Central Bucks West stunned Pennridge with a late touchdown to earn a 21-20 win. Photo on slide is courtesy of Marge Bullock. To view game photos, please visit the web site www.MargeBullock.com.
By Ben Reese
PERKASIE – Joe Ramos is a key part of the Central Bucks West offense at wide receiver.
He doesn't get as much notice as running back Marvin Todd or quarterback John Fitz. But he is Fitz's go-to receiver in the clutch.
But it is on defense that Ramos stands out the most. And he proved it Friday night at Poppy Yoder Field as the Bucks handed Pennridge its first loss of the season, a 21-20 defeat in the final minutes of the game.
Ramos did make his presence felt on offense, catching three passes for 47 yards. But it was his defensive work against the Rams' wide receiver Micah Stutzman, which included an interception with less than a minute to play, that sealed the win for the Bucks.
“He works hard,” CB West coach Brian Hensel said of Ramos. “They've got really good receivers over there.
“Stutzman is one of the best in the league who's not wearing a CB West uniform. The poise their quarterback (Matt) Pasquale shows is fantastic.
“That's his (Ramos) fifth or sixth (interception) this season. And that's the third game in a row that we've picked the ball off to seal a victory.”
Ramos admitted that his mind was on defense all week.
“Coming through the week in practice, my focus was on defense,” Ramos said. “Covering No. 3 (Stutzman) - he's a great player.
“I covered him tighter than anything and he still was catching. That final play pulled it all together. It feels unbelievable right now.”
The Bucks, who trailed 20-7 at one point, took a 21-20 lead with 1:27 left in the fourth quarter. After Pennridge's Devon Balmer returned Mike Miller's kickoff to the Ram 38. Pasquale threw two incomplete passes.
He connected on his third pass as time ran down, but it was to Ramos rather than to one of his own receivers, sealing the win for the Bucks.
Offensively, the game went pretty much as predicted. Both Pennridge's Mike Class and West's Marvin Todd gained a lot of yardage on the ground, and both had long touchdown runs.
But West quarterback Fitz also had a couple of long gainers to his credit. His first one, a 68-yarder, led to the Bucks' first score.
His second got West out of a hole, and it eventually led to what proved to be the game-winning touchdown.
Todd made his presence felt as well, breaking off a 70-yard scoring run early in the fourth quarter to get the Bucks within six points at 20-14.
But those long runs weren't necessarily what Hensel had expected.
“We're not necessarily looking for that 80-yard run all the time or the 80-yard pass,” he said, “but if it's there, we're going to take it. Give our guys credit; they stepped up and made it happen.”
Ramos felt that West had found something that helped it gain that ground.
“Mike Class is a good player and they have a good passing game,” Ramos said. “Their defense still needs some touching up.
“We saw some flaws in it. We came after it - running the ball, passing the ball, anything to get down the field and score.”
Except for the long TD run, Pennridge did a good job of containing Todd. He finished with 120 yards on 17 carries, but 70 of those came on one carry. He managed just 50 on the other 16.
“We thought we had a bit of an advantage with some experience against some players like that,” Pennridge coach Jeff Hollenbach said of Todd. “We played against some really good athletic players last week (against Academy Park).
“We thought we knew what speed is like. He's a very speedy player, and we thought he might get his big runs but not too many.
“Hopefully, we (thought) we could contain him. I think for the most part we did. That one long run hurt.”
The Rams put points on the board on their second possession of the game. They drove from the West 48 to the end zone with Class scoring from the two for a 7-0 lead with 2:21 left in the opening period.
Pennridge scored again less than two minutes later. A West punt was downed at the Pennridge 10 but, with 33 seconds left in the first quarter, Class bolted around right end and went 90 yards for the score, making it 13-0 when the pass for the conversion failed.
With Fitz going 68 yards to the Pennridge 15, West got back in the game late in the second period. Fitz hit Matt Kilkenny from the 16, and the Bucks trailed by six at 13-7 at halftime.
Pennridge got a passing touchdown in the third quarter. Pasquale hit Stutzman for a 22-yard TD to up the count to 20-7 going into the final stanza.
That's when the West offense came alive. Todd got through a hole off tackle and outran everyone for 70 yards to the end zone to make it 20-14.
Then West used a 10-play drive, which included Fitz's 50-yard run, to tie it at 20-20. Mike Miller's kick gave the Bucks the very important winning point.
“We were frustrated (at halftime) with our mistakes but felt like we could come out and move the ball and get a three-touchdown lead, but it never came to that,” Hollenbach said. “It's frustrating when you feel like you should have won this thing and you didn't.”
Hensel could sympathize with Hollenbach.
“No team should lose that game,” the Bucks’ coach said. “That Pennridge team - they fought, they scrapped.
“We matched them blow for blow. No team deserves to lose but I'm happy we're on the good side of it.”
Fitz finished with 113 yards on the ground to go along with Todd's 120. Class topped all rushers with 213 yards on 23 carries.
CB West 0 7 0 14 – 21
Pennridge 13 0 7 0 – 20
P – Mike Class 2 run (Peter Psomiadis kick)
P – Class 90 run (pass failed)
CBW – Matt Kilkenny 16 pass from John Fitz (Mike Miller kick)
P – Micah Stutzman 22 pass from Matt Pasquale (Psomiadis kick)
CBW – Marvin Todd 70 run (Miller kick)
CBW – Todd 1 run (Miller kick)
CB West Pennridge
First downs 9 18
Rushing yards 233 277
Passing yards 77 139
Total yards 310 416
Passing 15-8-2 22-11-1
Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 3-40 8-85
Punts-avg. 5-30.1 5-30-2
Individual statistics
Rushing: CB West -- Marvin Todd 17-120, 2 TD; John Fitz 14-113.
Pennridge – Mike Class 23-213, 2 TD; Joe Unangst 3-25; Matt Pasquale 8-22; Ryan Sterling 12-14; Imeir Simmons 2-7; Jordan Garis 1- (-)4.
Passing: CB West – Fitz 8-15, 1 TD, 2 INT.
Pennridge - Pasquale 11-22, 1 TD, 1 INT.
Receiving: CB West – Joe Ramos 2-47; Corey Schott 2-19; Matt Kilkenny 1-16, 1 TD; Mark Ciaudelli 1-16; Todd 1-0.
Pennridge– Micah Stutzman 7-106, 1 TD; Class 2-15; Mike Tatarowicz 1-23; Simmons 1-6.
Interceptions: CB West – Ramos 1.
Pennridge – Stutzman 1; Devon Balmer 1.
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