Patriots Football Celebrates 50th Homecoming with 14-12 Win

MALVERN—Great Valley head coach Michael Choi has given his share of pre-game speeches, but Saturday as the Patriots prepared to battle with the Blue Demons on senior recognition day and the school's 50^th homecoming, Choi’s comments had a special meaning not just to his players, but also to himself.

“I told the guys that, as a football player you only get the kind of chills that they were feeling today before the game maybe three times a year,” said Choi.

“Opening day, which now is usually a nonleague game, the playoffs, if we are fortunate enough to get in them, and number one is homecoming, I can’t remember the last time I saw that many fans in the stands. They were unbelievable," he said.

Senior Zack Reber got up at 5 a.m. in anticipation of the game.

“It was crazy,” said Reber. “I got up early and to have to wait so long to play, oh my God, it has been intense. To come out to the field after the parade and have both bands playing and all of those people in the stands, this was awesome.”

The Patriots did their best to make the day memorable for the hundreds of friends, family members and alumni in attendance.

Kennett marched down the field following the opening kickoff, drawing first blood on a 5-yard touchdown run by Maalik Rochester. Great Valley then grabbed a 7-6 lead with 3:18 to play in the first quarter as senior Mack Hasz scored the first of his two touchdowns on the day by blasting his way around the right side from ten yards out.

Junior signal caller Chris Geiss led the Pats on two first-half drives only to see them fall short, one on a fourth-and-one from the Blue Demons four-yard-line and another end with a 29-yard field goal sailing wide right.

With 7:25 left in the third period Great Valley cashed in on a 53-yard run by Geiss earlier in the drive, when Hasz rumbled his way through traffic into the end zone from the four-yard-line, and following the PAT by Jon Fuydal, the hosts had a 14-6 lead.

Ironically, on a day in which the seniors were honored, it was a ninth-grader, who had struggled all day fielding punts, that came up with perhaps the biggest play of the Patriots season.

The Blue Demons (2-3 league 4-3 overall), having executed the two-minute offense to perfection traveling the length of the field, scoring on a 15-yard run by Isaiah Jones with 1:08 remaining, needed a crucial two-point conversion to tie the game.

Patriots freshman River Johnson waited for quarterback Jones to unload a toss in the direction of his tight end, the pounced, batting down the ball and preserving the win for the home team.

 “This was awesome,” said Hasz. “I will never forget today. To play a good team like Kennett and hold on and win the way we did, with a freshman making a huge play for us, is huge.”

Great Valley (3-1 league, 4-3 overall) will travel next week to Univonville, who are 1-1 in league play and 5-1 overall, in what coach Choi has dubbed a "measuring stick game." If Great Valley is to get an invite for the postseason, it will have to find a way to win games like the upcoming tilt with the Indians.

“Playing a team like Unionville will show us where we are as a team,” added Choi. “I could not be prouder of the these boys and the way they played today. I told them that they will remember this day for the rest of theirs lives, and I know it will always be special to me as well.”

“It is such a great feeling to be part of a team like this in our senior year," said Marcus Hasz. “We know that we will always pick each other up and our coaches really help keep us motivated by showing that they believe in us, this is awesome.”

Kennett            6            0            0            6-            12

Great Valley      7            0            7            0-            14