Unionville’s quest for a Ches-Mont League championship continued last Friday night when they defeated Kennett, 42-7, in front of a large home crowd.

While the final score didn’t necessary reflect the sports rivalry that exists between the two schools that are separated by about two miles, the hard-hitting action on the field certainly did.

Unionville relied on a familiar formula to claim the early lead: An aggressive, hustling defense stifles the opponent while quarterback Brendan Boyle and running back Brandon Boon provide the offensive spark.

On the first series of the game, Unionville middle linebacker Trevor Gardiner sacked Kennett’s freshman quarterback Mitch Kosara on a third-and-six play, forcing Kennett to punt. Unionville took over in Kennett territory, and on the first play from scrimmage Boon darted past the interior linemen, broke free down the left sideline, and outran everyone to the end zone, putting the Indians on the board with a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.

Kosara and running back Myles Robinson turned in a valiant effort against Unionville’s formidable defense. Kennett marched from its own 23-yard line to the two-yard line of Unionville on its second offensive series. The big plays were a 24-yard carry by Kosara, a tough 13-yard run by Robinson, and a 15-yard pass from Kosara to running back Frankie Perigo that moved the ball to the two-yard line. Unionville’s defense responded to the challenge, pushing Kennett backward on two straight running plays and then stopping a pass play that came up short of the goal line. Kennett attempted a field goal, but it was no good.

Boyle engineered an 82-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown early in the second quarter. Boon scored again, this time from two yards out, giving the Indians a 14-0 lead.

Unionville boosted its lead to 20-0 on a lateral from Boyle to backup quarterback Jason Hagen, who fired a strike to—who else?—Boon for a 41-yard touchdown.

Boon found himself in the end zone for the fourth time in the game when he scored from 11 yards out with 2:50 left in the second quarter, making it 27-0. He finished the game with 141 rushing yards on 11 carries. He also had the 41-yard reception, and a good kickoff return for good measure.

“Brandon really carried us in the first half,” explained Unionville head coach Pat Clark.

In the second half, Tyler Marmo and Dante Graham scored rushing touchdowns to take a 42-0 lead. Unionville’s special teams squad contributed three punt blocks to the effort, setting the Indians up in excellent field position.

To Kennett’s credit, the team continued to battle. Kosara and Robinson combined for 150 rushing yards against a tough defense. Kennett head coach Doug Langley also praised the effort of players like Perigo and freshman linebacker Colin Fowler. Langley said that he is pleased with the team’s effort, especially considering the injury issues that it is facing.

“They’ve given me everything they’ve got, and that’s all I can ask for,” Langley explained.

Evidence of that was the scoring drive that Kennett put together late in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter. Robinson scored the touchdown from three yards out to make it 42-7 with about 10 minutes left to play in the game.

Unfortunately for Kennett, Kosara was shaken up during the drive and was forced out of the action. Langley said after the game that they were keeping an eye on the freshman quarterback for concussion-like symptoms. The coach added that this is the fourth injury that a Kennett quarterback has experienced this season. Kennett, which now has a 2-6 record, hosts a game against Oxford on Friday night at 7 p.m.

Unionville, meanwhile, is building momentum as the regular season draws to a conclusion. The Indians can claim at least a share of the league crown with a win over 0-8 Octorara on Friday night. They finish the regular season with a home game against Sun Valley, a team that is currently 2-6.

“Our first goal is to win the league championship,” said Clark. The coach added that he wants his team to work on correcting a few things, specifically the three fumbles that the team lost against Kennett, as well as the large number of penalties that were committed. Unionville and Kennett both got called for unnecessary penalties during the hard-fought game, illustrating the rivalry between the two squads.

“These are high school kids and they still can get caught up in the moment,” Clark explained.

Unionville has won four of its last five games, including hard-fought victories over Bayard Rustin and Great Valley, and the defense has turned in some good efforts. Even when the victory over Kennett was assured, the Unionville defense continued to hustle. In the second half, when some of the reserves were in, the Indians’ defense still worked hard to keep Kennett off the scoreboard.

“These guys have a lot of pride in our program,” Clark explained. “Our JV team is undefeated right now. The kids are really buying in.”