Giordano’s record afternoon helps CB East down William Tennent
BUCKINGHAM >> Anthony Giordano went from looking like his day would be over early to breaking a pair of school records.
The Central Bucks East junior quarterback left the game for a couple plays in the second quarter after getting rolled up awkwardly on a tackle but quickly returned to the game. While the Patriots did most of their damage offensively against William Tennent with the run, Giordano still etched his name into the Patriot record book.
Giordano set new single-season records for completions and yardage as the Patriots kept their playoff hopes alive with a 31-14 win over the visiting Panthers.
“My whole focus is on winning and doing it as a team, so I really didn’t know anything about either record,” Giordano said. “I was just worried about getting a win over a good football team.”
After a season-ending injury to senior running back Jake Ventresca in the first week, the Patriots (5-4, 2-3 SOL Continental) have asked a lot of Giordano offensive and he’s shouldered the load well. Saturday afternoon however, CB East wanted to prove it could still run the ball and leaned on a number of players to get the job done.
The Patriots also had to gut out the win against a Tennent team that once again played with maximum effort. Tennent, which defeated Pennridge last week, took a 7-3 lead in the first quarter on senior Tom Santiago’s three-yard run.
“I thought we did a really good job of getting up to the ball quick and snapping the ball fast,” Giordano said. “They’re a really good football team, especially up front and I thought our offensive line did a fantastic job blocking and we were able to run the ball really well.”
East, which had led 3-0, re-gained the lead on a one-yard run by senior Patrick Volko. The back powered East with 78 yards on 17 carries and added a second touchdown less than two minutes after his first before falling ill in the second half and having to leave the game.
Senior Mike Smigley, a receiver/corner and kicker, actually led East with 84 rushing yards. He had a 41-yard gain on a fake punt during the drive that ended with Volko’s go-ahead touchdown and added a 44-yard run on East’s first drive in the second half.
Freshman Dylan Rotondo picked up for Volko in the fourth quarter and ran in an 11-yard touchdown to make it 24-14.
“I expect it out of him,” Giordano said. “He’s such a great running back and he’s going to be something special for us in the coming years.”
Giordano was injured on the go-ahead drive, getting rolled up between two Tennent defenders on a four-yard keeper. The quarterback grabbed his left knee in pain and needed to be helped off the field, but he was back in time to hold the ball on Smigley’s extra point kick and didn’t miss another snap.
“I got rolled up on my knee, it hurt right then but I was fine, I knew I could gut it out,” Giordano said. “The trainers did a nice job of stretching it out for me. It tightened up when I went down but I was already starting to feel it loosen up when I started walking around.”
Defensively, Tennent (3-6, 1-4) was led by a standout effort from senior Quame Moore. The 6-foot, 215-pound defensive end/linebacker was all over the field and proved a challenge for the Patriots’ linemen to block, blowing up quite a few running plays for minimal gain.
“He brings energy and never quits,” Tennent coach Rich Clemens said. “He never quits and we never quit. He’s a senior who was here before (our coaching staff) but he totally bought in and all day, he tries his hardest to do what he’s supposed to on every play and it shows.”
Tennent scored after a long, clock-eating drive in the third quarter to close within 17-14 when Santiago powered in from eight yards out. The Panthers have been playing an attrition game all conference season and while their effort has been superb, they’re at a numerical disadvantage.
Clemens said he has no issues with the way his team has played all year and noted the Panthers haven’t been routed in any game they’ve played. Next year, Tennent will be part of a new conference as the SOL expands.
“We had 38 suited up today and lose two guys to injury and that’s been our biggest thing all year,” Clemens said. “We’re not out of shape, it’s just that our guys are playing 120 plays and most of their guys are only playing 60. That’s just based on the size of the schools and I think the SOL did a great job of that with the new divisions.”
Giordano’s record-setting passes came on the following drive. A 15-yard completion to Peyton Pflug just before the third quarter horn gave the junior sole possession of the single-season completions record while a nine-yard hit to Will Silverman on the first play of the fourth quarter set a new single-season mark for yardage.
The quarterback, who was a tight end last year, showed his hands when he made a tip-drill interception on defense right after Rotondo’s score.
Giordano, who added a rushing touchdown to his line for the day, didn’t think of the accolades as an individual accomplishment. His focus after the game was already onto next Friday’s game at Pennridge, with the Patriots needing a win to have a chance of getting into the District I playoffs.
“Looking back at it, it’s going to be something special but I’m more going to remember the guys on the team and the brothers here I played with,” Giordano said. “I’ll remember making the playoffs, beating West last year, it’s about the things like that and not the records.”
CB EAST 3 14 0 14 – 31
WILLIAM TENNENT 7 0 7 0 – 14
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
CBE – Mike Smigley 38 field goal 7:01
WT – Tom Santiago 3 run (Jon Garner kick) 3:29
2nd Quarter
CBE – Patrick Volko 1 run (Smigley kick) 6:46
CBE – Volko 4 run (Smigley kick) 4:53
3rd Quarter
WT – Santiago 8 run (Garner kick) 2:27
4th Quarter
CBE – Dylan Rotondo 11 run (Smigley kick) 8:24
CBE – Anthony Giordano 3 run (Morgan Dorsey kick) 2:09
Team Stats
CBE WT
First Downs 14 17
Rushes-Yards 39-252 40-144
Passing 9-21-0-0 9-17-0-1
Passing Yards 75 85
Total Yards 327 229
Penalties-Yards 6-45 4-45
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-1
Individual Stats
Rushing: CBE – Patrick Volko 17-78, Andrew Cassidy 3-7, Anthony Giordano 9-48, Mike Smigley 3-84, Dylan Rotondo 7-35; WT – Tom Santiago 21-82, Matt Miller 13-38, Fernando Delgado 6-24
Passing: CBE – Giordano 9-19-0-0-79, Will Silverman 1-1-0-0-(-4), Patrick Keller 0-1-0-0-0; WT – Miller 9-17-0-1-85
Receiving: CBE – Will Silverman 3-41, Giordano 1-(-4), Smigley 1-0, Rontondo 2-14, Peyton Pflug 1-15; WT – Ryan Emmerich 3-29, Derrick Cosenza 1-6, Tom Santiago 2-3, Eric DeJesus 1-18, Mikey Kleinert 2-28
Interceptions: CBE – Giordano
