Boehm, CB West tops North Penn in offensive slugfest to reach District 1-6A semifinals
DOYLESTOWN >> In a game that saw Central Bucks West and North Penn combine for 41 points in the back-and-forth second quarter and a spectacular rushing performance from Bucks senior Eli Boehm, it was a unintentional squib kick that ended up deciding Friday night’s District 1-6A quarterfinal at War Memorial Field.
“It wasn’t supposed to be a squib kick,” West senior Conor McFadden said. “I think it was supposed to be just a deep kick and then it was falling off the tee and everyone was upset on the sideline, like ‘What was that?’”
After the Bucks took a 38-35 lead on Ryan Clemens’ 25-yard field goal with 8:26 left in the fourth quarter, the ensuing kickoff was knocked across the ground but North Penn could not figure a way to corral the loose ball. Instead, it was McFadden hustling downfield to secure it for West just four yards away from the end zone.
“I saw it come out of like three people’s hands and I’m like ‘Oh crap I’m 10 yards away from this ball and they’re just going down on it,” McFadden said. “So I just jumped for the ball and the kid’s still bobbling it and I just pulled it away from him.”
Two plays later, quarterback Cooper Ganz scored from a yard out to push the 11th-seeded Bucks lead to nine. McFadden ended the Knights’ following drive with his interception as West advanced to its first District 1 semifinal since 2000 with a 44-35 victory over No. 14 North Penn.
“It was so close and then it just wasn’t,” McFadden said. “We both had momentum, none of us were ahead of each other and then that happened and you could just see they were down and we were up and we wouldn’t stop from there.”
Boehm put together a mammoth game on the ground, running for 335 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries and added a 27-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter as Central Bucks West (8-4) moves on to visit No. 2 Perkiomen Valley for a spot in the district final next week. Perk Valley topped No. 7 Souderton 27-14 Thursday.
“I just had my feet under me,” Boehm said. “It took four tackles to bring me down – I mean that’s what I got to keep doing, that’s what’s good.”
Michai Cuffie ran for 152 yards – 127 in the first half – and three touchdowns on 13 carries for the Knights (6-6), who were looking to reach its first district semifinal since 2018. Luke Cody had five catches for 118 yards and a touchdown while quarterback Ryan Zeltt was 10-of-15 passing for 186 yards, two TDs and an interception.
“It was funny, I was saying before the kickoff, I go ‘Watch, he’s going to go kick this, the wind’s going to blow it off halfway there and he’s going to squib it down and they’re going recover,’” North Penn coach Dick Beck said And doesn’t that happen?”
“Look, here’s what I’ll say – that their kids wanted to ball a little more than ours. They guys ran and just jumped on the ball and ripped it out of our guy’s hand and give them credit, they wanted the ball a little more than us.”
Boehm ran for 344 yards and five touchdowns in the Bucks’ 35-14 win at North Penn Sept. 23 – the start of West’s current 7-1 run after losing three of its first four – and picked up right where he left off as his opening carry Friday night went for 36 yards.
He finished the first half with 204 yards on 13 carries but the Bucks found themselves trailing 32-28 after a see-saw second quarter that had six lead changes – three coming on consecutive offensive snaps.
“We knew coming into this game it was going to be a weird game,” Boehm said. “I mean, all week people were talking about the weather and this and that so we knew it was going to be a weird game coming into it and I mean it was a weird game.”
Cooper’s first two passes went for touchdowns as he was 4-of-7 passing for 132 yards. McFadden had a pair of catches for 87 yards and a TD.
“I think we went into this game the same way we went into CB South, which we got smacked even though we shouldn’t of,” McFadden said. “So I thought we were screwed cause I thought our pride was way too high coming into this game and then I think we realized it at halftime and then let up three points in the second half.”
West regained the advantage on the first drive of the third, Boehm capping a six-play, 80-yard series with his 39-yard touchdown to make it 35-32 at 9:15.
North Penn had a 1st-and-Goal at the Bucks 8 on the next possession but 3rd-and-Goal at the 4 fumbled to lose four yards and settled for Ryan Bocklet’s 25-yard field goal to knot things at 35 at 3:23 in the third.
“We get down there and we get a pretty good call on third down and we get a mental error on the offense and it ends up costing us and that’s why we fumbled,” Beck said. “And we only got three out of it which was huge.”
Facing a 4th-and-3 at their own 42, the Bucks gave the ball to Boehm who picked up four to move the chains. West had a 1st-and-10 at the North Penn 12 but gained just four more yards and Ryan Clemens’ 25-yard field goal had the Bucks leading 38-35 with 8:26 left.
West’s unplanned but successful squib kick followed – the Bucks recovering at the four and Cooper’s 1-yard touchdown on a QB sneak making it a two-possession game at 7:35. The extra point hitting the right upright kept the margin at 44-35.
North Penn drove the ball to the West 39 but McFadden proceeded to pick off Zeltt and the Bucks ran off the rest of the clock to seal their second win this season over their SOL National Conference rival.
“Those guys have been playing tough all year,” said Beck of the Bucks. “Four (Boehm) is a tough runner, eight (Vinnie Cherubini) is a tough runner, so they definitely have some players.”
The teams scored touchdowns on the game’s first nine possessions, starting with Cuffie reaching the end zone on a 14-yard run to complete North Penn’s six-play, 80-yard drive at 9:07 in the opening quarter. A block extra point had the Knights up 6-0.
CB West took a 7-6 lead when Boehm caught a short pass from Cooper then dashed down the left side for a 27-yard touchdown at 6:23.
Cuffie collected his second rushing TD of the night on a three-yard with a minute left in the first quarter. Another blocked extra point made it 12-7 Knights.
In the second quarter, Boehm ran eight times on a nine-play, 65-yard drive – his last carry a five-yard TD at 8:13 giving West a 14-12 edge.
Zeltt hit a streaking Xavier Bryan down the left sideline for a 29-yard TD completion. The Knights went for two but their run was short, leaving them with an 18-14 lead.
The Bucks needed just one snap to respond as McFadden caught a short pass from Cooper, eluded a defender then raced down the left sideline for an 81-yard TD at 3:32.
North Penn answered with its own one-play series – Cuffie breaking through the left side and to the end zone from 65 yards out, putting the visitors up 25-21 with 4:14 to go in the half.
“They send me on a corner blitz right after that and the dude runs right where I was going to be,” McFadden said. “And then touchdown and I got so pissed. I felt like I just ran 80 yards and it didn’t matter. That was an exciting end to the half but I enjoy actual football more than just that.”
On the contest’s next offensive snap, Boehm burst down the field for an 80-yard touchdown for a 28-25 West lead just 12 seconds later.
“It was just a roller coaster of highs and lows,” Boehm said. “From now on we’re going to try to keep those highs a little bit but today was a bunch of highs and lows and we’re just glad we came out on top.”
The Knights , however, took a 32-28 lead into halftime after Zeltt found Cody, who avoided a tackle attempt and went down the right sideline for a 52-yard touchdown catch with 1:21 left before the break.
Central Bucks West 44, North Penn 35
North Penn (6-6) 12 20 3 0 – 35
Central Bucks West (8-4) 7 21 7 9 – 44
First Quarter
NP – Michai Cuffie 14 run (kick blocked), 9:07.
CBW – Ganz Cooper 27 pass to Eli Boehm (Ryan Clemens kick), 6:23.
NP – Cuffie 3 run (kick blocked), 1:00.
Second Quarter
CBW – Boehm 5 run (Clemens kick), 8:13.
NP – Ryan Zeltt 29 pass to Xavier Bryan (run failed), 4:21.
CBW – Cooper 81 pass to Conor McFadden (Clemens kick), 3:32.
NP – Cuffie 65 run (Ryan Bocklet kick), 3:20.
CBW – Boehm 80 run (Clemens kick), 3:08.
NP – Zeltt 52 pass to Luke Cody (Bocklet kick), 1:21.
Third Quarter
CBW – Boehm 39 run (Clemens kick), 9:15.
NP – Bocklet 25 field goal, 3:23.
Fourth Quarter
CBW – Clemens 25 field goal, 8:26.
CBW – Cooper 1 run (kick failed), 7:35.
NP CBW
First Downs 17 21
Rushes-yards 34-224 44-390
Passing 10-15-1 4-7-0
Passing yards 186 132
Totals yards 410 522
Punts 0 0
Penalties-yards 1-15 6-46
Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0
Rushing
North Penn: Michai Cuffie 13-152, 3 TD; Amir Major 15-62; James Mangine 2-5; Ryan Zeltt 3-3; Jay Ford-King 1-2.
Central Bucks West: Eli Boehm 27-335, 3 TD; Vinny Cherubini 12-57; Ryan Clemens 1-3; Ganz Cooper 4-(-5), TD.
Passing
North Penn: Ryan Zeltt 10-15-1, 186, 2 TD.
Central Bucks West: Ganz Cooper 4-7-0, 132, 2 TD.
Receiving
North Penn: Luke Cody 4-118, TD; Xavier Bryan 5-65; Michai Cuffie 1-3.
Central Bucks West: Conor McFadden 2-87, TD; Eli Boehm 1-27, TD; Jack Williams 1-18.
Interceptions
North Penn: None.
Central Bucks West: Conor McFadden.
