Springfield Township saw its season come to an end in Saturday’s District 1 4A semifinal. In 6A action Friday, CB West defeated neighboring rival CB East for the second time in two weeks to advance to the district quarterfinals. Below is an expanded wrap. Photos of CB West/CB East courtesy of Tracy Valko. Visit the photo gallery: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f745224687
District 1 4A semifinal
#2 Pope John Paul II 49, #3 Springfield Township 14
(Statistics provided by Dennis Weller/PAPrepLive: https://papreplive.com/2022/11/06/skarbek-helps-pope-john-paul-ii-football-run-past-springfield-in-district-1-4a-semifinal/)
The Golden Panthers looked every bit the part of their 9-1 record, putting a pair of touchdowns on the scoreboard in the opening four minutes of Saturday’s district semifinal. By halftime they held a commanding 28-0 lead on their way to the no-doubt-about-it win.
Pope John Paul II opened up a 49-0 lead before the Spartans scored a pair of late touchdowns. Matteo Ringgold’s 80-yard touchdown pass to Miles Goodwin put the Spartans on the scoreboard in the third quarter. Max Sanchez had a 26-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to close out the scoring.
Senior Dylan McKenzie led the Spartans with 91 yards on 21 carries. For the game, the Spartans collected just five first downs
Springfield Township closed out its season with a 5-5 record overall, 2-3 SOL.
Springfield Twp 0-0-7-7 14
Pope John Paul II 14-14-21-0 49
Friday, Nov. 4
#11 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 42, #6 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 26
(Stats courtesy of Andrew Robinson/PAPrepLive: https://papreplive.com/2022/11/05/twice-as-nice-cb-west-defeats-rival-cb-east-again-to-open-district-1-6a-playoffs/.)
The Bucks erupted for 21 points in the second quarter, seizing control of a close game and handing the Patriots their second loss in as many weeks in Friday’s rematch.
If it seems as though playing a team twice in eight days – especially an archrival on its home turf – would be tough, it might be, but the Bucks were ready and led wire to wire.
“It was unique – I don’t know if East and West have met in the playoffs before,” West coach Rob Rowan said. “We addressed it at the beginning of the week. It was about really just getting our kids and our staff in the right mindset of what it was going to take to win another football game against a really good football team.”
Ganz Cooper began what would be a big night by scoring on a one-yard quarterback keeper, a touchdown that was set up by a 28-yard Cooper completion to Ryan Clemens.
In the second quarter, after a big defensive stop on fourth-and-one by the Bucks, Cooper connected with Eli Boehm on a six-yard touchdown pass. A 39-yard Cooper to Conor McFadden pass was the big play on that drive.
“His game has evolved tremendously,” Rowan said of his senior quarterback. “I don’t think he gets enough credit around the league. Everybody looks at us – we run the ball, we run it often, we run it hard, but he has elevated his play in such a tremendous way.
“He throws an incredible deep ball, he’s made really, really sound timely decisions just throughout the game. He’s a weapon with his feet. He’s a three-year starter who’s really maturing into who he’s going to be. I don’t think he gets enough credit. I’ll take
him seven out of seven days a week.”
Boehm scored from four yards out to put the Bucks on top 21-0, and after a huge sack and fumble recovery by the Bucks, Vinny Cherubini’s two-yard touchdown run sent West into halftime with a commanding 28-0 lead.
“The whole offense executed at a really high level the first half – from the line of scrimmage to the backs to Ganz to our receivers,” Rowan said. “We minimized our mistakes, and we capitalized on a couple of big plays, and when you do that, good things are going to happen. I thought that was absolutely key.
“We forced a big turnover late in the second quarter, and that gave us the opportunity to go up four scores – 28-0 going into half, we probably played our best half of the year.”
Early in the third quarter, Ethan Shine scored from a yard out to put the Patriots on the scoreboard. Another one-yard Shine TD made it a 28-12 game.
Then came a defensive play that was a game-changer.
“Cooper Taylor, defensively, he just continues week after week getting better and better, and he’s playing his best football right now,” Rowan said. “I thought he had a play that really changed the game. We came out of half, and they came out guns blazing a little bit, and all of a sudden, it was 28-12, they had the ball back, and they had all the momentum. They threw a little seam ball to the tight end up the middle. Cooper came and just laid an absolute shot, jarring the ball loose.
“We always talk about – when you run to the football, good things happen, and one of our defensive linemen (Jackson Estes) was pursing the football 
from behind, and he intercepted it. We ended up scoring three or four plays later, and now it was 35-12. I thought it was the play that changed the momentum of the game.”
Several plays later, Boehm scored from two yards out to give the Bucks that three-score advantage.
Pat Keller connected with Matt LaBouliere for a 19-yard touchdown, but Cooper punched it in from one yard to give the Bucks a 42-19 lead. A Keller to Joe Maeglin 10-yard touchdown pass closed out the scoring.
Boehm turned in another workmanlike effort, leading the Bucks ground attack with 127 yards on 23 carries.
“Last week, Vinny Cherubini really stepped up and had a huge game, so we thought maybe they’d be keying on him a little bit,” Rowan said. “We really challenged Eli to raise his level of play this week, and I thought he answered the bell tremendously. He ran really hard – was finishing runs, and when he does that, in my opinion, it sends a message to the whole team. Guys stay on their blocks a little longer, and we’re finishing plays. I thought he did that last night. I just thought it was a huge boost for our entire team.”
For the Patriots, Keller threw for 273 yards with both Jack Donnelly and La Bouliere finishing with over a hundred receiving yards. Shine’s 136 rushing yards led the Patriots’ ground game.
Central Bucks West (7-4, 5-2 SOL) will host #14 North Penn in Friday’s second round. Central Bucks East (5-2 SOL) closed out its season with an 8-3 record.
Central Bucks West 7-21-14-7 42
Central Bucks East 0-0-12-14 26
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