DOYLESTOWN — Nick Miletto could feel the difference when he took the field with his Central Bucks West teammates Friday night.
A year ago, the Bucks, featuring a junior heavy core, dropped their opener to Easton when a fourth-quarter comeback came up short.
A now senior-heavy Central Bucks group got its revenge Friday with a 36-7 victory over the Red Rovers, who are coming off a run to the PIAA Class 6A quarterfinals last season.
“It’s always great to get your getback obviously,” Miletto told EasternPA Football. That just established how much experience we have. Last year, we had a bunch of juniors and we were young, so we weren’t as experienced as much. That’s why we came up short. … This year just shows our experience.”
CB West finished 7-4 last season after a first round District 1 playoff loss. The offense started slow in that season opening loss to Easton a year ago, getting shut out through the first three quarters before scoring three touchdowns in the fourth.
The Bucks’ opening drive Friday stalled at midfield, but they went 41 yards on five plays the next time they got the ball, taking an 8-0 lead after senior quarterback Josh George connected with senior tight end Liam Laphen on a 14-yard touchdown pass with 2:44 left in the first.
It was one of three touchdown tosses for George (3-for-5, 79 yards) in the game.
“It was awesome,” George said. “We played amazing. The plan going in was we were going to run it to the left, and then we just took a deep shot down. I think Easton was a little tired, so we just kept pushing.”
“It was way different,” he added. “We lost the game last year, and we just wanted to get our getback, really bad. We were just practicing. No disrespect to them, they’re a great team, but we just wanted it more than all of them.”
While the Bucks scored three times, through the air, they did most of their damage on the ground, rushing 37 times for 229 yards as a group, including 144 yards and two touchdowns in the first half.
After a bad Easton snap on a punt attempt gave CB West the ball back with good field position, Miletto powered in a 11-yard touchdown run to make it 15-0 CB West at the 11:27 mark in the second.
Easton got on the board when junior quarterback Zahviay McGurn completed a 16-yard touchdown toss to freshman Amin Fideen with three minutes left before half, but the Bucks’ ground game struck right back.
A 48-yard run by CB West junior Finn Riley helped set up a two-yard score by senior Braylen Cape with 31 seconds left in the half, giving CB West a 22-7 lead at the break. Riley ran seven times for 103 yards; Miletto carried nine times for 66 yards and a score; and senior Louie Cipollo added six rushes for 21 yards to lead the backfield.
“Those guys were incredible,” George said. “Louie, Nick, Braylen, Finn Riley, he subbed in for Nick and he was balling out. They couldn’t hold us. It was awesome.”
“Our brand of football has always been being the most physical team,” Miletto said. “We’re known for being blue collar, just being the most physical on the field. It displayed that today.”
CB West couldn’t take advantage of terrific field position on its first offensive drive the second half when Miletto coughed up a fumble. He found an opportunity to make up for it two drives later.
McGurn connected with senior wide receiver Sean McPeek for a big gain, and McPeek turned up field and looked like he had open field ahead of him. Miletto chased him down and punched out the ball before senior Shane McGuire fell on it to give CB West possession at the Easton 35-yard line.
George connected with Laphen for another touchdown pass on the very next play to give the Bucks a three-touchdown lead, 29-7, with less than two minutes left in the third quarter. Cipollo picked off a pass then added a 30-yard touchdown catch from George in the fourth to put the finishing touches on an impressive win.
“If I’m going to be honest, I was pissed because I fumbled that drive before,” Miletto said of his key forced fumble. “So I went out there and I let out my anger. I was like, ‘This guy’s about to score a touchdown.’ I got behind and I just punched it out. It’s a drill we’ve been doing all year, just forcing turnovers, and that’s what makes us win the game.”
Easton struggled to get the ground game going in the first half, totaling just eight yards on 14 attempts at the break. McGurn found some success through the air, however, completing 8-of-14 passes for 149 yards in the first two quarters. McPeek, a Lafayette College lacrosse commit, had five catches for 89 yards in the first half before leading his team with 139 yards on eight grabs in the game.
The CB West defense found some answers to the Easton RPO attack coming out of the locker room as they pitched a second half shutout. The Bucks limited McGurn (12-of-24, 199 yards, TD, INT) and Easton to just 50 passing yards in the second half. Sophomore Colby Oraschin ran nine times for 38 yards in the game to lead the rushing attack.
“We made some adjustments where I was sitting back more instead of just running up and biting on the run,” Miletto said. “Doing that, it kind of paused the quarterback up and made him make tougher decisions.”
CB West returns eight offensive and seven defensive starters this season with the senior class making up a large percentage of that group. The Bucks experience definitely showed against an Easton group that is looking to fill quite a few holes from last season’s 14-1 squad.
“Just watch out for West,” George said. “We’re coming.”
NOTES >> CB West kicker Mason Darrows was a perfect 4-for-4 on PAT attempts and also made an imprint on the game with touchbacks on all six of his kickoffs.
Easton 0 7 0 0-7
Central Bucks West 8 14 7 7-36
Individual Scoring
First Quarter
CBW: Liam Laphen 14 pass from Josh George (Braylen Cape run), 2:44
Second Quarter
CBW: Nick Miletto 11 run (Mason Darrows kick), 11:27
E: Amin Fideen 16 pass from Zahviay McGurn, 3:00
CBW: Braylen Cape 3 run (Mason Darrow kick), 0:31
Third Quarter
CBW: Liam Laphen 35-yard TD pass from Josh George (Mason Darrows kick), 1:46
Fourth Quarter
CBW: Louie Cipollo 30 pass from Josh George (Mason Darrows kick), 7:35
Team Statistics
…………………….E………………CBW
1st downs………..12…………………15
rush-yds……….27-62……………37-229
comp-att-int….12-24-1…………..3-5-0
pass yds……….199………………79
total yds…………261……………….308
fumb-lost……..3-1………………2-1
pen-yds…………3-22…………..6-41
Individual Statistics
Rushing- Easton: Colby Oraschin 9-38; Jeffrey Thomas 8-24; Justice Gaddy 3-11; Robbie McCormick 1-0; Zahviay McGurn 6-(-11).
Central Bucks West: Finn Riley 7-103, Nick Miletto 9-66, TD; Louie Cipollo 6-21; Davis Parisi 2-15; Shane McCuen 2-7; Henry Nicholson 3-7; Cullen Kinyon 1-6; Michael Armstrong 1-4; Braylen Cape 2-2; Josh George 1-0; Nick Wierzbowski 1-0; Ethan Stoneback 1-(-3).
Passing- Easton: Zahviay McGurn 12-24, 199 yards, TD, INT.
Central Bucks West: Josh George 3-4, 79 yards, 3 TDs.
Receiving- Easton: Sean McPeek 8-138; Amin Fidenn 3-61, TD; Justin Cosover 1-(-1).
Central Bucks West: Liam Laphen 2-49, 2 TDs; Louie Cipollo 1-30, TD.
Interceptions: CB West: Louie Cipollo.
Sacks: CB West: Team 2, Liam Laphen.