Delco Christian Pulls Off Surprising Upset

NEWTOWN SQUARE–Tyler Winkis had a feeling. It wasn’t anything extreme or overt. The senior just thought something special would come Saturday night, when the Knights hosted defending District 1 Class A champion Calvary Christian, coached by former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Mike Reichenback, at .

And something special did happen—and someone special emerged—Winkis, the Knights’ 6-foot-2, 230-pound middle linebacker, playing fullback for the first time, chewed up 75 yards, scored a touchdown, recovered a fumble that led to another touchdown, had a sack and did everything but tap dance at midfield at halftime in leading Delco Christian to a huge 14-0 victory.

This was easily the biggest victory in the short two-year varsity history of the Delco Christian program. The Knights’ 2-0 start already equals their victory total of last year, when they went 2-7 as a first-year varsity program. Now Delco Christian is slaying district giants like Calvary Christian, which smoked the Knights last year, 34-0.

Thanks in part to players like Winkis.

“We had a good week of practice and we really got the result we wanted in the fourth quarter,” Winkis said. “I think this victory shows that there’s been so much growth in the program since last year. Calvary Christian hit incredibly hard, and it was a hard-fought game, but there is an incredible difference between this year and last year.”

Winkis added an insurance score early in the fourth quarter when he rumbled in from the one, giving the Knights a 14-0 cushion with 9:47 left to play. But the score wouldn’t have been possible without two electric runs from Sam Tascone, who rolled off consecutive 18- and 13-yard runs to get the Knights to the Calvary one.

The Knights took a 7-0 lead into halftime. They played with a measured, conservative offense that relied on inside counters to move the ball, and a stubborn defense that until Calvary’s final drive of the half, had given up a meager 35 total yards.

The Cougars had a tough time containing Winkis in the first half. The bullish senior fullback smashed through the Cougars for 61 yards on 10 carries, averaging 6.1 yards each time he had the ball. By halftime, Delco Christian had outgained Calvary, 139 to 72 in total yards.

It was Winkis’ fumble recovery at Calvary’s 39-yard line that led to the lone score of the first half. The Knights reeled off 11 plays, traveling 60 yards. Winkis did the bulk of the work, accounting for 30 of those yards, 24 rushing and six yards on a nifty reaction to a deflected pass.

The Knights broke through on Isaac Moore’s two-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-goal play at the Calvary two-yard line. The scoring was orchestrating beautifully, with quarterback Matt Hirshman faking a handoff to Winkis, forcing the Calvary defense to bite on the fake. Hirshman then flipped the ball to Moore, who used his considerable speed to reach the corner of the end zone for a touchdown with 32.8 seconds left in the second quarter.

Delco’s touchdown seemed to wake up Calvary, because the Cougars bolted down to the Knights’ 22 on three plays that amassed a quick 37 yards of offense. But a pair of incomplete passes allowed Delco Christian to go into halftime ahead, 7-0.

SUMMARY

Calvary Christian: 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Delco Christian: 0 – 7 – 0 – 7 – 14

SECOND QUARTER

Delco Christian (32.8): Isaac Moore-two runs (Andrew Crisanti-kick)

FOURTH QUARTER

Delco Christian (9:47): Tyler Winkis-one run (Andrew Crisanti-kick)