SOUDERTON. PA – It was a battle of wills in Souderton Friday night as the Whippets of Downingtown West trounced the Indians of Souderton High School 34-17 to advance to the 3rd round of District-1 6A state playoffs.
From the opening kick, it was all Downingtown as the Whippets saw Souderton marched down to the 15-yard line, only to force a fumble on a would-be touchdown pass.
Downingtown, then marched downfield themselves on a 14-play drive and got their first score of the game. Senior quarterback, and Old Dominion commit, Quinn Heincle ran in the Whip’s first touchdown of the night from 15 yards out to make it 7-0 early on.
On the ensuing drive, it was Souderton who once again took their turn marching the length of the field. The Indians once again, however, fell short of reaching the endzone, instead opting to convert the field goal off the leg of senior kicker, Ryan Zuk, bringing the score to 7-3 West.
The Souderton defense began to take a stand as the second quarter waned down, forcing a West punt. However, with only 40 seconds in the half remaining, Henicle completed a deep ball to set the Whips up at the 30-yard line. On the ensuing play, Henicle let it fly for senior wide receiver Dean Hangey who hauled in the 30-yard pass in the endzone, extending the Whippet advantage to 14-3 heading into halftime.
As the second half began, the West picked up right where they left off; marching downfield for yet another touchdown. This one coming on a dive up the middle, bringing the score to 20-3 following a blocked PAT attempt.
The Indians seemed to finally get something going on their first drive of the second half, as they marched to the goal line before senior halfback Grayson Largent rushed it up the middle for the score, tightening the deficit at 20-10 and giving a raucous Souderton crowd some hope.
Nonetheless, on the ensuing kickoff, Downingtown West, senior wide receiver and kick returner Jake Kucera, ran back a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to make it 27-10 West and silencing the Souderton faithful.
Souderton proceeded to go on a long, hard-nosed drive that brought the game into the fourth quarter before the Indian’s quarterback, Ben Walsh completed a 24-yard pass to Danny Dyches for the touchdown, making it 27-17 West with about nine minutes to go in the 4th quarter.
Downingtown West, began to run the ball out upon their returned possession. Eventually making it to the 15-yard line, where on 3rd and 15, Henicle let one rip, as he was being sacked, for Hangey who brought it in for the duo’s second connection on the evening, making the score 34-17 Whippets.
After an Indian four and out the Whips kneeled it out, ending an historic undefeated season for Souderton.
“Well, we’re a pretty good football team too,” said Downingtown West head coach Dana DiGiulio. “We’ve played a great schedule, we’ve been down to Philly, we’ve been all over the place playing. We took two losses to two teams that have a grand total of one loss coming into tonight and in both of those losses we kind of self destructed. I know the Souderton staff is a great staff, they have a great football program, but we have some great players over here.”
Coach DiGiulio’s club will move on to the District semifinals for the first time since 2019 when the team made it all the way to the state playoffs.
“That was a great win for us,” said Kucera. “I think our biggest thing all year was playing clean, not being sloppy. We didn’t turn the ball over tonight and they did, and that’s going to make a big difference in the game.”
The Whippets didn’t turn the ball over once, while the Indians fumbled the ball away on their first drive of the game. Just one example of how D-Town West dominated this football game in all facets.
“Going into tonight, we knew we needed to play a great game,” said Heincle. “We played a complete game and I had complete trust in my defense, the offensive line played their behinds off, receivers, I had complete trust in them to make some great plays. We made some big plays and came out with the win.”
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