Springfield (Delco) pushed, and shoved, and moved around massive Chester like no other team had done this season, using masterclass coaching, masterclass fundamentals and an unbending belief in itself that translated into a forceful 34-12 victory to win the District 1 Class 5A championship—the first district football title in Springfield history.
The Cougars are 14-0 for the first time in program history and have reached the PIAA Class 5A state semifinals for the first time, where they will play District 12 5A champion and last year’s state runner-up Roman Catholic on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Marple Newtown for a berth in the state 5A championship.
Springfield’s Luke Valerio, headed to Penn State for lacrosse, scored three touchdowns, and Shane Kilroy caught two touchdown passes from sophomore quarterback John Hopkins. The Cougars rarely made any mistakes in holding the explosive Clippers (13-1) to 12 points.
What could not get lost in the victory was the exemplary play of senior left tackle Dom Stewart and junior left guard Zion Culbreth, owner of a 400-pound bench press.
Anytime the Cougars wanted to move the ball, they ran left behind them. Springfield scored on its first three possessions, and its final two drives to secure the game.
“That left side is always open, it’s the Bash Brothers basically,” Stewart said. “We loved our g-iso left, and they lined inside against me and Zion, and we were strong enough to get them down, and trust in our other guard (Alex McGinnis) to kick their guy out. We trusted our backs to read the blocks.
“This is amazing. We were here last year in the district championship and we knew what it was like to lose this last year. By the fourth quarter, they were fighting with each other. They were arguing with each other, fighting each other. We preached sticking together.”
Culbreth had a great two-way game. He stuffed the middle defensively, and manhandled Chester’s massive defensive front on offense.
“We saw what was going on and kept deciding to go left, because we were able to dominate their guys,” said Culbreth, who benches 400 pounds at a 237-pound body weight. “This is amazing getting here, wearing this gold medal. We worked all offseason to get this.”
This was Springfield coach Chris Britton’s fifth try at winning a district championship. In four previous tries, Springfield lost 2014 (under the Class 4A system), when the Cougars to fell to Great Valley (21-0 in the Class 3A championship); in 2016 at Class 5A (when the PIAA instituted the 6A classification system) losing to Academy Park (24-18); in 2017 losing to Unionville (35-25) and last year, 2024, losing to West Chester Rustin (34-2).
A week after that defeat, this team went back into the weight room.
“We’re a little different, not everyone is used to us, by the time they do (get used to us), hopefully the game gets out of hand, or we have a comfortable enough lead and we play good defense,” Britton said. “Dom and Zion, the Bash Brothers. You have a workaholic and 400-pound bench presser. They hit the weights all year long and that was the payoff. We were run behind them all year. We have faith in Dom and Zion. Like I said, Chester has great players, we have a great team.
“This will soak in a little bit. It will feel a lot better when we get inside. I feel like this (district championship) is a relief for them, all the hard work they put in. I’m here doing it, but it’s all the work that they (the players) spent. Kids were limping and struggling to finish, and they’re putting themselves back into the game. We’ve had these guys forever. It’s Springfield, everyone knows everyone.”
Chester and Clippers’ coach Dennis Shaw had a tremendous season. Chester won more games this season (13) than in any other year in program history. The team reached the district championship for the second time in three years.
The Clippers just could not overcome mistakes. They turned the ball over on their first drive and had some critical plays and gains wiped out by penalties. Chester committed 11 penalties for 96 yards.
“Hats off to Springfield, they had a good game plan defensively, keeping everything in front of them,” Shaw said. “We adjusted. We got the looks we knew we would see, but they did a good job running their stuff and executed. They are well-coached; they were the better team. We had some timely penalties that killed us, not to take anything away from Springfield, and you can’t win a championship with 11 penalties.
“This was an historic year for us. We have built something here that we have a right to proud of. I told the kids afterward that they set a higher standard for this program.”
Scoring Summary
Chester (13-1) 0-6-6-0-12
Springfield (14-0) 7-13-0-14-34
1st Quarter
Spr. – Luke Valerio 2 run (Zarel Saurez kick), 1:39
2nd Quarter
Spr. – Valerio 1 run (run failed), 7:09
Ch. – Daron Harris 31 pass from Jalen Harris (run failed), 5:37
Spr. – Shane Kilroy 8 pass from John Hopkins (Saurez kick), :58
L – Heck 31 FG, :00
3rd Quarter
Ch. – Jalen Harris 1 run (run failed), 6:56
4th Quarter
Spr. – Kilroy 17 pass from Hopkins (Saurez kick), 5:57
Spr. – Valerio 5 run (Saurez kick), 1:45
Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been covering high school football since 1992 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter @JSantoliquito. Follow EasternPAFootball.com on Twitter @EPAFootball.
Springfield’s Dom Stewart (74) & Zion Culbreth (55)
One Response
Way to go Cougars!!! Congratulations!!! Well Earned!!!