West Goshen – The West Chester East football team got off to a hot start Friday, scoring points on its first offensive series of the season en route to a 20-0 win over Academy Park at Harold I. Zimmerman Stadium.
Vikings senior linebacker/running back Fenton Kulp said, “I think our defense played really well. We prepared really well for this game. We have a great coaching staff that prepares us for every single play they throw at us. We played hard and physical. We tackled. It was a good game all around.”
After the opening kickoff at Academy Park, the Vikings held the visiting Knights in a three-and-out series, then the hosts marched 44 yards into the end zone in eight plays and crowned it with a 15-yard run through the middle that led to a touchdown by Kulp.
Kulp said: “On our first drive, we ran, passed and gave (Academy Park) everything we had on all fronts. On that (touchdown) play, I got a good push from the big guys up front and was able to break free.”
This touchdown was the only point in the first half as the Vikings maintained their 7-0 lead until halftime.
East senior quarterback Nate DeRosa said, “Our defense has done well and I think they’re probably riding the wave of success from last season (they’ve allowed just 14 points in the Vikings’ last four regular season games, all wins), and that makes me feel really good.”
The first nine minutes of the third quarter saw no significant offensive opportunities for either team (four punts, two from each team). With 3 ½ minutes left in the quarter, East suddenly exploded, scoring a 64-yard touchdown on a short pass from DeRosa to junior wide receiver Kyle Keefe near the left sideline.
“Kyle is just a great athlete,” DeRosa said. “He just ran a five-yard hitch, made one move and was gone. He’s a fast kid.”
East head coach Scott Stephen said, “I think Keefe showed what an athlete he is in this game when he got out there and stepped it up a gear.”
The touchdown gave the hosts a 14-0 lead with 3:31 minutes left in the third quarter.
Academy Park then launched a long drive that began at their own 24-yard line and ended at the East 30, where they lost the ball after an unsuccessful fourth down. Three plays later, on third and 1 at the East 39-yard line, Kulp broke free on the right side and scored a 61-yard touchdown that gave the hosts a 20-0 lead with 8:13 minutes left.
Kulp said: “It was a nice power play. We pulled our guard (junior Landon Messina) and I followed him. He made a great block, I saw an open lane and just took advantage of it.”
DeRosa said, “Benton read (Messina’s) block perfectly and carried him all over the court; he’s quick and agile.”
“We had a pretty solid (offensive) game plan to get the ball out there and beat them with the running game to wear them down. We did that pretty well today. Academy Park blitzed a lot, but our offensive line handled that pretty well.”
On the following series, Academy Park took the ball from its own 29-yard line to the East 36, but then a pass from Knights junior quarterback CJ Moore was intercepted by Easts senior defensive back Prince Crooms.
“I think he killed (Academy Park) with that interception, it was a great play,” Kulp said. “Their quarterback rolled out and threw the ball a long way, and Prince made a really great play and got in front of the wide receiver.”
East kept the ball moving for the rest of the game and secured the win to nil.
Stephen said: “I think we took good care of the football (defensively) at times, I thought our pursuit was really good. We need to improve our tackling skills. But to play defensive football, you need 11 players and I think we did a good job of having 11 players doing their jobs and duties. When our player was there to make the play, we had other players there that kind of helped us out.
“I thought it was a good start, but I think we need to play better in the middle half (second and third quarters). We started well and finished well, but there was a little lull in between.”
For Academy Park, Moore, who threw for 800 yards as a sophomore last fall, completed 12 of 19 passes for 114 yards against West Chester East.
Academy Park head coach Jason Vosheski said, “I think we played well for our first game of the season. Individual players made a few mistakes and we’ll try to improve from here. We need to execute our stuff (better).”
“I thought our defense played really well overall, and our quarterback (Moore) was one of our better players today, at least on offense. He played well, I can’t say enough good things about him.”
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