cougars the two teams have only one district title.
My fellow writers Willie McGonigle and Marcus Sic provided all the details for this preview. Follow them on x @PFNmjc3 and @williepafn for updates on this must-see game.
Offensively the Cougars are led by their ground game which features a two-headed monster in Brad Barber and Nate Romano. Barber has used his quick shifty moves to rush for 1043 yards and 12 touchdowns this season while Romano is more of a bruising back and has bullied his way for 604 yards and 13 touchdowns. Jackson Kennedy has completed 87 of 136 for 1506 yards and 14 touchdowns. With leading receiver Chris Dolan having missed the last three games due to injuries Tanner Coll and Brian Delaney have been the leading receivers for the Cougars. Coll has 24 catches for 403 yards and 2 receiving touchdowns, along with 5 rushing touchdowns. Delaney has 16 catches for 270 yards and 3 receiving touchdowns this season. Dom Stewart, Ryan Benjamin, Zac Plank, and Mike Francis anchor the offensive line for the Cougars.
On the Defensive side of the ball, Romano has been a terror to opposing offenses from his LB spot where he has racked up 83 tackles and a team-high 3 sacks. Evan Herzig’s 66 tackles is second on the team. Herzig is also tied for second on the team in sacks, and Jamie Stevenson is tied for second, with two apiece. Luke Valerio leads the secondary with 44 tackles, while Delaney is second on the team behind Delaney (5) with 3 interceptions.
#2 West Chester Rustin (12-1, 3-0)
About the Golden Knights: The Golden Knights come in to the District 1 final after rolling through the first three rounds of the playoffs, blasting Oxford, Chester and Upper Dublin. The Rustin defense has given up just a touchdown in each game. Coach St. Clair’s offense as run over its playoff opponents with the Knights scoring 122 points in three games. The one area that Rustin might need to tighten up a little is their special teams, which have been solid all season, but has given up some points in the playoffs.
Leading West Chester on both offense and defense has been Chase Hatton, who finally is playing without a cast on his left wrist. Hatton has rumbled through the opposing defenses for large chunks of yardage and multiple scores. On defense he has been an absolute hammer, from his free safety position. Ryan Loper continues to be a valuable running mate, breaking long runs, Loper also is dangerous out of the backfield as a receiver on swing passes as well as halfback rails. If Springfield stuffs the box Rustin will continue to pound the ball lulling the defense to sleep then QB David McCain will not be afraid to go deep to his 6’5” tight end Billy Tigue.
Look for Rustin’s large Rowdy fan base to make the trip down to DELCO in force, hoping the Rustin Rumble will continue for a couple more weeks, on their way to the state championship game.
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