Mayhem’s Game of the Week- CB East @ CB West (Week 10)
Tagged under: District 1, Gameday Hub, News, pfn
Michael Pietrangelo | October 26, 2023
The Who:
Central Bucks East @ Central Bucks West
The What:
High School Football
The When:
Friday, October 27, 2023
Kickoff: 7 pm
The Where:
War Memorial Field
375 West Court Street Doylestown, Pa 18901
Last 5 meetings: (*Playoffs)
2022-23 CB WEST 42 CB EAST 26 *
2022-23 CB WEST 21 CB EAST 14
2021-22 CB WEST 35 CB EAST 15
2020-21 CB WEST 40 CB EAST 20
2019-20 CB WEST 45 CB EAST 10
What’s at Stake:
CB Cup bragging rights
Rivalry win
Conference win
Outright Conference Title for West
District Playoff Seeding for West
Playoffs for East
The Team Deets:
Head Coach: John Donnelly (13th Season)
League: Suburban One-Continental National(6A)
Last season: (8-3) Overall (5-2) Conference
This Season: (4-5) overall (2-4) Conference
Last Week: Lost, 28-27 to Neshaminy
Patriot’s Notables: Last season the Patriots had already cemented their playoff hopes. This season they are standing on the doorstep looking in. Don’t let the 4-5 record fool you. Of the 5 losses they were in every game until the end (Neshaminy 27-28, Souderton 21-23, Pennsbury 16-14, North Penn 7-14, CB South 6-13). Souderton is undefeated & South has 1 loss. The Patriots offense is averaging a respectable 24.4 points per game and the defense is yielding 12.3 points per game. A bright spot for the Pats has been Senior RB/FS Dean Blackwell. In 9 games this season Dean has rushed for 960 yards and has scored 13 total touchdowns. 11 came on the ground, 1 came from a fumble recovery, & the final came on an interception. Coach John Donnelly says, “Dean is a warrior on both sides of the ball for us. He quietly does his job on an elite level on both sides of the ball. He is also an outstanding student. Dean will be playing football at the next level for sure. He is a role model for our underclassmen.” I caught up with John during the week and asked about the significance of the CB Cup and he described it, “When you look at Rivalry Games at the high school or collegiate level, many of them have something extrinsically that they are playing for…some type of cup, trophy, or symbol of the rivalry. We thought this would add even more juice to the rivalry amongst the three schools.” The last question I had was about the rivalry game and if the preparation was going to be different since they have a shot at playoffs and spoiling the Buck’s perfect regular season. John responded, “West is having an outstanding season, they really are. They are very well coached, and their kids play extremely well. Our focus for this game is to win the game so we can achieve a goal of ours for this season, which is to get into the playoffs. It is about what we want to do for our team, not about how the outcome affects their season. We have played extremely well this season although it didn’t always translate into victories. Our five losses have come against five teams who are all in the playoff mix and the average point differential in those losses is 3.6. We are only allowing 10.5 points/game. We know we are a good football team too. We are excited for this opportunity to play in a storied venue like War Memorial against an undefeated team that is ranked #1 in the district and #3 in the State.” During my talk with Dean, he told me about the significance of a Cup win and what it means to win it. He responded, “For us seniors, it would mean a lot. We used to talk about playing them our last year together and to win would be another check on the goal list.” I ended our chat needing to know if the chance to spoil the Bucks undefeated season added an extra layer to the rivalry and he responded, “We aren’t concerned about what this means for West’s season. We are motivated because we want to go to the playoffs, and they are in our way. It’s a special game nonetheless but we are focused on what this game means to us not the yellow team.”
Head Coach: Rob Rowan (6th Season)
League: Suburban One-National Conference(6A)
Last Season: (9-5) Overall (5-2) Conference
Season: (9-0) overall (6-0) Conference
Last Week: Won, 40-29 over CB South
Buck’s Notables: The wins keep coming and the Bucks keep racking up yards. Last week they took care of business in a 40-29 victory over a previously unbeaten CB South (8-1,5-1). The team rushed for 318 yards. Conor McFadden & Ryan Clemens paced the Bucks with 270 of those yards. The offense is averaging 32.2 points per game, while the defense is yielding a meager 10.3 points. This week they look to continue their dominance to close out the regular season 10-0. The last time the Bucks went 10-0 in the regular season was in the early 2000s according to head coach Rob Rowan. This week The Bucks keep their mission alive in a huge game regardless of their opponent’s record. I spoke with the 6th-year head coach briefly and had a few questions. My first question was obvious to me, “For those that don’t know, can you explain what the CB Cup is, how long it’s been around, and what it means to you and your squad?” Coach Rowan responded, “The CB Cup is a trophy for which the 3 CB teams compete each year. It is a source of pride in the community. In order to win the cup, you must beat the other CB teams. The cup has been around since South opened (2004). The Cup means a tremendous amount to our team as it is one of our goals every year to win our rivalry games. The cup has been in our possession since 2019 as we won it 19, 20, 21, and last year was a draw as each team beat each other.” Next, I had to know, “Not only is this a rivalry game, but East can play spoiler to your undefeated season. Does that factor into your preparation and how you approach this week or is it business as usual? The coach replied, “We understand the nature of rivalry games and what is at stake. We discuss it, we recognize it to address the realities of it but by no means does it change the way we go about our business. We pride ourselves on a standard that we try to match every day regardless of what the external circumstances are. And the truth and reality are, at 7:00 Friday night the foot is going to hit the ball and a football game is going to unfold for the following 3 hours. And the same things that it took to be successful the prior 9 weeks will be the same things that it is going to take Friday night. We try not to complicate the formula and focus on the things we can control as a football team. We’ll continue to do that Friday night.” After speaking with the coach, I talked with my player spotlight athlete Jack Williams. Per coach Rowan Jack is, “a standout player for us who sets the tone both physically and emotionally. He is a warrior who rarely comes off the field and is willing to do the small things it takes to succeed. He makes a major impact in all 3 game phases, and we expect that to continue Friday night.” Now I know the history a little more I wanted to know what the student-athletes felt about it. Jack replied, “Honestly, I didn’t really even know about “The Cup” until I came up and started playing at West. He continued, “Ever since I was little going to the games and watching my older brother play there was always just a dramatically bigger feel in the South and East games and just truly wanting to beat your rival. The cup is something nice to have in the building as kind of a placeholder for kings of the district. But at the end of the day, it has always just been about beating South and more importantly last and if you need a trophy to fire yourself up for those games then you’re not playing for the right reasons. Especially considering there are bigger trophies ahead of us.” My final question for Jack was about the rivalry and the fact that East could spoil their perfect season. Jack responded, “I do feel like it has given a different aura to practice, obviously, we are taking it the same as any other week with our practice schedule and everything else but there does seem to be a different swagger to the team this week because obviously you know some dudes from East and we have grown up with some of them, so you joke with them and they’re all like we’re gonna spoil your season or whatever. And the past 2 years us seniors have gone there and beat them 3 times. And now they are coming to War Memorial and there gonna come out juiced up to try and spoil what we have built but the swagger is there and it’s just like. we’re here we’re gonna be across from them Friday night. Let’s do it.”
I want to thank Kim Supko & Mike Cabrey for the use of their action shots of my featured student-athletes. Please click their respective pictures to see their IG pages.
I would also like to thank Mayhem’s Legit Snax, Body Armor, & Imperial Nuts for making it possible for my Player of the Game Shirts and my Student Spotlight Feature each week.
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