D-East runs over Vikings

In football, as in life, once your identity or personality is established, people form expectations.

The difference in football is that breaking those tendencies can be beneficial.

That was the lesson from Friday night’s clash of perennial playoff contenders at Perkiomen Valley, where Downingtown East showed just enough counters to their basic smashmouth offense to fight past the Vikings, 28-13.

The Cougars didn’t break character entirely, of course. They ran for 230 yards on the evening and didn’t attempt a single pass in the second half.

But in the early going, quarterback Drew Person and offensive X-factor Connor Noble combined to give Perkiomen Valley something else to think about the rest of the night.

On the roster, Noble is listed as a tight end. But after a play-action pass from Person to Noble set up the Cougars at the PV 21, East came to the line with a different look — Noble, not Person, was under center. Two plays later, the nominal “backup” QB slammed through the middle and out of a tackle for a 12yard TD and a 6-0 D-East lead.

“We’ve been practicing that look all summer, specifically for this game,” Noble said.

“That’s one of (Downingtown East’s) Coach (Mike) Matta’s best attributes,” said his Perkiomen Valley counterpart, Rob Heist. “He’s one of the best at studying film and incorporating something you’re not expecting into that week’s game plan. Sometimes it’s tempo, tonight was that Wildcat look.”

PV’s best early chance came when D-East fumbled a punt at their own 35-yard line, but the offense went nowhere. When the Cougars took over, Person again found Noble alone down the middle for a 58-yard gain and a 1st-and-goal at the PV 2. Spencer Uggla finished the job two plays later, putting D-East up 13-0.

The Vikings drew closer when a perfectly designed screen pass sprung Jacob Sturm for a 45-yard gain inside East’s 5-yard line. Perk Valley sophomore quarterback Ethan Kohler would roll out and find Logan Holloway to get the Vikings on the board and cut the halftime margin to 13-7.

After halftime, it was back to the bread-and-butter for D-East, as their three-pronged rushing attack (Josh Asante, Stan Bryant, Spencer Uggla) began slowly wearing down the PV defense. An eight-play, 56-yard ended in a 10-yard TD scamper by Bryant, and Uggla would put the game out of reach with an authoritative 23yard score about midway through the fourth quarter.

“By the start of the fourth quarter, we could see the tide had turned. We felt like we had them,” said Noble.