By Richard L. Gaw
Staff Writer

The momentum that entered Kennett Stadium last Friday may have come from the conclusion of Kennett High School’s annual Homecoming parade through the streets of Kennett Square Borough, but the true engine of its ferocity came from the 4-1 record the Blue Demons football team brought to its game against visiting Sun Valley.

As was proven on Kennett’s home field, that ferocity proved to be unstoppable.

Behind Hunter Taylor’s three touchdowns, a steady performance by quarterback Garrett McCracken and a shut-down defense, the Blue Demons soundly defeated the Sun Valley Vanguards, 44-7 to jump their overall record to 5-1.

The Blue Demons entered the game looking to avenge their only loss of the season – a 31-10 defeat against Bayard Rustin on Sept. 19 – and on its first possession of the game, began to do so, with an 85-yard drive that ended when Gavin Ritch broke a tackle and ran 57 yards for a touchdown that gave Kennett a 7-0 lead with 5:14 left in the first quarter.

Inheriting the ball on their own 20-yard line, the Vanguards coughed up the ball on third and nine that was recovered by Andrew Sharpeta with 5:04 remaining in the quarter and set up a 30-yard field goal by Shay Barker with 2:18 remaining to give Kennett a 10-0 lead.

Sun Valley’s only scoring of the game came on its next possession, when Zion Cauthorn ran back a kick-off – tiptoeing down the far sideline and eluding would-be tacklers – for a take-it-to-the-house TD run that tightened the score at 10-7 with two minutes left in the first.

Yet, Head Coach Lance Frazier’s squad did not arrive at their home field sporting a 4-1 record by accident, but on the quiet assurance of McCracken and the strength of its key playmakers, one of whom is running back Matthew Reidenberg, who wrapped up a 56-yard possession with a five-yard TD run that gave the Blue Demons a 17-7 lead with 9:15 left in the second quarter.

Taylor – another offensive sparkplug – scored the first of his three touchdowns on a 20-yard pass from McCracken with 5:25 left in the half. On Sun Valley’s next set of downs, Taylor scored his second TD when he caught a deflected pass by Vanguards quarterback RJ Scharrer and ran in for the score with 5:11 left in the first half that gave Kennett a 31-7 lead.

Throughout the game, the Blue Demons defense hounded Scharrar, and at no point was it more effective than late in the second quarter, when Hayden Schumaker and Will Caputo sacked Scharrar for big losses that killed the Vanguards’ only serious scoring threat.

With the game clearly in hand, Kennett tacked on a few more scores in the second half, the first of which came when McCracken again found Tayor for a 48-yard touchdown with 8:50 left in the third quarter that extended the home team’s lead to 38-7.

With the ball at the Sun Valley 24-yard line at the start of the fourth quarter, Kennett cemented their victory with a three-yard touchdown run by Riedenberg with 10:42left in the game.

With the win, Kennett leads the Ches-Mont Conference with the highest number of wins and will look to expand on their victory total when they travel to Chichester on Oct. 3. Still winless on the season, Sun Valley will host Bishop Shanahan on Oct. 3.

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