Garnet Valley Captures District One Championship for First Time Since 2007 Over Coatesville @GVAthletics @GarnetValleyFB @Football_Cville

Tagged under: District 1, Game Photos, Gameday Hub, News

Alec Eskin | November 27, 2021

Photo taken by Tbone Smith (@trsmith296)

Garnet Valley was looking to become the first team to go 14-0 for the first time in their history and become District One Champions for the first time since 2007, they accomplished both tonight. Garnet Valley finally put their demons to rest as they beat Coatesville and Coach Mike Ricci gets the last laugh as they won by a final score of 54-15. Tonight, Garnet Valley had an all around performance against a very tough opponent, in a very important game. This will go into the record books as a historically important game. Lets go into a recap for both teams’ . . .

Coatesville had a really good year going 13-2 and winning the Ches-Mont League championship once again just a few weeks ago. They also got into the final four in District One for the fifth year in a row. They had been very successful against Garnet Valley going 3-0 in their matchups together, but tonight, they could not get that same District One magic that they had in previous years. On offense, they had a lot of success on their first three drives with Harrison Susi running up and down the field for the Red Raiders. Ashon Wesley scored their first touchdown on a one yard touchdown run. Then, Susi threw a nice ten yard touchdown pass to Tommy Ortega to make it 14-13. However, they would not score again until they got a safety late in the fourth quarter. Susi was not able to get a lot of room to run after those first three drives and was constantly being pressured in the backfield. Their ground game could not get going after the first quarter as they were getting stopped for short gains. Susi was also not the most accurate throwing the ball as he was picked off twice during the game. On defense, they had not answer for Garnet Valley’s powerful rushing attack. They only forced Garnet Valley to punt once and Garnet Valley scored on all but two drives. Their defensive line did not have the best night as they lost the battle in the trenches. However, they had a really good year once again and are primed to be just as good or better in the up coming ones.

Photo taken by Tbone Smith (@trsmith296)

If you are are Garnet Valley, you could have not asked for a better game on both sides of the ball. This performance could not have come at a better time for the Jaguars. They have accomplished many historical goals this year and this game and have added more tonight. Coatesville has been Garnet Valley’s kryptonite these past few years, but they had an all time great performance tonight. On offense, they put up 50+ points for the second straight game. Shane Reynolds had 225 yards and four touchdowns, who had had at least three touchdowns in all four District One Playoff games. He has been making the most of his high school career before he heads off to Navy next year. Then, Jack Westberg was able to do one heckuva job filling in for the injured Sean Gallagher as he ran for 74 yards and averaged 10.6 yards per carry. In the air, Max Busenkell threw for two touchdowns and three completions, all to Joey Halloran. However, all of this could not have come to fruition without the great play of Garnet Valley’s offensive line. They were opening up holes time after time in this game. On defense, Max Busenkell also had a great day as he got the two interceptions that Susi threw. Then, Garnet Valley did a really nice job of adjusting to Susi’s speed and containing him for most of the night. That defensive line was able to have Susi running on pass plays also. Matt Collins and Joey Halloran were able to create a lot of that pressure in the Coatesville backfield and Halloran was able to cause a safety. Overall, a great night for the Jaguars as they will move on to the state semifinals.

Coatesville will finish the season 13-2 and 2nd in District One. Another very good year for them as they will look to continue the same pace they have had for the last five years. Garnet Valley will be playing St. Joe’s Prep next week at Ridley next Friday at 7:00 PM in the state semifinals. This will be the first time these two teams have played each other. This should be a very interesting game to watch next week for everyone in District One and District Twelve.

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