Friday night lights finally arrived at Central Bucks East.
And boy, did the Patriots put on a show.
CB East topped non-league foe Souderton, 30-13, in a battle of unbeatens on Friday night at First Lt. Colby Umbrell Field at Patriot Stadium in the first-ever home night football game in the 52-year history of CB East.
Jack Corrigan’s 34-yard field goal got the Patriots on the board in the first quarter, but the Indians got that back in the second quarter.
CB East running back Ethan Shine busted out a 76-yard run to set up his own 2-yard touchdown. The extra point attempt failed. Souderton put in a field goal with no time remaining so the Patriots entered halftime with a 9-6 lead.
Shine added to the lead with a 10-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to give CB East a 16-6 lead after three periods, then his 31-yard rush ended in the end zone to make it 23-6 in the fourth quarter.
Big Red fought back with a 39-yard TD pass from quarterback Jared Zimmerman to Shaun Purvy to make it a 23-13 game.
Shine iced the game with his fourth touchdown of the evening, a 4-yard run with 54 seconds remaining.
“We got the result we wanted, and it means the world to everyone,” said Shine, a senior. “We prepared well all week. We knew this game was going to be different. I feel like we prepared well and we prepared to win.
“We’re 3-0 but we still need to be earning respect and showing people who we are.”
Shine gave credit to the offensive line; left tackle Sean Connor, left guard Liam Powers, center Connor Harris, right guard Joey Collins and right tackle Chris Poulson.
“That’s all on my offensive line, right there,” he said. “Huge guys pushing dudes wherever they want to push them. If that offensive line isn’t there, I’m not doing anything.”
CB East quarterback Pat Keller knows what he has in Shine.
“Last year, you would give it to him and he would thump-thump-thump,” Keller said. “This year, he’s even better. He’s lighter on his feet. He’s making people miss and he’s running over them. You can’t stop him.”
Shine ended the night with a game-high 32 carries for 268 yards and four touchdowns, while Tommy Day had four carries for 21 yards, Declan Kelly rushed for 7 yards in three attempts and Keller had five carries for 3 yards.
Keller connected on six of his nine passes for 74 yards. Luke Quillen caught two passes for 25 yards, Matt LaBouliere caught two for 23 yards, while Jack Donnelly caught a 20-yard pass and Joe Maeglin caught one for 6 yards.
“Coming here three years ago, I never expected lights to be here,” said Keller, a senior. “To win the first one under the lights is amazing. And to win such a great game against another team that was undefeated. Souderton is always very good. This is an important win for us.
“Our O-line was pushing them around all night and that gave Shine room. He had a great night. He made some great moves and we made some big plays. We ran the clock well and that was a big part of it. We dominated possession. Also, our defense had a big night. Wing-T offense is very difficult to defend, and our guys did a great job.
“We have some goals for this team this year. First, we want to win the CB Cup. Then something we need to do that hasn’t happened in a long time is to bring the SOL (championship) back here. That’s our second goal after CB Cup. This is the first time we’ve been 3-0 since I came here, and it feels great but we know it’s just the first step.”
The big defensive play of the day for the Patriots was in the third quarter. Souderton was stopped on a fourth-and-2 at CB East’s 9-yard line by Luke Wilson to turn the ball over and end Big Red’s threat.
CB East held its annual “Greene Out” with fans and coaches wearing green to raise money for the Greene Team Foundation, a scholarship established in honor of longtime head football coach Larry Greene, who died of bone marrow cancer in 2013.
CB East (3-0) travels to Central Bucks South (3-0) on Friday for a Suburban One League National Conference opener. Souderton (2-1) begins the SOL Continental season by hosting Council Rock North (1-2) on Friday.
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