To run in the October 2nd Bucks County Herald
27 points.
CB West defense didn’t yield it in their first five games.
Neshaminy’s offense broke that mark in four of their first five games.
Make it five of six on Friday night when quarterback Mike Eckart ran 72 yards for a third quarter touchdown to put Neshaminy (5-1, 3-0 SOL National) up 28-11 in their 28-18 homecoming wire to wire win over CB West.
Eckart ran or passed for all four Neshaminy touchdowns, capping off a night where he completed 11-of-16 passes for 187 yards and rushed for 130 yards on 16 carries. Eckart now has thrown 17 touchdowns in 104 attempts…against just one interception.
“First off, it’s the offensive linemen. They open up the holes. They match the physicality and make it really easy on me,” Eckart credited. “And our skill guys are the best of the best. They make plays all of the time. I know I can bet my life on them.”
Eckart connected with six different receivers. “In practice, we run a lot of reps on what we’re going to work on for the game that week,” the quarterback noted. “We practice plenty of times and our receivers work the hardest.”
Not that West (4-2, 2-1 National) didn’t make it interesting. In a battle of quicksilver quarterbacks, West’s Louie Cipolla answered with a 48-yard touchdown scamper of his own late in the third quarter.
West also drove into Neshaminy territory twice in the fourth quarter but were turned away both times, the second instance via a Carson Schneider red zone interception in the game’s final minutes to ice the contest.
“We knew they were good runners and they would try to take our weak side. Every time I would try and set the edge and 42 (West’s Nick Miletto) or 44 (Gavin Todd) would try and contain me. I was just trying to do my best,” noted junior defender Dan McGarrity, who had two tackles for loss in the second half and keyed the Neshaminy defensive effort. “I couldn’t do that without the rest of my teammates.”
Schneider recovered the fumbled opening kickoff, giving the hosts the ball at the West 33. Eckart called his own number from six yards out to put Neshaminy on the board for the game’s opening score.
Eckart connected with Bobby Lagler on an 83-yard bomb on Neshaminy’s next drive to extend the lead to 14-0.
“It was initially a quick gain thing,” Eckart described. “The pocket collapsed and our guys weren’t open at first. I saw Bobby snap off. He used his legs and was quicker than his guy. He got open and he made a big play. We needed it.”
Cipolla returned a Neshaminy punt 32 yards, giving West opening field position at the Neshaminy 42. Cipolla raced 24 yards for a touchdown four plays later and Todd pounded in the conversion to cut the lead to 14-8.
Mason Darrows’ 36-yard field goal with 2:48 left in the half further ate into the Neshaminy lead. The scoring drive was set up by a Cipolla to Jack Wilson 39-yard bomb.
But Neshaminy answered with a six play, 83-yard drive that featured four chunk plays. None was chunkier than Eckart’s 31-yard screen pass to Carter Clee for a touchdown.
Talk about balance- Neshaminy entered Friday’s contest with just 30 fewer rushing yards than passing yards. They averaged just shy of 400 total yards per game. Clee grounded out 54 yards on 16 rushes.
For West, Cipolla ran 12 times for 94 yards. Wilson caught six balls for 71 yards and the Bucks utilized two quarterbacks in the second half.
“(Cipolla) is a good runner but we knew that when they put in the other quarterback (Josh George) that they were going probably try and take some shots,” McGarrity explained. “We were ready for that.”
The Bucks brought a four-game win streak into Langhorne- nearly five as West almost erased a 19-0 deficit in their opener against Easton.
“This was great,” McGarrity exclaimed post-game. “We knew it would be a war. They’re Central Bucks West and that is what they’re known for. But we’re Neshaminy and we want to win games and keep going- war after war.”
Both squads are home next Friday. Neshaminy will play the biggest game of first year coach Nick Felus’ young Langhorne career when they host unbeaten Pennridge. Pennsbury travels to CB West.