Central Bucks East defeated Pennridge 35-0 in SOL football action Saturday. Photos provided courtesy of Lisa Henderson. Check back for a gallery of game action photos.
Stats used in the wrap are provided courtesy of Calkins Media. For complete high school football coverage, visit the web sites: http://www.theintell.com/sports/high-school/fall/football/ and http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/sports/high-school/fall/football/
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 35, PENNRIDGE 0
If Saturday’s game was a tune-up for next week’s district tournament for the two playoff-bound teams, it certainly was a good one for the Patriots, who broke a scoreless tie with 21 unanswered points in the second quarter on their way to the shutout win.
“Pennridge is a real good football team,” East coach John Donnelly said. “They’re physical, they’re well coached.
“The first quarter there were a lot of three-and-outs on both sides of the ball, and in the second quarter, we found some matchups that we liked, and we were able to capitalize on them.”
East quarterback Matt Szczypiorski was doing most of the capitalizing. The senior quarterback had three touchdown passes in the second quarter – the first a 34-yarder to Conor Larkin, the second for 41 yards to Wes Verbit and the third a 25-yard pass to Jake Novroski.
That 21-0 lead would have been more than enough, but the Patriots tacked on a touchdown in both the third and fourth quarters. Jake Ventresca scored from eight yards out in the third quarter, and in the fourth quarter, Evan O’Donnell found Connor Powers with a 12-yard TD pass to close out the scoring.
“Our running backs did a great job, especially in the second and third quarter,” Donnelly said. “Chad Guzzi and our freshman Jake Ventresa – he really set up blocks well.
“Our defense throughout the day – their quarterback (Jagger Hartshorn) is very good, and I thought we did a good job on him today. To be able to have that score against that team I think says a lot about our team.”
Hartshorn finished with less than 100 total yards, throwing for 49 and adding 44 on the ground. The Rams managed less than 200 total yards against a Patriot defense that was led by linebacker Brian Stella.
“Without looking at the film, I would say he was our MVP today and not surprisingly,” Donnelly said. “The kid is just a really smart football player.
“He is so tough for his size. I know we have a lot of good linebackers in the league, but I’d put him up against anybody. The kid blocks kicks, makes plays, and he was really good today – when Pennridge was running their waggle play, he really read it well and was able to make a lot of plays and disrupt the quarterback.”
For the Patriots, Szczypiorski threw for 146 yards with Verbit on the receiving end of three passes for 71 yards. Ventresca led the Patriots’ ground game with 71 yards on just nine carries.
Pennridge (5-5, 3-3 SOL) is projected to find itself in a rematch with Perkiomen Valley in an opening round district game next week while ninth-seeded Central Bucks East (8-2, 5-2) will be on the road at Spring-Ford.
“We talked all week about the fact that even though we were in no matter what – we weren’t satisfied with that,” Donnelly said. “Our goal is to make the playoffs and advance.
“We wanted to position ourselves for the best seed that we possibly could. We did everything we could. Some people have already made a big deal about the fact that we have to get on a bus, but I think more than any other team that I can think of in the area – up until two years ago, we always got on a bus and travelled somewhere for a game whether it was home or away. On top of the fact that we have a Friday to Friday schedule, a Saturday to Friday and a Friday to Saturday schedule, so anything that’s out of the ordinary or out of the norm, our team’s built for that. We’re excited for the opportunity to go out to Spring-Ford and play a playoff game.”
Pennridge 0-0-0-0 0
Central Bucks East 0-21-7-7 35
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