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Springfield-Delco knocks off Chester to win District 1 Championship

Tagged under: District 1, Game Photos-Videos, News, pfn, Playoffs

| November 22, 2025

Valerios’ trifecta of touchdowns propels Springfield-Delco to win

Springfield-Delco knocked off the Chester Clippers by a final score of 34-12 on Friday night. The Springfield offense was led by the offensive coordinator, Lou D’Alonzo, who posted a play-calling masterclass.

Here were my thoughts pre-game.

Chester won the toss and elected to receive to start the game. Chester quickly faced a fourth down, and it seemed they would be going 3 and out, but the Clippers faked the punt and got the first down.  The Clippers ran a few more plays and connected on a deep bomb to  Daron Harris, but it was called back due to an offensive penalty. On the very next play, the Cougars knocked the ball free and recovered, setting them up in fantastic field position.

Springfield quickly capitalized on the fumble with a huge touchdown rush from Luke Valerio. The Cougars quickly jumped out in front, and the momentum was swinging their way.

Chester could not get anything rolling on their next drive and had to punt the ball away right back to the Cougars.

Springfield almost immediately got right back into the endzone, running a few plays before handing it off to Luke Valerio, who pushed his way through the pile and put the Cougars up by two possessions. Springfield elected to go for two after a Chester offside penalty, and their try was unsuccessful.

The Clippers were not going to go out without a fight. Chester drove down the field after the touchdown from Springfield but faced fourth down and 18. Without hesitation, the Clippers decided to go for it. Jalen Harris took the snap and was immediately under pressure. He evaded the defense and launched a deep ball intended for Daron Harris, who somehow pulled it down for a Clippers touchdown. Chester did try to go for 2, but the try was unsuccessful, and they trailed 13-6.

It was all Luke Valerio on the next drive for Springfield-Delco. Valerio just couldn’t be brought down and led the Cougars into the red zone with just minutes before the halftime break.  The Cougars faced fourth down and 7 with a little over a minute remaining in the game, and Springfield decided to let their sophomore starting QB air it out. Hopkins dropped back and released, finding an open man in the endzone in Shane Kilroy. The Cougars led 20-6 right before halftime.

Chester decided to attempt to drive the ball downfield instead of allowing the clock to run out. They got the ball over midfield but had no timeouts and had to clock it, giving them only a few seconds to find a man in the endzone. Harris scrambled around in the backfield and launched one deep for Daron Harris, who had the ball in his hands, but it was ripped out just as he was coming down, bringing us to halftime.

Here were my thoughts at the halftime break.

Springfield had the ball coming out of halftime, but had to punt it away to the Clippers.

The Clippers began driving and found themselves in Cougar territory quickly. Jalen Harris took off to the races and brought the ball down to the 1-yard line, giving the Clippers a chance to cut the lead down with a score. Harris leaped over his o-line and into the endzone for a Chester score. Chester did attempt to go for two once again, but their try was unsuccessful for the second time. The score was now 20-12 in favor of Springfield.

Springfield truly couldn’t get anything rolling on their next drive, despite a couple of first downs, and had to punt the ball right back to the Clippers.

The Cougar defense held strong and forced the Clippers to punt it back after going three and out.

Hopkins and the Cougars dialed in on the pass game and picked up huge gains with the pass as well as huge rushes from Valetti and Valerio, setting up Springfield in Chester territory. Springfield was stopped on third down, but thanks to a personal foul penalty, they were given a fresh set of downs and extra yardage. On the very next play following the penalty, Hopkins aired it out once again to Shane Kilroy in the back of the endzone for a massive receiving touchdown. Kilroy’s second score of the night put Springfield up 27-12 with 5:57 left in the game.

Chester needed some sort of huge play to put them back in the game, but unfortunately for them, they were not able to get that.  The Clippers faced fourth down and 5 with the game on the line, and they were unable to convert, giving the Cougars the ball back with a chance to run out the clock and ice this game.

The Cougars rushed the ball for the entirety of their last drive and eventually punched another one home. Luke Valerio found the endzone off the outside to put the Cougars up 34-12, effectively putting the icing on the cake with only a minute left for the Clippers.

The Clippers would not find the endzone in the last minute of the game, and the Cougars took home the district one championship.

Springfield will move on and will face the Cahillites of Roman with a time and location TBD.

After the game, I got to chat with Springfield QB Johnny Hopkins.

 

 

 

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