By Ben Reese
DOYLESTOWN: Pesky.
While that isn't the exact pronunciation of the last name of Central Bucks West senior Jake Poeske, it is just what he was to Central Bucks East throughout the Bucks' 13-7 victory over the Patriots Friday night at War Memorial Field.
It also sounded like the name that was being announced over the public address system after nearly every play in the game. But none was bigger than the one with less than a minute remaining in the game.
East was driving and, with the aid of some West penalties, had reached the Bucks' 30. Patriot quarterback Josh Bernard dropped back on first down, looking down field for a target in the end zone.
Finding one, he lofted the ball toward the goal line. Poeske and an East player both went for the ball, but only Poeske came down with it in the end zone to secure the win for West.
"I was actually the backside linebacker," Poeske said, describing the play. "I went back to my curl and I saw him start rolling out.
"So I started drifting over that way, and once he lofted the ball up, I sprinted all the way over. Me and another kid went up for the ball and, as soon as we both went up, I ripped it out and came down with the ball."
Of course, that wasn't Poeske's only defensive play. He made numerous tackles from his linebacker spot.
He also played offense. He paced the Bucks with 68 yards on the ground and scored a touchdown in the third quarter to give CB West a 13-0 lead at the time.
"Jake is just a great athlete," West coach Brian Hensel said. "We're very fortunate to have him back from his injury (he hurt his knee four games earlier).
"Then he comes up huge on the goal line. That could have been anyone's ball, and he wrestles that ball out of the other player's hands and seals the victory for us.
"He brings more to the game than just his level of play. His presence makes other players better."
Of course, a game between any two of the three Central Bucks schools always becomes a war. It has something to do with the players on one side of the field being very familiar with the players on the other side of the field.
As such, you could hear the sympathy in Hensel's voice after the game.
“It's a heartbreaker for East,” he said. “Coach (John) Donnelly's got so many tricks up his sleeve in terms of how he wants to run his offense at us and he got some great momentum going for his team especially at the start of the second half.”
It was at that point that the Patriots began to make a run at the Bucks. West had dominated the first half, even though it could only come up with one touchdown, Sherrod Higginbotham's six-yard first-quarter run and Nick Danilo's kick which propelled West to a 7-0 halftime lead.
After West upped the margin to 13-0 on Poeske's two-yard jaunt with 9:46 left in the third period, East finally got some cohesion in its offense and started to move.
A penalty on Poeske's TD pushed the kickoff back to the 25, so the Pats got good field position with a 20-yard return by Eric Riva to the West 39.
Ten running plays later, Bernard bulled in from the two, and Greg Herrmann's kick cut West's lead to six points at 13-7.
“We didn't have an answer for him (Donnelly),” said Hensel “We had to make some adjustments on the fly, and fortunately, our players didn't push the panic buttons and made the adjustments and recognized that it is a long, four-quarter game.
“We had to do some things that we really didn't get a whole lot of practice time on all week.
“Brandon Sparks just ran the ball super (for them) in the second half. He really caused some fits for us.
“Couple that with Josh Bernard's ability to run the football and we had to play a bit of a guessing game as to who would get the football.”
Sparks led all rushers with 110 yards on 15 carries. He was injured on the final play of the game and was taken to Doylestown Hospital by ambulance. No diagnosis was available.
Bernard gained 25 yards on 15 tries for the Patriots. He had a difficult night in the passing department, however, connecting on only two of 10 passes for 20 yards.
“Every single play was a battle,” Poeske said of the game. “Every single play, both teams, head to head. Nothing can beat it.”
Before, during and after the game the CB West Stars and Stripes Club was accepting donations of individually wrapped or travel-sized snack foods, personal items, small games, batteries or other items for servicemen and women serving overseas. Monetary donations were also accepted.
CB WEST 7 0 6 0 = 13
CB EAST 0 0 7 0 = 7
CBW: Sherrod Higginbotham 6 run (Nick Danilo kick)
CBW: Jake Poeske 2 run (kick failed)
CBE: Josh Bernard 2 run (Greg Herrmann kick)
CB WEST CB EAST
12 First Downs 13
142 Yards Rushing 140
106 Yards Passing 20
248 Total Yards 160
2-28 Punts/Avg. 4-31
6-60 Penalties/Yards 5-46
CB WEST
Rushing: Jake Poeske 13-68, 1 TD; Sherrod Higginbotham 9-40, 1 TD; Kevin Duggan 5-26; Cody Riemenschneider 4-18; John Fitz 3-(-)10.
Passing: Fitz 8-12-0, 106 yards.
Receiving: Seth Ehlo 5-81; Oskar Duva 1-10; Poeske 1-8; Riemenschneider 1-7.
CB EAST
Rushing: Brandon Sparks 15-110; Josh Bernard 15-25, 1 TD; Chris Burian 2-8; Vince Thompson 1-0; Vince Careghini 1-(-)3.
Passing: Bernard 2-10-1, 20 yards.
Receiving: Ryan Kronmiller 1-12; Careghini 1-8.
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