Academy Park, O’Hara and Radnor are among winners
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SHARON HILL >> Coming off a mistake-riddled first half, Teddy Wright’s mind panicked for a brief moment on the first snap of the second.
The Academy Park senior running back put the ball on the turf on his first carry, a temporary continuation of a first half in which the Knights coughed up three turnovers.
But then the veteran savvy of a player who has experienced the pressure of state tournaments, in football and basketball, kicked in.
“I was just thinking, ‘I’m going to get it back,’” Wright said. His Knights did just that. Wright and backfield mate Dazhon Miller each ran for 100 yards and a score as Academy Park started its pursuit of a second straight District One title with a 25-6 win over West Chester East Friday night.
Miller, who lost a fumble in the first half, carried 16 times for 108 yards and a one-yard score in the last minute of the third quarter. Wright toted 19 times for 124 yards, including a five-yard scoring dash in the first quarter as the Knights tallied 262 rushing yards.
Wright also added a two-pointconversion pass on a faked extra point, an actual point-after kick and a 49-yard punt that buried East at its 3-yard line to start its first second-half possession … plus the poise that years in the Knights’ foundry of talent forges.
“I’ve been here before,” he said. “I’ve been here a lot of times last year and the year before. Mistakes, fumbles, turnovers — all that happened before, and we bounced back. That’s what I like about this team, we always bounce back.”
The outlook wasn’t as bright as the home crowd wanted at halftime, the Knights holding an 8-6 lead. They moved the ball well, but once Vikings quarterback Jon Thompson got the passing game going — with a 14-yard TD to Michael Gray — the score was too tight for comfort.
But Miller and Wright eventually bent the game to their will. Both two-way players, coach Jason Vosheski alternated them by series, acclimating them to attacking an East defense that tired late.
“You get a feel for the line and what they’re doing because every play, it seems like it’s the same hole that’s open every time,” Miller said. “You’ve just got to get a feel for it every single play.”
“Second half, we definitely made adjustments and we were prepared, but I think what got us the most is the conditioning part,” said East defensive lineman Tom Silva, who grabbed an interception and forced a fumble. “I think that’s what made us fall at the end.”
The teams traded mistakes in the first half. East’s Steven Hocker pounced on Miller’s fumble in the second quarter, but East coughed it back up with a halfback pass by Jared Cooper picked off by Jermal Martin. AP got moving again at the end of the half, but Silva stripped Shymere Stroud on a screen forced inside, Jack Phelan jumping on the loose ball in the final minute.
Martin helped make a difference, with three long punt returns flipping field position (plus a sizeable return on the interception wiped out by penalty).
AP controlled the second-half clock, allowing East just 18 offensive snaps. The biggest defensive moment came on a fourth-and-1 at midfield when Matt Erfle, who ran for 52 yards in the first half but was shutout in the second, was met by AP linebacker Issa Fox in the hole and flung backward.
“It’s just one play at a time,” Fox said. “We’re trying to go back and repeat what we did last year.”
Miller capped his drive with a score with 56 ticks left in the third to widen the edge to 16-6. After Wright’s series stalled at the 10, the AP defense forced Thompson to intentionally ground the ball from the end zone on the next series.
An ill-fated, onside free kick turned into points when quarterback Taylor Moors found Skylor Fillis for 24 yards, then Stroud for a 10-yard score.
That finish sealed the start to a season that Wright hoped for with this new, young core.
“It feels good to get the young guys happy about a new win, something they worked for,” he said. “When I was young, I was happy I was actually part of something like a win. Now, seeing these guys, you can see the smile on their faces, they’re happy. They just want to build that confidence to keep going on and on.”
*** NOTES >> Thompson finished 9-for19 for 116 yards. He missed a play after a hard hit in his end zone, but returned to continue the game. On his longest pass play, though, a 38yard connection to Mike Salloum, his receiver exited after a hard landing and didn’t return. … East rushed for just 11 second-half yards.