DOWNINGTOWN — No one had ever seen anything like it. Fans, coaches, players, and even media, all left Downingtown’s Kottmeyer Stadium on Friday night shaking their heads.
Amid flying flags, angry sidelines, tossed headsets, screaming coaches, holding calls, facemasks, offsides, personal fouls, and unsportsmanlike calls, Downingtown West and Chester managed to play a football game.
It was supposed to be a showdown between two of the area’s better teams, but it turned into anything but a marquee matchup.
Downingtown West and Chester combined for 39 enforced penalties for a total of 364 yards, which does not include the number of penalties not accepted.
Downingtown West won, 34-19, but neither Whippets’ coach Mike Milano nor Chester’s coach LaDontay Bell had any reasons to be pleased.
“It was an embarrassment. This was embarrassing,” said Milano, whose team was flagged 16 times for 200 yards. “This is the ugliest high school football game I ever saw, and I’ve seen a lot of high school football games in my 30 years of coaching. It’s definitely the ugliest high school game I have ever seen.”
“We talk to our kids all of the time about not reacting. We told the kids it was on them and we have to find a reaction plan to work on and fix in practice. We’re not angels and we’ve been in a lot of football games, but nothing like this. We never had a game like that.”
“We won. You want the positives—we won. That’s it. Our defense played outstanding, and Chester has some special kids. I won’t burn the game film. I’ll probably make a clip of the 16 calls we had against us and play it over, and over, and over.”
By halftime, the teams combined for 26 penalties for 267 yards.
Chester (7-1) was flagged 15 times for 124 yards in the first two quarters. The Whippets were nailed 11 times for 143 yards in penalties, which doesn’t include the handful of penalties that were not accepted.
In the first quarter alone, the teams combined for 12 penalties for 125 yards, a precursor of raining flags to come.
“The penalties are nothing new to me, and with every opponent we play, I’m looking at penalties and in the column, it’s not even,” said Bell, whose team was flagged 23 times for 164 yards. “That’s something that needs to be addressed. If I have to speak up to the PIAA, that’s what I’ll do. It’s not an even slate here.”
“You can call holding all you want, but when you get blatant personal fouls not called, I have a big problem with that. I will not allow my players to be personally hurt, because they’re not making these calls. It’s bad. It’s bad.”
“I told my players we look at ourselves in the mirror. When it comes to the holding, and the offsides, yes, that’s on us. When it comes to plays where my players can get hurt and I’m calling that out, the (officials) have to talk about that. If you’re going to protect the players, then protect them. It can’t be one-sided.
“When I feel my players aren’t being protected, I’m always going to stand up for that. You’re damned right. Hey, I have to be held accountable, our program made some mistakes tonight. At the end of the day, Downingtown West is a great program.”
Chester’s initial first two first downs came on penalties, while the Clippers constantly stymied themselves with offside and holding calls. On Chester’s first three drives of the game, the Clippers were looking at third-and-15, third-and-14, and third-and-25.
The Whippets (6-1) didn’t fare much better. There was one sequence when the Whippets were flagged in the fourth quarter on pass interference and a personal foul on the same play—with Chester staring down a fourth-and-20 at the Downingtown West 36 in the fourth quarter.
One of the game’s few shining glimmers was Downingtown West junior quarterback Quinn Henicle, who took the Whippets’ first play and tricked Chester’s defense in going one way, while he had the whole sideline to run a career-long 76 yards for the game’s opening score.
The play was technically Downingtown West’s second play, since Chester went offsides on the first snap.
“This was a big statement win for the team, but we obviously have a lot to improve on,” Henicle said. “There were a lot of penalties we have to clean up and plays after the whistle. On that touchdown run, their d-end jumped out and there was no one there. But I would say that’s winning ugly.”
A Mason Hale fumble recovery led to Downingtown West’s second score, a 22-yard strike from Henicle to Jake Kucera for a 14-0 Whippets’ lead with 11:43 left in the half.
Chester answered with its only score of the half, a perfectly placed 15-yard touchdown pass from the Clippers’ exceptional freshman quarterback Jalen Harris to Dominic Toy in the corner of the end zone. The drive was pushed by 38 yards, of course, in Downingtown West penalties.
With 10:37 left to play, Toy and Harris connected again on a 30-yard touchdown that pulled the Clippers within one score, 20-13.
The Whippets answered that with consecutive scores, one set up by Kucera’s 70-yard kickoff return after the second Chester score, and the other when he scored on a 51-yard punt return to give the Whippets a 34-13 lead with 9:02 left to play.
Harris was another glimmer in a rather forgettable game. Chester’s second and third touchdowns were possible by him scrambling around and having the poise to look downfield for open receivers. The second TD pass to Toy came on a fourth-and-11 play, and his third TD pass came on fourth-and-17 at the Whippets’ 18.
In keeping with the theme of the game, Chester’s second-half kickoff actually dribbled six yards backward, giving the Whippets possession at the Chester 34 to begin the third quarter.
The Whippets then proceeded to go backward on their first two plays. Chester fumbled the ball away on its first second-half drive, which Downingtown West fumbled right back to the Clippers on the following play.
“This was definitely ugly,” Kucera said. “We know we have to clean some things up on our side. Chester is a good team. We knew we had to play a full game, and we wanted to dominate and finish. We haven’t played a full four quarters yet, but this was definitely a big win for us.”
Scoring Summary
Chester (7-1) 0 6 0 13-19
Downingtown West (6-1) 7 13 0 14-34
1st Quarter
DW – Quinn Henicle 76 run (Ben Mehan kick), 10:18
2nd Quarter
DW – Jake Kucera 22 pass from Henicle (Mehan kick), 11:43
Ches. – Dominic Toy 15 pass from Jalen Harris (run failed), 10:07
DW – Henicle 1 run (kick failed), 5:48
4th Quarter
Ches. – Toy 30 pass from Harris (Damien Najdek kick), 10:37
DW – John Mulville 3 run (Mehan kick), 10:19
DW – Jake Kucera 51 punt return (Mehan kick), 9:02
Ches. – Malachi Holmes 18 pass from Harris (pass failed), 4:34
Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been covering high school football since 1992 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter @JSantoliquito. Follow EasternPAFootball.com on Twitter @EPAFootball.
