CB West’s Cooper Taylor
DOYLESTOWN, PA — It looked like Cooper Taylor sprung a million leaks. There was a jagged line of blood on his right thigh. A bandage covered his bloody right elbow, and every fingernail seemed to be spouting crimson droplets.
The Central Bucks West senior quarterback was not phased by it. Nothing seems to rattle him, says his coach, Rob Rowan.
On Friday night, Taylor had the right demeanor to survive a war—because he did.
CB West, without its star Navy-bound speedster Conor McFadden, sidelined by an injury, and two-time defending PIAA District 1 Class 6A champion Garnet Valley mauled each other for 48 minutes and beyond until Ryan Clemens’ extra-point boot gave the Bucks a dramatic 28-27 overtime victory in the district quarterfinals at CB West’s historic War Memorial Stadium.
The Bucks, the No. 1 seed, are 12-0 for the first time since 2000 when they reached the PIAA Class 4A state championship for the last time. Garnet Valley saw its season end at 9-3—with two of the three losses coming by a combined five points to the Bucks.
CB West advances to the district semifinals, where it will play archrival Central Bucks South, 35-19 winners over Spring-Ford, next Friday at 7 p.m. at War Memorial.
The Bucks would not be heading anywhere if not for Taylor, who had a career game, rushing for each one of CB West’s scores, picking up a career-best 186 yards rushing on 21 carries, two touchdown-saving tackles and an interception.
What’s more, he wasn’t even supposed to be the Bucks’ starting quarterback. That job was going to projected four-year starter Ganz Cooper. But when he tore his ACL over the summer, Cooper was the first to call Taylor to let him know him the job was his.
“I wasn’t supposed to be starting quarterback, and it was Ganz who called me to let me know,” said Taylor, who is going to Washington and Lee to play linebacker. “I found out I would be starting the week before the first game. I want to help this team any way I could, and Ganz, this team, Coach Rowan, everyone believed in me.
“The last time I played quarterback was in grade school when I was 14, so it’s been a while.”
The game took on a frenetic pace in the fourth quarter and into overtime. Trailing 14-7 entering the fourth quarter, Taylor scored on a 47-yard run down the sideline on the first play of the quarter to tie it at 14-14. Garnet Valley answered with a five-play, 74-yard drive, capped by Ronnie Leraris’ 26-yard scoring run.
The Bucks answered right back on the ensuing drive, when Taylor scored his third TD, a 19-yard run with 5:04 to play, which eventually put the game into overtime.
“There’s not enough I can say about Cooper and what he means to this program, he’s an absolute warrior in every sense of the word,” Rowan said. “I don’t know if I trusted a player more than Cooper Taylor. He is the type of kid, where he doesn’t blink. Cooper welcomed the opportunity when Ganz went down.
“Cooper Taylor is like a son to mean, that is how much he means to me. In my six years here, I never saw a performance like this, both ways. Our offense I would say can be complex. We have a lot of moving pieces and for him to manage all that, and making two touchdown-saving tackles (on defense), it’s the best performance I’ve seen in my six years.”
Overtime topped it, when Taylor scored to tie it at 27-27, and Clemens, who rushed for 139 yards, nailed the extra point ignited the crowd.
The teams went into halftime knotted at 7-7. The numbers that produced that score were also close to even, with Garnet Valley amassing 170 yards of total offense to CB West’s 168 yards over the opening two quarters.
The Bucks took their first possession and poured through the Garnet Valley defense like water.
Left tackle Hayden Mulligan, left guard Gio Pellegrino, center Cole Patterson, right guard Christian Pudlo, right tackle Finn McGowan, and tight end Shane Dillon opened nice causeways for the Bucks’ runners to move 68 yards over 11 plays.
The key plays were Taylor’s 17- and 16-yard runs. The Bucks bit themselves on a deadball personal foul call, though quickly compensated for the loss when Clemens bolted 11 yards up the middle to the Garnet Valley 33.
Three plays later, Taylor rammed into the end zone for a 7-0 Bucks’ lead with 5:11 left in the first quarter.
Midway through the second quarter, Garnet Valley responded with a 13-play, 76-yard drive, which ended on Luke Vaughn’s three-yard scoring plunge with 1:51 left in the half.
Both teams hurt themselves over the first 24 minutes.
CB West was flagged twice for personal foul calls and were penalized a total of five times for 50 yards.
Garnet Valley, which turned the ball over five times when met CB West in the season opener, turned the ball over early in the second quarter when Cooper made a diving interception of Garnet Valley’s Tyler Lassik at the Bucks’ 11.
“They were a physical tough football team that played a great game,” Jags’ coach Eric Van Wyk said. “We didn’t do a great job of stopping their sweep, but they blocked it well. I have to say my team was resilient, and I’m very proud of the seniors. This is the fifth time in three years that we have played CB West, and this has certainly become a rivalry. It’s good stuff.
“Their kid, Cooper Taylor, I have to give a ton of credit to, for jumping into the quarterback position and for just being a great football player. He is a complete football player. I have total respect for him.”
Scoring Summary
Garnet Valley (9-3) 0 7 7 7 6-27
Central Bucks West (12-0) 7 0 0 14 7-28
1st Quarter
CBW – Cooper Taylor 3 run (Ryan Clemens kick), 5:11
2nd Quarter
GV – Luke Vaughn 3 run (Mike Medici kick), 1:51
3rd Quarter
GV – Kia Lopez 13 pass from Tyler Lassik (Medici kick), 1:19
4th Quarter
CBW – Taylor 47 run (Clemens kick), 11:50
GV – Ronnie Leraris 26 run (Medici kick), 9:37
CBW – Taylor 19 run (Clemens kick), 5:04
OT
GV –Lassik 9 run (kick blocked)
CBW – Taylor 6 run (Clemens kick)
Joseph Santoliquito is a hall of fame, award-winning sportswriter who has been covering high school football since 1992 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter @JSantoliquito. Follow EasternPAFootball.com on Twitter @EPAFootball.
