Norristown and CB East were winners in SOL football action Saturday. To view photos by Jerry Hankins of the CB East/Tennent game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
Some of the stats used in the wraps are provided courtesy of Calkins Media. For complete high school football coverage, visit the web sites: http://www.theintell.com/sports/high-school/and http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/sports/high-school/.
NORRISTOWN 44, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 43 (OT)
EAST NORRITON – Corey Davenport had barely crossed the goal line for a touchdown in overtime when his teammates looked to the sidelines with two fingers raised in the air. Their message was clear – they wanted to go for two and a win in Saturday’s thriller against the Indians, who had a one-point lead after Brandon McIlwain’s TD run and the ensuing PAT.
“I always tell my seniors they have a stake in this team,” coach Jason Powel said. “We have regular meetings to keep it all in the family with our seniors. I figured when we called timeout – let’s have that meeting.
“I know emotions run high, but that’s one of the things we’ve geared our play upon – play with energy, play with emotion and let’s see where it takes us.”
And in the end, an afternoon of one electrifying offensive play after another came down to just one.
Khalif Sinclair took the snap and raced around the left side for a two-point conversion and a dramatic ending they’ll be talking about for a long, long time. It was first and only lead of the game for the Eagles, who trailed 19-0 early and still found themselves staring at an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
“I just tried to stay confident,” Sinclair said. “If you’re not confident – that’s when you make mistakes. I felt real confident that I could get into the end zone with Corey (Davenport) as my lead block. One of my wide receivers told me to take it outside. I just trust my team, and I listen to my team.”
Sinclair was mobbed by jubilant teammates in the end zone as the Eagles celebrated one of the program’s most remarkable victories.
“All glory to God,” Sinclair said. “I always point up to God, thank Him for everything, thank Him for my wonderful teammates, thank Him for my wonderful coaches and the wonderful fans and our new, wonderful stadium.”
The two-point conversion capped an improbable comeback for an Eagles team that suffered a heartbreaking overtime loss to Central Bucks West in its SOL opener two weeks ago and took a beating at the hands of league-leading Quakertown last week.
“We have been working hard at practice,” Davenport said. “Our coach told us to stay focused, and if we stayed together as a team we could win.
“We had faith in Khalif. He’s a great player, and our line was blocking great today. Our line wanted to go for it, so we were trusting our line.”
It was Davenport who brought the Eagles back after they fell into an early hole, benefitting from the holes created by the line, and when there weren’t holes, running over, around and through anyone in his path en route to 303 yards and four touchdowns.
“I realized we were going to come back when Corey Davenport started scoring those touchdowns,” Sinclair said. “He was out four weeks, and I’m just happy he’s back.
“I feel more comfortable now that he’s back. He runs track, he’s very fast, and he’s just gone when he hits that hole.”
The Indians can attest to that.
It was Davenport’s 65-yard touchdown run that put the Eagles on the scoreboard after the Indians had opened up the 19-0 lead, thanks in part to two touchdown drives that were capped with McIlwain touchdown passes to Devon Bibbens.
The Indians still led 36-28 early in the third quarter, but the Eagles erased that lead when Sinclair found Derik Cross with a 22-yard touchdown pass and then tacked on the two-point conversion.
A fumble on the ensuing kickoff was recovered by freshman Matt Hahn, but the Eagles could not cash in, and the Indians took over on their own 36. In a contest that featured more offense than defense, Norristown defensive end Rashon Wiggins – with the ball on the Eagles’ 40 – delivered a sack on third-and-eight, forcing the Indians to punt.
“He was a hard matchup,” Wiggins said of McIlwain. “But we kept our heads.”
Norristown took over at their own 20 and marched to the Indians’ seven but, with eight seconds remaining in regulation, saw a field goal attempt go wide left, setting the stage for OT.
Three McIlwain runs resulted in a TD, and the extra point by Tyler Nowmos gave the Indians a 43-36 lead.
But not for long.
“We knew we had to bounce back,” said Wiggins, who also caught six passes. “All things happen for a reason. We just had to handle the situation.
“This win means a lot to us.”
Led by Davenport’s stellar performance, the Eagles racked up 486 yards of total offense. Sinclair – who had 63 yards and one TD on the ground – was 7-for-10 for 84 yards and a touchdown.
“I’m strong-hearted on my receivers,” Sinclair said. “I feel as though we have the best receivers in Suburban One.
“When I realized (the Indians) were playing 15 yards back, 12 yards back, I just wanted to give my receivers the ball and let them make a play.
“A lot of teams we play try to circle around me like I’m the only person who can do things, but my whole team can do a lot of things. I really love my team.”
For the Indians, McIlwain had yet another huge day – accumulating 102 yards and a TD on the ground and 226 yards and four touchdowns in the air.
One of the games most remarkable stats was the fact that the Eagles, who were whistled for 115 yards of penalties, saw four touchdowns called back and still found a way to win.
“They have a lot of incredible athletes on that side of the football,” Rock North coach Adam Collachi said. “They can make huge plays, and they made huge plays.
“We just have to get better. We have to have a little more sense of urgency. I don’t think we had a great week of practice, and this is what happens, so I can’t blame anyone but me. It comes down to preparation.”
Powel ranked Saturday’s win up there with last year’s 28-27 overtime win over Central Bucks West when he elected to go for two and the win – and succeeded.
“That’s my end zone down there,” he said, pointing to the end zone where his team had just won Saturday’s thriller. “If I’ve got to go to overtime, I’ll go down there.
“The kids played their hearts out.”
Norristown (3-3, 1-2 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks East next Saturday at 3 p.m. while Council Rock North (3-3, 2-1) will host Harry S Truman on Saturday at 1:30.
Council Rock North 19-7-10-0-7 43
Norristown 7-7-14-8-8 44
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 28, WILLIAM TENNENT 3
The Panthers took an early 3-0 lead on a Dakota Wherrity 25-yard field goal. It turned out to be their last hurrah as the Patriots reeled off 28 unanswered points en route to the convincing win.
Most of East’s points came in the third quarter, and they didn’t take a lead until Alex Gibson punched it in from two yards out late in the second quarter, sending the Patriots into halftime with a 7-3 lead.
East blew the game open with 21 third-quarter points. First it was Gibson – who led the Patriots with 111 yards – taking it in from 38 yards, and then Sammy Killough hauled in a 32-yard TD pass from Matt Szczyypiorski – who threw for more than a hundred yards – to put the Patriots on top 21-3. An Ethan Silverman 16-yard touchdown run gave the Patriots their final margin of victory. The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Patriots.
The Patriots’ defense limited the Panthers to just 120 yards of total offense.
Central Bucks East (4-2, 1-2 SOL) will host Norristown next Saturday at 3 p.m., and William Tennent (3-3, 0-3) will travel to Council Rock South next Friday.
William Tennent 3-0-0-0 3
Central Bucks East 0-7-21-0 28
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