When Central Bucks South dropped a Week 9 showdown to crosstown rivals Central Bucks West, 40-29, the Titans knew it wasn’t the end of their season. They’d still qualify for the playoffs and have a chance to extend their season.
But the disappointment remained.
“We felt like we’d missed an opportunity,” said CB South offensive lineman Colin Goetter.
Little did the Titans know they’d get another chance four weeks later, in the District 1-6A semifinals. A pair of wins sent them into the semifinals for the first time in school history, where they met up yet again with Central Bucks West.
The Titans didn’t miss twice. A dominant 42-14 victory sent CB South to its first District 1-6A title game this coming Friday. The highlight was a devastating 457-yard outing on the ground, paced by Anthony Leonardi’s 301 yards and three touchdowns.
Corey Moore added the other three touchdowns on the ground, and the Titans handled CB West’s offense to the tune of only 205 yards allowed.
Goetter, a Monmouth commit, said as the games get bigger his and the team’s preparation don’t change much.
“Maybe you start to feel locked in a day earlier,” he said. ‘During the season, you’re not feeling all the way locked in until Thursday, but this past week it was more like Wednesday when I felt ready to go.”
The running game has been the Titans’ bread and butter all year, but they’re peaking at the right time. A week after putting up 350 yards on the ground in a quarterfinal against Spring-Ford, CB South outdid themselves on Friday night.
“After Spring-Ford, Coach (Tom) Hetrick told us that was something he hadn’t seen from us,” said Goetter. “I don’t know that we needed any extra confidence, but that helped us lock in. It became ‘Let’s just keep doing what we’re doing, we don’t need to change anything.’”
Goetter did acknowledge he thinks sometimes about just how close the Titans came to losing out on these opportunities. CB South survived a two-point conversion attempt from 12-seed Coatesville in round one to win, 21-20, and advance in the tournament.
“That was one of the craziest endings,” he said. “I don’t play defense, but the adrenaline high after we stopped them is something I can’t forget.
“Since then, we’ve been more dominant. It’s hard to pick a favorite.”
He did acknowledge, however, there’s something special about beating your rival.
“Coach Hetrick said if we played our cards right, we’d get that rematch,” said Goetter. “But I do know a lot of people from West, I’m friendly with most of them. So there’s something extra there.
“Mostly though, it’s about a legacy. CB South has never made it this far and with each game, the meaning of that legacy gets a little greater.”
The feeling was similar at Downingtown West, where the Whippets avenged a regular-season loss of their own with a last-second, 17-14 victory over previously unbeaten Downingtown East.
West didn’t leave themselves much margin for error, scoring their first-half touchdown on a fourth-down play near midfield with two seconds before halftime, and tallying the game-winner – a four-yard run by quarterback Quinn Henicle – with only 16 seconds to play.
The highlight was West playing East to a standstill at the line of scrimmage, outrushing the Cougars 139-123. Coupled with their decisive advantage in the passing game, West saw their path to an upset victory.
“We got down 28-0 early last time,” said Downingtown West wide receiver Jake Kucera. “Then we relaxed and played them even in the second half.
“Tonight, we felt everybody but us had counted us out, and we played our hearts out.”
This coming Friday night, No. 5 CB South hosts No. 6 Downingtown West for the District 1-6A championship at 7 p.m.
“I was walking back into the locker room when someone said Downingtown West won,” said Goetter. “And that’s when one of our coaches said, ‘We’ve got a home playoff game.’
“That, to me, is just insane. After the last two weeks on the road – I didn’t think we were going to play at home again.”
But now the Titans do get that opportunity with the championship on the line. “It’s Thanksgiving break, hopefully a lot of alums are back,” said Goetter. “But the home-field advantage is about the student section, and I know ours will go all out. We talk about building a legacy, and a District championship would be that legacy.”
District 1
It’s not a crosstown rivalry, but Springfield-Delco and Strath Haven similarly met for the second time this season in a District 1-5A semifinal.
No. 2 Strath Haven, however, was able to repeat their regular season victory by a score of 14-12. Twice in the final minutes, Haven held off Springfield’s attempts to tie or go ahead.
Springfield’s Mike Turner brought the Cougars within two on a 34-yard touchdown run with 2:16 to play, but Strath Haven turned him away on the ensuing two-point opportunity. After a quick three-and-out, Springfield moved back into field-goal range, but a 40-yard effort fell just short to end the semifinal classic.
It’ll be a battle of the top two seeds on Saturday at Chester after the Clippers held off West Chester Rustin, 26-20. Larry McDaniel ran for 117 yards for victorious Chester, who survived 11 penalties for over 100 yards by ironically sealing the win when Jalen Harris induced a late encroachment foul on Rustin.
PIAA Class 4A
Pope John Paul II’s remarkable PAC and District championship campaign came to an end Saturday with a 21-13 loss to Bonner & Prendergast in the first round of PIAA 4A states.
The Golden Panthers fell behind 21-0 and were unable to overcome an uncharacteristic five turnovers.
Boyd Skarbek ran for 135 yards on 32 carries in his final high school game.
“A lot of mistakes,” Skarbek confirmed. “We never give up and we always play to the last whistle.
“We thought we could have come back and won but didn’t get the job done.”
PJP ends the season at a record of 12-1, champions of the PAC and District 1-4A for the first time. (The Golden Panthers won a District 1-3A title back in 2019.)
A Look Ahead
This week’s games:
District 1-6A Championship: No. 6 Downingtown West at No. 5 Central Bucks South, 7 p.m. Friday
District 1-5A Championship: No. 2 Strath Haven at No. 1 Chester, 1 p.m. Saturday
