The rattling rails of the rollercoasters could be overheard in the background, and the cool breeze pushing off the Atlantic Ocean on Friday afternoon gave Carey Stadium a reprieve from the heat in Ocean City, New Jersey, at the Battle of the Beach.
It was a fitting tableau for the combustible Jake Kucera. The Downingtown West 5-foot-10, 165-pound junior slotback/strong safety broke the fibula in his right leg last year in the third game of 2021 ending his season.
On Friday, he was a timebomb ready to explode on Highland (NJ) and that’s what he did, scoring a career-best four touchdowns, rushing for a career-high 147 yards, and catching a career-best 108 yards on four receptions in Downingtown West’s 48-13 thumping of Highland.
“I think I might have rushed for 100 yards back in middle school,” said a sweaty Kucera, holding the white marble game MVP award. “It was a big day. I managed to get some sleep, but I had this game on my mind for a long time. Last year I really wanted to have a breakout year, a good year, and unfortunately, it didn’t happen. So I’ve been waiting a long time for this.
“The bus ride was filled with a lot of anticipation, a lot of excitement. It’s hard not to get super amped up for a game like this. I never was hurt like that before.”
Kucera underwent two months of rehab and was able to return this past spring for baseball season.
“Jake was a starter as a freshman and he’s an obvious talent and we were excited about him coming back his sophomore year when he got rolled up in the game against Perkiomen Valley,” Whippets’ coach Mike Milano said. “He’s a great baseball player, a great athlete, and a great kid. We came into this game thinking we could do a couple of things with Jake. He’s a good combination of fast, physical, and smart.”
A lot of Kucera’s success came running behind mammoth 6-foot-7, 310-pound junior tackle Ryan Howard, the younger brother of former Downingtown West star quarterback Will Howard.
“It’s great blocking for him because we open the holes and Jake does the rest,” Ryan said. “We know we can get him a little space and he’ll run through it. All offseason, I saw what Jake can do and it was on full display today.”
Highland scored on its second possession when senior tailback Angelo Rodriguez popped up the middle for 20 yards for the first of his two touchdowns.
After that, the Whippets—and Kucera—rolled.
Downingtown West took advantage of a high snap on a punt that gave the Whippets possession at the Highland 12. A penalty moved the ball to the seven and two plays later, Downingtown West junior quarterback Quinn Henicle plunged into the end zone from a yard out.
The game then turned into the “Jake Kucera show.”
He scored the next four touchdowns in succession, featuring three TD passes from Henicle for 46, 19, and 14 yards, which sandwiched his 77-yard TD run where he went untouched.
“To come out here and perform like this was really special (after losing last year to injury),” said Kucera, who finished with 255 all-purpose yards. “It was a lot of fun.”
Scoring Summary
Downingtown West (1-0) 14 14 14 6-48
Highland (0-1) 6 0 0 7-13
1st Quarter
H – Angelo Rodriguez 21 run (kick blocked), 8:10
DW – Quinn Henicle 1 run (Ben Mehan kick), 4:51
DW – Jake Kucera 46 pass from Henicle (Mehan kick), :00
2nd Quarter
DW – Kucera 19 pass from Henicle (Mehan kick), 4:56
DW – Kucera 77 run (Mehan kick), 3:10
3rd Quarter
DW – Kucera 14 pass from Henicle (Mehan kick), 5:36
DW – Spencer Dunn 7 run (Mehan kick), 2:26
4th Quarter
DW – Sean Boggi 7 run (kick failed), 9:20
H – Rodriguez 66 run (Johnson kick), 6:29
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.
