Rams Could Not Overcome First Half Deficit in First-Ever District Game

Coatesville High School cruised past the Rams in Friday night's District 1-AAAA first round playoff game, 60-28.

"We want to continue to push and take steps," said head coach Chad Brubaker. "Tonight was a first step. We learned where we stand in District One. Tonight it was apparent we have to get stronger as a program. Year-round, we’ve got to commit to the weight room. We’ve taken some steps. We’re not going to hang our head. We played to the end. They were a better football team, plain and simple."

The Red Raiders didn't punt the ball once in the game, scoring nine times and running the ball efficiently and effectively against the Rams. Halfback Dae-Hon Cheung rushed for 190 yards. Quarterback Manny Stocker threw for 215 yards and five touchdowns.

"They’re pretty equal," Brubaker said. "Their quarterback came in and threw for over 1,500 yards. We knew that they could throw the ball. Quite honestly, if you had asked me before the game, rather than running, I would’ve said I hope they throw the ball. But, Andrew [Scanlan] went down and that certainly didn’t help anything. He’s the leader on offense and defense, but when he went down, that’s tough to overcome."

Scanlan appeared to sustain a leg injury toward the end of the first half. He never returned. Brubaker said it's too early to tell if he'll be back in the season finale.

By the end of the first half, the Rams were trailing 40-14.

"Sometimes you have to take your hat off to a better team," said Brubaker. "I think had we been able to stop them earlier – I mean, we didn’t stop them all night – but if we had stopped them on one drive in the first quarter, maybe we would have gained some confidence."

Coatesville goes on to play Pennsbury in round two this week. The season finale for the Rams will be on Thanksgiving Day at 10 a.m. when they face Phoenixville. Spring-Ford will try to win the PAC-10 Championship outright for the first time since 1995.

"No one is happy tonight, but we still have a chance to win our league outright and that’s the first time that that’s happened since 1995," Brubaker said. "So, we still have a lot to play for and practice for."