Troop starting to like what he sees in surging Patriots

YEADON » The message that Penn Wood coach Ato Troop delivered to his players after Friday’s homecoming win at Kerr Field was germane.

Nice win, fellas, test.

The entire 2017 season, until this point, was merely a “warmup” for Troop’s troops in preparation for Academy Park. The Patriots, who throttled Chichester, 400, host the Knights next week in a battle for first place in the Del Val League. A win by either team will seal at least a share of the title.

The Patriots will enter next week’s tilt with the Knights riding a six-game winning streak. Academy Park, meanwhile, earned its fifth consecutive victory with a 34-0 rout of Glen Mills.

After losing its first two games, Penn Wood is one of the hottest teams in Delco.

“I like what I’ve seen,” Troop said. “I like how we’re executing on offense. I like what we’re doing on defense. We’ve still got some things to work on, but we’re getting better. Especially with the start we had, for them to come back and win six in a row, it means a lot to the seniors. They’ve never beat AP. They’ve never beat Interboro until this year and they’ve never beat Haverford School until this year. We took care of those two, but we have two more games. Definitely the AP game, we really want to beat them.”

If the Chi game was a tune-up, the Patriots hardly broke a sweat. Rahiem Bowens returned the opening kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown. Minutes later, when Penn Wood lined up for its first offensive snap, Kennedy Poles took a reverse 67 yards to the end zone.

Chichester (3-3, 0-3 Del Val) put up a fight in the first half. It played well defensively and swarmed to the backfield, making life difficult for quarterback Desman Johnson Jr., who had another spectacular game for Penn Wood (6-2, 3-0). Johnson was sacked three times in the first half. Senior linebacker Cody Profitt spearheaded an inspiring defensive effort by Chi in the first half.

“I’m just always trying to focus on the next play and not get too frustrated,” said Johnson, a 6-2, 240-pound sophomore. “I

“I like how we’re executing on offense. I like what we’re doing on defense. We’ve still got some things to work on, but we’re getting better. ...” — Penn Wood coach Ato Troop on the 40-0 win over Chichester

but this was only a

Patriots’

try to keep my head in the game.”

Johnson really found his groove after halftime. In the first half, Johnson was a crisp 5-for-9 through the air with 92 yards and a 46-yard touchdown pass to Bowens. He finished the night 13-for-20 for 257 yards and a pair of scoring passes. In addition, Johnson rumbled eight yards to the end zone and gave his best Cam Newton-Superman celebration impression. Despite his massive size, Johnson moves very well for a quarterback and is a chore to tackle in open space.

“At the half, we made some adjustments. We moved Desman around a couple times so as not to keep him in the same spots,” Troop said. “With our receivers, you know, teams keep trying to go man on us, which I don’t understand. But if they’re going to keep doing it, they’re making it a lot easier for us.”

Penn Wood’s potent passing made Chichester pay.

Johnson has two big targets in Bowens and Poles, who were unstoppable. Entering the game, Poles and Bowens were second and third, respectively, in Delco in receiving yardage. Bowens finished with six catches for 118 yards, while Poles had four grabs for 122 yards. They scored two touchdowns apiece.

“I have trust in them,” Johnson said. “When they tell me they’re going to get open, I believe them.”

On the opposite side of the ball, Penn Wood’s defense notched its first shutout of the season. Linebackers Mohamed Kamagate and Eugene Sheppard III had a handful of tackles each as Chichester was limited to 50 yards of total offense. Not bad for a warmup. “We’ve got to take things day by day,” Johnson said. “We have to work hard at practice.” attack