Central Bucks South football captured the program’s first ever District 1 6A title with a 27-7 win over Downingtown West. Photos courtesy of Tracy Valko. Check back for a gallery of photos: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f1050704496(Warrington Pop Warner photo courtesy of Kathy Leister Photography)
District 1 6A Final
#5 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 27, #6 DOWNINGTOWN WEST 7
(Stats provided by Central Bucks South football)
In an emotional postgame scene, Collin Goetter admitted it hadn’t sunk in yet – the fact that the Titans had just won their program’s first ever District 1 6A title.
“No, it hasn’t,” the Titans’ senior captain said. “I’ve cried a little – I’m going to be dead honest.
“It will probably sink in in a few hours. I’ll probably be out for dinner. I don’t know if I’ll be able to control myself just from the pure emotion. Going up for the trophy and holding it up for everyone – that’s something I’ll never forget.”
Goetter and his teammates were reluctant to leave the field. Forget the fact that it was bitterly cold and the once packed stands were empty. This was a night they didn’t want to end, preferring instead to soak in the magic of a night that saw the team put its name in the program record books.
“A few years ago, I wasn’t sure I was going to come here,” Goetter said. “(Coach Tom) Hetrick had a two-hour meeting with me, and I was ready to run through a brick wall for him.
“We’ve gotten better and better. Sophomore year we made the playoffs. Last year, we probably should have won the playoff game, but we didn’t. This year – running teams win, especially in PA, and here we are – we’re cementing a legacy.”
The Titans – the district’s fifth seed – weren’t the favorites to win the district crown.
“If I’m being honest – at the beginning of the season, we knew we had a pretty good team,” Hetrick said. “We had a lot of experience back on the offensive line, and we knew we had some guys. Would I have predicted that we would be sitting here as the District 1 champions? I’d be lying if I said yes.
“The bottom line is – you work your way through our league, and it’s just a gauntlet, so if you have success in our league and come out with a pretty good seed, then at that point, it’s like ‘why not? If anybody can do it, let’s put ourselves in a position to do it,’ and sure enough, these guys came out week after week over the last month. They worked their butts off, they kept pushing reset and obsessing over the next week, and four weeks later, here we are. They won the district championship, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
There’s no mistaking the Titans are blessed with talent, but it’s much more than that.
“It’s one of the most special groups of people I’ve been around in 30 years of doing this,” Hetrick said. “They’re just good people. My coaches are good people. This program is full of good people, and that is where it starts.
“Culture is everything – Xs and Os matter, and the Jimmys and the Joes matter, but the culture these guys create and my coaches create – it’s a special thing. They had an unbelievable ability to simply play this season one week at a time. We obsess over the next week, and they’ve done that. They’re a special group of people. They’re very good football players. I wouldn’t have chosen any other group to get on this ride with.”
It’s a culture that’s not lost on the players.
“We’re a brotherhood,” senior Corey Moore said. “If one person falls down, we pick each other up, next play. We just love each other. It’s a brotherhood.”
Goetter added, “Every guy here wants to play football, wants to win football games, and you don’t have that a lot. You have some guys who are like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m a high school football player.’ Every guy puts everything into this.
“This culture’s going to last. Once I’m gone and everyone else is gone – it’s going to stick. The culture is here to stay. It’s what keeps a football program a really good football program.”
Friday’s game couldn’t have started out on a better note as the Titans took the opening kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown, taking over eight minutes off the clock. The drive culminated with quarterback Owen Pinkerton taking it in from two yards for an early 7-0 lead.
A fumble on the Whippets’ third play of their ensuing drive was recovered by junior Jimmy Wade, who was a force on defense all night. The junior returned to the lineup in the final game of the regular season after being sidelined with an injury.
“I broke my hand and I had to get surgery on both my hands,” Wade said. “It feels great to be back.
“Our coaches set up a great game plan week in and week out. It’s our job to execute it, and we do.”
Four plays later, the Whippets recovered a Titan fumble, but it was three-and-out. That trend continued until late in the half when Anthony Leonardi scored on an 18-yard run, giving the Titans a 13-0 lead after the Whippets blocked the extra point.
It looked as though the Titans would take that lead into halftime, but on fourth down with time expiring, quarterback Quinn Henicle found Dean Hangey in the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown, trimming the Titans’ lead to 13-7 at halftime despite being the beneficiary of three Whippet fumbles.
“Coach Hetrick just tells us to put a blanket on the scoreboard,” junior Danny Gies said. “Every drive is 0-0, and we have to win every drive.”
“You’ve got to ignore whatever the score is, whether it’s for you or against you,” Hetrick said. “There were opportunities that we had, and we did not take advantage of, but at the same time, we were putting ourselves in a position to continue to make plays. We came up with a couple of big stops. It was the bend but don’t break thing.
“We should have been more opportunistic and taken advantage of those things, but at the same time, we felt pretty good at halftime of our ability to come out and continue to play good defense and hopefully get the running game going a little bit better.”
The Whippets opened the second half with a sustained drive to the Titans’ seven, but a holding penalty set up a 35-yard field goal that fell short. It was still a 13-7 game heading into a final quarter that belonged to the Titans.
A 79-yard touchdown run by Anthony Leonardi – whose 165 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries led the Titans -and the successful two-point conversion by Moore gave the Titans a 21-7 lead with nine minutes remaining.
“That run with Anthony Leo was a backbreaker,” Hetrick said. “My O-line has played very good football all season long.
“They didn’t get down, they didn’t put their heads in the sand. Their defensive front was very sound.”
For good measure, the Titans added a touchdown after Gies came up with an interception and returned it to the Whippets’ eight-yard line. South negated a 15-yard penalty and Moore, who had 64 rushing yards, punched it in from one yard for a 27-7 lead.
Three plays later, Gies came up with his second interception of the game, putting the finishing touches on the convincing win.
“The second half we played our butts off, and we came out with a win,” said Gies, who had three interceptions going into Friday’s game. “This feels great, it’s going to be a great week.”
“We just came out and did what we do,” Moore said. “We’re district champs.
“We took one series at a time. The defense did their job, stepped up, the offense did the same thing, and we just took off, put our foot on the pedal. It’s history – it feels nice. I just love my teammates, and this feels great”
Getting defensive
In a season that has seen the offensive line sometimes steal the spotlight, the performance of the Titans’ defense cannot be overlooked.
“The defense has been outstanding all year,” Hetrick said. “We have guys that fly around the football field. Our defensive front just plays outstanding football. We take great pride in the fact that it’s pretty hard to run against us, and those guys own it, whether we’re in a three-four box or a four-two box.
“That quarterback (Henicle) is unbelievable – he’s got elite arm talent, he has the ability to make and create space for himself and time. The fact that we were able to hold him and them to seven points is a testament to our coaching staff and those defensive guys out there.”
Hetrick credited his defensive line.
“There are a couple of guys that rotate in and out,” the Titans’ coach said. “Rolan Hess has played a lot of football for us on both sides.
“Eddie Bowen is a first team all-league guy, and he stands out. He’s a pretty special football player. Tom McDonald is a junior that plays noseguard, and he’s in there all the time.”
No one had a bigger night on the defensive side of the football than Wade, who had a team-high 10 tackles – seven solo, which included a sack and two tackles for loss as well as two fumble recoveries. All of this with a cast on one hand.
“He’s played with one arm for half the season,” Hetrick said.
Wade was a newcomer to the Titans this year, transferring in from Archbishop Wood.
“Best decision ever,” Wade said.
At South, Wade was reunited with many of his teammates that won the Warrington 14U Pop Warner League in 2020. He has played an integral role in the Titans’ success.
“We knew we were capable of this,” Wade said. “It feels great, it’s amazing – it’s the best feeling. It was great to do this on our home field.”
Sean Moskowitz had another monster game finishing with nine tackles, including a sack and two tackles for loss. Matt Harmon had eight tackles and also had a pair of forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. Hess had six tackles, including one tackle for loss, and Adam Oscar had five tackles.
Henicle connected on just 8 of 25 pass attempts for 126 yards and two interceptions.
Central Bucks South (13-1, 6-1 SOL) will face the winner of Saturday’s battle between District 12 champion St. Joe’s Prep and District 11 champion Nazareth in the opening round of the PIAA 6A Tournament.
Downingtown West 0-7-0-0 7
Central Bucks South 7-6-0-14 27
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