CB South rolled to a convincing win over Haverford in an opening round District One AAAA contest. To view photos of all the action, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Ben Reese
WARRINGTON – Dave Rackovan had a game plan.
And the Central Bucks South head football coach stuck to it – at least for the first half.
But that is just about all the Titans needed in winning their first round game of the AAAA District One playoffs, beating Haverford 38-14.
Suffice it to say that Rackovan's game plan was an excellent one. It allowed the Titans to roll over the Fords, scoring all 38 points in the first half.
Really, the team from the Central League had no answer for South’s offense or defense. And the Titans probably could have put more points on the board in the second half but Rackovan decided to take things a little easy.
“We just made plays in the first half,” he said. “We were able to just jump on top of them.
“The second half was a little bit me. I felt that we had the game under control and I didn't want to throw the ball too much.
“In the first half, I think we came out and executed our game plan really well. That's what we wanted to do and we had a good mix.
“The second half was me. I decided to put the brakes on and just get the game going.”
As in any CB South game, Josh Adams is a big part of the game plan. Well, Adams figured prominently in this one, too.
In the first half alone, Adams carried the ball 12 times for 125 yards and three touchdowns. He finished the night with 159 yards on 21 carries.
That was fine with Adams.
“We came out in the first half and ran our offense,” the sophomore sensation said. “We tried to keep that up the whole game.
“We let up a little bit and we shouldn't have. That's something we really have to work on because, if we expect to get further, we have to do that (run the offense) the whole game.”
In the first quarter, the Fords gave the Titans a little more opposition than might have been expected. Haverford quarterback Eddie Durkin and running back Kevin Leyden moved the offense.
“We knew athletically that 21 (Leyden) and 10 (Durkin) were going to be good football players,” Rackovan said. “I thought we did a good job against them in the first half.
“Ten is one of the best quarterbacks we've seen all year. Twenty-one is a really good running back. I thought we did a really good job containing those guys in the first half.”
And the Titans did do a job on both Leyden and Durkin. The pair could only get to the end zone once in the first half when Durkin hit Ricky Dempsey from six yards out to tie the game at 7-7.
However, Leyden continued to pound the ball, gaining 120 yards on 16 carries and Durkin passed for 231 yards.
But, once again, they only reached pay dirt once in the first half. That was the key because the Fords intercepted two John Pileggi passes and spent a good amount of time in the South side of the field.
But it was Adams who bailed out the Titans. He scored those three touchdowns and dominated the offense in the third quarter, carrying the ball eight times including six times in the opening drive of the second half.
South got on the board first, scoring with 6:10 remaining in the opening quarter. Adams carried twice and gained six yards and Pileggi hit two passes in the five-play drive for 43 yards, but it was Cale Mosher who tallied the first score, taking a reverse pitch from Adams and going the final 12 yards for the TD.
Haverford came right back on the next series, driving from its own 13 to the end zone. Durkin hit Dempsey with a pass, and he carried it 60 yards for the score.
That gave Adams the chance to shine. He scored his first touchdown of the game with 39.7 seconds left in the first period, going in from 10 yards out.
He then scored on a 62-yard bolt with 8:38 left in the second and then added a third with 7:12 remaining in the first half, going in from four yards out.
That didn't end the scoring for the Titans, however. Evan Stahl booted a 25-yard field goal and then, in the final minute of the first half, Pileggi hit Mosher and he sprinted 52 yards for the score to give South a 38-7 advantage.
It remained that way until early in the fourth quarter. Then Fords' backup quarterback Jack Donaghy passed to Dempsey from the eight for the final points of the game.
The Titans will be facing a Suburban One League foe next week, taking on Neshaminy in the second round of the playoffs.
Central Bucks South 14 24 0 0 — 38
Haverford 7 0 0 7 — 14
CBS – Cale Mosher 12 run (Evan Stahl kick)
H – Ricky Dempsey 6 pass from Eddie Durkin (Dave Russell kick)
CBS – Josh Adams 10 run (Stahl kick)
CBS – Adams 62 run (Stahl kick)
CBS – Adams 4 run (Stahl kick)
CBS – Stahl 25 FG
CBS – Mosher 52 pass from John Pileggi (Stahl kick)
H – Dempsey 8 pass from Jack Donaghy (Russell kick
Haverford CB South
First downs 19 17
Rushing yards 138 245
Passing yards 289 160
Total yards 427 405
Passing 19-40-1 9-14-2
Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-0
Penalties-yards 6-59 4-43
Punts-avg. 3-29.3 1-28
Individual statistics
Rushing: Haverford – Leyden 16-120; Donaghy 3-49; Durkin 6-16; Thornton 2-1; Drum 1-0; Team 2-(-)48.
CB South – Adams 21-159, 3 TDs; Gannon 2-34; Pileggi 9-33; Mosher 1-12, 1 TD; Mallon 1-3; Renneisen 2-3; Dibrino 1-1.
Passing: Haverford – Durkin 9-17-1, 231, 1 TD; Donaghy 10-23-0, 58, 1 TD.
CB South – Pileggi 9-14-2, 160, 1 TD.
Receiving: Haverford – Dempsey 6-138, 2 TDs; Drum 5-60; Leyden 5-42; Sydnor 2-45; Thornton 1-4.
CB South – Mosher 5-89, 1 TD; Adams 2-51; Wursta 1-16; Veal 1-4.
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