By Richard L. Gaw
Staff Writer

Against the grain of Friday Nights normalcy, a Ches-Mont football game was played last Saturday night at a peculiar starting time of 8:30 p.m., but if their solid performance on Oct. 12 was any indication, the Kennett High School varsity squad would have succeeded no matter when the game began.

Behind the rushing of Aiden Ritch, the passing of quarterback Garrett McCracken and the punishing defense of its front line, the Blue Demons defeated their arch-rival Unionville 32-15 on the Longhorns’ home field – a start-to-finish victory that gave the Blue Demons a three-game winning streak, a respectable 4-3 overall record and a 2-1 record atop the Ches-Mont American conference. 

The game was rescheduled after a report of a knife threat postponed its original start date of Oct. 10 at 7 p.m.

After a scoreless first quarter, Kennett began the second quarter with the ball on the Unionville 20-yard line, and on the first play from scrimmage, McCracken launched a perfect touchdown pass to wide receiver Conner Schumacher in the corner of the end zone with 11:53 remaining in the first half. The Blue Demons quickly extended their lead to 8-0 on a two-point conversion by Hunter Taylor.

After a tough defense led by Croix Krise, Pierce Duckworth, Sam Oscar and Tyler Biel shut down the Longhorn offense in the first quarter, Unionville engineered a 78-yard touchdown drive midway through the second quarter. Subbing for the injured Tommy McGinnis, back-up quarterback Brody McLaughlin tossed a pass to wide receiver Hayden Wenturine that moved the ball to near midfield, which was followed by carries by Owen Simcox and Tristan McIlrath that got the ball to the 32-yard line. With 8:21 remaining in the quarter, McLaughlin maneuvered his way past tacklers for a touchdown that narrowed Kennett’s lead to 8-7.

On Unionville’s next possession, however, McLaughlin’s pass was picked off at the 45-yard line by Taylor and taken back to the Longhorn 19-yard line. On the first snap, Ritch barreled his way to Kennett’s second touchdown with 4:16 left that gave the Blue Demons a 15-7 halftime lead.

After Shay Barker’s 39-yard field goal gave Kennett an 18-7 lead with 6:20 remaining in the third quarter, his teammate Andrew Clancy picked off a McLaughlin pass that snuffed out another Unionville rally at the end of the third quarter.

The fourth quarter saw Kennett continue to cushion their lead, beginning with a 32-yard touchdown carry by running back Joalex Carabajal that gave the Blue Demons a 25-7 lead with 8:42 remaining in the game. Following a touchdown drive engineered by McLaughlin that ended with a touchdown strike to McIlrath with 7:20 remaining and a subsequent two-point conversion, Kennett tacked on its final scoring drive late in the fourth quarter, when McCracken’s pass to Ritch moved the ball to Unionville’s 3-yard line that was followed by McCracken’s TD run with 2:04 left. 

The Blue Demons will look to extend their winning streak to four when they host Avon Grove on Oct. 18. Now sporting a 5-3 overall record and a 1-2 record in the Ches-Mont American conference, Unionville will travel to Sun Valley on Oct. 18 for a conference game against the Vanguards.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].