In addition to Saturday’s Norristown-Central Bucks East game, SuburbanOneSports.com will be providing bonus coverage of Friday night’s Pennridge-Bensalem contest. Be sure to check the web site for all the SOL scores.
Norristown served notice that it hopes to be a force to contend with this season after its season-opening 27-20 win over Pottsgrove.
“We did a lot of nice things offensively against Pottsgrove,” Norristown coach E.J. Smith said. “Brandon (Shippen) ran for close to 200 yards (197), and Shannon (Mayer) did a great job of running the offense.
“But we have to step it up defensively if we want to be a good football team. We hope we can get better this week.
Central Bucks East coach John Donnelly is hoping his team will come back strong after a 35-20 loss to Abington last week.
“Expectations are high,” the Patriots’ second-year coach said. “We expected to win last week. We challenged our guys at halftime, and they responded by winning the second half 17-7. Unfortunately, we gave up way too much the first half.
“Our expectation is to go into this week – we have to plan to win, and we have to execute. We have to go in expecting to win.”
Donnelly, who took over a struggling East program last year, is hoping this is the year the Patriots’ turn the corner.
“The biggest thing last year was – coming in we wanted to develop a blue collar mentality, and I felt we did,” the second-year coach said. “Going into the last two weeks of the season we were in the playoff hunt.
“We had to take care of business the last two weeks, and we lost two close games. The record was not what we wanted it to be last year - we did not achieve our goal of reaching the playoffs. This year we didn’t have as much teaching to do because the system had been in place.
“Consequently, offensively, we’re able to play at a much faster tempo. Defensively, we lost a lot of experienced players, some guys that were responsible for a lot of tackles last year. That’s what football is all about – finding a new crew to step in. They’ve waited for their time, and now it’s their opportunity to do it.”
The Patriots have a lot of new faces in their lineup.
“We have a couple of young guys we’re bringing along – we’re starting several sophomores and a freshman is in our rotation,” Donnelly said. “Those guys have got to grow up awfully quick.”
The Norristown-CB East game was scheduled to be played at Upper Merion on Friday night, but because of wet field conditions, the game has been moved to War Memorial Field on Saturday at 11 a.m.
Central Bucks East vs. Norristown
Saturday, Sept. 10, 11 a.m.
War Memorial Field (Central Bucks West High School)
Record: Central Bucks East 0-1, Norristown 1-0
Last week: Abington 35, Central Bucks East 20; Norristown 27, Pottsgrove 20
Last year’s record: Central Bucks East 3-4 SOL, 4-6 overall; Norristown 2-4 SOL, 4-6 overall
Last year: Did not meet
Central Bucks East coach John Donnelly’s keys to the game: “Brandon Shippen, their running back, and Shannon Mayer, their quarterback, are just two of many offensive weapons they have. They have at least one pretty good wide receiver, and they’re an experienced team. Defensively, in the second half, we did a much better job against Abington, That’s going to be the key – limiting their big plays. That’s what happened against Abington. We had a lapse on several occasions, and to their credit, they took advantage of it. The game of football is about who’s going to make the fewest mistakes and, therefore, make the biggest plays.
“We were happy with what we did offensively. We had 400 yards of total offense, and they had their number one defense in until the very end when we scored. We were pleased with what we did there, scoring 20 points. We can get much better, but we feel we did a pretty good job offensively. The big key for us is to keep their offense off the field by getting as many three-and-outs as we can.”
Central Bucks East players to watch:
Quarterback Josh Bernard – “He had a big week last week,” Donnelly said. “He threw for 230 and rushed for 80. He’s a pretty dynamic player that people have to be concerned with. He’s obviously a key for us. He really knows the offense well. We’re a hurry-up (offense), and he’s done a great job controlling that.”
Jake O’Donnell: “He is a great two-way player for us,” Donnelly said. “He dominant on defense, and he had four catches for 91 yards last week, so he’s really a threat when he catches the football. He just ran away from some people for a 60-yard touchdown last week. He’s kind of special for the size he has and the speed he possesses.”
Pete Donovan: “We’re getting Pete Donovan back healthy this week. He did not play in the opener, and we’re looking for great things from him. He will do a great job for us in the middle at linebacker. We’re excited to get him on the field.”
Vince Careghini: “He set a school record for passing reception yardage. He had eight catches for 124 yards, so he did a great job. He just really burst on the scene in his first game.”
Zach Grillot: “He does all the little things as far as a defensive player is concerned – sucks up a lot of blocks so the linebackers can make plays. He just does a great job of splitting double teams and creates a lot of havoc up front.”
Norristown coach E.J. Smith’s keys to the game: “We need to be consistent on both sides of the football. CB East has some very good skill players – a good quarterback, a good tailback and an excellent two-way end in Jake O’Donnell. We did not play as well as I had hoped defensively last week even though we beat a very good football team in Pottsgrove. We can’t play the way we played last week and expect to beat a team that can move the football as well as East can. The game was moved from a grass field at Upper Merion to a turf field, War Memorial Field. I’ll be honest. I would much rather play this game on turf.”
Norristown players to watch:
Brandon Shippen: “Brandon Shippen had a great game last week,” Smith said of his senior tailback who has committed to Temple University next season. “He has tremendous vision and can see the entire field when he carries the ball. If the hole is on the inside, he goes there. If it is on the outside, he breaks it there.”
Shannon Mayer: “He has grown into an excellent high school quarterback,” Smith said of his senior signal-caller who has started since he was a freshman. “He has grown into the offense and is an extremely smart football player.”
Joe Leng: “Joe is a captain and a leader on both our offensive and defensive line,” Smith said of his tackle who earned all-conference honors as both an offensive and defensive tackle. “He has good size, great strength and we expect a lot from him this season.”
The Neshaminy/Hatboro-Horsham game will be broadcast live at 7 p.m. on the web site www.wbcb1490.com. Saturday’s Pennsbury/Harrisburg game at 1 p.m. will be broadcast live on WBCB 1490 AM. The North Penn/Lansdale Catholic game on Friday at 7:30 p.m. will be broadcast live on WNBP 1440 AM.
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