It’s billed as the “Battle of the Brandywine”. And what a battle it was. But in the end Downingtown West used 4 interceptions by Defensive Back Tommy Woodward, including a 62 yard return for a touchdown that gave the Whippets a 26-14 win over arch-rival and sister school Downingtown East at Kottmeyer Stadium on the campus of Downingtown West Friday Night
Tied at 14 Woodward picked off a Trey Lauletta pass on the Whippets 38 and returned it for a 62 yard touchdown with 10:48 left in the fourth quarter.
“We were ready for their long pass plays” said Woodward, who had 3 interceptions in a game against Avon Grove last year. “Our D-Line got pressure on them all night,” he added.
“All we did was just stay with our base defense,” said West Head Coach Mike Milano. “We knew they were going to come in here and try to play power football. We got manhandled last week against Avon Grove, a Wing-T Team with three great backs. But we stayed the course and made plays,” he added.
The win by West (7-1 overall, 3-1 Ches-Mont National) also created a 4 way log jam at the top of the division. West, East, Avon Grove and Coatesville all have 1 loss within the division.
East (6-2 overall, 3-1 Ches-Mont National) jumped on the scoreboard first when Tyler Kroft hauled in a 34 yard pass from Trey Lauletta with 4:30 left in the first quarter. Tyler Mayes added his first of two extra points as East led 7-0. Lauletta completed his first four passes but then didnot complete a pass the remainder of the game and threw five interceptions, four to Woodward.
West then scored the next two touchdowns to take a 14-7 lead. Quarterback Bret Gillespie found Peter Mulville for both touchdowns. The first was a straight 55 yard pass that capped a 68 yard 4 play drive with 10:01 left in the second quarter. The second score was a 58 yard touchdown off a double reverse flea flicker on the fourth play of the third quarter. Gillespie finished the night with 124 yards on three completions.
East then tied the game at 14 when Drew Harris scored on a three yard run that capped a 71 yard seven play drive. Harris gained all but 10 of the yards in the drive. Harris, only a sophomore carried 37 times for 146 yards.
West then put the exclamation point on the game when Kessan Christopher scored on an 11 yard run with 3:02 left in the game. Christopher finished with 130 yards on 17 carries.
West now travels all of five miles next Friday Night to take on long time rival Coatesville while East stays home to take on West Chester east.
