DiGiovanni: D-West has the horses to repeat as district champs

They say ‘heavy is the head that wears the crown.’ And this season Downingtown West is the defending District 1 6A champions. With many key players back from the championship team, many observers had the Whippets penned in for another district title game this season.

Early in the season West lost to national power St. John’s College. No disgrace in that result at all, but an overtime loss to Perkiomen Valley the following week had some fans jumping ship.

After all, the Whippets won all those close games last year, so what was wrong with this 2025 squad? Turns out absolutely nothing is wrong with this current team.

West has defeated West Chester Rustin, Coatesville and Downingtown East since the loss to Perk Valley. Throw in an impressive 30-0 win over a playoff team in Spring-Ford and you can say the Whippets are back on track for another deep playoff run.

Senior quarterback Cole Bricker let the interception bug bite him early in the season as he was pressing a little and forcing some throws. That appears over now and Bricker is, once again, a big force for the Whippets.

Head coach Tom Kline had done a masterful job as he did not let his kids get down after two early season losses. All the Whippets have done is become a very hot team that is starting to look a lot like last year’s district champion.

West has a stout defense that allows just 11.8 points per game and only 93 yards a game on the ground. The offense is purring right now with Bricker as the trigger man.

The heavy early season expectations are still there but the Whippets seem to be playing fast right now. The early season tightness seems to be gone and that spells trouble for the rest of the 6A playoff teams.

West is playing its best football of the season right now and Kline has them laser-focused on this season, not the 2024 champions. This West team is looking to make its mark on the district landscape.

The early part of the 2025 season raised some questions for the Whippets. It looks like those questions have been answered and that may spell trouble for the rest of the district.

No, it is not 2024 anymore. This West team is looking to make its own memories, free of any heavy expectations from 2024. West is a quality football team again in 2025.

Kline got them to believe in themselves again. This Whippets team is looking to be the best they can be.

It is 2025 for the Whippets and boy, do they look ready to make some more memories.

Source: Berkshire mont