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Amauro's Football
Weekend Amauro "Amar" Austin is
a headliner among our trusty observers. He is not to be confused with Ruben Amaro,
the Phillies' general manager. Like "Huck" Palmer,
Amauro is a West Catholic graduate. He will make reports on games he sees. |
OCT. 17
AAs MID SEASON NOTES
Sorry everyone for no reports last weekend
especially since I saw the most exciting game I've seen to date
this season last Friday night. No it wasn't Prep-La Salle. It
was Gratz-Bok! With the score tied at 18 going into the 4th, the
Bulldogs pretty much BUM-RUSHED the Wildcats on their way to a
46-26 win and supremacy in the Pub 3A Division. Sr. QB
Davone Cornish didn't have great numbers (6-17,
184) but his QB acumen here was some of the BEST I've seen all
season. He pretty much led.. led.. and led some more en route to
victory. I'm positive this guy can play QB at some level in
college.. POSITIVE.. Bok's Larry Pelzer is the
ultimate scatback (5-8, 155). He ran 38 times here for 269 yards
and I bet he didn't take one HARD hit . . . Speaking of Prep-La
Salle: It was a battle of the area's two BEST and Prep took
Round 1. I've seen Prep's last 3 games and believe that they
could play DEEP into December providing they get by LaSalle for
a 2nd time, which won't be easy at all.. The winner of Round 2
may well be the 4A State Champ . . . What is it with Fighting
and Football!? I saw an ugly incident myself on Saturday
afternoon as Bartram and Overbrook brawled to a halt with just
over 2 minutes left in the 3rd. All I have to say is this:
Football is the one Sport that an athlete can take his
frustrations out in the game. There is NO ROOM for a fist
fight in Football.
PROSPECT WATCH!: I yell this in the Notes Section of my reports when I see a junior that looks like a D-I Prospect.. Here goes a 6 pack: Zaire Franklin (6-2 215) LB La Salle -- The Explorers may have had the BEST LB core I've seen all season and Franklin was the BEST of that lot . . . Germantown's Delane Hart (6-3 175) WR & Dontae Angus (6-6 310) OT. In Hart there's a tall, athletic playmaker with much room to grow. While in Angus there's rarely this kind of blend of natural size, strength & athleticism at the high school level. Angus has LOADS of potential. G-Town is having a down year in 2012, but I don't think that will be the case in 2013 . . . Central's Walt Pegues (5-9 155) WR-KR-DB, simply put, is one of the City's MOST dangerous threats with the ball in his hands. Will be the next in the LONG line of Lancers who attack the Patriot League trail . . . Imhotep's Grunt Tandem of bookend tackles Taleem Muhammed (6-5 300) & Aaron Ruff (6-5 285). Imhotep has many, many stars so let's show the Big boys up front some love and both of these guys have ultra bright futures.
LOOKING AHEAD: Things are looking interesting in all three City Leagues as we go down the stretch as everything is up for grabs . . . In the CL Wood-O'Hara in 3A & Prep-LaSalle in 4A look to be on a collision course as do West-Imhotep for overall 2A bragging rights . . . I'd be shocked in Pub 4A & 3A if we didn't have rematches of recent games with both Frankford-GW & Bok-Gratz having grudge matches. Let the fun continue . . .
PROSPECT WATCH!: I yell this in the Notes Section of my reports when I see a junior that looks like a D-I Prospect.. Here goes a 6 pack: Zaire Franklin (6-2 215) LB La Salle -- The Explorers may have had the BEST LB core I've seen all season and Franklin was the BEST of that lot . . . Germantown's Delane Hart (6-3 175) WR & Dontae Angus (6-6 310) OT. In Hart there's a tall, athletic playmaker with much room to grow. While in Angus there's rarely this kind of blend of natural size, strength & athleticism at the high school level. Angus has LOADS of potential. G-Town is having a down year in 2012, but I don't think that will be the case in 2013 . . . Central's Walt Pegues (5-9 155) WR-KR-DB, simply put, is one of the City's MOST dangerous threats with the ball in his hands. Will be the next in the LONG line of Lancers who attack the Patriot League trail . . . Imhotep's Grunt Tandem of bookend tackles Taleem Muhammed (6-5 300) & Aaron Ruff (6-5 285). Imhotep has many, many stars so let's show the Big boys up front some love and both of these guys have ultra bright futures.
LOOKING AHEAD: Things are looking interesting in all three City Leagues as we go down the stretch as everything is up for grabs . . . In the CL Wood-O'Hara in 3A & Prep-LaSalle in 4A look to be on a collision course as do West-Imhotep for overall 2A bragging rights . . . I'd be shocked in Pub 4A & 3A if we didn't have rematches of recent games with both Frankford-GW & Bok-Gratz having grudge matches. Let the fun continue . . .
OCT. 5
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
SJ Prep 23, Wood 10
The sexiest game on the docket this week was the
CL Crossover matchup between defending 3A State Champ Archbishop
Wood & the resurgent SJ Prep Hawks, who are poised to make a run
this year and beyond in 4A. And this one kinda went just how I
thought it would, a slugfest between heavyweights. Neither team was
able to get much going in the first half as defense pretty much
ruled, though the Vikings did squander some valuable opportunities
to make inroads. On their first drive of the game, the Vikes marched
7 plays and 64 yards but sr. TE Nick Arcidiacono
(6-4 235) caught a ball over the middle from Frosh QB Tom
Garlick (6-4 165) and rumbled towards the goal line only to
be popped hard by sr. DE James Mooney, causing a
fumble. The ball squirted into the end zone and was recovered by sr.
LB Tim Rafter for a touchback. The Vikes again
sustained a good drive on their next go-round, going 72 yards on 8
plays to set up a chip shot from 26 yards out for sr. K Nick
Visco. Visco sliced it a little to the right and there was
still no score. He would later set up and boom home a 44-yarder that
would have been good from at least 50 to open the scoring at 3-0,
which was the score going into the half. I had that feeling at
halftime that Wood had made a vital mistake by not making good on
its opportunities and I was right because to start the 2nd half star
soph. return man John Reid took the kick on his own
1 and made a move or two in traffic and then BOOM! The momentum had
shifted as Reid went 99 yards for a kickoff return score. The Vikes
would answer back with 6:36 left in the 3rd on a trick play ending
with sr. MP Chris Rahill catching a 37-yard bomb
from sr. RB Andrew Guckin. From
that point on, the Prep controlled the action reeling off the game's
final 16 points starting with a 32-yard pass from jr. QB
Chris Martin to emerging Frosh. WR Cameron Chambers
(6-3 185) and ending with a 15-yard TD dash by soph. Olamide
"O" Zaccheaus (10-62) to close the show. Martin passed for
72 yards & rushed for 47 more. DBs soph. Thomas Johnson
& sr. Pat McCabe each made picks. For Wood, Guckin
rushed for 62 & received 32 in yards.
AAsNOTES: I've seen the
last 2 Prep games and I've learned one valuable lesson and that's
that I truly respect the coaching acumen of Hawk boss Gabe
Infante. He has a great demeanor: Knows when to massage,
Knows when to pat on the back, Knows when to bark, Knows when to
bite . . . Boy, Saturday night at PW (vs. La Salle) will be fun . .
. Wood's O-line is the biggest that you'll probably see this year
around these parts outside of maybe La Salle and Germantown. The
best of the lot was jr. OG Deion Oliver (6-5 275),
who is extremely athletic/versatile and looks to be a D-I prospect..
Going forward both of these squads should be major factors in their
respective classes/state title pictures and a clash like this ONLY
helps.
OCT. 5
PUBLIC LEAGUE 4A GOLD
Central 16, Northeast 6
Last Thanksgiving I had the pleasure of covering the
Central-NE Turkey Bowl and honestly it was one of the better experiences
I've had in my 15 years (Yes! I did stats for the first time for Ted
my sr. year in high school! My how time flies) of covering high school
sports as a statman . . . I didn't expect this one to top that, but the
Vikings had been having fun the last few weeks with a pass-happy offense
while the Lancers have proven to be even more formidable than originally
projected. Central's fans traditionally NEVER arrive a home games until
around the start of the 2nd quarter and by then here, this one was
pretty much well in hand as the Lancers carried a commanding 16-0 lead.
The first Lancer drive took just two plays, a 30-yard gashing run by sr.
RB Jesse Gillis(16-75) then a 30-yard pass over the top
from jr. QB Jon Henderson to slick/quick jr. WR (Return
specialist, wing back & DB also) Walt Pegues for an
easy-as-pie score. Gillis darted through on the conversion. Then later a
much tougher 9 play/75 yard drive than ended with a Gillis 1-yard TD
rush and another Gillis conversion run. NE had SERIOUS trouble
generating offense as the Lancers just blitzed . . . blitzed . . . and
blitzed some more against hot sr. QB Daquan Bohannan and
honestly it looked as if the Viking spirit was broken because of it and
an adjustment was NEVER truly made. The Vikes did manage a score off a
trick play, a double reverse that went from sr. back-up QB/slot receiver
Harold Alexander 51 yards to sr. scatback
Shimeek Carter (4/84) for the score. For my money, the Vikings
just didn't run the ball enough especially against the Blitz. Bohannan
took a serious beating here and the run would have kept Central much
more honest. Sr. RB Hakeem Ellis (6-1 205) carried 9-63
and had a LONG TD called back due to a hold. Speaking of penalties, that
may have bee the real story here as the Striped Ones couldn't seem to
keep the yellow flags in their pockets. On one sequence, Central had to
punt 4 times before there wasn't a penalty called. Other than that,
Lancer jr. DL Sam Reid (6-2 235) may have been the most
impressive player in the field. The big guy is a physical specimen and
he imposed his will along the D-Line.
AAsNOTES:
Central has long been one of my favorite stops on the trail. And
honestly, the Lancers are a dangerous bunch as they have plenty of speed
along with some strength up front . . . And they could be even better in
2013 as 4 of their top 6 players are juniors . . . NEs Best player all
season has been sr. S/LB David Pulliam (6-3 210) who
IMO is one of the Top sr. prospects in the League. His hits have that
sound and he only knows how to play one way, FOR KEEPS. David is a good
student whose recruiting profile should increase with his sr. game film
for sure.
SEPT. 29
CATHOLIC LEAGUE AAAA
Prep 37, Roman 7
Going in I expected to see the best game I'd seen to date
this season. I mean I've only seen mostly Pub games so far and everyone who
follows City Football knows the Pub schools never play their best Football
in September. Anyway the Hawks had created an early season buzz with
impressive wins near and far against national quality opposition. And well
the train didn't stop here as Coach Gabe Infante's crew
pretty much rolled a pretty talented bunch of Cahillites by scoring 37
Unanswered points en route to a W. Going in the big match up inside the game
was undoubtedly the one-on-one between sr. WR Will Fuller
(Notre Dame) & Prep's nationally known soph., CB John Reid.
They pretty much matched up on every Roman offensive play through the first
3 quarters and I thought Reid did an excellent job. Fuller did catch 7 balls
for 55 yards and a score but nothing came easy. On the score, the very slick
Fuller indeed beat Reid with a double move but hey there's no shame in that
as Fuller is regarded as one of the nation's best route runners. Prep
answered immediately with a 6 play, 70 yard drive ending in a 32 yard TD
dash my soph. RB Olamide "O" Zaccheaus. The Hawks never
looked back from there as the 2nd Quarter became a nightmare for the
Cahillites. As the Prep rang up 27 points pretty much putting the game out
of reach. First a 12 yard screen pass for a score from jr. QB Chris
Martin to jr. RB Vincent Moffett. Next a 15 yard
TD pass from Martin to impressive Frosh WR Cameron Chambers (6-3
180). Then a backbreaking 5 play, 76 yard drive ending with a 19 yard
scamper by Martin. Finally the cherry on top as Roman's long snapper tossed
the ball over Punter Michael Keir's head 26 yards into the
end zone and a hard-charging Reid chased it down for a Fumble Recovery in
the scoring area to make the score 34-7 with :25 left in the 2nd.
PHEW!! Prep ran 67 plays from scrimmage to Roman's 45, outgaining the Purple
and Gold 419-227. 267 of those came on the ground with Zaccheaus (9-76),
Moffett (9-74) & Martin (12-59) leading the way. Moffett also caught 5/46.
While Martin passed 15-22, 152 2TDs. Soph. DB Thomas Johnson
made a pick. His brother sr. DT Paul Johnson (6-0
290) patrolled and controlled the D-Line. While sr. LB Todd Jones
(6-2 215) did the same from the 2nd Level. Roman truly had a forgettable
night as they could never develop an offensive rhythm. Keir did pass 13-18,
132 yards but many were underneath throws as down-the-field stuff was well
covered. Soph. RB Dimetri Kelly had some success with 79
rushing & 31 receiving yards. And jr. DE Hezekiah "Hez" Trahan
(6-4 235) was a Beast throughout.
AAs NOTES:
This is my debut report on the season after pretty much taking a break for
September. I will chime in from time to time with at least one a week from
here on out.. As always thanks for your support.. There was Plenty of D-I
Recruitable talent on the field here with many of them being underclassmen..
Coach Gabe Infante REALLY has it going at the Prep now. I can't wait until
he matches wits in a few weeks with La Salle coach Drew Gordon
in what should be a Real-Life Chess Match.. Finally Roman has as an
intriguing-as-possible prospect in a converted basketball player named Manny
Taylor (6-7, 280, soph). The big guy transferred in from Life Center in
Burlington, NJ, because he wanted to play football. He's VERY nimble for
his size on the basketball court and could star one day on the gridiron with
hard work. He only saw late-game action here but word is he's making daily
progress.