<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=31hIz2_0vjD2rgu00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=31hIz2_0vjD2rgu00" width="800" height="600" ></figure>Avon Grove Football at Downingtown West, Sept. 20. [4 Images] Click Any Image To ExpandStaff WriterThe Avon Grove varsity football team, entering the Kottmeyer Stadium at Downingtown West High School on Sept. 20 with a hard-fought 2-2 overall record, was in many ways submerging itself into a potential obstacle course of hurdles.On one hand, the Red Devils were about to play at an opposing stadium on that school’s Homecoming and on the other, they were about to face a Whippets squad that was riding a 4-0 record with what had amounted to acceptable to commanding victories over its early season foes. To the detriment of its naysayers, however, Avon Grove remained resilient throughout the first half, only to eventually surrender to a stronger Downingtown West team in a 40-19 loss that left the Red Devils with a 2-3 overall record and moved the Whippets to 5-0 and 1-0 at the top of the Ches-Mont National Conference standings.Avon Grove touched the scoreboard early in the first quarter after linebacker Jack Reilly sacked Whippets quarterback Cole Bricker at the 35-yard line that caused Bricker to cough the ball up for a Red Devil recovery. After his pass to wide receiver Sebastian Binstead moved the ball to the 19-yard line, Avon Grove quarterback Frank Hoogerwerff then hit wide receiver Dylan Lopapa for an eight-yard gain and then, with seven minutes remaining in the first quarter, Hoogerwerff found tight end Graham Ricard in the end zone for a touchdown that gave Avon Grove a 6-0 lead.Downingtown West tied the score on their first possession of the second quarter on a 74-yard drive that ended on a three-yard touchdown carry by running back Jacob Barry with 11:08 remaining in the second quarter. On Avon Grove’s next set of downs, Hoogerwerff’s pass to wide receiver Nate Hoffmeister moved the ball from near midfield to the 16-yard line. A pass interference penalty on the Whippets later moved the ball to the 12-yard line and on third and six, Hoogerwerff connected with tight end Dylan Laganelli with 7:55 left in the first half to give Avon Grove a 13-6 lead.Downingtown West came back to tie the score on a 61-yard touchdown run by running back Darian Smith with 5:58 left in the first half, and tacked onto their lead later in the quarter when – with Avon Grove on the Whippets’ four-yard line -- Hoogerwerff’s pass was picked off at the two-yard line by linebacker Jackson Kobus, who took it 98 yards untouched with 26 seconds left in the first half to give Downingtown West a 20-13 halftime lead.Despite some effective efforts by Avon Grove linemen Grayson Pittman, Gavin Smith and Daryl Agyekum-Sah – who helped turn back a Downingtown West drive early in the third quarter -- Avon Grove could not contain the Whippets’ running game in the second half, one that was engineered by Barry and running back Tommy Miller. With 2:16 remaining in the quarter, Miller’s three-yard TD jaunt wrapped up a five-play, 38-yard drive that gave Downingtown West a 27-13 lead, and with 6:52 left in the fourth quarter, Barry’s nine-yard TD run extended the Whippets’ lead to 33-13.Following Hoogerwerff’s 74-yard, on-the-money touchdown strike to Binstead with 6:36 left, Downingtown West closed out its scoring effort on a 22-yard touchdown run by Mike Taraschi with 2:17 left in the game.Avon Grove will look to notch its third win of the 2024 campaign when they travel to Coatesville on Sept. 27, while Downingtown West will travel to West Chester Rustin on Sept. 27 in a battle between two 5-0 teams.To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].</div></body>

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Despite strong start, Red Devils fall to Downingtown West, 40-19

Avon Grove Football at Downingtown West, Sept. 20. [4 Images] Click Any Image To Expand. The Avon Grove varsity football team, entering the Kottmeyer Stadium at Downingtown West High School on Sept. 20 with a hard-fought 2-2 overall record, was in many ways submerging itself into a potential obstacle course of hurdles.