ROYERSFORD – After a physical and hard-hitting 47 minutes of football, it came down to one play on Saturday morning between two state-ranked powers in West Chester Rustin and Pope John Paul II. Specifically, one two-point conversion.
The Golden Knights were just stunned one play earlier when Golden Panthers quarterback Luke Terlesky lofted a 74-yard touchdown pass to Braden Reed after keeping the Pope John Paul II passing game in check for most of the game.
However, West Chester Rustin turned away the Golden Panthers on a go-ahead two-point conversion attempt to preserve a 20-13 win in a battle of unbeaten teams.
“It was gut check time and our kids really stood up to the task there at the end,” Rustin head coach Mike St. Clair said. “They could have not been in the right mindset after that touchdown in, but they forced a tough pass and forced the incompletion to seal the win. A really, really good football game today between two great teams.”
Running their patented Wing-T offense, Rustin marched down the field behind the run on the opening drive of the game and made it as far as the Pope John Paul II 18-yard line. The Golden Knights tried to quarterback sneak on 4th-and-1 but were stuffed at the line of scrimmage to end the threat.
The Golden Knights went back to their rushing attack on its next drive and again drove deep into Golden Panther territory. Once again, Rustin was left empty handed towards the end of the first quarter after being stopped on 4th-and-1 this time from the 3-yard line.
Backed up in the shadow of their end zone, Pope John Paul II methodically worked its way down the field and broke the scoreless tie when Terlesky found Dylan Skarbek for an 11-yard touchdown pass with 7:01 left in the first half.
“We knew going in it was going to be a physical game,” Golden Panthers head coach Scott Reed said. “They have a very good program and veteran team and we knew we were going to be in for a fight. We had a shot at the end and just fell short. Lots of credit to Rustin for coming down here and played us hard.”
The Golden Panthers forced a punt for the first time in the contest on the ensuing drive, but Terlesky was intercepted by Jojo Magolon and he returned it for a 35-yard pick-6 that leveled the score at seven going into halftime.
“Getting that pick-6 really changed the momentum of the game,” St. Clair said. “Jojo Magolon made a phenomenal read on that pass he took advantage.”
Rustin gained excellent field position to open the third quarter at the Pope John Paul II 39-yard line and took its first lead of the game at 14-7 when Ryan Loper scored on a 5-yard touchdown run. Loper served as the main tailback after the Golden Knights two-way workhorse, Chase Hatton, took most of the carries in the first half.
“We are a running team and while they were matching up well with us up on the line, I thought we had some of our counters work out really nice.” St. Clair said. “Having a strong stable of running backs makes it easy for us to do what we like to do.”
Hatton finished just shy of 100 yards on the ground with 98 yards on 16 carries which led a 210-rushing yard day from the Golden Knights. Loper totaled 36 yards on the ground off eight carries and his touchdown while catching both of quarterback David McClain’s pass completions for 33 yards.
“Our offensive line played out of their minds today,” McClain said. “Our center Nick Hornbach and one of the best guards in District 1, Charlie Covington, were back which were a huge factor. Nicky Santangelo is so experienced along with Jackson Wolfe at right tackle and Andrew Shallo at the other tackle. PJP has a very strong defensive front and I thought they did a great job picking up their assignments to control the game.”
Along with beginning to establish the running game, the Golden Knights began winning the battle at the line defensively as well with multiple sacks that kept the Golden Panther offense stagnant in the third quarter. Rustin had a chance to put a clamp on the win with an 11-play 89-yard drive that took off 7:08 of the fourth quarter, but a 25-yard field goal went short of the goal post to give Pope John Paul II one last chance.
Braden Reed shocked the crowd with his 74-yard catch-and-run touchdown with 1:22 left in regulation and nearly came down with the two-point conversion pass from Terlesky but was out of bounds.
“I thought it was the right time to go for it there with seeing what they do backed up at the goal line and what we do in that situation.” Scott Reed said. “I wanted to go for the win with just over a minute left and it was a play we run to get ready for two-point conversions and we just did not get it.”
Braden Reed turned in gutsy 13-catch 154-yard receiving day for the Golden Panthers along with his touchdown reception. Terlesky went 21-of-33 with 233 yards through the air and tossed two touchdowns plus the one interception.
Pope John Paul II landed on their onside kick attempt but were out of bounds. That allowed the Golden Knights, who now set their sights on Norristown next Friday night, to put the finishing touches on the win by recovering a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown from the multiple Golden Panther laterals on the final play of the game.
“We are happy where we are, but we have a lot of tough games coming up,” St. Clair said. “We just need to take it one day at a time and wherever we land, we land.”
The Golden Panthers (2-1) will head back on the road to take on unbeaten Bishop Shanahan next Friday night.
| SCORE BY QUARTERS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| WC Rustin | 0 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 20 |
| Pope John Paul II | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 13 |
Scoring summary
| 2 | PJP | Skarbek, 11 pass from Terlesky (Simonic kick) | 7:01 |
| 2 | WCR | Magolon 35 interception return (Adler kick) | 5:01 |
| 3 | WCR | Loper, 5 run (Adler kick) | 6:47 |
| 4 | PJP | Reed, 74 pass from Terlesky (Pass Failed) | 1:22 |
| 4 | WCR | Colonia 0 yard fumble return | 0:00 |
Team statistics
| WC Rustin | Pope John Paul | |
| First downs | 16 | 14 |
| Rushes-yards | 45-203 | 14-22 |
| Passing yards | 33 | 221 |
| Total yards | 236 | 243 |
| Passes COMP-ATT-INT | 2-3-0 | 21-33-1 |
| Fumbles-lost | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| Punts-average | 3-32.0 | 5-35.0 |
| Penalties-yards | 5-50 | 11-111 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
WC Rustin: Hatton 16-98, Loper 8-36, Jacobs 3-33, McClain 12-28, DiAntonio 3-8, Magolon 2-1, TEAM 1-(-1)
Pope John Paul: Lucci 7-25, Skarbek 1-6, Scruggs 2-3, Terlesky 4-(-12)
PASSING
WC Rustin: McClain 2-3-0—33
Pope John Paul: Terlesky 21-33-1—221
RECEIVING
WC Rustin: Loper 2-33
Pope John Paul: Reed 13-154, Skarbek 4-42, DeAngelo 2-8, Bass 1-17, Digiacomo 1-6, Frantz 0-(-6)
INTERCEPTIONS
WC Rustin: Magolon
MISSED FIELD GOALS
WC Rustin: Adler 25
