CB East defeated CB East in a battle of the sister schools Saturday.
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 16, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 14
It was a loss that could have marked the beginning of the end.
After all, how could the Patriots recover from last week’s 45-10 beating at the hands of sister school Central Bucks West?
The Patriots, it turns out, recovered just fine, winning their biggest game of the season Saturday.
“Our guys came to work on Monday after really a difficult loss to West with the right mentality right away,” coach John Donnelly said. “We had our best week of practice from start to finish.
“I’m proud of our guys – that’s a big deal with West and the adversity of that. The mentality was right from the start of the week. We had told our guys this was a playoff game for us. We knew that this was a must-win for us against a really good CB South team. We got a real shot in the arm, and our confidence is going to grow heading into this week with Tennent.”
The ending was not without its share of drama. Michael Smigley – with a touchdown pass already to his credit on the day – nailed a career-best 45-yard field to put the Patriots on top 16-14 with 6:46 remaining.
“He really drilled it,” Donnelly said. “Just the whole battery – the snap, the hold and the kick – was executed very well.”
All but lost in the shuffle, according to the Patriots’ coach, was a play that happened before Smigley’s successful field goal.
“On that drive, we had a pass play called on third down, and Anthony Giordano could have forced the ball, and he didn’t,” Donnelly said of his junior quarterback. “He pulled it down and cranked out five tough yards where he got tackled by three South defenders. Those five yards got us in a position where we could attempt the field goal. We knew the range was close to his range, but that was really a key play that got us in position to make the kick.
“Mike also threw a touchdown, he ran the ball well, played defense very well, punted and kicked very well.”
The Patriots came up with three interceptions on the day.
“The big tale of the day was the takeaways we had,” Donnelly said. “We had three really key interceptions deep – one was inside the six, one was in the end zone.”
Two of the interceptions came in the second half. Klay Slifer came up with a pick in the game’s closing minutes. The Patriots couldn’t capitalize, and the Titans had a chance to win it, but their 30-yard field goal attempt with 21 seconds remaining in regulation was blocked, allowing the Patriots to escape with a win that kept their district playoff hopes alive.
“We had to punt it away, and South manufactured some first downs and got in position,” Donnelly said. “They had the ball just outside the 10 right in the middle. We called a timeout just to ice them.
“We got great penetration up the middle. Coach Tim Barno, our special teams coordinator, does a great job. Our guys believed the scheme, and of course, they executed it. Andrew Cassidy – who had a big day on both sides of the ball in all three phases – ended up blocking the kick, and that sealed the deal.”
Earlier, the Titans took a 6-0 lead when Sean Smith took it in from six yards. The Patriots blocked the extra point, and they went on top, thanks to a gadget play that saw Smigley find Andrew Cassidy with a 37-yard touchdown pass. Smigley’s extra point put the Patriots on top 7-6.
Another Smith touchdown run – this one from seven yards – gave the Titans a 14-7 lead after Smith ran it in on the two-point conversion. The Patriots answered with a TD late in the half when running back Pat Volko – on a quarterback throw back – found quarterback Anthony Giordano with a six-yard touchdown pass. This time it was the Titans blocking the PAT.
“I was proud of our players,” Donnelly said. “We called a timeout, and Pat Volko said, ‘Let’s run this,’ and he called his own number essentially. There was no hesitation from his standpoint, and I said, ‘All right, he’s ready to do this thing.’
“It wasn’t a pretty ball, but it was well executed, and Anthony was able to get in the end zone.”
Giordano threw for 245 yards. Cassidy led the Patriots’ receiving core with 87 yards and a touchdown on three receptions.
As part of a special day Saturday, Scott Stankavage’s number was retired between the first and second quarter. Long-time East coach Chuck Rocconi, who coached Stankavage, made the presentation.
The former East star played collegiate football at North Carolina and went on to play in the NFL. He spoke to the Patriots on Friday.
“It was a great crowd, a great weekend, and even though (Stankavage) lives in North Carolina, he’s been up many times,” Donnelly said. “He’s a great inspiration to our team. We had a lot of alumni back from different decades. People were out early and stayed late. It was just really great to see in 50 years of football at CB East people from all these different teams and different eras. It was really special.”
Central Bucks East (4-4, 1-3 SOL) will host William Tennent on Saturday at 1 p.m., and Central Bucks South (5-3, 2-2) will host North Penn on Friday.
Central Bucks South 6-8-0-0 14
Central Bucks East 7-6-0-3 16
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