West heads to its third straight District 1 semifinal on the legs of their QB Miller on a night that Ryan Clemens was limited to 12 carries. Clemens still had 104 yards, 2 TDs, 5 XPs, a huge sack, another TFL, etc… but was clearly on a pitch count offensively. Noah Miller stepped up with 176 yards on 27 carries, and also made some big stops defensively.
Dtown East was successful through the air, hitting some big plays in the first half to knot it at 14 at halftime. Two big plays in the third quarter swung the game. East was in the red zone driving to take the lead, when Clemens came up with a big sack to put them behind the sticks. They eventually lined up to attempt a long FG, which Jackson Lindemuth blocked coming off the right edge. Vance Morelli scooped it in stride and took it to the house. That’s the 6th different way Morelli has scored a TD this year. In the writeups, the West guys discussed how they practiced it all week, including Morelli not attempting to block it but running straight upfield to the spot the ball would bounce to if Lindemuth got the block. Specials wins games…
West then got a quick stop after pinning East deep in their own territory. On the second play of the ensuing drive, Clemens took the handoff, got hit for an apparent 3 yard loss, but broke the tackle, reversed direction and went 50 yards for the TD. West got the ball back again and on a 3rd and long from the DTown East 45, seemed to run a check play, looking over to the sideline for the call. Miller checked to some type of QB inside run (trap or iso) and wasn’t touched for the back breaking TD.
DTown East, to their credit, kept fighting and put together another TD drive before West ran the clock out and then kneed it out.
West was without the speedy McGowan again, LB Ambuster who had just returned from injury the week before and Lindemuth seemed to get hurt on his FG block. They’ll need all hands on deck next week when they travel to Downingtown West, hopefully they get some of these guys back.
The blocked kick has been a pattern for West. Clemens has a few this year, Cappa has three, Lindemuth got this one… while it doesn’t always swing games as dramatically like this one did, it’s a huge boost after giving up a TD or having a team drive the field on you. That missing point(s) adds additional stress on the opposing team.
Hate off to Coach Rowan and staff on a 10 win season in a year that they’ve been banged up since before the season started. Tons of “program” guys who you didn’t expect anything from this year have had to step up and become full time starters, and except for the hiccup against Souderton, they didn’t miss beat.
SOL National has 3/4 of the semifinalists, with the CB South / North Penn rematch looming.
Edit: When you look at DTown East, they had 5 tough losses, all against good teams. North Penn by 3, Toms River North (11-0), Rustin by one score, Dtown West by 1 and then CB West. That’s a tough road.
Dtown East was successful through the air, hitting some big plays in the first half to knot it at 14 at halftime. Two big plays in the third quarter swung the game. East was in the red zone driving to take the lead, when Clemens came up with a big sack to put them behind the sticks. They eventually lined up to attempt a long FG, which Jackson Lindemuth blocked coming off the right edge. Vance Morelli scooped it in stride and took it to the house. That’s the 6th different way Morelli has scored a TD this year. In the writeups, the West guys discussed how they practiced it all week, including Morelli not attempting to block it but running straight upfield to the spot the ball would bounce to if Lindemuth got the block. Specials wins games…
West then got a quick stop after pinning East deep in their own territory. On the second play of the ensuing drive, Clemens took the handoff, got hit for an apparent 3 yard loss, but broke the tackle, reversed direction and went 50 yards for the TD. West got the ball back again and on a 3rd and long from the DTown East 45, seemed to run a check play, looking over to the sideline for the call. Miller checked to some type of QB inside run (trap or iso) and wasn’t touched for the back breaking TD.
DTown East, to their credit, kept fighting and put together another TD drive before West ran the clock out and then kneed it out.
West was without the speedy McGowan again, LB Ambuster who had just returned from injury the week before and Lindemuth seemed to get hurt on his FG block. They’ll need all hands on deck next week when they travel to Downingtown West, hopefully they get some of these guys back.
The blocked kick has been a pattern for West. Clemens has a few this year, Cappa has three, Lindemuth got this one… while it doesn’t always swing games as dramatically like this one did, it’s a huge boost after giving up a TD or having a team drive the field on you. That missing point(s) adds additional stress on the opposing team.
Hate off to Coach Rowan and staff on a 10 win season in a year that they’ve been banged up since before the season started. Tons of “program” guys who you didn’t expect anything from this year have had to step up and become full time starters, and except for the hiccup against Souderton, they didn’t miss beat.
SOL National has 3/4 of the semifinalists, with the CB South / North Penn rematch looming.
Edit: When you look at DTown East, they had 5 tough losses, all against good teams. North Penn by 3, Toms River North (11-0), Rustin by one score, Dtown West by 1 and then CB West. That’s a tough road.
