Central Bucks East runs over Norristown
WEST NORRITON >> The first series of the game was a sign of things to come.
Central Bucks East scored on a 17-play drive that lasted 7:56 on their opening possession and never looked back in a 37-21 Suburban One League Continental Conference win over Norristown Saturday afternoon at Norristown Area High School.
On the opening possession, East running back Alex Gibson carried the ball 11 times for 44 yards. He finished the game with 31 carries for 135 yards.
“We were just pounding the ball,” Gibson said. “We knew they had a dynamic playmaker (Khalif Sinclair) on the other side of the ball, so we kind of wanted to control the ball, take long drives. Our first drive was 17 plays and we were able to bring it all the way down the field for a score.”
Gibson cashed in on the opening drive. On third-and-goal from the 14-yard line, quarterback Jack Lamb dropped back, rolled left and was immediately under pressure. Somehow, Lamb found Gibson and the running back took it from there. He raced right and took it in for the game’s first score.
“It was a broken play,” Gibson said. “Lamb just kind of rolled out and he had a lot of pressure, they brought numerous guys on that play. Lamb was just under pressure, he did some good things with his feet, then he just found me. Luckily I turned around and no one was there. I just had to make one guy miss and then I was in the endzone.”
In addition to his receiving score, Gibson reached the end zone twice on the ground.
“He’s a good runner, man,” Norristown coach Jason Powel said of Gibson. “He runs — he keeps his legs moving, so if you don’t tackle him from the waist down, he’s going to keep going.”
Scoring was a common theme for the Patriots in this one. The starting offense scored every time they had the ball. Gibson ran for an 11-yard score in the second quarter to make it a 14-0 game and two more field goals before half made the score 17-0 and 20-7, respectively.
“I tell the kids we have to keep our foot on the pedal,” Powel said. “I can’t explain it. It was just one of those things where our kids didn’t come out. We don’t get out to fast starts. I tried to stress that, but of course we didn’t get out to a fast start and good teams are going to put you down and they are going to put you away. And this team did.”
East forced Norristown to go three-and-out on their first two possessions of the second half and responded with a field goal and Lamb one-yard rushing score to make it a 30-7 blowout.
The Patriots final touchdown was a one-yard run from Gibson midway through the fourth quarter.
Norristown’s first touchdown — and only one against East’s starters — was an electric one. Corey Davenport handed off to Khalif Sinclair out of the wild cat formation. Sinclair carried to the left, then reverse his field all the way to the right sideline. He spun out of a tackle inside the five-yard line to complete the 59-yard score.
The two late touchdowns were both passes from Desmond Gorski to Simeon McCray. The first was an 18-yard fade pass into the end zone and the other was a 70-yard catch and run.
Both teams are back in action on the road Friday at 7 p.m. Norristown travels to William Tennent and CB East takes on Harry Truman.
