Central Bucks South saw its remarkable season come to an end at the hands of St. Joe’s Prep in a PIAA 6A state semifinal contest Saturday. Photos provided courtesy of Tracy Valko. Check back for a gallery of photos: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f1050704496
#12-1 ST JOSEPH’S PREP 49, #1-1 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 0
Endings – they’re never easy.
And for a Titans’ squad that a week earlier captured the program’s first ever District 1 6A title, the reality that its magical season was coming to an end began to hit home well before the final horn sounded.
In truth, it was not a shock to anyone that St. Joe’s Prep – seventh in USA Today’s Super 20 national rankings – won and won big, but that didn’t make the ending any easier to swallow.
“It’s never easy, it’s hard, but we knew at some point this time would come,” senior Anthony Leonardi said. “We weren’t ready for it yet, we battled our hearts out. All we can do is love each other, lift each other up and prepare the underclassmen for next year.”
The Hawks scored early and often, opening up a 6-0 lead when Taj Dyches ran the opening kickoff 79 yards for a touchdown.
“They’re a very good team, a very good defense – it’s never easy to make plays against a team like that,” Leonardi said. “You just have to take what you can get. If there’s nothing there, you got to know to just lower your shoulder, get a few yards if you can.”
Leonardi had a 52-yard run down the sideline on South’s first play from scrimmage, taking the ball to the Hawk’s 34, but the drive stalled four plays later. The Hawks capitalized, marching 69 yards in seven plays for a touchdown.
By the time, the first quarter end, the Hawks led 20-0 and extended that lead to 42-0 by halftime, scoring a pair of touchdowns in the final three minutes of the half – both on touchdown passes by quarterback Samaj Jones, a University of Cincinnati commit. Jones is the 22nd ranked quarter in the Class of 2024 by 247Sports. He completed all five of his pass attempts.
“Nobody expected us to be here,” Leonardi said. “The team battled every single game, they worked hard week in and week out. There were no complaints.
“Just being in that environment and being around those type of people – it’s always a great thing. We left a great legacy. I love each one of my boys to death.”
While South’s season came to an end, St Joe’s Prep will face North Allegheny for a state title on Saturday, but it’s hard to imagine any team walking away with better memories than this 2023 Titan squad. Their disappointment after Saturday’s loss was not because they weren’t playing for a state championship trophy but rather because something extraordinary had ended.
“It’s pretty hard, it’s one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life,” said senior Collin Goetter, the Titans’ standout offensive lineman who will be taking his talents to Monmouth University. “It’s really upsetting, but I’m so proud of this group, I really am.”
“It’s unbelievably hard – you never want to see it end,” senior Rolan Hess said. “This is my last football game ever. It’s just a shame it went down the way it did, but everyone needs to keep their head high and whoever is playing next year – go out there and beat them up.”
For those who think the Titans might have preferred not adding a week to their season for a showdown with one of the nation’s best teams, guess again.
“It’s one of the greatest things,” Goetter said. “Even though this is the way we went out, just getting that extra week – winning that district title and getting that extra week with my brothers is something.
“Everything that’s part of the game I love – football, practices. A lot of people are like – practice? But I love practice. I love all of football.”
The 2023 Central Bucks South football team (13-2, 5-1 SOL) rewrote the program’s record books. Saturday’s loss is not what anyone will remember about a season that set the bar high for future squads.
Central Bucks South 0-0-0-0 0
St. Joe’s Prep 20-22-0-7 49
Leonardi joins the 2,000-yard club
Anthony Leonardi came into Saturday’s game needing 79 yards to reach the elusive 2,000-yard
milestone. Against most teams, that would have been automatic, but St. Joe’s Prep is not most team.
As it turns out, Leonardi is not most running backs and gained 52 yards on his very first carry. The yards didn’t come as easily after that, but Leonardi re-entered the game in the fourth quarter, and on his first carry, he gained seven yards to finish the day with 83 yards on 15 carries, enough to reach the coveted milestone.
“Wow, it’s crazy,” Leonardi said. “I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my coaches, my offensive line – they did so well all year. They’re definitely one of the best offensive lines I’ve seen in my life, and I’m sure a lot of people have. They paved the way for me.
“(Sean) Moskowitz and (Eddie) Bowen – they came in at fullback. They laid some nasty blocks, let me get through. Jake Menaker – all my receivers on the perimeter. Everybody did a great job. None of it would have been possible without any of them, so I just want to give thanks to them.”
Comprising the Titans’ outstanding offensive line were left tackle Kieran Padgett, left guard Nick Micewski, center Nick Conte, right guard Rolan Hess and right tackle Collin Goetter as well as tight end Jake Menaker.
“It’s so special – he’s one of my good friends,” Goetter said of Leonardi reaching the milestone. “I’ve known him since middle school, but he’s just so talented. He’s going out there and he tries so hard. If he’s getting stopped, I’ll be like – trust me, you’ll break one, and then he goes and breaks one. Any moment he can break one for a touchdown. That’s really special.”
Seniors leave quite a legacy
Saturday’s loss didn’t just mark the end of the season for the Titans. In many ways, it represented the end of an era as 24 seniors – the heart and soul of this year’s squad – will be lost to graduation.
“It’s been such a special group,” coach Tom Hetrick said. “I’ve known them since they were in sixth and seventh grade, and we’ve seen them come up through. They’re the kind of guys that you root for. They’re the kind of guys – if anything like this is going to happen to a senior group, this is the senior group you want it to happen to.
“My wife and I do the last senior dinner every year, and we sat around our campfire for three hours and just talked. It’s a gift to be able to do what I do and to hang out with people from the south side of the tracks because they’re genuinely pure salt-of-the-earth people, and I couldn’t love them any more.”
The seniors have not taken their final football season at South for granted.
“Oh man, it’s been a surreal experience,” Leonardi said. “We stuck through it together, we worked our butts off day in and day out. Nobody expected us to be in this game. The fact that we proved everyone wrong and we were able to create a legacy for ourselves and for South as a program – it just means to the world to us.”
The Titans were 6-5 when these seniors were sophomores and 7-4 last year before this year’s 13-2 season.
“A lot of these are Warrington guys, but I was an LV (Lenape Valley) guy and then I went to Tamanend (Middle School) , but I’ve known a lot of these people, and I was like, ‘You know what – we’re a good class,’” senior Collin Goetter said. “We didn’t have a great freshman year (the Titans were 2-5), which was COVID so throw it out.
“Sophomore year we had a dozen guys getting real varsity reps. We had three guys on the O-line as sophomores, which is unheard of, especially in this area. I kind of always knew we were a good class. I didn’t know how good we would be this year coming into this season, but I couldn’t be more proud of everyone after this season.”
Rolan Hess admitted the Titans entered the season with modest expectations.
“Before our season started, we didn’t really have expectations for ourselves,” he said. “To come out here and do what we did this year and inspire future generations of South players – it feels incredible to know I’m part of that team.”
What made it work?
“We all just jelled so well together,” Hess aid. “Everyone went 100 percent for the guy right next to them, and I think we all really loved each other. When I think about all of it – it’s just awesome.”
It’s all a matter of perspective
After Saturday’s season-ending loss, a reporter tried his best to bait coach Tom Hetrick into complaining about what most consider a flawed state playoff system that annually sees St. Joe’s Prep bring a quick and not-so-painless end to the season for the team wearing the District 1 6A crown.
The South coach wasn’t biting.
“I’m not a politician, and I don’t even care,” Hetrick said. “I coach football. Honestly, nobody cares.
“I don’t want anybody’s sympathy, we don’t want anybody’s pity. That’s not my interest. My interest is to coach kids in the sport of football, and whoever we play is who we play.”
Still, the reporter persisted, and still, Hetrick simply would not go down that road.
“What I would say – if you’re playing in the state semifinal against an elite program like that, that’s a pretty good problem to have,” the Titans’ coach said. “It’s an elite football program full of elite football players. It is one of those things where it literally is what it is. We genuinely believe we had a game plan. We’ve done some great things all year.
“As great as they are and the things that we’ve done – they weren’t great enough to be able deal with what we just dealt with today. Listen, St. Joe’s Prep – they are who they are. It’s a great football program.”
As for the ending, Hetrick had some advice for his players.
“It comes to an end for all of us at some point in time,” he said. “But I told them – in 15 minutes, I wanted them to start reflecting on all the things that they’ve done because we say all the time – football is a game played by high school boys so they have memories to talk about when they’re grown men, so I want those memories and snapshots to start happening in their minds the second we get on that bus. Of all the things they’ve done, not just for themselves, not just for the coaching staff but for the community as a whole, for District 1, for all the things that we’ve done – I couldn’t be more proud, so hopefully real soon those memories start creeping in.”
About the Author
