To view action photos of the Norristown/Central Bucks East and Council Rock South/Father Judge games, visit the Photo Gallery by clicking on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
By Scott Huff
Doylestown – The Norristown-Central Bucks East game was originally listed as a home game for the Eagles. But the dispossessed Eagles don’t have a home field due to the unfinished construction of their campus stadium, and the game was to be played at Upper Merion High School on Friday night.
The torrential rains of the last week rendered the Upper Merion gridiron unplayable, and the game was moved to Saturday morning on the turf at War Memorial Field – home of the CB East Patriots.
There was no admission to the game – no concession stand – almost no fans in the stadium –and surprisingly - no contest as the Eagles (2-0) soared to a 36-7 victory over the Patriots (0-2).
“We were ready to play the game on the grass, on the turf, or on cement,” said Norristown head coach E.J. Smith. “It doesn’t matter to us where we played the game. We have athletic ability, and that is going to come out on matter what type of field you play on.”
Norristown featured a high-octane offense that has speed to burn. And that aspect of the Eagle offense was in clear view in the fantastic play of senior tailback Brandon Shipped and senior quarterback Shannon Mayer.
Shippen – who will take his talents to North Broad Street next year at Temple University - displayed splendid open field moves and jetted for a game-high 176 yards and two touchdowns. Mayer engineered the Norristown offense – fired a touchdown strike – and also rushed the ball for 101 yards.
Norristown battered the Patriot defense for 356 yards on the ground and racked up 456 yards of total offense.
“We’re going to do whatever we have to do to get it done,” said Shippen, who also played a terrific cornerback for the Norristown defense. “We work hard every day, and the coaches do a good job of getting us ready to play.
“It is tough knowing that every game is on the road for now,” added Shippen. “But we still have the same goal – win the football game.”
The game-breaking ability of the offense was not unexpected – but the exceptional play of the defense might well have been.
“We just wanted to set a high tempo on defense,” said Norristown senior linebacker Kyle McClure. “Our goal was to get a shutout. I thought that we played much better defense this week – we tackled much better.”
“Kyle really stepped it up on defense,” said Smith. “And I thought that our entire defensive line did a good job against a good offensive football team.”
The best of the Eagle front four were seniors Najee Harris and Joe Leng. Harris – a 6-foot, 2-inch, 200-pound defensive end – was relentless on the pass rush. Leng – a 6-foot, 3-inch, 305-pound defensive tackle – anchored the defensive line and shut down the Patriot run game.
Norristown not only won the offensive and defensive battles, but the Eagles had the best of the special teams.
Senior place kicker Gerard Fox was a scoring weapon as he blasted three field goals and added a pair of extra points. Fox also excelled in kicking the ball deep on kickoffs and giving East poor field position.
Norristown assumed a 3-0 first period lead on a 38-yard field goal by Cox. The highlights of that initial scoring drive were a 33-yard burst by Shippen, a 10-yard scamper by Mayer, and an eight-yard pass completion from Mayer to Tyler McAlpine.
Cox booted a second field goal – this one from 27 yards out – to give the Birds a 6-0 lead. Mayer danced 69 yards to give Norristown a first and goal, but the Patriot defense stiffened and forced the field goal.
The Eagles turned a Bret Cooper interception into points later in the second period when Mayer threw a 69-yard scoring strike to a streaking Derrick Jordan. The point after touchdown was blocked, and the Eagles settled for a 12-0 advantage.
The Eagles turned a Davin Reynolds interception into points later in the second period when Jalen Ramsey rambled 18 yards for a score. The Cox PAT moved the score to 19-0.
The Eagles were not finished, however, as Cox would kick his third field goal of the game with four seconds left in the half. The 22-yard FG was set up by a Mayer-to-Jordan pass completion of 23 yards.
Norristown extended its lead to 29-0 on its first drive of the third period. Shippen would score on a nifty seven-yard run to conclude a five-play, 64-yard drive. Eric Handy Jr. had the key run in the scoring drive with a 29-yard bolt.
The game became a mercy rule contest early in the fourth period when Shippen scampered 32 yards for the final Eagle score.
Central Bucks East avoided a shutout on its last drive of the game as senior quarterback Josh Bernard fired a 47-yard touchdown pass to Vince Careghini with 38 seconds left in the game. Greg Herrmann concluded the scoreboard mathematics with the PAT as the 36-7 score was to become final.
Norristown will be on the road again next week as the Eagles will meet Central Bucks South (1-1). The Titans whipped Council Rock North 42-6 in their last game.
The game will be played on grass – not turf – and not cement.
Central Bucks East Patriots 0 0 0 7 - 7
Norristown Eagles 3 19 7 7 - 36
Scoring:
N – Gerald Fox 38 FG
N – Fox 27 FG
N – Derrick Jordan 69 pass from Shannon Mayer (kick blocked)
N – Jalen Ramsey 18 run (Fox kick)
N – Fox 22 FG
N – Brandon Shippen 7 run (Fox kick)
N – Shippen 32 run (Fox kick)
CBE – Vince Careghini 47 pass from Josh Bernard (Gregg Herrman kick)
Central Bucks East Patriots Norristown Eagles
10 First Downs 15
119 Rushing Yards 356
90 Passing Yards 100
209 Total Offense 456
4-39 Punts / Avg 1-41
3-20 Penalties / Yards 5-35
Central Bucks East
Rushing: Chris Lavin 9-46; Josh Bernard 12-30; Brandon Sparks 4-16; Chris Burian 3-13; Vince Careghini 1-4; Vince Thompson 1-4; and Mike White 2-6. Totals – 32-119.
Passing: Bernard 13-24-2; 90 yards & TD.
Receiving: Careghini 4-56 & TD; Jake O’Donnell 2-19; Sparks 3-11; Lavin 1-7; and White 3 – (minus 3).
Norristown
Rushing: Brandon Shippen 19-176 & 2 TD; Shannon Mayer 8-101; Jalen Ramsey 2-49 & TD; Eric Handy Jr. 6-42; Rob Edwards 1-4; Bret Cooper 1-0; Sonny Brewer 4- (minus 3); Team 1 – (minus 13). Totals 42-356 & 3 TD.
Passing: Mayer 3-7-0; 100 yards & TD.
Receiving: Derrick Jordan 2-92 & TD; Tyler McAlpine 1-8. Totals 3-100 & TD.
Interceptions: Bret Cooper; Davin Reynolds.
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