The Regular Season
Garnet Valley opened its season with a surprising 0-2 start. This was an unprecedented start for this Central League powerhouse. It was expected to be a rough season, with only a few seniors starting, but they pulled through in the end. This junior-heavy team knew things had to change, and they did just that. Their regular season ended 7-3 with an impressive 17-7 win over the Ridley Green Raiders, which gave the seniors one last home game in round one of the District 1 5A playoffs.
The Post Season
The postseason is known as the new season. All of the past games are forgotten, and it is only the best versus the best. Garnet Valley’s upset win over Ridley gave them a home game against the #10 seed Upper Perkiomen Indians. The Pioneer League team came in looking for the upset, but senior captain, Paxton Hunt, knew that could not happen on his last game at Moe Defrank Stadium. “The message I gave to myself was just enjoy it and kind of put on a show. I knew that was gonna be the last time I ever stepped on that field”. Hunt’s performance sent a sign to all of District 1 that Garnet Valley is still the physical team it once was. With 214 yards on 17 carries and four touchdowns, Hunt ran through the physical Upper Perk defense and helped Garnet Valley defeat Upper Perk 49-35.
Senior Captain, Paxton Hunt, runs through Upper Perkiomen defenders to secure the victory in round one of the District 1 playoffs.
Senior OLB and TE, Michael Costa, makes a touchdown-saving tackle against the Chester Clippers.
After the huge win, Garnet Valley had to face the #2 seed Chester Clippers. Chester had one of the most dominant seasons in Delco this year. They went undefeated and have held almost every team to one score. Huge factors in their dominance are quarterback Jalen Harris, and Syracuse commit, Shemaj “Big Mook” Henry. There were few expectations for Garnet Valley's success, but that has never stopped the Jaguars in the past. Coach Van Wyk stated, “Our big approach that week was, you know, trying to match their physicality. We took a lot of pride in our scout team that week…the reality is they played a better game than us,”. The Garnet Valley defense faced one of its hardest matchups yet. Jalen Harris’ scrambling ability has been unmatched, but that didn’t strike fear for outside linebacker Michael Costa. “Keeping outside contain was a huge part of the game plan, and the coaches talked about it all week.” Unfortunately, the Garnet Valley Jaguars could not keep up with the stellar performance of Chester’s passing game. Jalen Harris threw for 195 yards and had 4 TDs in the 38-7 win over Garnet Valley to end their season. This loss has only fueled the fire for the upcoming season.
Images By: TBone
