I'm going to say this was a good football game, not necessarily because it was that well played, as both teams made their share of mistakes, but because it was physical, intense game for 48 minutes. Easton walks away saying a couple plays or calls go their way and they win, and West thinks they win easily if they execute better and clean up the mistakes. Easton is very talented, especially when they get their big receiver back, giving them a pair of studs on the outside to go with two very good backs. They didn't back down from West's physical run game, and as Rover noted, didn't really wear out until the second half of the 4th quarter when West started picking up some bigger chunks on the ground. Easton is going to give teams some matchup problems because you've got to cover sideline to sideline while stopping what should be a very good running game. They also seemed to play a pretty disciplined game. Sometimes a team just needs that one win to get their season going... a tough one coming up though this week.
If you're West, I think you're happy to survive that one, and you can take some positives away: A lot of inexperienced youngsters and some upperclassmen who were stuck behind a good senior class contributed and made an impact. QB showed a lot of promise in his first start with some breakaway speed. On his long run he scores easily if he doesn't bobble the ball. Made a couple of clutch throws when he needed to and seemed to manage the game well. Clemens was unbelievable, making plays all over the field in his first game at LB. (And one of the best open-field tackles I've every seen) Not sure if he'll stay there if other LBs get healthy or if he'll go back to the secondary. Vance Morelli had quite the coming out party with the big pick, TD run and KO return. Just glided down the field on the return, very impressive for someone who was a role player last year. If they can get their speedy receiver McGowan back on the field also, they have him, Morelli, Clemens, Miller (QB) as offensive weapons. Defensively they bent a lot but came up with big plays when needed. They remind me a bit of the 2021 team (9-3) that just seemed to will themselves to wins. Defensive line was very good but the Easton backs were squeezing through some small holes where you expected the West LBs to clean it up. Plenty to work on getting ready for what I'd expect to be an improved Upper Dublin team.
