Central Bucks South surges past Pennridge
EAST ROCKHILL >> Central Bucks South’s internal drive to go into the playoffs the right way was epitomized by the pile-moving runs of Jack Carver.
“Jack Carver was unbelievable. He’s such a tough runner,” Titans coach Tom Hetrick said. “He means business when he gets the football in his hands. And I couldn’t be more proud of our front, for what they were able to do in the fourth quarter.”
Carver rushed for 150 yards and a pair of touchdowns, as the Titans go surging into the District 1-6A playoffs with a 32-23 victory over rival Pennridge.
The Titans, raising their record to 7-3 overall and 4-3 in the Suburban One League National Conference, were ranked 10th in the 16-team field going into Friday.
“We didn’t come out our strongest but to get the win at the end is huge for us,” said Carver of the Week 10 win. “Big confidence boost.”
The Titans amassed 273 yards on the ground and opened up avenues for a pair of 100-yard rushers: Carver and Anthony Leonardi (126 yards).
“We manned up. Three yards here and then bursts for eight. Four yards here and then bursts for nine,” Hetrick aptly described, speaking of South’s pounding ground attack. “We have been doing that, and that’s the third straight week where we came out in the second half and said we’re gonna control the ball and run it down their throats, and see what happens.”
South not only controlled the ball but practically owned it: the Titans held a 66-35 edge in plays from scrimmage.
“We just chewed the clock,” Carver said. “It felt awesome.”
The receiver turned runner is back playing the position he loved in his early days.
Behind 15-10 at the half, South then came out in the third quarter and used a seven-play, 64-yard drive to push in front for good.
Carver gained seven, six and then broke free for a 17-yard touchdown that made it 16-15 South on a cold night on the turf at Helman Field. The Titans went for two, with Brett Szarko (116 yards) throwing to Owen Wheeler to extend the margin to 18-15.
South was just getting started.
The Titans’ next possession – a 15-play march – ate up yards and devoured the clock. Carver crashed in from a yard out, giving the Titans a comfortable 25-15 lead with 2 minutes, 3 seconds to play.
“I just turned into a running back midway through the season so getting all these carries feels awesome,” Carver said.
South’s ground attack also included the exploits of speedy Anthony Leonardi, who broke free for a 74-yard touchdown to make it 32-15 with a minute to play, locking things up.
“It’s a pretty simple brand of football,” said Hetrick. “It’s just a matter of A: executing and B: moving your feet and moving bodies. It’s literally how football was built to be played. And we did a pretty nice job of it in the second half tonight.”
South’s defense came up with two interceptions in the fourth quarter: one by Tommy Donnelly, the other by Owen Wheeler. Ayden Wallrath swallowed up runners at the line of scrimmage and helped key the Titans’ defensive effort up front.
South needed to dig deep in the second half to overcome the Rams.
“Pennridge has tough kids and we knew it was their Senior Night,” Hetrick said. “We knew they were gonna come out ready to play.”
Pennridge struck first, on a six-yard run by senior Brennan Fisher.
South answered with a 22-yard scoring strike from Szarko to Donnelly, deadlocking things at seven apiece in the second quarter.
The Rams (2-8, 1-6 SOL National) regained the lead, when Noah Keating hit Nate Mossbrook in stride for a 52-yard score. An encroachment penalty against South on the extra-point attempt moved the ball closer, and the Rams decided to go for two, punching it in with a run by Fisher to make it 15-7.
The Titans tightened things on a 24-yard field goal by Nick Esterly, making it 15-10 at the break before the hard-charging footsteps of South’s ground attack took over in the second half.
South limited the sensational Fisher to 16 yards on his first 10 carries, but he did break loose for a 42-yard TD to cap the scoring (Keating threw to Holt for two).
“I saw a lot of energy out of the kids. Record-wise, the year wasn’t what we wanted, but they came back and came out fired up tonight and stood tall and put their best effort out there,” Rams coach Chuck Burgy said. “They did not stop fighting. I wish we had more games to send our seniors off with but we still have Thanksgiving (against rival Quakertown). And that’s gonna be a battle as it is every year.”
Keating made some big throws for the Rams, overall going 9-for-19 for 125 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.
“We’ve put a lot on Noah Keating’s plate this year,” Burgy said. “He’s a true freshman and he’s risen to the challenge. He’s a young guy, a young kid that’s learning a lot every week and improving every week. He’s a leader. And the seniors on that offense did everything they could tonight to make something happen.”
Central Bucks South 32, Pennridge 23
CB South 0 10 8 14 – 32
Pennridge 7 8 0 8 – 23
First Quarter
P – Brennan Fisher 6 run (Aidan Hatfield kick), 8:16.
Second Quarter
CBS – Tommy Donnelly 22 pass from Brett Szarko (Nick Esterly kick), 8:43.
P – Nate Mossbrook 52 pass from Noah Keating (Fisher run), 8:10.
CBS – Esterly 24 field goal, 1:32.
Third Quarter
CBS – Jack Carver 17 run (Owen Wheeler pass from Szarko), 2:35.
Fourth Quarter
CBS – Carver 1 run (Esterly kick), 2:03.
CBS – Anthony Leonardi 74 run (Esterly kick), 1:07.
P – Fisher 42 run (Jake Holt pass from Keating), :45.
CBS P
First Downs 20 7
Rushes-yards 48-273 16-77
Passing (c-a-i) 12-18-0 9-19-2
Passing yards 116 125
Total yards 389 202
Punts 3 5
Fumbles-lost 3-2 1-1
Penalties-yards 5-26 4-40
Rushing
CBS: Corey Moore 1-2; Donnelly 1-4; Carver 24-150, 2 TD; Szarko 5-(-19); Leonardi 15-126, TD; Liam Goss 2-10.
P: Fisher 11-58, 2 TD; Tyler Wetzel 5-19.
Passing
CBS: Szarko 12-18-116-1-0.
P: Keating 9-19-125-1-2.
Receiving
CBS: Leonardi 1-7; Donnelly 7-82, TD; Goss 1-7; Carver 1-1; Hunter Petrich 2-19.
P: Jake Holt 2-14; Nick Swanson 3-27; Mossbrook 3-68, TD; Aidan Bell 1-16.
Interceptions
CBS: Donnelly, Owen Wheeler.
