Downingtown East pounds Downingtown West, 42-28
It was the most explosive football game in the history of the rivalry. In the eight years since the Downingtown school district had split into two schools, the two teams, East and West, had never scored more than 40 combined points in a game.
It was the most explosive football game in the history of the rivalry. In the eight years since the Downingtown school district had split into two schools, the two teams, East and West, had never scored more than 40 combined points in a game.
But Friday night, in a game in which the teams traded haymakers like two heavyweights, the East Cougars defeated West, 42-28. With the loss, the Whippets scored the most points by a losing team since the rivalry began.
With the win, East, ranked No. 6 in Southeastern Pennsylvania by The Inquirer, improved to 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the Ches-Mont League National Conference.
Should the Cougars win their remaining two league games, they would be the conference's first outright champion in three years. Last season, East and West were tri-champions with Avon Grove.
West, which had won four straight entering Friday night, fell to 4-4 overall and 3-1 in the league.
Three minutes into the second quarter, the Cougars and Whippets had been swapping scores, and were knotted at 14, highlighted by a 64-yard touchdown run by East's Drew Harris and a fake reverse turned flea-flicker by West for a 45-yard TD pass from Kenneth Fuhrman to Louis Smith.
The Cougars then rattled off 21 straight points, building a three-touchdown lead entering halftime behind the powerful running of Harris (157 yards in the first half) and heady play from Lauletta, who was 5-for-6 passing for 62 yards and two touchdowns in the half.
The Whippets, however, wouldn't go away without throwing a few punches of their own.
On the second play of the third period, halfback Trey Faust busted a 61-yard run down to the opposing 4-yard line. Tim Connell punched it in from 4 yards out on the ensuing play.
After a three-and-out series by East, West struck quickly again. Fuhrman and Smith connected for their second long score of the game, an 85-yard touchdown pass, to draw within a touchdown.
Both teams went scoreless for the next 12-plus minutes. And with 4:04 left to play in the fourth quarter, East scored for the first time in the second half on a 5-yard bootleg run by Lauletta that capped the scoring.
Harris finished the game with a staggering 208 yards on 29 carries to propel the Cougars.
West won last year's contest, 26-14, and had won the last three games in the series. East hadn't won since 2005. West has a 4-3 advantage in the all-time series. The teams didn't play in 2007 because of the death of an East player in a car crash.
Downingtown East 14 21 0 7 – 42
Downingtown West 7 7 14 0 – 28
DE: Bone 8 pass from Lauletta (Mayes kick)
DW: Harrel 2 run (Caruso kick)
DE: Harris 64 run (Mayes kick)
DW: Smith 45 pass from Fuhrman (Caruso kick)
DE: Lauletta 1 run (Mayes kick)
DE: Harris 3 run (Mayes kick)
DE: Kroft 15 pass from Lauletta (Mayes kick)
DW: Connell 4 run (Caruso kick)
DW: Smith 85 pass from Fuhrman (Caruso kick)
DE: Lauletta 5 run (Mayes kick)