FAIRLESS HILLS, Pa. — The Pennsbury High football team didn’t just pick up an absolutely crucial victory when it won a 17-14 thriller over Central Bucks East in front of a large crowd at Falcon Field Friday night. With its season on the line, Pennsbury responded by playing  some of its best football of the year and showed its character by overcoming what had the potential to be two devastating second-half turnovers. The win lifted Pennsbury to 3-2 heading into its toughest stretch of the season with games against powerhouses Central Bucks South, Central Bucks West and North Penn coming up in the next three weeks. By upping its win total to three, the Falcons could also very well make the playoffs by finding a way to win at least two of their last five games. “It’s a tough league,” said Galen Snyder after the team’s excellent kicker Angelo Pereira booted a game-winning 31-yard field goal with 17 seconds remaining on the clock. “This is a great win for us.” Pennsbury’s Wing-T ground game was in fine form with junior Kaiden Brown rushing for 164 yards on a whopping 32 carries and Jordan Brensinger going over the 100-yard mark for the fifth straight game with 113 yards on 17 rushes. The team moved the ball with particular authority with two long touchdown drives in the first half. The first went 60 yards on nine plays and was capped by a 1-yard sneak by junior quarterback David Kane, who played very well in his first varsity start. The second Pennsbury touchdown came in the second quarter when the Falcons went 90 yards on 12 plays and scored on a 6-yard sweep by Brensinger. In between, C.B. East (2-3) scored on a 20-yard run by its impressive sophomore running back Michael Price after a 49-yard bomb had set up the Patriots at the Pennsbury 20 yard line. Holding a 14-7 lead, Pennsbury received the second half kickoff with the chance to take control of the game. Instead, it fumbled the ball away on its own 44 yard line and three  plays later the score was tied on a 2-yard run by Price. That was the end of the scoring until Pereira’s game-winning 31-yard field goal, which was high, right down the middle and cleared the crossbar by a good 15 to 20 yards. Preventing Pennsbury from taking the lead earlier in the second half was a turnover on the C.B. East 8 yard line that deprived the team from at least kicking a short field by the very reliable Pereira. After taking over on its own 20 yard line late in the fourth quarter, Pennsbury drove  to the C.B. East 14 yard line with Brown carrying the ball on seven of his team’s eight plays. This led to the field goal by Pereira, who calmly booted the game-winner. “I had no idea (I would get that many carries), but our coaches know what they are doing,” said Brown. “Our (offensive) line did a great job and really took it to them when we needed it. We knew we had to win this game because it was do or die.” Considering C.B. East’s second touchdown came on a short field and the first was largely the result of the 49-yard pass, Pennsbury’s defense also played a strong game. Particularly against the run as Price was held to 78 yards on 19 carries. On the downside, defensive end Jake Birkenstamm suffered an arm injury in the first half and was taken away in an ambulance. “Jake has played his (butt) off for us,” said Snyder. “He’d been doing a great job.” Pennsbury also made some position adjustments as sophomore Henry Garlits moved from quarterback to defense and sophomore Hex Walker switched from running back to nose guard. Next up is a rare Saturday afternoon home game with the team taking on Central Bucks South in a noon start. C.B. South beat C.B. West, 22-17, Friday and is ranked second in the state in Class 6A. Central Bucks East (2-3) 0 7 7 0 — 14 Pennsbury  (3-2) 7 7 0 3 — 17 P-Kane 1 run  (Pereira kick) CBE-Price 20 run (Wojnicki kick) P-Brensinger 6 run (Pereira kick) CBE-Price 2 run (Craig kick) P-Pereira 31 field goal