CB East & Springfield Township were winners in SOL football action Saturday. Check the recaps.
Stats used in the CB East/Bensalem wrap were provided courtesy of the Intelligencer/Bucks County Courier Times. For complete high school football coverage, visit the web sites: http://www.theintell.com/sports and http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/sports.
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 35, BENSALEM 17
The visiting Owls opened up an early 3-0 lead only to watch the Patriots erupt for 35 points over the next two quarters.
“We were just sloppy in the beginning,” East coach John Donnelly said. “On the first drive, we had a first down and then we snapped the ball over our head and lost 20 yards. We made some mistakes on our first couple of drives, and then we settled down and scored two (touchdowns) right before the half and almost a third.”
Kal Ivanov’s 25-yard field goal sent the Owls into the second quarter with a 3-0 lead. Anthony Giordano – who threw for close to 600 yards in his first two games combined – scored a pair of rushing touchdowns in the second quarter, the first from three yards and the second a five-yard run that sent the Patriots into halftime with a 14-3 lead.
Any doubts about the outcome were put to rest in a third quarter that saw the Patriots reel off three unanswered touchdowns. A seven-yard TD run by Giordano was followed by back-to-back Pat Volko touchdowns. The senior running back had touchdown runs of four and seven yards. Michael Smigley’s fifth of five extra point attempts gave the Patriots a commanding 35-3 lead.
“Pat Volko had a great game at receiver from a blocking standpoint, and he had three receptions for 52 yards with a long of 41,” Donnelly said. “He rushed the ball 10 times for 51 yards, so five yards a pop.
“He just ran really hard and tough and physical and dynamic. He blocked very well on the perimeter for us. He’s been a three-year starter, so he’s played a lot of football, and that was the best game that he’s had in his career.”
The Owls scored a pair of fourth quarter TDs on runs by Richard Bordone (38 yards) and Henry Hill (70) yards.
Giordano accounted for 218 yards of offense – 166 in the air.
“Anthony had – probably by his standards – not his best game but still a good game,” Donnelly said. “He’s tough on himself. He still threw for 166 and he rushed for 62 – 166 is nothing to sneeze at, but he threw two picks and that was uncharacteristic. One was at the end of the half when he chucked one up when we were trying to put it in the end zone.
“He didn’t do it as much with his arm as much as he did with his feet, but he always finds a way to be a major contributor for us.”
The Patriots’ coach credited a pair of players on the defensive side of the football.
“Michael Smigley had a great game at corner,” Donnelly said. “We got him some reps on offense too this week, which was great, and that was important. He had a punt of 64 yards, which is just two yards off the school record, so it was a beauty. He did very well.
“Mark Lapioli had 10 tackles on defense, so he had a solid game defensively and offensively too.”
Peyton Pflug had six receptions for 79 yards to lead the Patriots.
Hill led the Owls with 135 rushing yards and one touchdown on 13 carries. Bordone, the Owls’ quarterback, had 82 rushing yards.
Central Bucks East will host Pennsbury in a non-league game on Saturday at 11 a.m.
“The road certainly gets tougher with Pennsbury,” Donnelly said. “They could easily be 3-0. Last year was a shootout (a 35-34 loss) – we went for two at the end of the game and didn’t convert.
“They’ve got some really good football players on all levels of their defense, and their quarterback (Drew Hensor) is a pretty dynamic player. We’re very happy to be 3-0, but we’ve got a lot of work to do. Our guys realize they’ve lost three, but they’ve lost to three really good football teams and really had a chance to beat North Penn. They’re fully aware of the challenge that’s ahead of them.”
Bensalem (2-1) will travel to Abington for its SOL opener Friday.
Bensalem 3-0-0-14 17
Central Bucks East 0-14-21-0 35
SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 20, MIDD-WEST 19
Gabe Franczyk had himself a day behind center.
The Spartans’ junior quarterback ran for 157 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries. Franczyk also completed 19-of-30 passes for 201 yards and a touchdown. His performance propelled the visiting Spartans to a win in a game that came down to the wire.
The Spartans erased a 6-0 Midd-West lead after one quarter with 14 straight points in the second to take a 14-13 lead into halftime. They led 7-6 after Cameron Dennis caught a one-yard touchdown pass from Franczyk, and they added to that lead when Franczyk raced in from 24 yards out. Midd-West answered with a touchdown late in the second quarter to pull to within one at the intermission.
Neither team scored in the third quarter, but the Spartans took what appeared to be a comfortable lead after an 85-yard Franczyk touchdown run. Midd-West made things very interesting, pulling to within one after a 16-yard touchdown pass from Oakley Bennett to Hunter Wolfley. Their two-point conversion attempt for the lead failed, and the Spartans held on for the win.
Junior running back Cameron Dennis had an impressive day with 13 receptions for 115 yards and a touchdown.
Springfield Township (2-1) will be on the road at James Buchanan High School on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Springfield Township 0-14-0-6 20
Midd-West 7-6-0-6 19
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