Tonight, the Whippets of Downingtown West won a massive Ches-Mont League clash against one of their two main rivals, the Coatesville Red Raiders by a score of 21-14. Tonight was Downingtown West’s first win over the Red Raiders since the 2019 District 1 AAAAAA championship game, and only the second time the Whippets beat the Red Raiders since 2015 (1-6 in that span). It was the first time the two rivals played since 2021, as last year’s game at Coatesville was canceled and never played.
Tonight’s game had the feeling of a big-time brawl, with a little bit of everything, from weather delaying the start by almost a half hour, to 240 combined yards and 25 total penalties.
Following a Coatesville punt, Downingtown West went through Coatesville’s vaunted defense like a hot knife through butter, when Kam Alex scored from ten yards out. From there, the Red Raiders were able to make some offensive adjustments. They hit a big pass play from Matt Ortega Jr (youngest son of Coatesville coach Matt Ortega) to Frank Miles of 37 yards, then Damon Watson scored from three yards out to tie the game at seven.
The Red Raiders took a 14-7 lead into halftime when they capitalized on a rare mistake by Whippet quarterback Quinn Henicle who lost a fumble on a sack. Matt Ortega Jr hit Jack Qwan Jones from 29 yards out on a second down and 26, following a personal foul.
Downingtown West tied the game at 14 midway into the third frame, when Henicle hit John Barry on a 60-yard pass play. They then took the lead on a Quinn Henicle 9-yard run.
Despite losing two fumbles, Quinn Henicle had a solid game, throwing for 195 yards and a touchdown on 13-17 passing, and adding 48 yards rushing and a touchdown on 16 carries.
Coatesville still has a solid defense, holding Downingtown West’s offense to their lowest output in points (21) and yardage (301 yards). Unfortunately, the Red Raiders were unable to overcome an off day by their offense (192 yards of offense- 118 yards passing, 74 rushing), and 16 penalties for 140 yards.
After the game, Coatesville coach Matt Ortega told his team, “Adversity reveals character and life lessons. Either you’re on the bus or you’re not. We will come back Monday and win next week with the guys who want to be here. We had our chances, but they made more plays than we did. We fell apart, wasted time outs getting plays in late and lining up wrong.” Regarding the penalties, he said, “They clearly played a big role tonight, some were borderline.”
After the game, Whippet quarterback Quinn Henicle said, “It’s amazing to beat them. The only opponent that could beat us is ourselves.”
Coach Mike Milano stated “We hung in there all game. Kept trusting each other and the staff. This game is always a grind from all the way from middle school to now. You can’t beat a good team when you commit 16 penalties like they did.”
DW 7-0-7-7- 21
CV 14-0-0-0- 14
DW- Kam Alex 10 yard run (Mehan kick)
CV- Watson 3 run (Shaeffer kick)
CV- Davis 29 pass from Ortega (Shaeffer kick)
DW- Barry 60 pass from Henicle (Mehan kick)
DW- Henicle 9 run (Mehan kick)
First Downs-
DW- 16
CV- 11
Penalties-Yards
DW 9-105
CV 16-140
Fumbles-Lost
DW- 2-2
CV- NONEYards Passing
DW 195
CV- 118Yards rushing
DW- 106
CV- 74
Total Yards (plays)
DW- 301 (57 plays)
CV- 182 (49 plays)
Individual StatesDW- Henicle 13-17- 195 yards, 1 td
CV- Ortega Jr 8-23-106 yards, 1 INT. Haskett 1-2-12 yardsRush-
DW- Henicle 16-48 TD, Kucera 5-24, Alex 15-20, Dunn 3-10, Tarashi 1-6.
CV- Ortega 9-7, Haskett 4-14, Watson 11-53Receiving-
DW- Hangey 6-82, Kucera 3-42, Alex 1-2, Dunn 1-(minus 2), Campbell 1-8, Barry 1-60
CV- Miles 2-44, Haskett 1-8, Watson 1-4, James 3-48, Tucker-Scott 2-15
