Whippets rout Redskins in home opener

In a game that could send shock waves through followers of District 1, and Eastern Pennsylvania high school football for that matter- the Downingtown West Whippets hammered the defending District 1 champion Neshaminy Redskins 28-7 at Kottmeyer Stadium.

The game featured two teams heading in completely opposite directions to start the season, as the Whippets raced out to a 2-0 start (defeating Haverford High School out of the Central League 31-2 last week), and only allowing nine points in two games. The loss sends the Redskins back to Langhorne with an uncharacteristic 0-2 start, only scoring ten points in their first two games. Whether it’s adjusting to a new coaching style, losing a lot of last year’s team, or a combination of both remains to be seen.

To add a little more shock to the casual observer, the script was flipped from last season when Neshaminy mercy ruled the Whippets 39-0 last year.

Following a fast moving and scoreless opening twelve minutes, the Whippets and Redskins traded touchdowns. Downingtown West drew first blood on a Jake Barr two-yard run, and Matt Magdelinskas tied the score at seven on a four-yard run. Jake Barr would add another touchdown to put Downingtown West up 14-7 at halftime, as he hauled in a 28-yard pass from Tyler McNulty.

From then on Downingtown West dominated Neshaminy in the second half under relentless pressure from their offensive and defensive lines. Jake Barr added his third touchdown on the night with a ten-yard run, and Jimmy DiSantis closed out the scoring on a 16 yard pass from Tyler McNulty. The Whippets ground out 252 yards on 44 carries, and had a total of 365 yards of offense.

Downingtown West also did a solid job defending against all district running back DeAndre Pollard on the evening. Granted, Pollard got over 200 all purpose yards (177 rushing, 25 receiving) tonight. The Whippets were able to limit the big plays and kept him out of the end zone.

After the game, Downingtown West head coach Mike Milano stated that he was, “Happy with the win. One of the big differences between us and them tonight was experience at quarterback. Their’s is young and made some plays. Tyler McNulty saw a lot of playing time last year. He makes plays and always finds a way to put us in good positions. The kids rally around him and believe in him. We have three great and high quality running backs. They’re not the 4.3 speed guys, but they grind out yards. As for our defense, we have a scrappy bunch that made plays tonight. This was also a revenge game for us. They beat us 39-0 last year. It was 14-0 at half and got away from us in the second half.

STATS-
DW- Jake Barr 2 yard run (Bowler kick)
NH- Magdeliskas 4 yard run (McDonald kick)
DW- Barr 28 pass from McNulty (Bowler kick)
DW- Barr 10 run (Bowler kick)
DW- DiSantis 16 pass from McNulty (Bowler kick)

First Downs-
DW- 22
NH- 15

Penalties-Yards
DW- 2-15
NH- 4-32

Fumbles (Lost)
DW- 4 (1)
NH- NONE

Punts (Avg)
DW- 1 (13)
NH- 2 (33)

Rushes-Yards
DW- McNulty 11-63, DiSantis 3-6, Barr 15-90 (2td), Harper 12-71, Riddick 3-22. Team 44-252
NH- Jones 1-(minus 8), Pollard 25-177, Kitchenman 1-2, Dogba 3-14, Magelinskas 4-25 (td), Goetz 1-(minus 25). Team 35-185

Passing-
DW- McNulty- 9-16-133 yards-2 td-1 int.
NH- Jones 10-28-111 yards- 1 int

Receiving-
DW- Bowler 1-7, Riddick 1-18, Mattioni 1-20, DiSantis 3-44, Barr 2-24, Harper 1-20
NH- Pollard 1-25, Stevens 1-9, Treadway 2-21, Hughes 3-25, Ritchey 3-31