BRISTOL, PA — Each time there was a pile Friday night, Pennsbury’s Galamama “G” Mulbuh seemed to come out the other end dragging Central Bucks East defenders with him.
The 6-foot-1, 210-pound senior tailback likes to initiate contact and he often bursts through it.
For the third-straight week, Mulbuh rushed for 200 yards, and for the fifth-straight time this season, Pennsbury won, beating CB East, the No. 1 seed in District 1 6A entering Week 6, 37-22, at Truman High School behind three Mulbuh touchdowns and 200 yards rushing on 35 carries.
This was a big win for Pennsbury, which surged to 5-1, while CB East lost for the first time, falling to 5-1.
The Falcons were lugging a 15-game losing streak into this season. But coaching legend Galen Snyder returned this year and with it a winning program.
“Our game plan is always the same, we’re going to try and run the ball,” Snyder said. “We knew the defense had to play their A-game and play really hard, because they have their running back (Ethan Shine) and some good-sized linemen.
“This is ‘G’s’ third week straight with 200 yards rushing. We pulled him at halftime in the first two games. We needed to slow Shine down, and we gave up some things in the pass game, because we were determined to stop him. I see ‘G’ as a D-I running back. We’re starting to play well right now.”
Pennsbury answered CB East’s opening touchdown drive of the second half with three Mulbuh touchdowns. He scored on a pair of 1-yard plunges and a 4-yard, which surged the Falcons ahead, 37-22, with 5:44 left to play.
With CB East trailing 30-22, a key moment midway through the fourth quarter came when CB East fumbled the ball on a third-and-six at its 32. The fumble, picked up by Pennsbury’s Jake Mullery, resulted in Mulbuh’s third touchdown in the second half.
“I can make moves, but I can run people over though, I love it,” Mulbuh said. “Coach Snyder told me going into the second half that I needed to pick my feet up and run people over. This (victory) means everything for us.
“I want to show everyone what I’m about. I want to be known as one of the best running backs in Pennsbury (history). That’s my goal.”
He looks like he’s on his way.
The Falcons pounded CB East on the ground for 280 yards rushing, which is where all of the Pennsbury offense came from.
While Pennsbury had Mulbuh, CB East countered with gutsy senior quarterback Declan Kelly, who completed 11 of 21 passed for 214 yards, with a touchdown and an interception that came off a deflection. Kelly kept the Pats in the game when it looked like they were going to be blown out.
Pennsbury went into halftime leading 17-16. But over the first 12 minutes and 6 seconds, it looked as if the Falcons would roll over CB East. The Falcons amassed 127 yards of total offense, all on the ground in breaking out to a 14-0 lead six seconds into the second quarter.
The Pats looked sunk.
CB East was getting blown off the ball and had problems moving the ball, with minus-6 yards of total offense over the 12:06. Pennsbury had the ball 9:45 of the first 13 minutes of the game.
And just when it looked like Pennsbury would take off, Kelly unfurled an arcing, 57-yard bomb to waiting senior receiver Matt LaBouliere, who shrugged off a Pennsbury defensive back and ran into the end zone for the Pats’ first score.
Then the Falcons, who had played an air-tight game to that point, made a major blunder. On the ensuing kickoff after the LaBouliere score, the Pats tried an onside kick that skipped out of bounds. Pennsbury coach Galen Snyder had the Pats kick it again.
This time, the kickoff plopped down in an opening of the Pennsbury return team at the Falcons’ 30. Numerous Falcons converged on the ball, but CB East’s Dean Blackwell got to it first at the Pennsbury 28.
On the next play, Pats’ coach John Donnelly rode the momentum, and ran a halfback pass to wide open Ethan Shine running uncovering down the sideline for a 28-yard touchdown pass.
The extra point failed, though on the following possession, CB East found its rhythm on offense and drove to the Pennsbury 13 with 1:17 left in the half. The drive resulted in junior kicker Jack Corrigan’s 30-yard field goal and 16 unanswered CB East points, after getting down 14-0.
It wasn’t over.
Pennsbury clawed back, thanks to a short kickoff and a personal-foul facemask call, setting up senior Dan Zelenko’s 34-yard field goal to conclude an exciting half.
Pennsbury went from outgaining CB East in the first quarter 119 to minus-6 yards of total offense, to holding a 154-100 edge in total yards by halftime.
Scoring Summary
Central Bucks East (5-1) 0 16 6 0- 22
Pennsbury (5-1) 7 10 13 7- 37
1st Quarter
Penns. – Shane McGurrin 1 run (Jacob Prada kick), 7:35
2nd Quarter
Penns. – Nathan Beighley 8 run (Prada kick), 11:54
CBE – Matt LaBouliere 57 pass from Declan Kelly (Jack Corrigan kick), 8:47
CBE – Ethan Shine 28 pass from Jack Donnelly (kick failed), 8:47
CBE – Corrigan 30 FG, 1:09
Penns. – Dan Zelenko 34 FG, :05
3rd Quarter
CBE – Shine 3 run (pass failed), 8:25
Penns. – Galamama Mulbuh 1 run (kick failed), 4:37
Penns. – Mulbuh 4 run (Prada kick), 2:38
4th Quarter
Penns. – Mulbuh 1 run (Prada kick), 5:48
Joseph Santoliquito is an 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.
