West Chester East's ground game, defense does its job and leaves Academy Park no chance

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.

The Vikings marched 44 yards into the end zone on their first possession in eight plays and capped their run with a 15-yard run up the middle for a touchdown by Fenton Kulp. The touchdown was the only score of the first half, and the Vikings held onto their 7-0 lead until halftime.

“On our first drive, we ran, passed and gave (Academy Park) everything we had on all fronts,” Kulp said. “On that (touchdown) play, I got a good push from the big guys up front and was able to break free.”

There was not much offense from either team in the first nine minutes of the third quarter, with four punts in total. With three minutes left in the quarter, East ran on a short pass from Nate DeRosa to junior wide receiver Kyle Keefe near the left sideline for a 64-yard touchdown. The touchdown gave the hosts a 14-0 lead with 3:31 minutes left in the third quarter.

“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.”

Academy Park then started a long drive that started at their own 24-yard line and ended at the east 30-yard line, where they lost the ball after an unsuccessful fourth down.

Three plays later, on third down and one at the East's 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.

On the following series, Academy Park moved the ball from its own 29-yard line to the East 36, but a pass from Knight junior quarterback CJ Moore was intercepted by East senior defensive back Prince Crooms.

“I think he killed them with that interception, it was a great play,” Kulp said. “Their quarterback rolled out and threw the ball 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.

“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,” DeRosa said. “We did that pretty well today. Academy Park blitzed a lot, but our offensive line handled that pretty well.”

“I think our defense played really well; we prepared really well for this game,” Kulp said. “We have a great coaching staff that prepares us for every single play they throw at us. We played hard and physical; we battled; it was a good game all around.”

Moore completed 12 of 19 passes for 114 yards against West Chester East.

“I thought we played well for our first game of the season,” Academy Park coach Jason Vosheski said. “Individuals made some mistakes and we'll try to improve from here. We've got to execute. 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.”

Originally published: August 24, 2024 at 00:41