FOOTBALL: West Chester Rustin rolls past Norristown

WESTTOWN – Facing a Norristown team that entered Friday’s contest with a 3-0 record, the West Chester Rustin football squad’s defense sparkled in a 56-7 victory.

The Golden Knights (4-0) held Norristown to a single first down in the first quarter, and did not allow the visitors to penetrate Rustin territory until the second quarter, by which time the hosts had built a 35-0 lead.

“We had a lot of respect for Norristown; anyone who comes in with a 3-0 record is feeling pretty good about themselves,” said Rustin defensive coordinator Steve Walsh. “As coaches, we told the team that all week, and we actually won the game this week with hard practices. We were swarming to the ball tonight, it was a great total team effort.

“Pat Maychak had an outstanding game at inside linebacker, same for Chase Hatton at free safety. And our outside linebackers, Jojo Magolon and David Jacobs, played really well. Our defensive line, as a group, played really well.”

Rustin got off to a fast start from the opening kickoff. Junior Jimmy Boland returned the kickoff all the way to the Norristown 28-yard line; then senior running back Ryan Loper ran the ball for eight yards. Loper scored on a 20-yard touchdown on the third play of the game for a quick 7-0 lead.

Six plays later, Norristown punted from its own 33, and Rustin went on a three-play, 64-yard touchdown drive. Hatton ran for 13 yards, then quarterback David McClain carried for seven yards, then Hatton scored on a broken-field 44-yard run to make it 14-0 less than four minutes into the game.

Following a Norristown three-and-out, Rustin put together a four-play, 41-yard touchdown drive that ended when McClain hit an open Loper down the middle for a 27-yard score.

Rustin wasn’t finished scoring in the first quarter. After another Norristown three-and-out, the Golden Knights got the ball at midfield and went on a four-play, 48-yard scoring drive, completed when Hatton ran down the left side on a 27-yard touchdown run to make it 28-0 with 1:17 left in the first quarter.

The visitors once again went three-and-out to start the second quarter, and a short punt gave the hosts the ball at the Norristown 40 yard line. Four plays later, Hatton scored his third touchdown of the first half, a 15-yard run in which he broke several tackles. Rustin had a 35-0 lead with 10:12 to go in the first half.

Hatton played despite a broken right thumb suffered in the first quarter in last week’s win against Pope John Paul II. He finished that game, and gained more than 100 yards rushing on just seven carries in the first half against Norristown.

“It wasn’t just me (scoring), I was just running the ball and (the credit) is on the offensive line,” said Hatton. “I saw grass every time I touched the ball; it was because of our O-line – Jackson Wolfe at left tackle, Nicky Santangelo at left guard, Nick Hornbach at center, Charlie Covington at right guard, Andy Shallo at right tackle, and Billy Tigue and Luke Matthias blocking at tight end.”

Walsh said, “Our offensive line has been working really well. Our offensive line coach, John Timko, does a great job (with them) during the week.”

Late in the second quarter, Norristown elected to go for the first down on 4th-and-3 from its own 28 yard line, and did not convert it. Two plays later, Hatton scored on a 19-yard run, his fourth touchdown of the first half and the hosts had a 42-0 halftime lead.

Walsh said, “The (broken thumb) didn’t really hamper Chase tonight; (but) obviously we’re going to have to watch how he handles that for games in the future.

“We had Jimmy (Boland) in there for kick returns because we didn’t want Chase (Hatton) being deep for kick returns. We actually had two new return guys this week, Jimmy and Caleb Jacob and they both did a great job on kick returns.”

Rustin’s defense continued to sparkle at the start of the second half. After the second half kickoff, the Golden Knights stopped Norristown on three consecutive plays, forcing an Eagles punt attempt.

“We put on a good pass rush tonight, and our linebackers are elite,” said Hatton. “Norristown is a really good team, but I think we played a really good game today.”

“We had our pass rush going on, and our coverage was great too,” said Walsh.

Norristown’s attempted punt did not happen — a low snap to the punter resulted in a fumble that was recovered by the Eagles at their own 3 yard line.

Three plays later, Magolon scored on a two-yard run to make the score 49-0.

Norristown then put together its lone scoring drive of the night, covering 85 yards in 12 plays. The big play was a 45-yard pass completion from quarterback Brendan Farrell to Nasir Minor, who caught it on the right sideline at the 3-yard line. On fourth-and-goal at the Rustin 1 yard line, Farrell ran it in for a touchdown with 9:41 left.

Four plays later, Rustin completed the scoring for the night when Jacob broke free on a 40-yard touchdown run down the right sideline, making the score 56-7 with 6:41 left.

Norristown head coach Joseph Milligan said, “Playing a team like Rustin, who will be going deep into the playoffs and is outside of our league, is a good eye-opener for our kids. We didn’t play our best game tonight; we’re a little banged up, but we’ve got to understand that’s part of the game and we have to focus on the task at hand throughout the week. As coaches, we have to make sure we tighten the ship up to make sure we’re on point with our game plan.

“When you have the kind of record we came in with (3-0), there’s a bulls-eye on your back and people want to knock you off. When you’re facing a good team like (Rustin), and it’s a big win for them as far as power points and playoffs, they’re going to be honed in and ready to play. We look at this (game) as being a gauntlet run for us – we’re now 3-1, which is our best run yet since I’ve been here, and that’s a positive. Playing a good team like Spring-Ford (next), and understanding that we’ve really got to be honed in, is a good challenge for us and a good position to be in.”

West Chester Rustin 56, Norristown 7

Norristown                           0       0       0       7       –        7

West Chester Rustin              28     14     7       7       –        56

First quarter scoring:

WCR – Loper, 20, run (Adler kick)

WCR – Hatton, 44, run (Adler kick)

WCR – Loper, 27, pass from McClain (Adler kick)

WCR – Hatton, 27, run (Adler kick)

Second quarter scoring:

WCR – Hatton, 15, run (Adler kick)

WCR – Hatton, 19, run (Adler kick)

Third quarter scoring:

WCR – Magolon, 2, run (Adler kick)

Fourth quarter scoring:

NOR – Farrell, 1, run (Murphy kick)

WCR – Jacob, 40, run (Adler kick)

TEAM STATISTICS

NOR           WCR

First downs                   7                 15

Rushes-yards      27-76                  23-276

Compt-att-int      4-20-0                 5-8-0

Passing yards      65                        62

Total yards          131                      338

Punts-avg.           5-31.4                  1-40.0

Fumbles – lost    1-0                       1-0

Penalties-yards   1-5                       3-25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: NOR – Carr 15-43, Harp 5-27, Farrell 2-15 TD, Moffitt 2-4, Minor 1-3, Hall 1-5, Team 1-minus 21, 27-76. WCR – Loper 5-38 TD, Hatton 7-136 4 TDs, Paine 5-40, Magolon 1-2 TD, McClain 3-13, Jacob 1-40 TD, DiAntonio 1-7, Total 23-276.

Passing: NOR – Farrell 4-20-0, 65 yards; WCR – McClain 5-6-0, 62 yards, TD, Blaine 0-2-0, 0 yards.

Receiving: NOR – Moffitt 1-9, Henry 1-10, Minor 2-46, Total 4-65. WCR – Loper 3-45 TD, Tigue 1-10, Magolon 1-7, Total 5-62.