Avon Grove shines bright despite Kennett’s Whiteout

Written by: Brenden Curry on Saturday, August 31st, 2013. Follow Brenden Curry on Twitter.

In the first ever night game at Kennett Stadium, the Avon Grove Red Devils defeated the hosting Kennett Blue Demons by a score of 7-6. Both teams received passionate support from their fan bases. Kennett fans partook in a white out to celebrate its first-ever night game at home. This game also received regional coverage from NBC 10 Philadelphia and WCHE 1520 in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

“We came in and we wanted to be the upset team this week,” senior Avon Grove quarterback Tanner Peck commenting on the team’s motivation.

Peck also commented on NBC 10’s coverage of the under the lights game at Kennett as a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the team. He also said that it was fun for the team to be playing in front of a huge crowd.

The first quarter featured a defensive stalemate causing a scoreless tie. Senior Brett Rose missed a 37 yard field-goal attempt. Avon Grove running back Jake Parola ran for 11 yards on Avon Grove’s first running play. Tanner Peck got his first completion from a three yard pass to senior wide receiver Austin Radecki. Near the end of the first quarter, senior running back Brett Rose ran 40 yards for Kennett.

The first touchdown came early in the second quarter from Kennett’s Brett Rose. Rose caught a 13 yard touchdown pass followed by a failed extra point attempt giving Kennett a 6-0 lead. Almost a minute later, Tanner Peck completed a screen pass to sophomore Beau Kush for a five yard gain. Kush caught another pass from Peck for 16 yards.

“Tanner stepped up and did a great job,” second-year Avon Grove head coach Doug Langley commenting on Peck’s performance. “You got to give Beau (Kush) the ball in space and he does well.”

Later in the second quarter, Peck threw a 10 yard touchdown pass to Kush to tie the game at six. The clinching point for the Red Devils came from an extra point field-goal from senior kicker Anthony Scarpato. Kennett went for a Hail Mary pass to the end zone that resulted incomplete as time expired.

“Extra points win games,” junior Max Bordas commented on Scarpato’s extra point field-goal. “That was the momentum change.”

The chemistry continued for the passing duo of quarterback Tanner Peck and wide receiver Beau Kush in the second half. Kush caught a 30 yard pass from Peck in the beginning of the third quarter. Later in the quarter, Kush also caught a 20 yard pass from Peck. Senior captain Drew Saienni stated that Peck and Kush played fantastic and described them as brothers on the gridiron.

“It’s kind of easy for me,” Peck commented on his passing chemistry with Kush. “He kind of makes moves on defenders and can get open real easily. It’s easier for me to throw the ball to him.

“You can definitely tell they were going to each other one on one,” junior Max Bordas commented on the chemistry of Peck and Kush.

With less than 90 seconds left in the game, senior Mike Tipton recovered a fumble to seal the victory for Avon Grove.

Despite the low scoring game, Coach Langley admired his team’s drive to move forward play after play despite losing yardage and committing five penalties. Senior captain Drew Saienni praised the Red Devil cornerbacks for understanding their responsibilities and tackling low. The main contributor to Avon Grove’s success was the performance of both offensive and defensive lines.

“The defensive line stood out more in the first quarter. In the second half of the game, our offensive line started driving,” Saienni stated.

“They don’t get a lot of the glory but they really deserve it all,” Peck commenting on the performance of the linemen. “Without them we couldn’t do anything.”

This game clearly lived up to why it was voted as NBC 10’s “High School Blitz Game of the Week” for Week 1. Unity, strength and growth as Avon Grove’s senior captains and head coach Doug Langley stated in an interview with NBC 10’s Jillian Mele on Thursday, August 29th. These factors propelled Avon Grove to victory along with the support from its fan base and within the team’s morale.

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