Back and forth battle keeps Demons in hunt for playoff berth
By P.J. D’Annunzio, Staff Writer, KennettTimes.com
Kennett's Barry Tomasetti Jr. breaks into the open field against Sun Valley.
ASTON — Tennis or football? It was hard to tell due to the back and forth scoring. And with the amount of questionable calls from the officials — enough to turn even the mildest Kennett fan into a raging McEnroe — the flames of competition were fanned high enough to warm spectators enduring cold night air.
Things started off sloppily for the Vanguards, who actually played harder than their reputation would have most believe. A recovered fumble from the Demons forced a quick turnover within the first moments for the game. This turnover allowed Anthony Torello to fly through the pack of Sun Valley defenders into the end zone.
But what’s this? A penalty flag? Back to the Kennett 15 yard line? Hope Torello can make a play like that again.
And he did, scoring Kennett’s first TD coupled with a solid kick, putting the Demons on the board, 7-0. And he repeated the effort almost six times that night; with about half of the plays being flagged by officials who conceivably couldn’t even recognize their own reflection—should it appear on a football field.
With all of Torello’s ball-carrying runs in the game he may have easily rushed 500 yards (counting the flagged plays). But naturally he wasn’t the only scorer for the Demons on the blustery Thursday night: Barry Tomasetti Jr. managed to break free and score the first TD of the second quarter, responding to a recent Vanguard touchdown. A Bret Rose kick advanced Kennett’s lead 14-7.
Enter Tomasetti again, in the third, with another hearty drive up the field and into the end zone. The Kennett TD was matched with a subsequent Sun Valley scoring effort, also resulting in a touchdown, and thus initiating a new edition of musical touchdowns, the score 21-14.
During the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth quarter the Demons and Vanguards really began answering each other’s touchdowns. Significant contributions in yardage were made by C.J. Lowe, interceptions made by the increasingly adept Art Perrone, and touchdowns by Tyler Boyer and, again, Torello.
In the middle of the fourth the Vanguards were within one TD of a tie, 33-26, after a blocked extra point kick.
Feeling the pinch, the Demons threw it into high gear and though the Vanguards continued to meet them touchdown for touchdown for a while, their persistence eventually waned and the Demons overtook them with a final score of 52-33.
Despite some pre-game spectators touting the contest as “easy,” it was anything but that. One still has to give credit where credit is due.
“I think their quarterback was just outstanding,” Demons head coach Scott Green said, “Their receivers made catches that were highlight-worthy. That was their game plan and they executed it. We had a breakdown defensively, but you have to give Sun Valley credit: they executed their game plan effectively against us.”
“With this Thursday night game I was a little concerned that we were not going to be as sharp mentally. But when we took to the field I didn’t have that feeling,” Green continued, “The second half they came out in a different defense, it’s a testament to our offense; when they mixed up the defense we made the adjustments and we really executed a little bit better than we did in the first half, so I’m proud of them.”
The Demons are now 4-2 for the season. Kennett’s next match up will be away, against Great Valley (3-3).
