Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
One Step Closer
Rustin stays in American driver’s seat with win over Vanguards
ASTON >> West Chester Rustin’s season has been about taking care of business on Friday nights.
Sure, the Golden Knights may have had a couple of hiccups along the way, but Rustin has been nothing short of stellar for the majority of this campaign and continued that trend with a convincing 35-14 victory over Sun Valley Friday night at Dr. Wally Stadium.
“I’m really happy with the way they came out; we knew Sun Valley was going to come out loaded,” said Golden Knights coach Mike St. Clair, whose team improved to 6-2 overall and 4-0 in the ChesMont League American Division. “Sun Valley is a very tough team and they’re hard to play against. We were very lucky to hit those first couple of big plays and set the tone.”
Rustin established itself early in the game with a good balance of its ground game and its aerial attack. Michael Covert (103 yards, touchdown), Collin Hurley (39 yards), and Nick Madonna (141 yards, two total touchdowns) put in the work on the ground, while quarterback Will Pileggi comfortably
directed the offense through the air.
“We have a lot of weapons in the backfield and some of the kids that should be touching the ball can’t get enough in there, just because there isn’t enough time,” St. Clair said. “They all block for each other, they run for each other; we’re a pretty tight family and it’s working pretty well.”
Pileggi, who turned in a very nice effort on the night by completing seven of 11 passes for 166 yards and three scores, hit tight end Sean Hopkins for a pair of superb, first-quarter touchdowns. Sun Valley had no answer for the senior tight end as Hopkins hauled in scoring receptions of 48 and 63 yards respectively.
“We practiced those two plays all week,” said Hopkins, who finished with four catches for 139 yards. “It was awesome (after he caught the ball on the touchdown plays), it was like I blacked out for a few seconds.”
As good as his offense was, St. Clair was equally as impressed with his defensive unit, which did a great job keeping Sun Valley star running back Julz Kelly (110 yards, two touchdowns) in check until late in the contest.
“The Kelly kid is one of the
best backs around and you have to stop him and let the other guys hurt you,” St. Clair said. “Lucky enough, we were able to do that for the most part. My defensive guys just play tough all the time.”
For Sun Valley, the aftermath of last week’s 101-6 defeat to Massillon Washington High (Ohio) appeared to have no ill effects. At times, the Vanguards executed
and performed as if last week never happened, which is exactly how the players chose to approach the game.
“It wasn’t a problem … it happens,” said linebacker/tight end Dan Nearey. “I think it shows the heart of the team that last week we gave up over 100 and we came back this week, played tough, and held them to 14 in the first half.”