Gutowski takes to the air, Knights fly by Valley Forge

UPPER MERION » Delco Christian ran the ball 62 times against Valley Forge Military Academy Friday. It threw only four passes.

But the final two tosses made all the difference.

Quarterback Luke Gutowski connected on a pair of fourth-down throws in the final three minutes to fuel a 21-17 victory for the visitors.

Delco Christian (4-2, 3-1 Bicentennial) trailed 17-14 in the fourth quarter when it engineered an 88yard touchdown drive on 18 plays.

The first of the two throws came with the Knights facing a fourthand-10 at the VFMA 49. Gutowski hit Jalen Mitchell for a 29-yard gain on a post pattern that kept Delco Christian’s hopes alive.

“Luke Gutkowski believes in himself and his teammates,” Delco Christian coach Drew Pearson said. “And Jalen Mitchell made a great catch, under the greatest pressure you can be under. Jalen’s a tough kid, he doesn’t come off the field at any time.”

The second — and winning — throw came on fourth-and-goal at the 4 with 1:23 remaining, when Gutowski (who ran 22 times for 110 yards and two TDs) rolled to the right and hit junior Jason Motley for the winning score.

Delco Christian controlled the first eight minutes of the game on a 15-play, 60-yard drive, consisting mostly of gains by the three-pronged running attack of Gutowski, Mitchell and Jared Nesbit. The trio combined for 256 rushing yards on 57 carries.

VFMA came back with a 58yard touchdown drive, capped by 23-yard TD run by Elliott Calloway, who was headed up the middle, found no running room, then broke left to daylight.

Early in the second quarter, Delco Christian botched a punt snap to give VFMA (0-6, 0-4) good field position. That allowed kicker Anthony Littlewood to boot a 40yard field.

Delco Christian then ran the ball 13 consecutive times for a 70-yard touchdown drive, capped by a fouryard plunge by Gutowksi to give the Knights a 14-10 lead at halftime.

Pearson credited senior linemen Tyler Smith and Tyler VanEerden for the success of the Knights’ runners.

On the opening play of the second half, VFMA regained the momentum as Calloway burst down the left sideline for a 40-yard run to the Delco Christian 25. Four plays later, Naseer Gilbert dove in from the two to give the hosts a 1714 lead.

Early in the fourth, VFMA drove deep into Delco Christian territory, but the Knights’ defense stiffened and the Trojans relinquished the ball on downs at the 12.

“I thought our linebackers, particularly Gutowski and Jason Motley, played well today,” Pearson said.

Delco Christian took over at its 12 and spent the next nine minutes on the decisive drive. Three times, the Knights converted on fourth down. The first time was when Gutowski took the snap on a fourth-and-3 from the DC 47 and ran for a four-yard keeper to keep the drive alive.

“We work as a team,” VanEerden said, “but Luke carried us today.”

“Gutowski did a great job for them today,” VFMA coach Mike Korom said. “I thought defensively we played our best game of the season so far, and offensively, we moved the ball. Our kids played hard, read their keys, they never quit.”

Valley Forge had one last shot with 1:23 to play, but Noah Warren’s interception ended it.

“I thought our whole squad showed resilience today,” Pearson said. “We fell behind a couple of times, but we kept coming back.”