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PIAA District 1 Playoff Preview: 5A Round 3

Tagged under: District 1, Gameday Hub, News, pfn, Playoffs

| November 16, 2023


Staff Writers: Dylan Johnson,Willie McGonigle,Brendan Ricciardi,Marcus Sic & Gabriel Palmarini also contributed to this article

Last week we saw our first upset of the tournament with the 5th seed West Chester Rustin went on the road and knocked oft the 4th seed Plymouth Whitemarsh. The Golden Knights reward for the upset is a date with the top seeded Chester Clippers who have been rolling through the Playoffs. In the other part of the bracket Central League rivals Strath Haven and Springfield meet-up for the second time this season. Strath Haven and Springfield shared the Central League title this season but Strath Haven defeated Springfield earlier this year. Will we get a delco vs delco district final? Do the Golden Knights have another upset in them? Can Springfield get revenge on Strath Haven? Will we get another Rustin- Strath Haven classic? All those questions will be answered this weekend.

The Matchups

#5 West Chester Rustin Golden Knights @ #1 Chester Clippers

#1 Chester

About the Clippers: The #1 Chester Clippers head into a highly anticipated matchup against the #5 West Chester Rustin Golden Knights. The Clippers have quickly become favorites to win 5A, outscoring playoff opponents 84-14 through two weeks. Chester boasts an 11-1 record, and they haven’t lost since week 1. There is only one word to describe the Clippers offense: Dominant. Chester scores a commanding 33.5 points per game, and if they don’t hurt you through the air, they’ll run right over you. The team averages 133 passing yards and 217.5 rushing yards per game. Sophomore quarterback Jalen Harris is arguably the backbone of this team. Harris’s impressive portfolio includes 1437 passing yards and 21 touchdown passes this season. West Chester Rustin is notoriously known for their crippling defense, but it’s hard to imagine Chester not hitting the ground running come game time.

 

#5 West Chester Rustin

About the Golden Knights:

Coming off a 22-14 second round victory over Plymouth Whitemarsh the Golden Knights seem to be hitting their stride just at the right time, with the return of RB Chase Hatton, the emergence of RB Ryan Loper and the running of QB David McClain, Rustin’s running game is a well-oiled machine. Like any machine it only runs as strong as its cogs mesh. The cogs that fire the Rustin running game are the big fellas upfront: Brock Cummings, Noah Kitabjian, Steve Bernard, Charlie Covington, Nick Santangelowere and Colin Riley. The offensive line along with FB Will Garner and TE Billy Tigue, who has become a pass catching threat, are who will carry the Golden Knights through the playoffs.

 

#3 Springfield (Delco) Cougars @ #2 Strath Haven Panthers  

 

#2 Strath Haven

About the Panthers: 

For the third straight season, the Strath Haven Panthers are playing in the District 1 5A Semi-Finals. In 2021, they blew out Academy Park before taking down Rustin in a classic championship game that ended on a Sam Milligan two point conversion run. In 2022. Rustin returned the favor with another classic game with Milligan being stopped on the conversion this time. This year, the Panthers sit at 11-1 on the season after they won a tight battle with #7 Upper Dublin last week by a score of 26-21. The Strath Haven offense is lead by the three-headed monster at running back of James Fisher, Shane Green, and Marco Kaufman out of the vintage Kevin Clancy Wing-T offense. Fisher had two long touchdowns last week, one through the air for 66 yards and one on the ground for 59 yards to help win that matchup. Fisher has ran for 1,161 yards and 17 TD’s on the year, while Green has ran for 961 yards and 12 TD’s. Kaufman has added 573 yards and 8 TD’s, while leading the team in tackles with 129. Sean Henry has 106 tackles as well, as both of these guys are the only two with more than 61 tackles. The Panthers got two huge interceptions from Cole Miller and Ben Milligan to lock down the win last week. While primarily a running offense, Jake Kitchin has thrown for 697 yards and has 7 touchdowns compared just 1 interception. The Panthers took down Springfield earlier this season 19-15, and they also knocked them out in the 2022 playoffs by a score of 36-19 in the quarterfinal round.

#3 Springfield (Delco)

About the Cougars: 

This is the first appearance in the District Semi-Finals for Springfield since 2017, where they beat Upper Dublin 17-6 before falling to Unionville in the title game. The Cougars as well sit at 11-1 on the year after they took down #6 Marple Newtown for the second time this season last week by a score of 20-7. Springfield’s lone loss of the season came way back in September when they fell to this Strath Haven team 19-15 at home. Senior running back Mike Turner has ran for over 1,000 yards this season, and along with Tanner Coll and Nate Romano, this team is averaging over 250 yards a game. Like Strath Haven, Springfield primarily operates on the ground, but they can chuck it if needed. Ryan Whitaker had a huge game last week against Marple Newtown as he was 4/5 with 111 yards and two touchdowns, one to Chris Dolan and one to Ryan Johnston. Anchored by their dominant offensive line, expect a low scoring games where both teams look to keep the ball on the ground and grind out a trip to the district title game where they would either host Rustin or travel to Chester.

 

 

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