CB East defeated Hatboro-Horsham in SOL football action on Saturday.
Stats used in the wraps are provided courtesy of the Intelligencer/Bucks County Courier Times. For complete high school football coverage, visit the web sites: http://www.theintell.com/sports and http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/sports.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 29, HATBORO-HORSHAM 14
The Hatters scored an early touchdown, but the rest of the game belonged to the Patriots, who reeled off 29 unanswered points.
An intense week of practice, according to coach John Donnelly, set the tone Saturday’s stellar performance.
“We did a really good job of establishing the line of scrimmage, which is something that we did not do well last week against Quakertown,” the Patriots’ coach said of his team’s 20-13 loss to the Panthers. “We really went to work this week in practice. It was probably the toughest week we’ve had – the coaches were really intense, the players were really intense. It was a really good week, and we needed it because we didn’t have it consistently last week against Quakertown, and that cost us.
“We came out with an identity that we really wanted to own the line of scrimmage. Hatboro-Horsham is very physical up front, and that was not an easy task, but I think we accomplished it pretty early. I thought we did a great job of being competitive in the trenches on offense and defense, and that was the difference.”
Donnelly praised the performance of his offensive line – Grant McCauley, Danny Bodish, Griffin Trail, Kieran Kelly and Connor Burns.
“Some of those guys are brand new starters, and I thought they really grew up fast from last week, so that was impressive,” Donnelly said. “We had a good rotation on our defensive line, and I thought some guys that really stood tall today were Cooper Gastineau, Kyle Collie and Nick Diehl. Those guys defensively did a good job against a pretty physical line.
“We saw Hatboro-Horsham live last week against CB West, and I thought they were very physical. We had to match that and attempt to exceed that physicality, and I thought we did a pretty good job of that overall.”
The Hatters took an early lead when Ismael Collazo scored from six yards out. Evan O’Donnell scored from three yards out on a quarterback keeper, and the Patriots were off and running. O’Donnell found Brian Kelly for the two-point conversion, and the Patriots led 8-7 after one quarter.
Back-to-back touchdown runs by Jake Ventresca – the first from four yards and the second from seven – sent the Patriots into halftime with a 22-7 lead. Ventresca was the Patriots’ leading ground gainer, finishing with 129 yards.
“Jake Ventresca had a great day,” Donnelly said. “Sometimes the holes weren’t there, and he created things just with his athleticism.”
In the third quarter, O’Donnell found Anthony Giordano with a 17-yard touchdown pass that put the Patriots on top 29-7. The Patriots’ quarterback threw for 173 yards with Giordano – who had four receptions – his favorite target.
“I thought Evan O’DDonnell, our quarterback, made really good decisions today,” Donnelly said. “He really took care of the football. We haven’t turned the ball over through our first two games.
“Anthony Giordano played several different positions today. He’s only a sophomore, and I thought he did a really good job these first two weeks. I thought he really shined today. Both of those guys are very good leaders for us.”
The Hatters tacked on a late touchdown on Amir Bookard’s seven-yard run. Quarterback Will Riemenschneider’ s 121 yards in the air led the Hatters.
The Patriots gained over 300 yards of total offense in Saturday’s win.
“I think it was the week of practice – I think the ignition happened prior to today,” Donnelly said. “I really believe that.
“I think our kids responded to that, they held each other accountable. I was just really proud of the way they listened and accepted what we were giving to them as the recipe, and they went out and executed. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what we put up on the board for them or put in the scouting report, it’s how they go out and do it. I was really proud of them for taking the onus.”
Saturday’s win evened the Patriots’ record at 1-1. They travel to Bensalem on Friday for a non-league contest.
“We really said this was a must-win for us,” Donnelly said. “Last year was very similar with Quakertown, then Hatboro-Horsham took the game from us at the end of the game, so this was really big. We’re rolling into Bensalem – we saw them live, they’re 2-0. Ed Cubbage does a fantastic job. Their kids believe, so we have to go down to Lower Bucks and play on a Friday night.
“We’ve been playing on Saturday, so our schedule is going to be a little different, but our kids are really built for this. Our kids are used to Saturday/Friday, Friday/Saturday, Friday/Friday – it really doesn’t matter. They have experience with that kind of flexibility in schedule. I don’t think that really bothers us, but that’s going to be a big game. We’re excited for it. Our kids are pretty hungry and so are theirs. It should be a good one.”
Hatboro-Horsham (0-2) will host Souderton on Friday.
Hatboro-Horsham 7-0-0-7 14
Central Bucks East 8-14-7-0 29
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