Many in Chester County and the surrounding District 1 area were surprised with the Downingtown West start to the 2024 season. A new quarterback, new coach, and they replaced many skill players from last year’s team.
The Whippets won again tonight, defeating the Perkiomen Valley Vikings 35-13 in a crossover matchup between the Ches-Mont and Pioneer Athletic Conference.
Perkiomen Valley dug themselves into an early hole, with some uncharacteristic play. A botched fake punt and a tip drill interception gave the Whippets short fields, where they jumped out to a 14-0 lead early. West Point bound Darian Smith scored on a 33-yard touchdown run, and Cole Bricker hit JD Weller on a 16-yard pass to make the score 14-0.
The Vikings’ hole got bigger when it hit 21-0. Darian Smith scored his second of three touchdowns from 36 yards out. A Patrick MacDonald 11-yard run got the Vikings on the scoreboard in the second, cutting the lead to 21-6, but that was as close as the Vikings would get.
West got their lead back to three scores (28-6) before halftime, when Mike Taraschi scored from 13 yards out.
Both teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter, a Patrick MacDonald touchdown run got the Vikings back to 28-13, and Darian Smith closed out the scoring on a 39-yard reception.
The Whippets’ ground game rolled to 196 yards (315 total) and their defense held the Vikings to 55 yards passing (163 total).
After the game, Whippet coach Tom Kline said, “Spencer Dunn was held out of the second half due to an ankle issue. It was more of a precautionary measure. We had a lot of guys with offers to play in college last year, but we are confident in our 22 this year, and we take what the defense gives us.”
Perkiomen Valley coach Rob Heist acknowledged, “We didn’t play our brand of football tonight. We had a few uncharacteristic penalties (5-45) and turnovers (2).” Those turnovers snowballed quickly in the first half. These kids are resilient.
