Second straight Central League ‘showdown’ for Garnet Valley

Maybe this is the week a game between undefeated teams in the Central League lives up to its billing.

Last week’s showdown, Garnet Valley at Strath Haven, was more or less a fan letdown, even though the 42-7 final underscored just how strong Garnet Valley is this season.

While Garnet appears to be unstoppable force in the Central League, Ridley is perfect this season, just as Strath Haven was a week ago. It didn’t go so well for Haven, so what can Ridley do to avoid a similar fate against the mighty Jags?

Can the Green Raiders, who are set to play their fourth game in the cozy confines of Phil Marion Field, pull off the upset?

While the Central League games are again the highlight of this week’s schedule, let’s not look past what the Del Val League has to endure this weekend. All of its teams take a respite from league competition to face Ches-Mont League schools.

Academy Park (4-0), which has scored at least 40 points in each of their four games, travels to Avon Grove (2-3). Chester (4-0), fresh off its rout of Oxford, is at West Chester Henderson (2-3). Interboro (1-4) is away against Bayard Rustin (3-1), while Chichester (1-3) looks to snap a two-game skid at home against winless West Chester East (0-5). And speaking of teams looking for win No. 1 on the campaign, Penn Wood (0-4) makes the commute to Malvern to play Great Valley (2-3), which has lost three straight decisions.

With that, here are the top five games to watch in Delco this weekend. All games kick off at 7 p.m.

Friday

Garnet Valley at Ridley

There hasn’t been this much anticipation for a GV-Ridley game in at least five years, the last time the Green Raiders were victorious.

The Jaguars (5-0) and Green Raiders (5-0) are loaded with game-changing skill talent, smart and athletic quarterbacks, physical lines and stingy defenses. Last week, GV rendered the Haven run offense ineffective in the 42-7 victory.

On offense, senior Max Busenkell has been a stellar passing quarterback, completing 80 percent of his attempts for 771 yards and 10 touchdowns, and he has some major targets in Sean Gallagher (401 yards, five TDs) and Joey Halloran (172 yards, three TDs).

Similarly, Ridley had been known as a ground-and-pound offense under sixth-year coach Dave Wood. Not in 2021. John Heller has been exceptional airing the ball out to playmakers including Khameen Powell and Kimir Stephenson.

Garnet Valley’s run defense didn’t allow Haven to move east and west last week. At all. And they will present a difficult challenge for Tahir Mills, but the senior athlete has shown he can hurt teams in so many ways. Mills has scored touchdowns via run, catch and return, and is a threat to score every time he touches the ball. Due to Mills’ ability to change the game in a hurry, he’ll be the one player to keep an eye on.

PETE BANNAN - MEDIANEWS GROUP
Garnet Valley's Ryan Saunders, center, is congratulated by teammates after his second touchdown against Strath Haven last Friday night at George King Field.