Quakertown used a late defensive stand to defeat Central Bucks East in Saturday’s non-league opener. Photos provided by Keith Clemens Photography. Check back for a gallery.
QUAKERTOWN 20, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 13
Goal line stands are becoming the norm when the Panthers and Patriots do battle. Late in last year’s game, the Patriots – trailing by three – found themselves with a first-and-goal at the Panthers’ five-yard line. The Panthers’ defense held and won 15-12.
In Saturday’s rematch, the Panthers did one better, delivering a huge goal line stand early in the game and then slamming the door on the Patriots after they marched to the Panthers’ three-yard line with time winding down.
“That was huge, and that’s a testament to the kids - with their backs against the wall, they came up and made plays,” coach George Banas said. “I’m proud of them for that, but we have a tremendous amount of work ahead of us to get better – just clean up the sloppy play.
“With going to the one scrimmage and right to week one games, the week one games have gotten a lot sloppier. It was stressful, that’s for sure.”
Stressful perhaps but the end result was a very important early-season win for the Panthers.
“It’s a huge win for us,” Banas said. “With our non-league schedule early on with East, Souderton and (CB) West, to come away with wins against those type of teams is huge going into league play for the rest of the year.”
The Panthers’ defense found itself tested early when – on the team’s opening series, a bad snap on a punt attempt gave the Patriots a first-and-goal at the five-yard line. The Patriots came up empty.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Panthers controlled play in the second, scoring on three straight possessions. Michael Terra and Brad Bryan did most of the damage, connecting on back-to-back touchdowns in a five-minute span – the first on a seven-yard TD pass from Bryan to Terra and the second a play action pass to Terra for 33-yards and a touchdown that put the Panthers on top 13-0.
With 1:43 remaining in the opening half, Bryan found Tyler Merwarth with a screen pass that the sophomore turned into a 45-yard touchdown, sending the Panthers into halftime with a 20-0 lead.
“Everything slows down for your second-year quarterback,” Banas said. “He threw the ball well today, ran, made good decisions.
“(Merwarth) is starting at safety and at wide receiver. He caught that screen pass, made a couple of moves and took it almost 50 yards. He’s a talented individual.”
If the first half belonged to the Panthers, the second was another story entirely. The Patriots got on the scoreboard when quarterback Evan O’Donnell found Chris Lochetta with a 12-yard touchdown pass that made it a 20-6 game after three quarters. Things got interesting when – with less than eight minutes remaining in regulation - Anthony Giordano hauled in an O’Donnell 22-yard TD pass to make it a 20-13 game.
A bad snap by the Panthers gave the Patriots life when they recovered the ball just 26 yards from a potential tie. East took the ball to the three, but with just over two minutes remaining, a clutch defensive play on fourth down preserved the lead.
If there were any doubts about the outcome, Terra put those to rest when he took the ball out of the shadow of his team’s goal line, thanks to a dazzling 49-yard run.
“Across the board, (the defense) really did a nice job of keeping East out of the end zone and keeping the ball in front of them,” Banas said. “Michael Terra had a really good game across the board, offensively and defensively.
“Our defensive front and (linebacker) Nick Levinski played extremely well. Our two D-ends, Max Russell and Ashton Herd, and insides with Nick Frasch and Justin Bennett – that group really did a nice job of owning the line of scrimmage for a significant part of the game, not the whole game. East played exceptionally well, never gave up, played all the way to the end, and they have some really good players. They’re going to win a bunch of games this year.”
Quakertown (1-0) will travel to Souderton on Friday for a non-league contest, and Central Bucks East (0-1) will host Hatboro-Horsham next Saturday at 11 a.m.
Quakertown 0-20-0-0 20
Central Bucks East 0-0-6-7 13
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