Matt Lucas gets the yards. Chuck Nesley gets the bumps and bruises.
Lucas, Owen J. Roberts' star senior tailback, rushed for 271 yards and four touchdowns Friday in the Wildcats' 44-0 win over Great Valley. Nesley's name didn't show up in the box score, but the 6-foot, 210-pound senior fullback's blocking was a key to the statistics.
``He doesn't mind that he's not carrying the ball,'' Roberts coach Tom Barr said. ``He knows if Matt's getting his yards, he's doing his job.''
Nesley has carried 22 times for 100 yards this year for a Roberts team that has won three straight after a 43-3 opening-game loss to Strath Haven. Not bad, but not enough to earn the acclaim Lucas has received.
Instead, Nesley blocks and plays solid defense at middle linebacker. The captain of the Wildcats' defense leads the team in tackles, with 28, after registering more than 100 tackles in each of his first two varsity seasons.
Taking their lumps. The bad news for West Chester East: The Vikings are 1-3. The good news: The preparation against a killer early-season schedule should help the Vikings once they get into their Ches-Mont League schedule.
``We still have a lot of work to do,'' East head coach Joe Carroll said after a 51-21 loss Friday to Bethlehem Catholic. ``But these are tough teams. Hopefully, it will get us ready for league play.''
Carroll called Bethlehem Catholic ``one of the best teams I've seen in years.''
The Vikings also dropped contests to New Jersey power Millville and perennial Delaware state-title contender William Penn.
Friars improve. The defensive line was supposed to be one of Malvern Prep's strengths, but the Friars hardly looked strong up front in a 32-11 season-opening loss to West Chester Henderson.
That is why Malvern coach Gamp Pellegrini sounded like he was on the winning side of a 14-7 loss to Downingtown Friday.
``The defense stepped up,'' Pellegrini said. ``Downingtown's an outstanding football team. Against Henderson, we got beat up up front. It was disappointing because I thought we had good players up there.''
Three of the Friars' top defensive linemen - 220-pound senior end Greg Oschell, 250-pound junior tackle Chris Muntz and 290-pound tackle Clarence Green - held their own against a Whippets team that improved to 3-1.
``If we play that way, we'll win some games,'' Pellegrini said. ``But we have to keep the intensity up.''
