Empty Feeling
Pottstown shut out by West Chester East, 26-0
WEST CHESTER » Following Pottstown’s 26-0 loss to host West Chester East Thursday evening, Trojan head coach Mark Fischer reflected on his team’s improved second-half defensive performance.
“I thought we came out and played a much more physical game (defensively) in the second half, we hung in there tough, and that’s what we (the coaching staff) are looking for,” said the second-year Pottstown head coach. “We went in at halftime and made some adjustments.”
At halftime, West Chester East led Pottstown 19-0, thanks to three long touchdown runs by Pierre Marchant (47 and 81 yards) and Kyle Cichanowsky (64 yards). Marchant had 174 rushing yards on only eight carries by halftime.
Marchant’s 47-yard run up the mid-
dle less than five minutes into the game gave the hosts a 7-0 lead.
Pottstown got the ball and went three-and-out and had to punt (the Trojans punted five times in the first half). Two plays after the Trojans boomed a 44-yard punt, Cichanowsky found a hole up the middle for a 64-yard touchdown that gave the hosts a 13-0 lead with 5:32 left in the first quarter.
On two separate drives in the second quarter, Pottstown had the ball deep into West Chester East territory, as Trojan quarterback Josiah Wiggins completed several passes to junior wide receiver Nehemiah Figueroa, and ran for a few sizable gains himself. But each time, Pottstown came up empty in the scoring department.
“We had some opportunities early in the game down in the red zone, but we made mistakes that we’re going to correct, we just couldn’t seem to get it going [offensively] tonight,” said Fischer. “Give West Chester East credit, they played good defense against us.”
With three minutes to go before halftime, Pottstown had West Chester East pinned at their own 21-yard line, on 3rd and 1, but Marchant found a hole up the middle and broke free for an 81-yard touchdown run to put the hosts ahead 19-0 at the half.
Midway through the third quarter, Pottstown sophomore running back Jon Oister broke free for a 35 yard gain down the left sideline down to the West Chester East 20-yard line. Three plays later, though, a Pottstown fumble into the end zone was recovered by the Vikings for a touchback.
Early in the fourth quarter, West Chester East quarterback Ryan Cassidy lofted a 31-yard pass down the right sideline to senior wide receiver Michael Gray, who made a fine leaping catch at the Pottstown 2 yard line. Three plays later, Cassidy snuck it into the end zone to make it 26-0.
Fischer said, “For us, the important thing is to learn from this game, watch film, and prepare for next week against Kutztown, and get better.”