Kucera, Henicle find revenge in Downingtown West’s win over Perkiomen Valley

DOWNINGTOWN >> Make no mistake, Downingtown West’s Jake Kucera and Quinn Henicle were looking forward to finally facing off against Perkiomen Valley together.

Kucera broke his leg scoring a touchdown against Perk Valley as a sophomore and missed the rest of his season. Henicle missed last year’s game due to illness, and had to watch the Vikings pull out a one-point win.

Friday, at Kottmeyer Stadium, the duo let go of some pent up frustrations on the visiting Vikings. Kucera caught seven passes for 234 yards and three of the four touchdowns thrown by Henicle, who passed for 298 yards. The Whippets pulled away with a 35-14 non-league victory.

“I definitely had this game circled on my calendar since last year,” Henicle said. “It was important to get a win for my team.”

On the Whippets (2-0) first five plays they netted one yard, but on play six, Henicle found Kucera on a backside post off play action for a 70-yard score.

Perk Valley’s Patrick MacDonald scored late in the first quarter to tie things at seven and the two defenses held for the next seven minutes of game action. But on a third-and-nine, Henicle scrambled to his left and found Kucera behind the defense for a 74-yard strike that gave West the lead for good.

“This was definitely a big win for us,” Kucera said. “We had a shaky start in our first game and I assume people were questioning our ability. Perk Valley is always a great team, so it feels good to do this.”

With the score 14-7 with 2-and-a-half minutes left in the second, the game swung on one of Perk Valley’s eight first-half penalties. The Vikings (1-1) were called for running into the kicker on fourth-and-four, giving West just its second first down of the half.

From there, West marched 52 yards on nine plays, picking up four more first downs, to push the lead to 14 on a five-yard run by Kucera.

“Any time you play a playoff team like that, it comes down to three, four big plays,” Perk Valley coach Rob Heist said. “If you don’t win those three, four big plays, you’re in trouble and a handful of them didn’t go our way and we have to clean that up.”

Henicle connected with Dean Hangey on a nine-yard TD pass with 43 seconds left in the third, but Perk Valley responded with a touchdown drive capped by a four-yard TD pass from MacDonald to Stephen Tracanna.

Up 14, the Whippets closed the door on their next drive, thanks to a 25-yard reception by Hangey and a 34-yard TD from Henicle to Kucera.

“First of all, it’s a great win,” West coach Mike Milano said. “That’s a really good football team, and we’ve had a great series with them the last seven, eight years. We struggled early, but our defense was outstanding all night. … We really struggled to find any rhythm on offense, but we made a play and another couple plays. I got a kid who can chuck it and I got some kids who can go get it.”

MacDonald broke free for a 59-yard run in the first half, but Perk Valley’s other 24 carries netted just 58 yards and West forced seven punts.

West will travel to Neshaminy in hopes of moving to 3-0, while the Vikings welcomes 2022 Delaware state champion, Smyrna, for their home opener.

“It feels great,” Henicle said. “That’s an incredible team over there, and it was a huge win for us, going forward. Hopefully that worries other teams.”

Downingtown West 35, Perkiomen Valley 14

Perkiomen Valley 7 0 0 7-14

Downingtown West     7 14 7 7-35

Scoring

First

DW: Kucera 70 pass from Henicle (Mehan kick)

PV: MacDonald 2 run (Avery kick)

Second

DW: Kucera 74 pass from Henicle (Mehan kick)

DW: Kucera 5 run (Mehan kick)

Third

DW: Hangey 9 pass from Henicle (Mehan kick)

Fourth

PV: Tracanna 9 pass from MacDonald (Avery kick)

DW: Kucera 34 pass from Henicle (Mehan kick)

Team Totals

PV              DW

First downs    9               15

Yards rushing 117           168

Yards passing 135           298

Total yards     252             466

Passing        12-23-0      14-23-0

Fumbles-lost   0-0              0-0

Punts-avg       7-28.4       3-40.3

Penalties-yds   8-45          5-45

Individual Statistics

Rushing: PV – MacDonald 9-73, TD; Reedy 8-25; Miceli 5-17; Nunez 2-3; Team 1-(-1). DW – Alex 21-62; Henicle 7-47; Kucera 8-27, TD; Dunn 5-22; Taraschi 1-3; Team 2-(-2).

Passing: PV – MacDonald 12-23, 135 yards, TD. DW – Henicle 14-23, 298 yards, 4 TDs

Receiving: PV – Miceli 4-84; Hollingsworth 5-45; Keough 1-6; Tracanna 2-3, TD. DW – Kucera 7-234, 3 TDs; Hangey 5-55, TD; Campbell 1-9; Alex 1-0.