COUGARS WIN SATURDAY NIGHT 'CAT FIGHT' OVER TENNENT 27-7

9/8/2007- Kottmeyer Stadium- Paul Sarpen

Tonight, in a game dubbed the 'Saturday Night Cat Fight', the Downingtown East Cougars downed the William Tennent Panthers, 27-7.  For the second week in a row, Downingtown East looked sluggish early- allowing a couple Tennent big plays, then clamping down in the second half en route to a 2-0 start.

This Tennent team is expected to struggle, fell to 0-2 with the loss.  According to Panther coach Biz Keeney "My team is inexperienced, we only have 1 starter back on offense and 2 on defense.  We will have a tough time scoring points this season."  Aiding to Tennent's defeat were a blocked punt, an interception returned for a touchdown, and 9 penalties resulting in 96 yards.

Even though the Panthers are expected to finish last in the Suburban One Conference's Continental Division, it did not show early on when they struck first blood.  Josh Leva broke free on a quarterback draw and second down on one, and scampered 51 yards untouched for a touchdown.  The extra point was good, and Tennent had a 7-0 advantage.

The Panther edge lasted into the second quarter, until the Downingtown East aerial show struck for two big touchdown drives.  Downingtown East evened the score at 7, on a 47 yard strike from Pete O'Connor to do everything Wide Receiver, kicker, and punter, Derek McKinley.  Downingtown East had a short field to work with on the game tying drive, as a blocked punt gave them the ball at midfield.  The Cougars took a 14-7 lead going into halftime, on a 75 yard catch and run by McKinley. 

Downingtown East's advantage swelled to 20-7, on Danny Weber's 25 yard interception return for a touchdown.  This was the proverbial 'straw that broke the camel's back', as the Cougars could have extended it, but gave the ball up on downs preceding the crucial turnover.  Rob Goetz closed out the scoring on a 12 yard touchdown run.

QUOTABLE

Tennent coach Biz Keeney- Penalties killed us, and the blocked punt was a big play.  We are not experienced enough to overcome these disadvantages.

Downingtown East WR Derek McKinley- Tennent was playing jam coverage most of the game, the rest of the time 8 yards off.  Even when we ran the ball, the receivers would run routes to keep them off balance.

Downingtown East coach Mike Matta- There was no hangover after the McCaskey win, we have some new kids starting on defense.  I want to dominate teams, at one point we ran the same play 7 times in a row.  To win games, we have to run the ball and stop the run.  In our program, we have 3 levels of trust- trust yourself, trust your teammates, and trust the program.

Mike Brophy is our best lineman, maybe even the best in the county. 

On Hempfield, they run the option, their quarterback is quick and shifty- their fullback (#34) is a stud.

STATS

Downingtown East- 0-14-6-7- 27

William Tennent- 7-0-0-0- 7

First Downs

DHSE- 15

WTH- 6

Fumbles-Lost

DHSE- 1-0

WTH- NONE

Sacks

DHSE- 1

WTH- 2

Punts-AVG

DHSE- 3-37.3

WTH- 8-23.5

Penalties-Yards

DHSE- 5-45

WTH- 9-96

Total Yards

DHSE- 449

WTH- 195

Passing-

DHSE- Pete O'Connor- 12-22-266 yards- 2tds- 1int

WTH- Josh Leva- 2-5- 19 yards- 1int, Traczykiewicz 2-7- 17 yards

Receiving-

DHSE- Thurm 2-45, McKinley 5-165 2tds, Savastio 5- 56

WTH- Clark 1-12, Hess 1-11, Killian 1-5, Sanguiliano 1-8

Rushing-

DHSE- O'Connor 1-5, Wilson 17-79, Goetz 11-77 TD, Zelinski 2-22

WTH- Smith 1-2, Sankey 1-2, Bush 1-4, Leva 4-64 TD, Traczykiewicz 1- (minus 14), Roth 3-12, Clark 8-14, Hess 11-75