Casey Haines Bangs Thru Defenders

EAST WHITELAND — Avon Grove coach Marvin Dooley is a happy man when his team wins, but shortly after the Red Devils seventh victory of the season the big man in charge became even happier.



Avon Grove played tough, physical defense, got touchdowns from all three starting running backs - Brendan McLaughlin, Jordan Harris and Brandon Monk - and kept Great Valley out of the end zone to win on the road, 21-3, in nonleague play.



Word of Downingtown West's win over Downingtown East on Friday coaxed another fist pump from Dooley, who spoke almost prophetically moments before the news.



"I told the guys we showed a lot of signs of a champion," Dooley said. "Things didn't go right all the time and we battled. We made some changes and it was good to see us fight through some adversity."



The Avon Grove (7-1) win and East loss forces a three-way tie atop the Ches-Mont National Division, with West as well, as all three teams own one league loss. Wins over West Chester Henderson and Coatesville are the only thing standing in the way of the Red Devils clinching at least a share of their first league title.



"It's real big," Monk said of the West win. "We hoped they'd win and hopefully we can put ourselves at the top of the Ches-Mont this year."



Monk certainly did his part after a stagnant first half for both squads. Great Valley had the first opportunity of the game after a high snap over Harris' head created a 36-yard loss on fourth down. The Patriots (3-5) took over at the Avon Grove 12, but three plays and two yards later they had to settle for a 28-yard field goal by Brian Pommerer.



"I think we all got fired up there," Red Devils' linebacker Sam Benson said. "We couldn't let them score there. We couldn't let them get the momentum early in the game."



Any life the Patriots got from it, Monk stole right back with a 46-yard kick return to follow, setting up a seven-yard dash by McLaughlin for his ninth score on the season.



Great Valley reached the Avon Grove 23 on its first drive of the second half but once again got turned away by a stingy Red Devil defense.



"(Avon Grove) is very physical, very aggressive and very athletic," Patriots coach Gary Phillips said. "But offensively, we had the ball around the 20 two times and we couldn't score. With a team like this you have to score. We put a lot of pressure on our defense after they made plays."



The ensuing drive Harris broke a 47-yard run down the left sideline to the Patriot 25 and after a false start, Monk sprinted 30 yards for the Red Devils' second touchdown.



"I had a big block on the defensive end and I just cut underneath it and it was wide open," said Monk, who tallied his 11th trip to paydirt this year.



With just under six minutes remaining, Harris sealed the deal with a 44-yard score up the middle, also his 11th this season. McLaughlin's 114 yards on the night give him 814 on the season, while Monk's 70 and Harris' 63 gave them 711 and 548, respectively.



On the other side, Pommerer (51 total yards), who missed the first six games with a broken collarbone, could never get going as Avon Grove continuously made the Patriots run sideways. The result - 53 yards rushing - was just what Dooley hoped for.



"We didn't really spy (Pommerer), but we used McLaughlin and Harris on the outside to keep him off the edge," Dooley said. "They tried to come more at (McLaughlin's) side and away from Harris and he answered the call."



Avon Grove 21, Great Valley 3



Avon Grove 0 7 7 7 — 21



Great Valley 3 0 0 0 — 3



Scoring



GV—28 field goal Pommerer



AG—McLaughlin 7 run (Ruggieri kick)



AG—Monk 30 run (Ruggieri kick)



AG—Harris 44 run (Ruggieri kick)



Team Totals



AG GV



First downs 12 6



Yards rushing 240 53



Yards passing 38 56



Total yards 278 109



Passing 4-5-0 8-18-0



Fumbles-Lost 2-2 1-1



Penalties 4-25 1-6



Punts-Avg. 2-34.5 4-33.7



Individual Statistics



RUSHING - AG: McLaughlin 18-114, 1 TD; Monk 8-70, 1 TD; Harris 11-63, 1 TD; Ayers 2-8; Kush 4-(-15). GV: Pommerer 13-29; Haines 9-21; Johnson 6-15; Showers 1-(-1); Hausladen 2-(-11).



PASSING - AG: Kush 4-5-38. GV: Hausladen 6-11-43; Pommerer 2-7-13.



RECEIVING - AG: Harris 2-10; Ayers 1-16; Rooney 1-12. GV: Johnson 3-17; Pommerer 3-9; Duffy 1-19; Haines 1-11.