2023-10-15 02:48:57
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CHESTER — In a battle of District 1 heavyweights on a rainy, raw Saturday at the Chester Athletic Complex, Chester knocked Downingtown West from the unbeaten ranks with a resounding 28-19 nonleague victory.
Chester (7-1) rushed for 276 yards. Dayshon Jackson garnered 165 of those on 19 carries. The junior went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season, becoming the first Clipper to that since Shaheer McBride in 2002.
“I told all the offensive linemen this week that I was going to need them today,” Jackson said. “We were not supposed to win this game. Everyone doubted us and doubted that I might run the football on them and we did just that. It is a great feeling to be part of Chester football history because I did not play the last two years.”
Chester used two big West fumbles in the first half to take a 14-7 lead at halftime. The first miscue led to a five-yard touchdown run from Naheer Melvin early in the second that allowed the Clippers to take a 8-7 lead. The Whippets (7-1) had opened the scoring in the first quarter period when Quinn Henicle ran 24 yards down the left sideline.
With Chester up 8-7, a punt pinned the Whippets at their own 3. On the first play from scrimmage, Henicle went back to pass, but was blindsided by Dominic Toy and the ball came loose. Jackson fell on it in the end zone and Chester had turned two big mistakes into points.
“We were not supposed to be on the same field as them,” Toy said. “That is all I heard on social media all week. We came in and dominated things right from the beginning to the very end.”
Defense took over in the second half. West took over a in Clippers territory following a punt at the 34. Three plays later, Henicle went up the middle for 16 yards down to the one. After two negative plays, Hencile went in from three-yards out to make it a 14-13 game following a missed extra point.
But the fourth belonged to the Clippers, who scored 14 unanswered points to take a 28-13 advantage with 3:10 to play.
Jackson capped off a 49-yard scoring drive with a three-yard touchdown run. After the Clippers forced a punt, Melvin went in from the three.
“We knew we had the advantage up front,” Toy said. “We were too strong for them up front. We chased the QB all day and took over the game. This was our last regular season home game and we wanted to show what Chester football is all regarding.”
The Whippets came back to score a touchdown with 56 seconds left when Henicle hit Dean Hangey with a 12-yard pass. The two point-conversion was no good, leaving it a two-score game at 28-19.
West recovered the onside kick but had no late game magic.
“They were definitely excited to see us and I don’t know if we were that excited to be here,” West coach Mike Milano said. “They did something no one else has been able to do to us and that is run the football. We had too many mistakes and we keep getting in our own way with fumbles and too many penalties. But, give them credit. They played with a lot of energy.
“The only good thing is that this is a nonleague loss for us. We need to refocus and clean some things up.”
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