UWCHLAN — When Tom Kline took the reins from Mike Milano at Downingtown West this offseason, he made sure to ask his seniors what their goals were.
After a decade as an assistant for the Whippets’ only head coach in the school’s 21-year history (Milano), Kline inherited a group whose mission was to ‘finish’ after falling in the district title game last season.
“I said alright, I’m going to hold you accountable in everything we do,” Kline said. “We’re going to practice harder. We’re going to work harder in the weight room. We’re going to do everything harder and we’ll see how it ends up.”
A soaking wet Kline addressed his team Friday night near the end zone where the scoreboard read Whippets 35, Guest 16 behind him — a sign of a job that was ‘finished’. Kline’s No. 2 Downingtown West squad dominated the fourth quarter to take down No. 4 North Penn for the program’s first District 1-6A title since 2019.
“This is amazing,” said senior defensive lineman Andrew Brown, who’s defensive touchdown may have been the play of the game. “Last year, we obviously got so close and our message all year coming into this was finish, finish, finish and the scoreboard tells it for itself. We finished this year and I couldn’t be prouder for my guys.”
Downingtown West junior quarterback Cole Bricker completed 10-of-17 passes for 165 yards and two scores.to lead the Whippets offense. He found senior receiver/defensive back Darian Smith twice for scores, connecting on a 21-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter before hooking up again on an eight-yard touchdown pass with 7:42 left in the third that put the Whippets ahead 21-10 on the opening drive of the second half.
“All offseason, the motto was to finish, finish what we didn’t do last year,” Smith said. “All this week, we were just watching (last year’s championship game) to just motivate us, remember that terrible feeling we had in our mouths last year.”
North Penn senior running back Matt Pownall rushed for 103 yards and two scores and also led his team with four catches for 42 yards. He answered both of Smith’s touchdowns with scores of his own after Whippets turnovers gave the Knights short fields.
A strip sack by Azarias Fortson set up the first-quarter score and a muffed punt set up the second, which pulled North Penn within five, 21-16, with 1:15 left in the third.
Downingtown West finally created an opportunity of its own with 6:55 left in the game. With North Penn on its own nine-yard line and trailing by just one score, Brown laid a big hit to pop the ball free on a sack and recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown, extending the Whippets’ lead to 28-16.
“ I give all credit to my boys Isaac Russell and nose guard Brian Carter,” Brown said. “They opened that gap wide open for me and I just did what else was supposed to be done.”
Brown and Russell both had two sacks apiece and senior Jackson Kobus added another.
“Those boys are ferocious,” Smith said.
North Penn fumbled on its next drive and Downingtown West took advantage again as senior back Spencer Dunn put the game on ice with a 21-yard touchdown run, extending the lead to 19 with 4:09 left. It was reverse fortunes for the Knights, who forced four second-half turnovers in their semifinal win over Central Bucks South last week.
Dunn rushed for 74 yards and a score. Senior Tommy Miller added 37 yards and a touchdown on the ground and picked off a pass on defense.
“The defining trait was probably effort and everyone believing,” said Bricker, who took over as the team’s starting quarterback this season. “No one had high expectations for us this year except for our coaches, our teammates. We all believed and that was the outcome. … We knew we had what it takes since game one, practice one.”
The Whippets will look to embrace that underdog mentality that’s carried them through the season in the PIAA semifinals next week when they face District 12 champion St. Joe’s Prep — the two-time defending state champions and winners of five of the last six PIAA large classification titles.
“We’ve got St. Joe’s Prep, a big private school, and everybody’s going to be doubting us, but we wouldn’t want to have it any other way,” Brown said.
Scoring Summary:
North Penn 7 3 6 0-16
D-Town West 7 7 7 14-35
Individual Scoring
First Quarter
DW: Darian Smith 21 pass from Cole Bricker 6:38
NP: Matt Pownall 4 run (Ryan Bocklet kick) 1:52
Second Quarter
NP: Ryan Bocklet 35 FG 3:44
DW: Tommy Miller 9 run (Mason Sharp kick) 0:54
Third Quarter
DW: Darian Smith 8 pass from Cole Bricker (Mason Sharp kick) 7:42
NP: Matt Pownall 2 run (Pass fail) 1:15
Fourth Quarter
DW: Andrew Brown fumble recovery (Mason Sharp kick) 6:55
DW: Spencer Dunn 21 run (Mason Sharp kick) 4:09
Team Statistics
……………………….NP………………DW
1st downs………..13…………………19
rush-yds……….36-69……….35-134
comp-att-int….12-22-1…………..10-17-0
pass yds……….94………………165
total yds…………217……………….269
fumb-lost……..4-2………………2-2
pen-yds…………2-25…………..7-60
Individual Statistics
Rushing- North Penn:Matt Pownall25-103, 2 TDs; Josiah Coleman 6-1; Matt Bucksar 5-(-35).
D-Town West:Spencer Dunn 16-74, TD; Tommy Miller 8-37, TD; Darian Smith 2-14; Mike
Taraschi 3-0; Amari Cannon 2-2; Cole Bricker 4-(-2).
Passing- North Penn: Matt Bucksar 11-20-1, 93 yards; Matt Pownall 1-1-0, 1 yard.
D-Town West: Cole Bricker 10-17-0, 165 yards, 2 TDs.
Receiving- North Penn: Matt Pownall 4-42; Mason Franek 4-29; Josiah Coleman 1-8; Aidan Eves 1-7; Jack Staugaitis 1-7; Matt Bucksar 1-1.
D-Town West: Tommy Miller 4-69; JD Weller 2-29; Darian Smith 2-29; Brendon Goode-Kimble 1-23; Mike Taraschi 1-15.
Interceptions: Downingtown West: Tommy Miller.
Sacks: North Penn: Christian Johns-Wallace, Azarias Fortson; D-Town West: Andrew Brown 2, Isaac Russell 2, Jackson Kobus.
