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West Chester >> In a wild, high-scoring, back-and-forth game, West Chester Rustin defeated host West Chester Henderson, 49-35, in its football season opener Friday.
The Golden Knights never trailed but were battled closely throughout by a resilient Henderson (1-1) squad, who was coming off a great defensive effort in its 14-6 win against Upper Darby in its season opener.
With weapons like standout senior running back Chase Hatton and quarterback David McClain, Rustin kept putting points on the board and came out the winner.
“I feel real good about our effort, Henderson’s a well-coached team, both offensively and defensively,” said Rustin head coach Mike St. Clair. “We were able to pull out enough plays tonight to pull out a win. David McClain did a great job at quarterback, running the ball and throwing the ball. Chase played an outstanding game – they were coming after him the whole game, he kept his composure and played really well. Our linebackers did a good job reading their keys. It was a team effort today.”
Henderson head coach Bob Brice said, “I couldn’t be more proud of these boys tonight. They really responded to everything that Rustin threw at us. We battled tonight and made sure that Rustin earned everything they got. I think our guys played really well tonight. We responded (well) every time Rustin had a breakaway play.”
Henderson senior quarterback Braeden O’Connell led the offense, hitting a number of receivers for sizable gains.
“I couldn’t be more proud of how Braeden grew up tonight – he did a great job,” said Brice. “I couldn’t be more proud of our defense – with the exception of three or four plays that Rustin broke, we stuck it to them.”
Rustin took the opening kickoff and ran eight consecutive running plays for a 66-yard touchdown drive, the final play a five-yard run by Hatton. The big play on the drive was a 36-yard run down the left sideline by junior running back Ryan Loper.
Early in the second quarter, the Warriors began a scoring drive from midfield, the big play was a 32-yard pass from O’Connell to senior Jake Ball. The final play was a 2-yard pass from O’Connell to senior Seamus Murphy in the right side of the end zone.
The score remained 7-7 for only a couple of minutes. Hatton broke a 53-yard run for a touchdown, starting to the right and then breaking down the left side to give the visitors a 14-7 lead with 6:28 to go before halftime.
Hatton intercepted a Henderson pass to thwart the next Warriors’ drive, but following a three-and-out by Rustin, O’Connell hit senior Evan Kearney down the right side for a 39-yard touchdown to tie the score at 14-14 with 4:14 left in the second quarter.
Five plays later, McClain ran for 19 yards to the Henderson 25, and on the next play, he hit a wide-open Hatton in the middle of the end zone for a touchdown to give the visitors a 21-14 lead that they took into halftime.
Henderson’s passing game picked up again in the middle of the third on a 10-play, 62-yard TD drive. O’Connell completed six passes, the final one a 13-yard scoring strike to junior Nate Pechin across the middle. The subsequent extra point tied the score at 21-21 with 3:20 left in the third.
Rustin then came up with a big play on 3rd-and-8 from its 37 as McClain hit Loper on a screen pass that the receiver, with some good blocking, carried 36 yards down to the Henderson 27. The third quarter ended with Rustin holding the ball at the Henderson 11.
On the first play of the fourth, Hatton carried the ball through the left side, plunging into the end zone for an 11-yard score to give the visitors a 28-21 lead.
Following a three-and-out by Henderson, Rustin began another march, this one covering 65 yards in eight plays. The key play was a 31-yard completion from McClain to junior L J Beswick on 3rd-and-11 from the Rustin 37. Hatton ran up the middle for the final eight yards. With 5:14 left, Rustin held a 35-21 advantage.
But Henderson came back. O’Connell hit senior Aaron Nelson for a 14-yard gain, then hit Ball in the end zone for a 26-yard TD to cut the deficit to 35-28 with 4:36 left.
But 14 seconds later, Hatton broke free down the right sideline for an 80-yard scamper, giving the Golden Knights a 42-28 lead with 4:22 left.
O’Connell came right back, running and passing for another TD drive from midfield, finishing the drive with a four-yard completion to Kearney in the end zone to make the score 42-35 with 2:19 left.
Henderson got the ball back with one minute left. On 4th-and-3 from the Henderson 36, O’Connell’s pass was intercepted by Rustin’s David Jacobs and returned for a 40-yard touchdown to clinch the game.
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