DOYLESTOWN – The focus for the Central Bucks West football team is on Garnet Valley.
Not for what occurred in a 35-7 loss to the Jaguars in last year’s District 1-6A championship game – the Bucks’ first appearance in a district final since 2000.
Rather, West and the Central League power are set to clash once again with the Bucks this time the host to kick off the season.
“For us, our mindset going into the season, we’re not looking at anything that happened last year,” CB West coach Rob Rowan said. “It’s a clean slate and we got to kind of build this team and get this team prepared for a Garnet Valley team who obviously is one of the best teams in the district every year and that’s been our mindset.”
The title-game rematch is the beginning of a tough opening slate to the season. Week 2 brings District 1-5A and Suburban One League Continental Conference champ Upper Dublin to War Memorial Field with West then traveling to Quakertown, which has made the last two District 1-6A postseasons.
A week later, the Bucks start SOL National play at defending champ Pennsbury before hosting North Penn, who West topped twice in 2022, the second time in district quarterfinals.
“We want to play the best of the best and our guys know that, they welcome that challenge,” Rowan said. “They know that iron sharpens iron and we’re going to get better because we play better opponents. And our guys, they don’t back down from that, they welcome it, like I said, but we also have tremendous amount of respect for these teams knowing that it’s going to be a tremendous challenge. So, it elevates our preparation.”
And with the surge it put together in the back half of last season, a talented, veteran West squad had the blueprint to continuing its success.
“We have a lot of guys coming back with experience,” Bucks senior defensive end/tight end Jack Williams said. “We know what it takes now. We know what it takes to play in those games and how to get to there.”
West lost three of its first four games in 2022 but proceeded to win the next four and five of its next six – including back-to-back shutouts and Abington and Neshaminy – to earn the 11th seed in the district playoffs.
After knocking off rival Central Bucks East in the first round, 42-26, the Bucks beat North Penn 44-35 then edged Perkiomen Valley 14-13 in the semis before falling to Garnet Valley.
“I think we just keep looking to elevate the program in a way,” Williams said. “We’re not going backwards now, we’re here, we’re just coming on.”
The 9-5 final record was the third time in the past four seasons West has won nine or more games, going 10-2 and winning the SOL Continental while finishing 9-3 in 2021.
“We definitely have a lot of guys coming back with good experience under their belt,” Rowan said. “But with that being said we’re still also replacing major contributors last year and that’s always a challenge finding new guys to step up in those roles.
“So we really treat every year the same regardless of who we have coming back and don’t coming back, every year there’s a new identity that gets formed within a team.”
West graduated the strong running tandem of Eli Boehm and Vinny Cherubini but the offense – that averaged 24.6 points per game – has back senior quarterback Ganz Cooper and an offensive line anchored by senior left tackle Hayden Mulligan, an All-SOL National second team selection.
The Bucks look to get the ball in the hands of senior Connor McFadden – an all-conference first team receiver who in the winter won gold in the 200-meter dash at the PTFCA Indoor State Championships – and fellow classmate Cooper Taylor.
“I think this offense we’re going to score a lot,” Taylor said. “I don’t expect our offense to step down at all from last year. I think it has the potential to be a lot better actually.”
After allowing 20. 6 points per game in last year’s 1-3 start, the Bucks defense tightened up and gave up just 10.5 the rest of the regular season and finished its 14 games in 2023 allowing 18.6 points per contest.
“I think at all three levels – up front, linebacker, secondary – we have guys who have gotten varsity experience,” Rowan said. “And that really becomes important on a gamenight situation because new guys, the game tends to be fast, really fast for those guys. And when you have the experience, the game just starts to play a little bit slower.”
Taylor (first team) and McFadden (second team) were both all-conference selections at defensive back. Williams earned first-team honors at defensive end with senior Matt Cleland made second team at linebacker.
“Our team chemistry is through the roof right now and our defense, I think our defense is going to be one of the top in the league,” Taylor said. “And we got a lot coming back, a lot of starters coming back so we’re just excited to get this going.”
