CB West stays defensive, tops Pennridge for fourth straight win
DOYLESTOWN >> Isaiah Thomas knows his number is never going to get called on a play, but it doesn’t stop him from going all-out on every snap.
The Central Bucks West senior, an interior lineman on defense, even described his role on one of the Bucks’ staple calls as leaving him with no chance to make a play or a stop but he does because he believes the next man in will. It’s a trend shared across the board for a West defense that’s been playing excellent over the last month including Friday night.
Thomas and the rest of West’s defense helped shut down Pennridge while the Bucks’ ground game churned out yards in a 27-8 win at War Memorial Field.
“All it comes down to is our trust in each other and our brotherhood,” Thomas, who plans to enlist in the Marine Corps after graduation, said. “Our defense and offense, we’re both really connected, we play for each other and love each other so all the effort comes down to that brotherhood and trust in each other, knowing we have to sacrifice for each other.”
Thomas and fellow senior AJ Gerace did a nice job up front while the rest of the defense flew to the ball around them. From the defensive line to the linebackers and even into the secondary, the Bucks (5-3) defenders made plenty of big plays throughout the night to help West win its fourth in a row.
West did have its shutout streak snapped, with Pennridge’s (2-6) Brennan Fisher scoring on a 57-yard run in the second quarter that marked the first score the defense had allowed since the second half against North Penn on Sept. 23. Incidentally, that win over the Knights four weeks back was the game where Thomas felt things really started to come together.
When the Bucks fell to 1-3 after losing to Pennsbury, the leaders on defense like safety Sean Blue knew it was time to get things turned around.
“We started off and had a lot of new guys, so it came down to trusting each other,” Blue said. “A lot of people weren’t playing with confidence in themselves and after Week 4 to now, you see the confidence rising up every game. Guys are flying around and just doing what they have to do to get the job done.”
Blue was in on a lot of tackles early and he and Cooper Taylor broke up a fourth-down pass in the second half that thwarted a Pennridge drive and got West going the other way for its first second half touchdown. It was hard to pin down one runaway standout on the defensive side and each crucial stop or disruptive play seemed to have a different Bucks defender involved like Aidan Donnelly’s tackle for loss on a fourth down or a pass break-up by Ryan Clemens.
Junior linebacker Matt Cleland had a knack for being around the ball at pivotal moments on Friday. He was able to drag down Fisher for a nine-yard loss in the first quarter, chased down the Army-bound running back in the second half to save a potential breakaway run and all but iced the game with an eight-yard sack of Noah Keating in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
“We’re just coming out aggressive, honestly, defense wins championships and a lot of us are juniors so we still think there’s room to improve,” Cleland said. “A big thing for us was to not let it sink inside of you. If you’re just going to bathe in it, it’s not going to help you. It’s always on to the next week.”
While West is enjoying a good run right now, it’s been a tough stretch for the Rams. Pennridge had lost its prior three games by a combined total of seven points but outside of the first quarter Friday, couldn’t seem to get the big plays it needed on either side of the ball.
Even after Fisher’s touchdown run and the resulting two-point conversion put the Rams ahead 8-6, they couldn’t stop Eli Boehm from leading West right back down the field for the go-ahead score.
“Our team’s struggling, we’ve been struggling recently but we have to keep our heads high and finish the season strong,” Rams senior Nate Mossbrook said. “Our team’s fighting, we’re having trouble closing games but we know we’re there fighting to the end.”
Fisher rushed for 175 yards on 17 carries, he just didn’t get a whole lot of help. Mossbrook had a 32-yard reception but the Bucks’ secondary and rush limited Keating to just two completions and the West defense bottled up the rest of the running game. With six losses, the playoffs are unlikely for the Rams but the seniors want to finish on good terms.
“I’m taking it in right now, I have two games left in my whole career then I’m done,” Mossbrook said. “I want these last two a lot.”
The Bucks led 13-6 at halftime and did not want to let Pennridge hang around for another close finish. After helping break up that fourth pass on Pennridge’s first possession of the third quarter, Blue was eager to see the offense march 66 yards – eating the last 8:15 of the quarter – then punch in a one-yard Ganz Cooper touchdown.
Blue, who started in the secondary last season as a sophomore, likes the mix of experienced players and athletic newcomers that make up the core of this season’s defense. They’re aware of what makes each opponent tick on a weekly basis and go in to each matchup not relying on just one or two of them to shut down the other team.
“You see linemen getting interceptions, that typically doesn’t happen, we have guys who can keep their coverage on anybody and burst from guys who maybe aren’t the biggest but they find a way to get to the quarterback,” Blue said. “All-around, it’s a team effort. When we lost to Upper Dublin (in Week 2) we looked at each other like ‘something’s got to change’ and I don’t know exactly what it was, but it’s just clicked.”
The lineman making the interception on Friday was Thomas, who got the chance only because he was going to help a teammate. Instead, a jarring hit by defensive back Conor McFadden dislodged the ball from a Rams receiver, allowing Thomas to make a terrific diving play while getting his hands under the ball to secure the pick.
“I got off the block because I wanted to go help Conor with the tackle and I saw him make the hit and knock the ball out so it was just instincts I guess, run to the ball,” Thomas said. “I knew I couldn’t just catch it, so I dove and it fell in my hands.”
Having that kind of moment on his Senior Night definitely Friday as one of Thomas’ favorite games ever at War Memorial Field, especially with it possibly being his last. It’s not anything for the senior though, as he’s just as happy to occupy a blocker and let someone like Vinny Cherubini or Jack Williams get in and make the stop.
West, which came into the game ranked No. 10 in District 1-6A, will have an opportunity to play itself into a better seed in a difficult close to the season. The Bucks’ final two games complete the CB triangle, starting with CB South next Friday and a Week 10 meeting with archrival CB East on the road, the first time the teams will play under the Patriots’ new lights.
“We have to sacrifice for each other every single play,” Thomas said. “I’m not designed to get the plays, I’m supposed to get the blocks so the guys like the linebackers or safeties can get through. It’s our willingness to sacrifice for each other and each of us knowing ‘I don’t have to make every single play,’ not every person is going to be a play-maker but holding ourselves to that standard is what’s gotten us to this point.
“We definitely haven’t peaked yet, I don’t think we’ve had our best game yet and we can always keep growing.”
CB West 27, Pennridge 0
CB WEST 0 13 0 14 – 27
PENNRIDGE 0 8 0 0 – 0
Scoring Plays
2nd Quarter
CBW – Eli Boehm 4 run (two-point fail) 6:01
P – Brennan Fisher 57 run (Noah Keating to Connor Lelii pass) 5:20
CBW – Boehm 4 run (Ryan Clemens kick) 1:40
4th Quarter
CBW – Ganz Cooper 1 run (Clemens kick) 11:59
CBW – Cooper 1 run (Clemens kick) 4:18
Team Stats
CBW P
First Downs 18 7
Rushing 50-263 24-175
Passing 2-3-0-0 2-9-0-1
Passing Yards 15 43
Total Yards 278 218
Penalties-Yards 5-30 5-59
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-0
Individual Stats
Rushing: CBW – Eli Boehm 27-135, Vinny Cherubini 9-47, Ganz Cooper 8-31, Conor McFadden 3-28, Joey hance 1-3, Jake O’Donnell 2-19; P – Brennan Fisher 18-175, Tyler Wetzel 4-(-1), Connor Lelii 1-9, Noah Keating 1-(-8)
Passing: CBW – Ganz Cooper 2-3-0-0-15, P – Noah Keating 2-9-0-1-43
Receiving: CBW – Conor McFadden 1-6, Matt Cleland 1-9; P – Nick Swanson 1-21, Nate Mossbrook 1-32
Interceptions: CBW – Isaiah Thomas
