Council Rock South comes up short against powerful Quakertown

Holland >> The road to a Suburban One League Continental Conference title and potential top seed in the District One Class AAAA playoffs got a lot smoother for the Quakertown High School football team Friday night, although the Panthers’ 35-14 win over Council Rock South wasn’t as hazard-free as the final score might seem.

The host Golden Hawks went toe-to-toe with their undefeated visitors in a wild first quarter in which the teams combined for 275 yards of offense and four touchdowns. But then the Quakertown defense stiffened up while its offense began to wear down CR South.

With the win, Quakertown (8-0) took sole possession of first place in the Suburban One League’s Continental Conference, knocking the Hawks (5-3, 4-1) down a peg. Quakertown still has a tough Council Rock North and Central Bucks East remaining on the schedule.

CR South, meanwhile, will be favored to beat Norristown next Saturday afternoon and still controls its own playoff destiny. A win there would set up a likely win-and-in game in the Hawks’ regular season finale against rival CR North on Nov. 7.

Running back Brendan Patterson starred for the Hawks last night, piling up 109 rushing yards in the first quarter on the way to 172 for the game. But his Quakertown counterpart, Rob Burns, stole the show in the end with four rushing touchdowns, including two within a three-minute span of the fourth quarter that blew open a close game.

CR South’s best shot at pulling off an upset occurred midway through the third quarter with the Hawks trailing 21-14. After shutting down the Panthers to open the half, South took over at its own 12 and marched 65 yards in nine running plays. The big play was Patterson’s 24-yard gain that moved the ball deep into Quakertown territory.

Facing fourth-and-2 from the 23, South quarterback Shaun Stackhouse got the call on a keeper up the middle. But there appeared to be a mix-up on the snap as Stackhouse got the ball as several of his linemen remained rooted in their stances. The odd-looking play caught much of the defense off-guard too, as Stackhouse looked like he gained the needed yards. But at the end of the play, a Quakertown defender stripped the ball. The Panthers recovered.

CR South wouldn’t advance into Quakertown territory again until the Panthers had tacked on two more touchdowns to built a comfortable lead.

Quakertown’s defense impressed in shutting down the Hawks after the early scoring outburst by both teams.

South took possession at its 44 after the opening kickoff and ran the ball 12 consecutive times. Patterson’s nine-yarder and Mike Stock’s eight-yarder were the longest plays in the methodical march, a classic example of Head Coach Vince Bedesem’s wishbone attack.

Stock capped the drive with a three-yard touchdown run.

Quakertown needed just two plays to strike back. Quarterback Tom Garlick — who piloted Archbishop Wood to a state Class AAA title two years ago — almost took a sack, but broke a tackle and scrambled 52 yards to the Hawks’ 3. Burns scored from there to tie the game.

On South’s next possession, Patterson recorded runs of 55 yards and 23 yards, the latter for a touchdown and 14-7 Hawks lead.

But Quakertown answered again. Garlick passed 42 yards to Baskin on a beautiful play-action post pattern for the tying touchdown.

South stalled at the Quakertown 30 on its next drive, but the Panthers kept scoring. Burns’ 10-yard touchdown run gave them the lead heading into intermission. Burns added touchdowns of seven and one yard in the fourth quarter.

Quakertown 35, Council Rock South 14

(Oct. 23 at CR North)

QUAKERTOWN (8-0) 14 7 0 14 – 35

CR SOUTH (5-3) 14 0 0 0 – 14

SUMMARY

1st quarter

CRS — Stock 3 run (Gold kick)

Q — Burns 3 run (Soriano kick)

CRS — Hickey 23 run (Gold kick)

Q — Baskin 42 pass from Garlick (Soriano kick)

2nd quarter

Q — Burns 10 run (Soriano kick)

4th quarter

Q — Burns 7 run (Soriano kick)

Q — Burns 1 run (Soriano kick)

TEAM STATS

Q             CRS

First Downs        14           17

Yards Rushing    226         295

Yards Passing     164         15

Total Offense    390         310

Comp. Passes, Int            12-17-0 4-11-1

Fumbles-lost      0-0          1-1

Penalties-yards 7-65       8-76

Punts-Avg.          2-38       1-18

Sacked-Yds. Lost              0-0          1-6

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Quakertown

RUSHING: Wood 7-84; Burns 21-81, 4 TDs; Garlick 8-56; Potynski 1-3

PASSING: Garlick 12-17-0, 164 yards, TD

RECEIVING: Baskin 4-75, TD; Potynski 5-52; Besch 3-37

INTERCEPTIONS: Baskin

Council Rock South

RUSHING: Patterson 24-178; Hickey 7-57, TD; Stock 10-35, TD; Stackhouse 7-21; Broe 1-4

PASSING: Stackhouse 4-11-1, 15 yards

RECEIVING: Murray 1-13; Smyth 1-3; Patterson 1-(-1)

INTERCEPTIONS: none