Whippets Win Opener In New Era

Written by: Paul Sarpen on Saturday, August 24th, 2024. Follow Paul Sarpen on Twitter.

There was a lot of things that were new tonight for the Whippets of Downingtown West.  A new quarterback in Cole Bricker, replacing the graduated Quinn Henicle, and a new coach in Tom Kline, replacing the retired Mike Milano.

The more things change, the more they stay the same, as the Whippets beat the Abraham Lincoln Railsplitters, by a score of 30-14. The final score could have been far worse, as the Whippets squandered many opportunities.

Downingtown West scored on their opening possession, following a short punt.  The Whippets drove 58 yards in 11 plays (all on the ground), as Tommy Miller punched one in from three yards out.

The Whippets’ defense got in on the scoring after a 50-yard punt.  On Lincoln’s first play, Kysheion Dawkins was tackled in the end zone for a safety resulting in a 9-0 lead for Downingtown West. Spencer Dunn expanded West’s advantage to 16-0 after a one-yard run.

The Railsplitters got on the scoreboard before half, when quarterback Omari Sutton scored on a quarterback zone run to cut the lead to 16-6.

During the third quarter, there was no scoring, but the Whippets squandered a few opportunities to expand their lead.  There was a fumble inside the five and a couple of missed fourth downs inside Lincoln’s 15-yard line. Downingtown West went to the air to put themselves up 23-6 when Cole Bricker hit Taraschi from five yards out.  They weren’t done as Darian Smith scored from 23 yards out making it 30-6.  John Cotton returned the ensuing kickoff 91 yards for a score to close out the scoring.

I observed a more physical running game from the Whippets tonight.  They had 390 yards of offense, 369 of which were on the ground.  Spencer Dunn ran for 171 yards on 25 carries.

For the Railsplitters, Marcus Sutton threw for 137 yards on 16-22 passing.

After the game, new Whippet head coach Tom Kline lamented on a few things saying, “We won’t accept mediocrity, and left points out there. Some of it was rust, and in the past this was a second scrimmage week. We made a few mistakes that will be improved upon.  We are a physical running team, and that is who we will be.”

Follow EasternPAFootball.com on Twitter @EPAFootball

---

Leave a Reply

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website

Δ