Blue Demons pounced by Great Valley, 46-14
11/01/2016 01:19PM ● By Richard Gaw
By Richard L. Gaw
Staff Writer
As game time approached at Kennett High School last Friday evening, the Blue Demons' outlook already appeared grim, as two of its playmakers stood on the sidelines, unable to tee it up against the visiting Great Valley Patriots.
It had already been a trying season, one that led the Blue Demons into the Oct. 28 game with a 3-6 record, and the appearance of running back Myles Robinson and wide receiver Dominic D'Angelo both injured and on the sidelines -- as well as tight end and defensive end Kerry Tomasetti playing in an arm cast -- served as a salt-in-the-wound punctuation mark to the Blue Demons' last game of the 2016 season.
Behind the quarterback-to-wide receiver tandem of Robert Geiss to Ryan Hubley, the visiting Patriots clobbered Kennett, 46-14, in a convincing victory that sent Great Valley (6-4) to a berth in the District 1, Class 5A playoffs. Geiss connected with Hubley seven times for 178 yards and three touchdowns, the first one coming with 10:10 left in the first quarter, soon after Great Valley recovered their opening kick-off at the Kennett 21 yard-line. Four plays later, Geiss hit Hubley for a 9-yard touchdown.
Inheriting the ball at its 15 yard-line, Kennett quarterback Jake Dilcher was sacked for a 14-yard loss back at his nine-yard line. On the subsequent punt attempt, Kennett punter James Tuley was sacked for a safety in his end zone to give Great Valley an early 9-0 lead. On Great Valley's first snap of its next possession, Geiss found Hubley over the middle near midfield, which led to a 55-yard touchdown run by Hubley to give Great Valley a 16-0 lead with 7:23 left in the first quarter.
Kennett began its only serious scoring threat late in the first quarter, when carries by Connor Hyzny and freshman Garrett Cox moved the ball from its own 28-yard line to the Great Valley 16-yard line. As the second quarter began, Hyzny carried to the one-yard line, and with 10:52 left in the first half, Dilcher plunged in for the touchdown, to narrow the Patriots' lead to ten, 16-6. The two-point conversion attempt then failed.
Highlighted by a 36-yard run by Mark DeRobertis, Great Valley then extended its lead to 22-6 on Geiss' keeper with 8:39 left in the second quarter. On Kennett's next set of downs, a Dilcher pass was intercepted by Dylan Tashjian at midfield with 6:36 left in the half, which led to a 63-yard, 9-play possession that finished with DeRobertis' 15-yard touchdown run with 3:37 remaining in the first half, that gave Great Valley a 29-6 lead.
Following a Kennett punt, it was deja-vu all over again, as Hubley took a screen pass from Geiss and ran 59 yards untouched for his third touchdown of the game to give Great Valley a 36-6 lead at halftime. On Great Valley's first drive of the second half, Geiss wrapped a 71-yard, 6-play drive with a 13-yard touchdown run to widen the Patriots' lead to 43-6. Great Valley finished its scoring on a 28-yard field goal by kicker Pat Sauer with 11:01 left in the third quarter.
With 27 seconds left in the game, Hyzny tacked on Kennett's second touchdown with a three-yard run.
Geiss threw for 235 yards and scored two touchdowns, while DeRoberis carried for 121 yards and a touchdown. Dilcher threw 7 completions on 19 attempts for 84 yards.
To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, e-mail [email protected].
Staff Writer
As game time approached at Kennett High School last Friday evening, the Blue Demons' outlook already appeared grim, as two of its playmakers stood on the sidelines, unable to tee it up against the visiting Great Valley Patriots.
It had already been a trying season, one that led the Blue Demons into the Oct. 28 game with a 3-6 record, and the appearance of running back Myles Robinson and wide receiver Dominic D'Angelo both injured and on the sidelines -- as well as tight end and defensive end Kerry Tomasetti playing in an arm cast -- served as a salt-in-the-wound punctuation mark to the Blue Demons' last game of the 2016 season.
Behind the quarterback-to-wide receiver tandem of Robert Geiss to Ryan Hubley, the visiting Patriots clobbered Kennett, 46-14, in a convincing victory that sent Great Valley (6-4) to a berth in the District 1, Class 5A playoffs. Geiss connected with Hubley seven times for 178 yards and three touchdowns, the first one coming with 10:10 left in the first quarter, soon after Great Valley recovered their opening kick-off at the Kennett 21 yard-line. Four plays later, Geiss hit Hubley for a 9-yard touchdown.
Inheriting the ball at its 15 yard-line, Kennett quarterback Jake Dilcher was sacked for a 14-yard loss back at his nine-yard line. On the subsequent punt attempt, Kennett punter James Tuley was sacked for a safety in his end zone to give Great Valley an early 9-0 lead. On Great Valley's first snap of its next possession, Geiss found Hubley over the middle near midfield, which led to a 55-yard touchdown run by Hubley to give Great Valley a 16-0 lead with 7:23 left in the first quarter.
Kennett began its only serious scoring threat late in the first quarter, when carries by Connor Hyzny and freshman Garrett Cox moved the ball from its own 28-yard line to the Great Valley 16-yard line. As the second quarter began, Hyzny carried to the one-yard line, and with 10:52 left in the first half, Dilcher plunged in for the touchdown, to narrow the Patriots' lead to ten, 16-6. The two-point conversion attempt then failed.
Highlighted by a 36-yard run by Mark DeRobertis, Great Valley then extended its lead to 22-6 on Geiss' keeper with 8:39 left in the second quarter. On Kennett's next set of downs, a Dilcher pass was intercepted by Dylan Tashjian at midfield with 6:36 left in the half, which led to a 63-yard, 9-play possession that finished with DeRobertis' 15-yard touchdown run with 3:37 remaining in the first half, that gave Great Valley a 29-6 lead.
Following a Kennett punt, it was deja-vu all over again, as Hubley took a screen pass from Geiss and ran 59 yards untouched for his third touchdown of the game to give Great Valley a 36-6 lead at halftime. On Great Valley's first drive of the second half, Geiss wrapped a 71-yard, 6-play drive with a 13-yard touchdown run to widen the Patriots' lead to 43-6. Great Valley finished its scoring on a 28-yard field goal by kicker Pat Sauer with 11:01 left in the third quarter.
With 27 seconds left in the game, Hyzny tacked on Kennett's second touchdown with a three-yard run.
Geiss threw for 235 yards and scored two touchdowns, while DeRoberis carried for 121 yards and a touchdown. Dilcher threw 7 completions on 19 attempts for 84 yards.
To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, e-mail [email protected].
