FOOTBALL: CB West improves to 5-0 with shutout win over North Penn

DOYLESTOWN – After the Central Bucks West football team came up empty on its first two drives Friday night, Conor McFadden saw a chance to provide the Bucks a spark on defense and dislodged the ball away from a North Penn runner.

“Everyone’s going to fly towards him, I might as well try to strip the ball,” McFadden said. “So I just go down with it and then his arm comes up with it, pops it up, I grab it and run.”

McFadden recovered the fumble recovery and did not stop until he reached the end zone, the senior defensive back – who last spring won the Class 3A 200-meter dash at the District 1 Track & Field Championship – sprinting down the right sideline for a 40-yard touchdown return and a 7-0 CB West lead in the SOL National Conference matchup.

“It popped up and I was like, all right, here’s my chance,” he said. “And then I saw a lineman and I’m like no way I’m letting him catch me.”

West’s offense eventually found traction late in the first half, Ryan Clemens’ nine-yard touchdown run making it a 14-0 lead in the half.

McFadden and quarterback Cooper Taylor made sure North Penn was not going to catch with the Bucks, adding TD runs in the third quarter as Central Bucks West reached 5-0 for the first time since 2019 by pulling away for a 28-0 win at War Memorial Field.

“We haven’t had a shutout this year but it feels really nice,” West junior defensive lineman AJ Gerace said. “I like that, I love the shutouts.”

Taylor ran 15 times for a game-high 124 yards – 97 of that coming in the second – while Clemens collected 89 yards on 10 carries as the Bucks (5-0, 2-0 conference) are unbeaten after five weeks of the season for the first time since 2019 when they won the first eight.

“I think we were kind of maybe a little too overconfident coming into the game, like 4-0 and stuff but we obviously held it down defensively and offensively we kind of just had to wait until everything got rolling,” McFadden said. “And obviously the pass game opens up the run game and with a new QB it’s hard to time that up. I think we’re going to definitely get it by the end of the season. But right now we’re still building obviously.”

Last week at Neshaminy, North Penn went to Aidan Eves at quarterback in the second half after losing both starter (Matt Bucksar) and backup (Michael Cliver) to injuries. Eves did his job, helping North Penn hold on after leading 16-7 at the break with the junior tossing a four-quarter TD pass in a 22-14 win.

Eves, who also plays defense, was still needed under center Friday but against a Bucks unit that held Pennsbury to just a field goal last Friday, the Knights just could not get much of anything going on the offensive side. North Penn had as many punts (7) as first downs and was shut out for the first time since 2007 when it lost 35-0 to Neshaminy in the District 1-4A quarterfinals.

“Look, we got to do a better job on offense,” North Penn coach Dick Beck said. “I think we got to block better, we got to run the ball better, we got to do everything. I thought defensively, at times, we were playing really tough. Gave up a couple big runs we can’t do. We have to get better.”

Trailing 28-0 in the third, North Penn recovered a muffed punt at the West 35. The final play of the quarter, Eves found Marc Cobbs on 3rd-and-9 for a 29-yard completion down to the five. The Knights, however, fumbled the ball away three plays later.

In the fourth, North Penn looked to get on the scoreboard with a 48-yard TD on a screen pass but a penalty on the Knights negated the score.

“Their backup quarterback/tight end, he’s still good, he’s a good quarterback,” said Gerace of Eves. “So we just stuck to our gameplan, stuck to our coach’s schemes and stuff and we just got it done.”

Both teams are home for SOL National games Friday. Central Bucks West takes on Abington, which fell to Neshaminy 38-22. North Penn faces Central Bucks South, which moved to 5-0 with a 24-13 victory over Pennsbury.

“We have a target on our backs now so everybody’s going to bring their best effort,” Gerace said. “But we just got to keep going out and executing.”

McFadden ran for 22 yards on the game’s first snap yet the Bucks could not pick up another first down on their opening drive.

North Penn converted a 4th-and-2 from its own 28 with an Amir Major two-yard run but its first series ended in a punt, which West returned to the Knights 36. The Bucks, however, turned it over on downs after an incompletion on 4th-and-8 from the 34.

The next play, McFadden forced a fumble and took it back for the TD at 3:46 in the first quarter.

“That big touchdown by Conor McFadden, that was huge,” Gerace said. “That got our momentum. That got our offense picking up – we had to set the energy, set the tone.”

The teams traded punts until the Bucks doubled their lead late in the second quarter. On and 3rd-and-3 at the West 45, Clemens broke free and ran down the left side for a 39-yard gain to the NP 16. Two plays later, Clemens went up the middle for a 9-yard touchdown run, putting the Bucks up 14-0 with 57 seconds left in the half.

“I think right when I saw Clemens break that big run, I’m like ‘Holes are opening.’” McFadden said. “So our line, I’m mainly just our line, they’re getting something done now.”

Taylor ran for 25 yards on West’s second offensive snap after halftime. On a 4th-and-3 at the North Penn 31, Taylor hit McFadden on the left side for four yards to move the chains. The next play, McFadden took a handoff around the right side then cut through the defense to score a 27-yard touchdown run at six minutes in the third.

“It was kind of more of just jumping around and find a hole rather than just like full-speed running,” McFadden said. “It was very open so I kind of just made cut, cut, made a guy miss or whatever and just ran it in.”

After forcing a North Penn three-and-out, CB West took a 28-0 lead at 2:45 in the third as Taylor rolled right on 3rd-and-11 and just kept going, sprinting away for a 59-yard TD run.