CB South spoils Souderton’s bid to claim share of SOL Continental title

FRANCONIA >> Sean Smith and the Central Bucks South football team had no problem playing spoiler to Souderton’s championship aspirations Friday night.

“We always want to take on that role if we have to,” the Titans senior said.

Souderton had put itself in position to end a 12-year title drought and split the SOL Continental Conference crown with Central Bucks West. But penalties, missed chances inside the 10 and an inability to stop South’s rushing attack after halftime left Big Red frustrated and without a trophy.

Smith ran for a pair of touchdowns, his second capping an eight-play, 80-yard drive consisting entirely of runs to put the Titans ahead in the third quarter and visiting South pulled away from there to knock off Souderton 24-14.

“We talked all week, we preached all week to them about getting the opportunity, you don’t get very many opportunities with North Penn in your league to win a championship,” Indians coach Ed Gallagher said. “We didn’t beat North Penn but two other teams did and gave us the opportunity to win a championship and we let it slip away. You got to credit South. South came here with a game plan, they did what they needed to do to win the game, we did not. End of story.”

Smith caught eight passes for 146 yards and also ran 13 times for 68 yards while Matt Cohen added 81 yards on nine carries as Central Bucks South (7-3, 4-2 conference) continued its strong finish to the regular season with a fifth consecutive victory over Souderton.

The Titans’ win gives Central Bucks West the outright conference title. Souderton (8-2, 4-2) earned a shot at being co-champion — and claim the program’s first title since 2007 — when it edged West 28-27 in double overtime last Friday to give the Bucks their first loss.

“We were pretty focused. I think we were definitely a little more focused for West,” Souderton senior quarterback/safety Andrew Vince said. “But I mean we just needed to realize that this game was just as important. But it’s tough to go back to back two weeks playing two good Central Bucks teams but we knew we could get it done we just weren’t able to get it done.”

The Indians were flagged for 11 penalties, nine in the first half, including on its first offensive snap to negate a 64-yard Guthre touchdown run. The drive ended with South denying Souderton on a QB sneak on a 4th-and-Goal from the one.

“We came out and we were OK and hung around for a while but we didn’t punch that first one in and it was kind of a forebearer of bad things to come,” Gallagher said.

Guthre finished with a game-high 101 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries, collecting 89 yards on his total on two runs. Jalen White ran 11 times for 88 yards, 55 coming on his fourth-quarter TD while Vince was 10-of-13 passing for 123 yards and an interception.

“Definitely had a slow start to the first half, just it really came down to too many mental mistakes,” Vince said. “And were getting behind and we just weren’t able to fight back. They were running the ball down the field on offense and we just weren’t able to put together stops.”

Both teams will be in the District 1-6A tournament field with CB South sitting seventh and Souderton ninth in the power rankings with the official seedings still to be decided. 

“This can’t be the way this season is remembered,” Gallagher said. “It’s been a great season. You told me back in August that we would’ve been 8-2 going into the playoffs, I’d of been thrilled. You can assume certain things as things go on but I’d of been really thrilled with 8-2 and whatever seed we ended up with, to have the chance to win the championship is going to be very bittersweet.

“We got to find a way next week to get this taste out of our mouths and at least finish on a positive note. Win or lose, we can’t leave this as our legacy.”

The Titans head into the postseason having won five of their last six since beginning the year 2-2.

“We can beat anybody that’s how we think, that’s how we think every week,” Smith said. “We can beat whoever’s facing off against us.”

 Smith gave the Titans a 10-7 lead at halftime with a three-yard touchdown run with 23.8 seconds left in the second half. Souderton seemed poised to answer on the opening drive of the second half when Andrew Vince found Ethan Smerecki for 46 yards down to the South 9. But the Indians could only move three yards closer to the end zone and on their 23-yard field goal try a high snap contributed to the kick being blocked.

Matt Cohen began South’s ensuring possession with a 20-yard run and from there the Titans powered down the field on the ground. Smith staked South to a 17-7 lead on the drive’s eighth play as he went around the left edge and reached over the goal line to score from seven yards out at 4:02 in the third.

“That drive, at the beginning of the half when we got the ball back was a statement drive for our guys,” CB South coach Tom Hetrick said. “I’ve been on my offensive line this whole season — ‘Guys, you go to play with an attitude,’ and that was definitely an attitude drive. You know, we’re a couple first down into that drive and I’m like, listen, I’m not going to pass the ball until they stop us. And to our guys’ credit they played so hard and that drive was huge, that was a huge drive.”

After forcing a Souderton three-and-out, CB South extended its lead to 24-7 with 13-play, 76-yard drive. On a 4th-and-8 from the Indians 25, Smith hauled in a 20-yard pass from Carter Hallgren, who finished 9-of-13 for 113 yards. The next play, Joe McSweeney scored on a five-yard TD run at 8:28 left in the fourth.

“They ran three plays — they ran speed sweep, they ran a trap off a speed sweep and they ran a play-action pass off of it that they probably should of completed for like two more touchdowns cause we kind of lacked eye discipline and we got caught looking in the backfield,” Gallagher said. “And they got guys — Smith was open deep twice and I don’t know how that happens when most of our defense was focused on stopping him and he still had the game that he had. It’s disappointing.”

Souderton cut the deficit to 24-14 when White dashed for a 55-yard touchdown with 3:01 left but the Indians’ onsides kick went out of bounds and South proceeded to run out the clock.

The Titans took a 3-0 lead at 4:57 in the second quarter on Garrett MacClay’s 24-yard field goal. Souderton went up 7-3 on its next possession, a five-play, 52-yard drive Guthre finished by going up the middle, cutting to the sideline then racing in for a 40-yard touchdown at 2:08 left before halftime.

South, however, responded with a touchdown in the final seconds before the break. Smith caught four passes on a eight-play, 79-yard drive with his lone run on the series his three-yard score on a direct snap that made it 10-7 Titans with 23.8 seconds.