Payin' the Bills, FB 2006

Payin' the Bills
Football 2006

Bill Wettstein, who has done some writing for community papers in the Northwest Philly area, has become a valued member of our website crew. We appreciate his efforts.
Bill may be reached at wwettstein@yahoo.com

NOV. 23
THANKSGIVING DAY RIVALRY
Roman 19, Roxborough 6
Although the rainy weather limited the usual overflowing holiday crowd and sloppy field conditions favored the respective defenses, the 35th annual Thanksgiving Day classic turned out to be one of the more entertaining games since the Curtis Brinkley/Joe McCourt running back duel of the 2001 season. The lingering effect of Roman’s devastating playoff loss the previous week and Roxborough’s finest team performance of the season kept the game close into the fourth quarter. Much like last season’s contest though, jr. QB Chris Johnson enjoyed another electrifying performance with 159 yards passing and sr. WR Troy Richardson made the final game of his career count with seven catches for 139 yards and two of the three touchdowns from Johnson. For the first time in recent memory, Roxborough scored first due in large part to their inspirational leader, sr. RB Calden Pierce, who returned to action after missing the last two games due to injury. When the Indians opened with a fourth down defensive stand well inside Cahillite territory, Pierce grabbed a quick toss on the second play and bolted 19 yards. From the Roman 15, he carried four straight times and surprised the passive Cahillites with an eight yard sweep around left end and dove just inside the pylon for a 6-0 Roxborough lead. A sack by Indian sr. DE Diante Stokes during the Cahillites next series created a three-and-out and Pierce started with another run to the left side. He gained the corner, straddled the sideline by mere inches and sped off towards a stunning 47-yard run. Then, the Roman defense responded in decisive fashion. Despite an early 15-yard penalty, sr. DB John Clark, sr. LB Chuck Cohen (two straight sacks) and jr. DT John Mazzola stuffed every one of the Indians five offensive plays for a total of 22 yards in losses. With their third possession, Johnson connected on Richardson’s 14 yard slant, sr. RB Ricky Nau slid through the block of sr. C Mike Long for nine yards that set up a well-executed double move by Richardson, who cradled the 27-yard strike for Roman’s first touchdown. Jr. K Chris Fioravanti booted the conversion to provide a one point lead midway through the second quarter. In need of some momentum, jr. QB Stephen Tucker responded with a sweet 17-yard cutback run for a first down, but the drive ended three plays later when Roman jr. DB Nick Moody forced a fumble that sr. Dom Joseph recovered. Inside Indian territory, Johnson hit on another Richardson slant for seven yards and a 15-yard face mask penalty pushed the Cahillites to the 14 only to have two incompletions along with two plays for losses return possession back to the Indian offense. Another nice scramble run from Tucker of 14 yards gained an initial first down, but a tackle for loss by jr. DT Jewhan Edwards prevented the Indians from attempting anything drastic as the first half came to a close. A steady rain aided both defenses in the second half. Moody started by stopping Roxborough’s first series with two tackles for losses, while sr. DT Markel Wright, who enjoyed the best game of his career, shot through, after a Johnson-Richardson 33-yard deep cross, to record the third of five total tackles for losses that eventually forced a Roman punt. The Cahillite defense of jr. LB Sean Clift, sr. LB Matt Marcinek and jr. LB Andrew Regan then stepped up to record a minus five yard net series for the Indian offense and, following a short punt, Johnson proceeded towards a go-ahead score. From the Roxborough 35, he ran twice for 13 yards, completed a swing pass to Richardson for six more and, despite a pair of fumbled snaps, stood tall and lofted a 16-yard touchdown pass to Joseph for a 13-6 Roman lead early in the fourth quarter. As the field conditions worsened, Roxborough’s last chance to stay close fell into the arms of the swarming Cahillite defense that answered Pierce’s remarkable 23-yard shoe-string catch with two stops for no gain and an eight yard loss on a third down screen pass.
Payin the Bill’s Play of the Game: With 6:45 remaining, Nick Moody’s hustle on the third down screen pass forced a 16-yard punt. On the second play of the series, Roman called a hitch-and-go on the driest part of the field and Chris Johnson delivered a textbook spiral to a wide open Troy Richardson in stride for a 48-yard touchdown to close the 2006 season—game over, bills paid.

Special teams leader—Chris Fioravanti (35.5 average on kickoffs and the game’s only PAT conversion kick.)

Roxborough Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Bruce Ford & Shawn Campbell (One solo special teams tackle each.)

NOV. 19
PUBLIC LEAGUE FINAL
Frankford 15, George Washington 14
Both teams were talented in their own way. Both had sound game plans, made necessary adjustments when needed and inserted capable reserves for hobbled starters. So, what was the difference in this game? Turnovers? If that’s the case then why did the Eagles fail to turn a whopping 4-1 turnover ratio into victory? Washington’s inability to establish a consistent passing game perhaps? Well, despite completing just a single pass (for zero yards), the Eagles still a legitimate chance to win simply by executing a punt. While the final score reflected how evenly matched these teams were, one subtle difference led to Frankford’s exciting triumph—mental toughness. When momentum starts to shift in one direction or another, athletes that can remain focused in the face of difficult situations, deliver motivation instead of helplessness and view change as the rule rather than the exception can demonstrate the type of performance the Pioneers presented. This masterpiece from head coach Mike Capriotti’s squad wasn’t just the result of physical talent. Instead, it was a test of resiliency from beginning to end. On the game’s first play, Frankford fumbled a simple handoff exchange that Eagle sr. RB Jay Sloh turned into a quick 7-0 lead (see picture) with a soph. Will McFillin conversion kick. As if the game was still scoreless, the Pioneers opened by removing any mystery regarding the status of injured sr. RB’s Calvin Spires and Nate Johnson on the first two plays of their next series. Faced with a third and three, sr. QB Andreas Hudson exhibited the calmness of a seasoned pro and lofted an effortless spiral to sr. WR JC Montgomery in stride for 36 yards. (Inspiring quarterbacks should’ve taken note on how Hudson’s consistent relaxed delivery translated into accurate catchable throws—a marked improvement from earlier in the season). He stepped up again to convert on a short fourth down run and then connected on RB Ervin Goodson’s seam route for a 19-yard touchdown pass to pull the Pioneers within a point midway through the first quarter. The Frankford defense clamped down on Washington’s next two series courtesy of tackles for no gain or losses by jr. LB Josh Burnett, soph. DE Terell Lewis and sr. DT Brandon Allen. Their fourth offensive series went the way of the first as Eagle sr. DE Fatai Lawal recovered a second bad exchange deep in Frankford territory, but the hustle of jr. DE Lamont Fitzgerald turned back a fourth down Washington pass play. Spires revved up the Pioneer offense with a seven-yard run around right end and Johnson grabbed a short pass in the left flat for just their third first down of the game, only to return possession to the Washington offense four plays later. After a 24-yard punt, Sloh dashed around an outstanding drive block from sr. C Chris Clanton for 11 yards and sr. FB Jeff Jones powered his way for 10 more. Sr. RB Fateen Brown carried three times for 20 yards and capped a nine play drive with a improvised run designed to go outside that he cutback inside, juked two defenders and scored from 12 yards out to increase the Eagle lead to 14-6 with McFillin’s conversion kick. With 3:02 remaining before halftime, the Pioneers needed a big play and the combination of Hudson, Goodson and great protection from sr. LT William Ray, jr. LG James Quilles and sr. RT William Austin delivered with a remarkable 34-yard fade along the sideline that couldn’t have been thrown better. Following another 16 yards from Spires, sr. C Alexander Ortiz cleared the way for Johnson to bolt in from four yards to pull the Pioneers within two points and Terrell Lewis made sure the slim margin was maintained with the game’s only sack to end the first half. A pair of quick first downs put the Eagles in business to start the second half, but they failed to gain a single yard on the next set of downs due to the hustle of Pioneer ILB Dwayne Lewis, sr. DT Tyree Dudley and jr. LB William Mount, among others. Washington countered with interceptions from sr. DB’s Rich McPhail and Anthony Bright on each of Frankford’s next two drives to end the third quarter. Each team was forced to punt with first two possessions of the fourth quarter and when Terell Lewis’ jarring hit popped the ball to Dwayne Lewis on the Eagles second series, the Pioneers were within 30 yards off a potential lead with 6:53 to go in the game. When sr. DE Scott Marano came up with sr. DB Oliver Wallace’s forced fumble six plays into the Frankford drive though, Washington went into a less aggressive mode reminiscent of the latter stages of the Northeast semifinal game which, this time, proved costly. No one appeared to pick up sr. LB Steven Ortega on the ensuing three-and-out punt, and he showed the resiliency needed to capture championships and corralled Marano before he even looked up to give the Frankford offense five yards to victory.
Payin the Bill’s Play of the Game: With just over two minutes remaining, everything the Pioneers had managed to overcome came down four plays, but none more important than the first one. On every series throughout the game, Calvin Spires had received the first carry, but another bad exchange never reached him and the ball bounced dangerously along occupied lineman. Snatching victory from almost certain defeat, sr. E Warren Tinsley came out of the pile with the football that led to Goodson’s stunning field goal to give Frankford a second straight Public League title—game over, championship bill’s paid.

Frankford Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Ervin Goodson (Despite missing his only PAT kick, came back to nail an 18-yard game winning field goal.)

Washington Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Brandon Bynum (Two special teams tackles.)

NOV. 11
CATHOLIC BLUE FIRST ROUND PLAYOFF
Conwell-Egan 27, Bishop McDevitt 7
   You didn’t need to inform any of the Eagles or Lancers this was a playoff game. They were wired so tight when they entered the stadium that spontaneous human combustion seemed imminent if the game was delayed by just a few minutes.   Maybe the rasslin' mat turf at Wissahickon Field gave a false impression, but every tackle seemed like a minor tremor from the sidelines as each team brought the lumber early and often. An indication of how evenly matched these teams were was given in a wild sequence of events during the first few series of the game, which started with an electrifying 67-yard middle wedge opening kickoff return from Egan sr. WR Shane Nolte. Following two Eagle plays that netted zero yards, a pitch out missed the tailback by a few feet and McDevitt sr. Joe Mitros recovered. The Lancers first offensive play of the game was then met with a forced fumble from Eagle sr. DL Joe Snydman that fellow jr. lineman Justin Bainbridge recovered. Wait, this gets better. McDevitt jr. DB Pat Doyle intercepted Egan’s first pass attempt of the game and then Egan sr. DB Steve McLeon countered by intercepting the second one. Now that we’re all even, we can play football. Considering the shaky start, the Eagles went the safe route and sr. QB Kevin Schafer followed Bainbridge over the right side for an 11-yard gain. A loss and two incompletions left Egan with a fourth-and-11 where Schafer sold the middle screen and connected with sr. FB Ray O’Hara for a 17-yard gain. Facing a fourth and a foot three plays later though, Lancer jr. DT Stephen Yuan grinded his way between the wedged A-gap to turn back the Eagle scoring chance. With their first “real” offensive series, jr. RB Jason Golderer sped 13 yards on a blast play for an initial McDevitt first down only to watch McLeon intercept his second pass of the game on the next play. Pressure from Lancer sr. DT Jim Surdykowski produced an Egan three-and-out, but the combo of sr. DE Dave Kuebler and Snydman answered by dropping the first two Lancer plays for losses of six yards.    When McDevitt’s ensuing punt traveled just seven yards, the Egan offense pounced on the opportunity.   Schafer threw a 13-yard first down pass to so. WR Ryan Golin to the Lancer 30 where, despite a four-yard loss on second down, Schafer sold the middle screen again to an overly aggressive defense and sr. RB Jim Domzalski had all the room he needed to complete a 33-yard touchdown catch. Sr. Brian Hanratty added the conversion kick for a 7-0 lead with a few ticks left in the first quarter. Continued pressure from the Eagle defense resulted in a third down incompletion and they reacted to a 59-yard punt by almost putting the game away. On the second play of the next Egan series, Golin was sent on a go route and Schafer hit him in stride for a 72-yard pass play that brought the Egan faithful to life.   Golderer’s touchdown saving tackle though made them settle for a Hanratty chip shot field goal to increase their lead while eating up five minutes of the clock. With the ensuing kickoff, Golderer skated around the left side and looked to headed for the end zone before Nolte came out of no where to answer the previous touchdown saving tackle. Unlike their opponents however, the Lancers failed to generate any points due to punishing tackles for no gain by Bainbridge and sr. DT Brendan Foley along with a fourth down sack by sr. DT Craig Williams. Each team exchanged possessions and when sr. LB Tom McCue snagged Egan’s third interception of the game with less than a minute to go before halftime, the coaching staff was content with another field goal, but received a real gem.   In the waning seconds of the half, the Eagles called a safe pass play near the right corner pylon. While Schafer’s pass appeared destined to go out of bounds, Keubler completed the route, turned his upper torso, caught the seemingly uncatchable pass and stayed in bounds for a 17-0 Eagle lead with the Hanratty conversion kick—amazing.   Sensing the game slipping away, the Lancers went to Golderer who, behind some nice blocking from the stout offensive line, carried five times for 48 yards and demonstrated a sweet cutback to dash in from 13 yards to cut the Egan lead to 17-7 with jr. Pat Doyle’s kick. The Eagles responded with a 15-play drive that, despite sustaining 12 yards in losses, culminated with a 33-yard Hanratty field goal.
   Payin the Bill’s Play of the Game: After the Hanratty field goal, McDevitt’s last ditch effort to stay close fell in the arms of a sr. DB John Chapman third down sack. The Eagles regained possession after the punt and Schafer completed another go route to Golin for 34 yards down to Lancer 28-yard line. From there, Jim Domzalski slid past a block by Brendan Foley, picked up another from jr. C Rick Horn, then bounced off FOUR would-be tacklers to score and show that their feisty opponents had enough—game over, bill’s paid.
   Footnote: Kevin Schafer’s next to last pass of the evening, an eight yarder to Shane Nolte, broke a 23-year old school passing record held by Bob Zupcic, who went on to play OF in the major leagues. He finished with 281 yards—congratulations Kevin!
Conwell-Egan Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Shane Nolte (Opening 67-yard kickoff return & two solo special teams tackles.)

McDevitt Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Jason Golderer (50-yard kickoff return.)

NOV. 11
PUBLIC LEAGUE SEMIFINAL
George Washington 19, Northeast 10
   When we reach this point in the season, simplified offensive game plans are installed to give playmakers the chance make plays. Although there were many in this game, none more obvious than Washington sr. RB Fateen Brown, who left some early season hesitation behind and made a statement with a career highs in carries (25) and yardage (158). While Brown will get the props for this outstanding performance, this wouldn’t have happened without the effort of sr. LG Aaron “Pancake” Murrey. One play after the next, he laid out potential tacklers that allowed Brown first down gains at crucial times in the game. Every player, who participated in this hard fought game though, left nothing on the field. An unlikely suspect, frosh DT Lawrence Williams, started a defensive tone that would continue for most of the game and burst through the left side of the Viking line to drop the game’s first play for a three-yard loss. His hustle helped take the sting out of frosh QB Malik Stokes’ 10-yard completion to sr. WR Sean Evans on the next play. The third down pass was nearly picked off by sr. DB Brian Carter and when Washington gained possession after a punt, Brown began with 47 yards on four carries that moved the Eagles inside the Viking 20. A penalty, sack by jr. DB Nafis Muhammad and a botched exchange left the Eagles 19 yards short of a first after Northeast refused to give any ground on a fourth down quarterback scramble. On the next Viking series, Williams batted down a pass and sr. DB Oliver Wallace slide through a counter play gap to tackle the runner for a loss. Washington’s offense then used a 12-yard punt to advance the Northeast 22 only to come up inches short on a fourth down tackle by sr. DB Nathan Johnson.   Whatever momentum Northeast gained from sustaining the scoreless deadlock was lost on their first play when Eagle sr. LB Rubin Lee punched out a fumble that Oliver Wallace eventually recovered.   In business at the Viking 27, Brown carried twice for 21 yards and Carter dashed around the left side, lowered his shoulder twice to bounce off tacklers and leaped through the pylon for the game’s first touchdown early in the second quarter.   Northeast responded though as a poised Stokes completed a pair of slants to Evans and jr. WR Keith Scruggs for 49 total yards but, a pair of subsequent incompletions forced them to settle for a soph. K Tim Freiling 41-yard field goal that would’ve been good from 50 yards. The Eagles countered the Viking score with a 11-play drive that included a 26 yard Murrey-led sweep, change of pace 13 yards on two carries from sr. FB Aaron Hampton and ended with sr. QB Clinton Granger’s standard one-yard wedge to give Washington a 12-3 lead. The Eagles success on defense was, in part, due the game plan of defensive coach Doug Guenther that, let’s just say, forced Stokes to throw the ball through his well-designed coverage to the receiver. This scheme was demonstrated by the acrobatics of jr. DB Devon Wallace, who went into full extension to intercept the first pass play of the next Viking series. Sr. FB Jeff Jones then woke up the entire crowd with a thundering collision on a 17-yard “change of pace” run that echoed through the stadium, but Evans’ basketball reboundesque interception on my least favorite play in HS football—the pop pass, erased the potential scoring drive.   Well inside Eagle territory, the Vikings failed to take advantage due to a sack by sr. DB Oliver Wallace to end the first half. They were given a reprieve to open the second half as the kick returner fumbled and Viking so. LB Antoine Fowler recovered at the Eagle 38-yard line. From there, a first down run and pass completion were followed by a lightning fast 10-yard dive run from sr. RB Lawrence Kent, who received equally fast drive blocks from jr. C Malcolm Newton and jr. RG Joshua Todd, cutting the Washington lead to two points with the kick.   Another 40 yards from Brown moved the ensuing Eagle drive near midfield where, after a Granger sack, a backward pass was ignored and Northeast pounced on the fumble. As with many of the previous gift opportunities however, they gave the ball right back as Hampton stepped in front of the second down pass to return possession to the Eagles and they wasted little time adding to their slim lead.   Textbook down blocking by Sr.’s C Chris Clanton, LT Kevin Marano, RT Alex Salgado and jr. TE Damien Wilmer, a straight ahead linebacker block by sr. RG Mike Kelly and the crucial trap block by Murrey, allowed sr. RB Jay Sloh to bolt for a 25 yard momentum building touchdown. Sophomore K Will McFillin added the all-important “two score” conversion kick as the Washington sideline erupted.
   Payin the Bill’s Play of the Game: After the Sloh score, each team exchanged possessions and when the Vikings regained control, they drove down to the Eagle 33, but three straight incompletions forced Freiling on for a 50-yard field goal attempt. With all watching in silent anticipation, sr. Hopeton Bailey dashed around the left side, leaped and blocked the kick which, despite some controversy as to whether the ball had traveled beyond the line of scrimmage, ended any hope of a Northeast comeback—game over, bill’s paid.
Footnote:
   Most of us who’ve followed city league football for any length of time are well aware of the long McFillin lineage that have made, and continue to make, their mark on the gridiron, but few have noticed the unwavering effort of two-time All-Pub swimmer and G-Dub water boy Colin McFillin. As long as I’ve been tooling the sidelines, he’s never missed a game or a time out and always seems to close by when I could use a quick splash—thanks Colin.

Washington Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Hopeton Bailey (Blocked FG attempt & two solo special teams tackles.)

Northeast Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Tim Freiling (41-yard FG & 1-1 PAT conversions.)

NOV. 10
NON-LEAGUE
Central 38, Olney 20
Nothing to play for? Don’t tell that to the Central Lancers. While this approach has descended on a few teams throughout the league, the Lancers looked every bit like the playoff team we saw a week ago and scored on every drive but one in the first half. They revealed that there’s enough heart and simply too much pride on this team to allow past events to ruin an otherwise good season. Each team started their opening series with big gains before breakdowns forced them to exchange possessions. Central jr. RB Ray Harris snagged an option pitch on the game’s first play and sped 63 yards for an apparent touchdown only to have an illegal block nullify the score. The Trojans shot out of the gate with a 13-yard sr. RB Jamarr Leary dive, but two subsequent plays for losses delivered by jr. DT Matt Morlock, jr. LB Kyle Nolan and sr. DB Brock Baxter held from there to give the Lancers their second possession. Starting the next series inside the Olney 10, sr. QB John Kennedy worked a dive fake for 18 yards and, two plays later, he tossed an option pitch to Harris, who used a great lead block from sr. FB Daniel Barrett, to sprint 72 yards for the game’s first touchdown. Looking every bit the playoff team they became this season, Olney stormed back. Another good Leary run set up a strong side sweep that sr. RB Izahia Green, behind the blocking of Leary and sr. TE Don McCray, turned into a 57 yard touchdown that gave the Trojans their only lead of the game with sr. K Gerardo Zuviri’s conversion kick. Outstanding counter plays, the hallmark of a Frank Conway Jr. team, produced 22 yards on three carries from soph. RB Cory Barkers (gonna be a good one, folks) moved Central inside the Olney 40 where Kennedy completed his first pass to sr. RB Cory Kelly for seven yards. Following two plays for losses, Kennedy lofted a near perfect 27-yard touch pass to Kelly to put Central in back in the lead. His conversion pass to sr. WR Jay Kaufman give them a 14-7 lead late in the first quarter. Solid defense from Central sr. DB Rakim Herman dropped the Trojans third down play for a six-yard loss and he broke up a fourth down pass to put the potent offense back on the field. A drive-stalling penalty on the Lancers next drive forced a punt, but it bounced a few times, glanced off a Trojan’s shoulder and Kelly advanced the ball 22 yards. At the Olney 15, Kennedy fooled enough defenders on an option keeper to skate in on the first play for a 22-7 advantage with his conversion run. The Trojans countered with an 11-play drive that featured a third down screen pass from jr. QB Mike Reyes to Leary that went for 33 yards and ended with a sweet touch pass on fourth-and-19 to soph. TE Stefon Broughton for touchdown to cut the Central lead to nine. Despite three penalties, Central rode a screen to Kelly for 14 yards and sprint passes from Kennedy to Kaufman and sr. RB Eli Fish for 36 total yards to the Trojan seven yard line. From there, a textbook counter play, aided by the nice drive/straight ahead drive blocks of sr. C Ramsey Chew, sr. LG John McBride, jr. LT Scott Bounpraseuth, and pulling right guard jr. Ian Miller gave the Lancers another cushion with a three yard touchdown scamper from Fish. A second conversion pass from Kennedy to Kaufman put the lead at 30-13 as the first half ended. Olney opened the second half determined to keep the game close as a 17-yard run from Green, 14 by Leary were peppered with 18 yards on four carries from jr. RB Jerrell Toomer. The efficient drive led to an easy two-yard touchdown run for Leary to close the gap to 10 with the Zuviri mile-high conversion kick in which the coaching staff had threatened to “fire” him if he missed. This would be as close as the Trojans would get though as a Harris interception ended any hope of a comeback early in the fourth quarter.
Payin the Bill’s Play of the Game: Late in the third quarter, intense pressure from Central jr. DT David Cruz, sr. LB Mark Surma, and soph. DT Marcus Voley resulted in 13 yards in losses and an eventual turnover on downs. From the their 20, Central embarked on a 10-play drive that was capped by perhaps the next generation option quarterback, jr. Kyle Yeiter, and a well-rehearsed pitch to Kelly from five yards out for an insurmountable 38-20 lead after his conversion pass to Barkers—game over, bill’s paid.

Central Defensive Statistics:

Olney Defensive Statistics:

NOV. 4
CATHOLIC RED
Roman 27, LaSalle 21 (2 OTs)
A tension filled slugfest football where every play was magnified, every penalty a major setback and no lead was safe. An always-enthusiastic crowd that follows these teams fell silent in anticipation at times. The Explorers had chances—boy, did they have chances. Every time they managed to gain momentum though, Roman eventually countered. On the game’s second play, LaSalle jr. QB John Harrison found sr. WR Jack Forster on a slant for 12 yards to advance past midfield. The Explorers tried to extend the pattern a little deeper on the next play and Roman sr. DB Dom Joseph read the play, stepped in front of the Harrison pass and bolted up the sideline for the first of three picks in the game. Although he fumbled into converging tacklers, sr. DB John Clark recovered to retain Cahillite possession and jr. RB Balial Lewis proceeded on a “all-day” warrior effort with a nine yard run up the middle. LaSalle jr. LB Andy Wood and sr. SS Sean Saverio stuffed the second down play for no gain, only to watch jr. QB Chris Johnson slide in between linemen for the game’s initial first down. Another nine-yard gain on a stop hook from Johnson to sr. RB Ricky Nau inside the Explorer 30 would be as close as they would get, forcing the game’s first punt. Cahillite sr. LB Chuck Cohen, returned the favor with a third down sack of Harrison and four-yard loss to keep the battle of field position in Roman’s favor, albeit temporally. Taking over at the 38, they gained just four yards and their second punt came close to being downed, but bounced into the end zone. Joseph stepped up again with his second interception on an ill-advised pass and a return of 38 yards set Roman up to break the scoreless deadlock. After a nice 14-yard Lewis run to the Explorer nine, a tackle for loss by sr. LB JB Campanella, and 15-yard penalty, pushed them back far enough for jr. K Chris Fioravanti’s 38-yard field goal attempt to land just short early in the second quarter. Another Roman penalty, this time for pass interference, gave LaSalle some easy yards to start their next series and they advanced as far as the 48 before jr. LB Andy Regan ended any chance of another first down with a speed rush sack. The subsequent Cahillite punt return went south in a hurry courtesy of the special teams’ hustle of jr. SS Drew Ciammetti, who tracked down the retreating runner for a net eight-yard loss. Deep inside their territory, Roman thought better of a fourth-and-one conversion chance, chose to punt and the Explorers then jumped into gear. Pinpoint passes from Harrison to Forster for 12 yards were followed by three laser completions of 20, seven, and 11 yards to jr. WR Joe Migliarese that moved LaSalle to the Roman two-yard line. This near flawless drive was capped with a right sweep by sr. RB Chris Ashley and sr. Ryan Cain’s conversion kick to give the Explorers a 7-0 lead. In the span of 2:00 before halftime, they had a golden opportunities to extend the lead TWICE when Serverio forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff which Campanella recovered and later jr. Matt Day came up with a second loose ball on a muffed punt return. On each occasion though, a Cahillite stepped up huge in hindsight. First, Regan clamped down on a screen pass for an 11-yard loss to force the muffed punt and jr. DL Reggie Irby blocked a 32-yard LaSalle field goal attempt as the first half expired. Ohhh, baby. Wait, this gets better. In a weird twist of fate, the opening second half kickoff was rocketed right at Irby and it bounced off him back to waiting jr. LB Matt Alba to give the Explorers a reprieve at midfield—just the way you drew it up right? Despite a well-thrown sideline fade to Migliarese for 17 yards though, three straight incompletions were met with another Cohen sack on fourth down to start the Roman offense in great field position. This time they wouldn’t be denied as Lewis ran three times for 27 yards behind outstanding blocking from jr. RT John Mazzola and sr. RG Victor Jaramillo and he bounced a single 27-yard run to the outside to tie the game with the conversion kick. (Based on their effort in this game, Mazzola and Jaramillo should get the bye week off.) A battle of will continued as LaSalle marched to the Roman 26, but turned possession over on downs and the Cahillites stalled with a three-and-out and, as their punt was going out of bounds, the Explorers capitalized on a lucky bounce. The ball came within inches of the line and while the Roman special teams unit let up, Ashley grabbed the “up bounce”, sprinted 34 yards which set up Harrison’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Migliarese, who tight-roped the sideline (see picture) for a 14-7 lead late in the third quarter. Roman went right back to the hard running of Lewis in an 11-play drive that looked destined for pay dirt, but a sack by sr. DE Scott Waters on fourth-and-one turned away the Cahillites inside the LaSalle 20. Just two plays into the next series, Cohen forced a fumble that Mazzola recovered. Sr. SS Greg Frantz counter punched with a third down interception at his 15, but the lack of field position played right into Roman’s hand. Tackles for losses on all three plays by the stiff defense gave the offense a short field and they methodically moved downfield (painfully, from a LaSalle perspective) to the tying touchdown when Johnson found Lewis on an unpredictable free release out of the backfield for a 14-14 game. Each team traded interceptions in the closing minutes, one by LaSalle’s Saverio and one by Roman’s Clark that ended regulation play. In the first overtime period, the Cahillites used all four plays to score from a yard out and the Explorers countered with the reliable Harrison to Migliarese connection and we were headed for the second overtime.
‘Payin the Bill’s’ Play of the Game: With the first possession of the second overtime LaSalle tried for the whole ball of wax on the first play, but ballhawk DB Dom Joseph came out of no where to intercept his third pass of game. From there, Roman went back to almost an identical play set to score the winning touchdown for the first round bye—game over, bills paid.

Roman Defensive Statistics:

LaSalle Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—K Ryan Cain (Second half “sling shot” kickoff and two PAT conversions.)

NOV. 2
NON-LEAGUE
Roxborough 32, Freire Charter 0
Every so often, we’re reminded of the dangerous nature of this sport, which can turn an otherwise meaningless game into a life-changing reality check. With 3:00 to go in the third quarter, Freire QB Aaron Leedie sustained an unintentional blow to the head while attempting to throw a pass and was rendered motionless. He was quickly taken to Temple University Hospital and, while extent of his injury has yet to be determined, the latest information indicates that Aaron has regained feeling on his left side, but will remain at the hospital for observation. All of us at TS.com send along our heartfelt wishes to Aaron and his family for a speedy recovery. Although the Leedie injury put a somber mood to the game, Roxborough’s sr. RB/PR Ramon Odom managed to accomplish a feat seemingly unparalleled in city league play. An “all-night” search of the archives has failed to reveal any player who has returned three punts for touchdowns in a single game and the closest to Odom’s current season total of six was Carroll’s Maurice Stovall (yeah, that Maurice Stovall), who returned four during the 2001 season. Both teams stepped up with defense in the game’s first two series as the combination of jr. LB Amir Boler, sr. DE Diante Stokes, Odom, sr. DE Chris Koons and sr. LB Russhane Black stuffed all three Freire plays for no gain to force a punt. The Indians fared only a tad better with a gain of just two yards due to the hustle of DT Blair Siton and DB Eli Taylor. One of Roxborough’s better punts of the season was then downed at the five, where Freire gave possession to the Indians at the four on a short shotgun snap that was kicked around and recovered by Koons. With a flick of the wrist, jr. QB Stephen Tucker hit Black on a sideline out and Indians had an 7-0 lead with jr. K Grant Grahm’s first career conversion kick. When the Dragons punted on the next series, due in part to a stop for no gain by sr. NG Nafis Briggs, Odom waited for the kick to drop, gave the coverage team a stunning decoy, snatched the ball and sprinted untouched for a 50-yard touchdown return. A Koons tackle for loss led to third Dragon punt and when Odom caught the low liner, their was simply no one around to tackle him so he literally jogged in from 43 yards out to extend the Indian lead to 19-0 as the first quarter came to a close. Jr. RB Antoine Singleton, pretty much the sole Freire threat, restored some order by running eight straight times for 32 yards, but Koons’ second sack ended the drive inside Roxborough territory and, believe it or not, Odom’s subsequent punt return was uneventful. From the Dragon 20, last week’s playmaker, jr. RB Geofferey Lancaster ran twice to the outside for eight yards, Tucker connected with Boler twice on short outside passes and Black turned a pop-pass into a 19-yard gain to move Roxborough inside the Freire 40. Miscommunication though, resulted in a Singleton interception on the next play to end the well-conceived drive. He then stepped in at quarterback and completed 30-yard pass to an open Dante Blow behind the secondary and he ran down to the Indian five, only to have a holding call nullify the shocking catch and the yardage. Singleton came right back for the only Dragon completion of the game to Akeem Johnson for 15 yards before the pressure of sr. DE Allen Johnson forced an incomplete pass two plays later to end the first half. Both teams traded possessions to start the second half. When the Indians regained their second chance, courtesy of a Briggs fumble recovery, Tucker, Odom and Black teamed up for one of offensive coordinator Jody Stanley’s patented hook-and-lateral plays for 20 yards. Tucker finished the four-play drive with a one-yarder to Boler for 26-0 advantage with Grahm’s second kick, which was converted from 25 yards out due to a penalty. Following a chase down sack by Stokes on the ensuing Freire series for a loss of 17, Odom picked up pancake blocks from Koons and Boler to complete his third punt return for touchdown from 39 yards out to close all scoring.
Payin the Bill’s Plays of the Game: Following the Leedie injury, first year Roxborough AD Terrell Burnett made the conscious decision to halt the game, which allowed everyone to turn their thoughts towards a fallen Pub comrade—game over, thanks Terrell.
Roxborough Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Ramon Odom (Three punt returns for touchdowns, which raised his season total to six.)

Special teams leader—Freire punter Isaac Yorro (Managed to get off two punts that Odom didn’t return.)

OCT. 28
PUBLIC RED
Murrell Dobbins Tech 32, Germantown 12
They’re baaaack. The final playoff spot goes to the Mustangs, who enter the Public League quarterfinals with perhaps the least amount of pressure. First year head coach Lou Zambino has instilled an upbeat approach that includes a short capacity for yesterday’s news combined with the traditional system of peak performance at playoff time rather than September. As one Mustang assistant coach said prior to game time, “We don’t need the fancy turf, we play on the mud," and that was exactly what they did for 48 minutes in this playoff style game. While continuity problems still exist for the G-town offense, the defensive effort had encouraging moments reminiscent of the bruising spirit of seasons past. This spirit was demonstrated on the game’s opening drive as, following a Mustang 38-yard kickoff return by jr. RB Melvin Smith and 17-yard screen pass from sr. QB Wesley Brown to sr. RB Sebrean Riser, Bears sr. DT Antoine Kemp-Smith forced a fumble and a 10-yard loss. On the next play, sr. DB Markief Moore added another two yards to bring up a third-and-22 still inside Bears territory. Dobbins’ short memory for failure was never clearer than on the next play as sr. WR/WB Darrell "Butta" Brown grabbed a rare counter play, received key blocks from jr. LT Randolph Latimore and sr. LG Sharif Eddy and sped 40 yards for the game’s first touchdown. The Bears started their first series with some good old-fashioned inside running that moved them to within a yard of a first down, only to have a false start penalty halt the series. Darrell Brown’s 13-yard sweep had Dobbins rolling on the next series, but the drive stalled at the hands of a stiff Bears defense that allowed a net of two yards after the sweep. Sr.’s LB Dennis Gaskins and DE Malik Marrow then answered with a quarterback sack and a loss of 12 yards that Germantown couldn’t overcome. Another screen pass, this time to sr. WR Marcellus Willoughby, on the second play of Dobbins’ next offensive series was met by the pursuit Bear jr. DB Raymond Holliday, who dropped the third down play for a loss. Tight pass coverage from jr. LB Darryl McBride thwarted the Mustang drive on fourth down. Midway through the second quarter, hard inside running by jr. RB Paul Bennett gave G-town their deepest penetration of the game. Following a first down at the Mustang 40 though, sr. DE Randall Wilson blew through the left side, forced a fumble that resulted in a 19-yard loss when Willoughby finally pounced on the ball for Dobbins. The Bears benefited from a clipping penalty and the defense maintained their intensity and playoff hopes with an immediate forced fumble by sr. LB Eric Williams (recovered by Darrell Brown) and a sack by Kemp-Smith two plays later to force a punt. A once clear playoff picture became interesting when sr. RB Tyree Clemons used some timely blocks from jr. RG Kalif Jones and sr. RT Chris Oliver, broke through a crease and bolted 50 yards to tie the game at 6-6 just before halftime. In the biggest momentum shift of the game, a knuckleball second half kickoff was mishandled long enough for Mustang sr. RB Chris Williams to sprint down and recover. Starting at the Bear 28, Dobbins went to Melvin Smith for five yards, behind sr. RG Byron Blount, and Wesley Brown turned the corner to gain a first down. Sounds simple enough right? Well, from the 18, Dobbins managed to turn seemingly easy points into a 10-play scoring drive that included two big penalties, six minutes of possession time and ended with a Wesley Brown pass to an open Randall Wilson near the pylon for a 12-6 lead. The Mustang drive zapped some life from the spirited Bears and, despite another penalty to extend their next drive, they turned over possession on downs after six plays. Contrary to the previous scoring chance, Dobbins needed just one play to complete an off-tackle slant for a 20-6 lead on a 56-yard touchdown run from Melvin Smith and conversion by Chris Williams. Mustang soph. RB Ralston Thomas scored his first career touchdown in the waning minutes to add to the cushion and Germantown sr. RB Tramelle McKie carried twice for 37 yards to close all scoring with a 5-yard run.
Payin the Bill’s Play of the Game: At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Dobbins protected their 30-6 lead by forcing a three-and-out and then they went medieval on the Bears defense. Nine straight running plays that gained 50 yards and squandered 5:30 of the clock were capped by the first career touchdown for sr. RB Rannell Plummer, whose 4-yard dive put the Mustangs into the playoffs for the fourth straight year—game over, bill’s paid.

Dobbins Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Martin Roberts (32-yard knuckleball kickoff to start the second half and turn momentum.)

Germantown Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Tramelle McKie (Touchdown saving solo tackle on the opening kickoff.)

OCT. 27
PUBLIC RED
George Washington 49, Simon Gratz 6
There was suspense to this rainy blowout—for a little while. Both teams went in at halftime with Washington holding a fragile 15-6 lead. When they came out however, the Eagles slapped 34 unanswered points on a feisty Simon Gratz squad that suffers from low roster numbers, which forces playmakers to participate in all three phases of the game on just about every series. As for G-Dub, despite their ever-changing personnel rotation, they appear to be regaining the form established in September, but still need to rediscover a sense of urgency during the early stages of a game. When this team puts the pedal down, they’re the fastest in the league. Lately though, too many potential big plays have been reduced to short gains in the first half. Against a team like Frankford, the second half may be too late to secure a lead. True to form, the Eagles caved to a middle wedge on the game’s opening kickoff and WR Malik Palmer sprinting through untouched for an 85-yard touchdown for the Bulldogs. Washington went around the edges and the steady combo of sr. RB’s Brian Carter, Fateen Brown and Jay Sloh rattled off 30 yards in five plays before Gratz DE Elijah Akbar and LB Khalif Solomon read a screen pass and tracked down a retreating Carter for an 18-yard loss. Eagle sr. DB Rich McPhail responded by intercepting a pass at the Bulldog 23 and the offense appeared to capitalize on the first play with a Carter touchdown run, but the second holding penalty in as many drives forced Washington to start over. Sloh and Carter made up the difference to bring up a fourth-and-two that Gratz allowed them to convert via penalty. A pair of wedge plays from the toughest QB in the league, sr. Clinton Granger, tied the game midway through the first quarter. Turnovers decided the next two series as Eagle sr. DE Fatal Lawal forced a fumble that frosh. DT Lawrence Williams recovered. The Bulldogs Akbar and Solomon stepped up again to force possession back to the offense and RB Hal Chambliss then picked on the left side of the Washington defense twice for 23 yards. Tackles for losses though by jr. Devon Wallace, sr. Oliver Wallace and Williams left Gratz with fourth down yardage too far to convert. From their 39, Washington rode the strong/fast legs of sr. RB Fateen Brown for 48 yards to the Gratz 8 where incompletions and another holding penalty gave soph. K Will McFillin a 33-yard field goal chance, which he drove through the uprights for a 9-6 Washington lead. An outstanding open field tackle by sr. DB Anthony Bright during the next Gratz series seemed to ignite the Eagles and, following a punt to midfield, Brown tore through the defense for 22 yards on two carries. Sloh then used great drive blocking by sr. C Chris Clanton and textbook down blocks on the linebackers courtesy of sr. RG Mike Kelly and sr. LG Aaron Murrey to sprint in on a dive from 30 yards out for a 15-6 lead. On the game’s next series, D-I prospect sr. QB Jerrick Jenkins, put the Bulldog offense on his back and ran for 11 yards and later complimented the drive with a 35-yard laser to WR Bradley Martin in the waning minutes of the first half. Despite having his next pass tipped and somehow cradled by Carter for a Washington touchback, Jenkins has revealed a more confident delivery and lower trajectory on his passes, in addition to the qualities first penned in this column last season. With less than a minute to go before halftime, Sloh sped for 30 yards and sr. TE Damien Wilmer, as he has done all season, showed great concentration to haul in a low wet ball while sliding at midfield. Gratz’ Martin stepped in front of the next pass, only to have Carter jar the ball loose on the interception return that sr. TE Brandon Bynum recovered to end the half. Carter, the fastest player on turf, starting the second half with a resounding 72-yard kickoff return to increase the lead to 23-6 with the Devon Wallace pass to sr. Tyreek Hatton conversion. With the lead, the Washington defense shed their tension, played football and forced quick a punt. They then put together a 10-play statement drive that featured a tackle trap executed to perfection, resulting in a 20-yard bolt by Brown and a second touchdown from Sloh five plays later. Brown slipped two tackles to add another score early in the fourth and frosh. QB Aaron Wilmer bulled in from a yard out for his first career touchdown to close all scoring.
Payin the Bill’s Play of the Game: With a 30-6 lead late in the third quarter, an unlikely hero, sr. RB Hopeton Bailey, made the most out of a outside stretch play. Instinctively waiting for the fine Damien Wilmer kick-out block allowed him to cut back, turn on the jets and skate 59 yards before getting pushed out of bounds. His one-yard touchdown run on the next play gave Washington a 36-6 lead and second place within the Red Division—game over, bill’s paid.

Washington Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Brian Carter (Momentum-shifting 76-yard kick return to start the second half.)

Gratz Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Malik Palmer (111 total yards in kick returns.)

OCT. 21
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Malvern 40, Germantown Academy 30
Tired of those defensive struggles that go nowhere? Well, a hefty 988 all-purpose yards was divvied between both squads in this homecoming day offensive slugfest. Malvern started in high gear and never lost momentum even when scored upon due in large part to jr. QB Ryan Nassib (9-14-234-2) and sr. WR Joe Hoban, who broke his own school receiving record with an efficient five catches for 167 yards. Malvern found the early momentum without throwing a single pass in a jaw-busting five play masterpiece that featured outstanding drive blocking from sr. RG James Downey and sr. RT Kevin Umile to open the game and a three-foot hole for jr. RB Chris Lane. His 13-yard run was followed by a sweep for 30 made possible by the energetic members of the Friar O-line, sr. LT Paul Ostick and sr. LG Robert Bates. At the Patriot 25, sr. FB Alex Forte was send on a dive for 11 yards and, after another sweep from Lane (12 yards), bulled in on the back of Downey for a 7-0 lead with sr. K Joe Buckley’s first of three conversion kicks. Time of the drive—1:47. Although a little more deliberate, the Patriots answered with relentless sr. RB Alex Holcombe (30-172) and the last of his eight carries capped an 11-play touchdown drive, that included a 33-yard pass play sr. QB Charlie Taft to so. WR Mike Doty, to tie the game when jr. K Dan Lipschutz matched the conversion duels. The Friars managed to get near midfield on the next drive before punting, but Germantown Academy’s three-and-out moments later put the Malvern offense back near midfield for the first Hoban’s electrifying catches. Despite intense pressure from Patriot jr. DL Joe Razzano, who was in on three tackles including a sack, the Friars managed to gain an initial first down and then gambled later on fourth down. Nassib scrambled to his right to avoid pressure while the savvy Hoban adjusted with a post corner route and he stretched to haul in a well-thrown 35-yard touchdown pass to regain the lead. Just 14 seconds later, Holcombe found a gap on the right side scooted past the coverage and answered the Malvern score with a stunning 87-yard kickoff return to tie the game early in the second quarter. A 10-yard dive to open the next series, courtesy of the solid hook block by sr. C Mike Lynch, was complimented by a Hoban 10-yard slant that turned into a 55-yard touchdown three plays later for a 21-14 lead with the kick. (Note: Hoban’s quickness and inside release technique, among other skills, was flawless, making him an ideal slot receiver prospect at the I-AA/D-II level). Germantown Academy seemed to be driving for the equalizer after a 13-yard run by Holcombe and jr. FB Kevin Doty’s 14-yarder, but a botched halfback pass attempt for a loss and a high third down snap that sailed over Taft’s outstretched hands ended the promising drive. They would get another chance before halftime when jr. DT Ed Logan forced a fumble that was recovered by Razzano inside the Patriot 20-yard line. The Friar defense held and forced a 25-yard field goal attempt that went wide right. Behind the tireless effort of Holcombe (8 carries/36 yards), the Patriots opened the second half with a 13-play drive that resulted in a 37-yard Lipschutz field goal to close the gap. Without missing a beat though, Malvern stormed back on a 55-yard record-breaking shallow cross by Hoban that was cashed in two plays later with a Lane two-yard plunge for a 27-17 lead. Outstanding kick-out blocks from Kevin Doty and sr. TE Addison West on the game’s next series gave Holcombe all the room he needed to counter the Hoban gain to the number, which brought the Patriots back to within three points late in the third quarter. That’s as close as they would get however, as Malvern embarked on a 11-play statement drive that featured a sweet bench route from sr. TE Ben Bryer for 13 yards and Lane run off a Nassib screen pass for 20 more. The drive ended on a Forte five-yard touchdown run through a gaping Downey-made hole. Holcombe later added his fourth touchdown of the game in the final seconds to close all scoring.
Payin the Bill’s Play of the Game: With 6:49 remaining the Patriots had just converted a fourth-and-inches to keep the drive alive. On the very next play they tried to catch the Friars napping, but sr. DB Chris Moore hustled over to step in front the long pass and his 45-yard return set up an easy Lane touchdown for an insurmountable 40-24 lead—game over, bill’s paid.

Special teams leader—Matt Dolente (Three kick returns for 73 yards.)

Germantown Academy Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Alex Holcombe (87-yard touchdown return and one solo special teams tackle.)

OCT. 20
PUBLIC BLUE
Southern 14, Olney 8
Who wants this title? Long story short, if Olney wins next week they go to the playoffs for the first time in school history. If not and there’s a four-way tie, lets just say you don’t wanna go there. An unfortunate equipment theft during the week limited the Trojans' preparation and a break out performance by Ram jr. RB Tyrell Cooper (33-204) hampered their ability to establish anything consistent. To the Rams' credit, Head Coach Bill Edger’s simple, but consistent, vertical running scheme overcame two inches of standing water and a gusty northwest frontal boundary to deliver a smash-mouth style upset victory. Olney sr. DT Gerardo Zuviri’s solo tackle for loss left the Rams a yard short on the game’s opening series, but the quickness and traction of jr. LB Kiaheem Simmons and sr. DE Jahmel Bashir, erased an inspired 17-yard run from Olney jr. RB Jerrell Toomer. The other part of the Trojan DT tandem, jr. Frank Randall, gained the angle to snuff out a slow sweep to help force another Ram punt. Much like their first drive, Olney marched down field, this time behind two 10-yard runs by sr. RB Jamarr Leary, only to come up short when Southern sr. DT Jamar Byers used the slop advantage to beat his man and stop the Trojan march short on fourth down. Ram sr. WR Eric Whitaker seized the first play of the next series to complete one of the few outside runs for a quick 10 yards and Cooper then followed with six straight carries for 16 yards. Faced with a third-and-10 they threw downwind, but the pass sailed incomplete and Olney regained better than expected field position after a touchback on the punt. Just two plays into their series though, going against the wind, they decided to throw their first pass that hung up for Whitaker, who grabbed the interception and skated 35 yards down the sideline deep into Olney territory. Southern locked in on the slant behind so. LT Alick Carr and sr. LG Tyleek Ross and Cooper, who at 5’11” 195 has above average speed, solid toughness and a set of pistons that don’t need oil, ran for a 17 yards on two carries. Camped out at the Olney six though, a tackle for loss by Leary resulted in two incomplete passes against the wind, ending of the first half deadlocked at 0-0. Elapsed game time—38 minutes. When the Trojans first series of the second half went three-and-out, the Rams came right back to Cooper for a first play 25-yard run courtesy of the drive n’ slide blocks of jr. RG Bryan Lee and RT John Spuriel. Although the drive would stall six plays later at the Trojan 16, the field position battle favored Southern and they responded with a defensive effort headed by quick Simmons that netted Olney a bleak two yards on offense. The ensuing punt landed the Rams at the 30 and they needed just two plays for frosh. QB Shaquille Gaskins to find Bashir along the seam (with the wind) from seven yards out for the game’s first touchdown late in the third quarter. Cooper dove in for the conversion run and 8-0 lead. A 21-yard kick return by Leary set the Trojans up at midfield, where they went more vertical than previous drives and moved to the 23 before a slow developing fourth down screen pass was dropped for another loss by Simmons. The Rams wasted little time increasing their lead as Cooper went 67 yards off right tackle on the first play and Gaskins found the Bashir seam route again on the next to provide the 14-0 cushion. Olney responded in kind when jr. QB Mike Reyes used a brief halt to the wind and lofted a soft spiral into the hands of streaking sr. WR Derrick Hydie for 51 yards. Sr. RB Wagner Estrella gained the corner on the next play for 15 more to close deficit to six points with his added conversion run. While they had two more cracks at tying the game, Southern so. DB Dante Winn and Whitaker intercepted passes to end any hope of a comeback.
Payin the Bill’s Play of the Game: With 2:53 remaining, the Rams were faced a fourth-and-one and after trying to draw the Trojans offsides they called a time out and looked to be ready to punt. Instead, they calmly went back to the line where QB Shaquille Gaskins rode the back of C Jamar Byers for four yards and a first down that forced Olney to use their remaining timeouts—game over, bill’s paid.

Special teams leader—Eric Whitaker (solo tackled the dangerous Jerrell Toomer during a punt return with

0:26 left.)

Olney Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leaders—Izahia Green (2 special teams tackles, one solo.)

OCT. 14
CATHOLIC BLUE
Carroll 24, Dougherty 14
This game was a little closer than expected and, for a moment, Dougherty came within 12 yards of a tie late, but their own miscues along with a flow of well-rehearsed Patriot counter plays proved too mysterious for the Cardinals to overcome. The first of which arrived on the game’s third play when sr. HB Russell Johnson choose a gapping hole near sr. LT Bill O’Brien and sprinted 39 yards untouched well into Cardinal territory. Although three plays netted just a single yard, Carroll gambled on fourth down and sr. QB Matt Cantafio, connected with sr. WR Wiley Flowers for 16 yards to extent the drive. A 15-yard run by sr. HB Shane McMahon was capped three plays later with a Cantafio blast from a yard out to give the Patriots a statement 7-0 lead with the Kyle Dougherty conversion kick. Dougherty’s “one minute” opening series produced a quick punt and allowed the confident Carroll offense a chance to add to the lead. They quickly obliged with another third down counter that, like the first one, was well executed out of an exciting double reverse. This time, McMahon cut back through the blocks of sr. RG Marco Dedda, soph. RT Jack Lowney and sr. C George Solometo for 47 yards before being dragged down. In a nice bit of play calling, the Patriots used a product of their successful running game to open a pattern for McMahon, who streaked downfield and caught a 16-yard tight rainbow from Cantafio to extent the Carroll lead to 13-0 late in the first quarter. The Cardinals responded with a pair of nine-yard pass completions from jr. QB Phil Baxter to sr. RB Bryan Williams and a nifty little counter of their own for a 33-yard Williams touchdown run two plays later. For the third time, the Patriots answered with none other than the twin-reverse counter to Russell Johnson again that opened for 56 yards courtesy of pulling guard Dedda and sr. LG Matt Hallinan. Johnson used the staple play for a little enjoyment while slicing in for a six-yard touchdown and 21-7 lead with the sneaky-fast Cantafio to sr. HB Ryan Downs two-point conversion during the early minutes of the second. To their credit, the Cardinals reacted to the Patriot momentum with a top shelf wide receiver screen that sr. Roberto Townsend snagged behind the pass rush and outran everyone on the field for a 60-yard catch-and-run touchdown that trimmed Carroll’s lead to seven points. Despite a 26-yard gain by Johnson on the Patriots next series, Townsend ended the stream of touchdown drives with the first of his two interceptions for the game. Constant pressure however, from jr. DL Rob Sklaroff, and sr. LB Marcus Mattaway, produced a Cardinal fourth-and-five turned fake punt and run, which was stuffed inches short by Sklaroff and sr. LB Tom Ciccoli. Although Carroll put together a nice drive that featured 46 yards passing from Cantafio to Flowers, a fourth down fumbled pitch at the three-yard line ended the first half without further scoring. A six-yard loss registered by Ciccoli to start the second half forced a Cardinal punt, but solid pass coverage from jr. LB Sean Kidd and sr. S Justin Minter held the Patriot offense to minus one yard net on the ensuing series. Each of the next five offensive drives ended with minimal gains. Sr. DE John Pettine bull rushed and tipped his man over for a sack to stall one of them, Townsend picked his second pass for another and Russell Johnson forced a fumble that Downs recovered to set up Carroll’s final scoring drive. The 12-play drive consumed over six minutes and gave the Patriots a 24-14 lead when Dougherty’s 22-yard field goal sailed through the uprights. Flowers chipped in with a interception after a 38-yard Dougherty waggle pass from Baxter to sr. HB Sean Williams to the Patriot 12 was nullified due to a penalty.
Payin the Bill’s Play of the Game: Along with his tireless rushing effort, Patriot sr. FB Alex Belfi pounced on his third fumble recovery of the game (the second sustained a touchdown drive) with four minutes to go, which erased any chance of a Dougherty comeback—game over, bill’s paid.

Special teams leader—Geoff Prather (3 solo special teams tackles.)

Special teams leaders—Keith Dockery & Sean Kidd (Fourth quarter pass completion out of punt formation
that, in one way or another, fooled everyone in attendance.)

OCT. 13
PUBLIC WHITE
Central 29, Roxborough 22
Knocking helmets, dirt, sweat, excitement, disbelief, jubilation and disappointment—an outstanding playoff-type football game. In the end though, the Central Lancers made more of their chances than the Roxborough Indians and, as a result, remain top dog in the division while taking a giant step towards another title. The respective defenses made short work of each opening drive as Roxborough sr. DB Ramon Odom’s diving tackle for loss ended the first Lancer series and the warrior, Central jr. DB Ray Harris, countered with a pair of speed rush tackles that forced the Indians into a three-and-out. An 11-yard punt gave the Lancers excellent field position to start their next series and the Public League’s best athlete and easy 1AA prospect, sr. QB John Kennedy, wasted little time showing the fangs of an improved Central offense. He surprised Roxborough with a poised, well-executed fade to sr. WR James Campbell for the game’s first touchdown and an 8-0 lead with Kennedy’s conversion run. Roxborough stormed right back on their second series courtesy of a dive run for 21 and draw for 12 by Odom, which led to jr. QB Stephen Tucker’s finest read-and-react throws to date. The 38-yard touchdown pass to streaking sr. RB Calden Pierce pulled Roxborough within two points and revealed how effective he can be when patient. Pierce, on the other end, reached to snare the spiral and, as the off-balance momentum carried him into the end zone, he held the ball out and crossed the plane of the goal before the ground jarred it loose. The Lancers responded with a well-devised offensive drive that featured Ray Harris’ speed on the option, reach for the10-yard out and flair for the counter play. All tolled, 36 yards in four touches. The last one moved the Lancers to the Indians 25 where, five plays later, Kennedy lofted a stunning drop pass over the shoulder and into the hands of sr. RB Cory Kelly for a resounding 15-6 lead with the so. K Carl King conversion kick early in the second quarter. They appeared ready to pull away when sr. DB Eli Fish came up with a lost Indian kickoff return, but Pierce answered on defense by logging an immediate sack and forcing a fumble to sr. DE Chris Koons near midfield. The turnover fest, a theme for the rest of the game, continued after another nifty 15 yards from Odom were followed by a drive ending recovery by Central jr. DT Thomas Harris. A pair of hard-earned inside tackles by Indian sr. DT Sheldon Walker gave the offense a chance to complete the drive of chance bounces. After pushing inside the Central 30, a Tucker pass bounced off Pierce right to sr. WR Russhane Black for 10 yards. On the next play, Tucker gained a first down, but fumbled forward to Pierce, who scooped up the ball and appeared to score from eight yards. Ruled out at the two, Tucker then followed the wedge to cut the Lancer lead to 15-14 with the jr. TE Amir Boler conversion run as the first half expired. In “all-day” mode, Pierce opened the second half a determined 60-yard touchdown run that included a textbook straight-arm and subsequent conversion run for Roxborough’s first lead of the game. Undaunted, the Central offense used a key 15-yard Roxborough penalty to set up a well-executed counter for Kelly, who slid through the fine blocks of sr. C Ramsey Chew and LG John McBride for a smooth 35-yard touchdown run and conversion to give them back a 23-22 lead. Bruising sr. LB Mark Surma and sr. DB Brock Baxter produced nine yards in losses that resulted in an Indian punt and the ironic close of all scoring. On the first play of the ensuing series, Central caught Roxborough flexing to the outside, sent sr. FB Daniel Barrett on a dive and when he was 20 yards downfield, he was already gone—70 yards untouched to extend the lead to seven points with 8:09 left in the third. Each of the next five offensive drives was stalled due to third down turnovers. Ray Harris started by intercepting a pass, Boler then recovered a fumble for the Indians and Lancer DL (#73) countered to halt a drive in close. Just three plays into the next series, Boler fell on a second fumble, but Harris matched the dual by regaining control for the offense after jr. DB Kyle Nolan had punched the ball out. Although they would punt after three plays, the Central secondary held off any hope of a Roxborough comeback.
Payin the Bill’s Plays of the Game: In hindsight Barrett’s 70-yard run was huge. However, the tight coverage of Ray Harris and Brock Baxter along with swarming pressure of linebackers Ramsey Chew and jr. Aaron Pierce prevented Roxborough from completing a single pass in seven attempts inside Central territory—game over, bill’s paid.
Central Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—(Central special teams’ coach who prevented Roxborough’s elusive Ramon Odom from
fielding a single punt.)

OCT. 7
PUBLIC AAA
Communications Tech 20, William Penn 12
To the Lions and Phoenix, this was the only game in town. Both have made marked improvements from their early beginnings that wisely include dedication towards reliable rushing games. They wasted little time showcasing them in this back-and-forth tilt to the final seconds. The Lions jumped out first behind an opening kickoff fumble recovery and decisive running of sr. RB Tafari Baron. Just 24 yards from the game’s first touchdown, he snatched a pitch for four yards, used a great block from sr. RT Gary Burgin to cut inside for another 11 and scored two plays later for an early 6-0 lead. A swift Phoenix response came from the first wave of Coach Greg Harris’ string of interesting backs as frosh. RB Richard Kemp staked 20 yards on four carries, but was dragged down by the unguarded backside pursuit of Penn jr. LB Kente Wiggins four yards short of a new series. Loose ball handling allowed Lion sr. DE Jabar Turner to jar the next Phoenix series loose after one play where soph. DB Lester Tukes recovered in response to the offense’s previous three-and-out. Comm Tech’s defense countered with an interception by so. Stacey Hill and he proceeded to show off his flair for the cutback during the first of many stints in the backfield. Although the first series was stopped short, soph. Ackeeno Jolly blocked the Penn punt and sr. Gary Miles extended the Phoenix drive 15 yards from a score. Hill crossed half the field while juking almost every defender for a six-yard gain, diced once between the tackles for a quick eight yards, which gave sr. Isaac Cheeseboro and easy one-yard quarterback wedge to tie the game midway through the second quarter. They had a chance to take the lead when sr. Maurice Christian recovered a fumbled pitch, but Penn so. DL Malik Mills alertly pounced on a ball that slipped from the quarterback’s grip moments later. Sr. FB Justin Berry revealed a glimpse of the things to come from Coach Terry Henderson with a couple of dive runs for 29 yards before the intermission. The Phoenix defense met the second half’s opening series with a pair of sacks that included a solo effort from soph. Emanual Hunter and combo from Miles and Cheeseboro. Miles then exposed Penn’s short drop back and added a second blocked Penn punt of the game. Inside the Lion 30, the Phoenix’ first two running plays went south, but Hill made up for both of them with a quick hitch from Cheeseboro that turned into a 29-yard tackle-breaking touchdown. Penn answered on the ensuing series with a near-flawless dive executed by sr. RB Jerome Buckner, who received a key block from jr. C Naeem Johnson, and he turned a fourth-and-one gamble into a 52-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 12-12 late in the third quarter. After exchanging possessions, the Phoenix regained command with 11:03 to go in what would turned out to be the game’s final drive.
Payin the Bill’s PLAYS of the Game: Behind the consistent blocking of frosh. LT William Bates, jr. LG Kennari White, frosh. C Alfonso Murchison sr. RG Nosa Omoirawua and jr. RT Marcellus Chiles, the Phoenix ran the ball 17 straight times without a single loss, ate up 10:17 of the clock and scored go-ahead touchdown with an easy Cheeseboro two-yard run—game over, bill’s paid.

Special teams leaders— Ackeeno Jolly & Gary Miles (Each blocked punts that led to touchdowns.)

William Penn Defensive Statistics:

OCT. 6
PUBLIC RED
Washington 28, Murrell Dobbins Tech 7
This one had all the earmarks of a good playoff game down the road. For almost three periods, the Mustangs kept the Eagles off the scoreboard and still had a chance to win until the final four minutes. With exception of those minutes, and sloppy track conditions aside, this wasn’t the Washington offense that frustrated Bensalem and if they continue to shuffle line personal in and out, the defense, which has been outstanding, may have the burden of rescuing them for the remainder of the season. As for Dobbins, their tempo-oriented, run-and-shoot style offense will translate well if they can improve on this effort, which generated just 120 yards of total offense in 22 minutes of possession time. The Mustangs began the game’s first offensive series with a tricky halfback pass for eight yards, but then gave up a blitz sack to Eagle jr. DB Devon Wallace to erase the entire gain. The Washington defense quickly jumped off field after producing a third down stop only to return when poorly handled punt was recovered by soph. DL Derek Clark. Dobbins then tested Washington’s perimeter and inside over-pursuit, which was answered by the quickness of sr. OLB Oliver Wallace and prowess sr. DE Scott Marano for another nine yards in losses. On fourth-and-19 though, the Mustangs chose to run out of punt formation and managed to hand over control where the initial fumbled punt occurred. With nearly half the quarter gone, the Eagle offense started their first series and were smacked by sr. LB Sebrean Riser for no gain, penalized on a 35-yard run from sr. RB Fateen Brown and forced to punt after Dobbins sr. LB Chris Williams snuffed out an outside dash. He then stamped the hallmark of any Lou Zambino team by blocking the ensuing punt. In business at the Washington 35, a 14 yard run from sr. RB Rannell Plummer was capped by a stunning fourth down 25-yard pass from sr. QB Wesley Brown to wide-open sr. WR Darrell Brown for a seemingly easy 7-0 lead with the Martin Roberts PAT kick. Despite a muffed kickoff, the Eagles gained possession and the revolving offensive line that, unlike the Bensalem game, now includes the leverage of sr. C Chris Clanton dissected the Mustang front allowing coach John McAneney’s predictable, but often times indefensible, offensive system to shift into gear. Fateen Brown, elusive sr. RB’s Brian Carter and Jay Sloh ran five to ten yards in every direction down to the Mustang 34 where the drive mysteriously stalled in three plays. Following a 25-yard punt return by sr. WR Marcellus Willoughby, a completed third down pass was short by four yards, but a Washington personal foul during the punt gave the Dobbins offense a new series. A nifty Darrell Brown reverse for seven yards failed to generate momentum needed for another halfback pass attempt that went long two plays later. A third tentative return attempt managed to retain good field position for the Eagle offense and they started with a well-executed screen pass from jr. Clinton Granger to the lightning fast Carter and he used a excellent kick-out block by jr. LT Curtis Graham to run for 17 yards. Brown ran outside for 19 and Carter inside for 11 more. With the first half clock running out, Granger completed an 11-yard pop-pass to jr. TE Damien Wilmer, but the Eagles’ drive would run out of time four plays later thanks to a tackle for no gain by Mustang sr. DE Randall Wilson. Washington used the same script to start the second half. Brown, Carter and sr. FB Aaron Hampton moved the team inside the Dobbins 15 only to watch Granger slip on the muddy track, a near touchdown pass glance off the outstretched fingertips of a well-covered Wilmer and fourth down try that fell far short. The Washington defense gave them yet another chance when Marano forced a fumble on the Mustangs first offensive play of the second half and sr. DE Fatal Lawal recovered. Although they lost a total of three yards in three plays, the Eagles reached into the bag of tricks and pulled out a gem. Faced with a fourth-and-13, Granger faded and threw a sideline strike to jr. QB Marquis Murray. Murray then put a sound grip on the ball and lofted a perfect touch pass to Wilmer, who demonstrated a nice outside release to get free and great concentration to haul in the first Eagle touchdown of the game with 6:50 left in the third quarter. The Washington defense appeared to come up big again when Hampton forced a fumble, but Wesley Brown alertly pounced on the ball to retain possession for Dobbins. The lost yardage helped stall their series however, allowing sr. DB Rich McPhail to bat away a third down pass. As if on cue, the Eagle rushing game of Brown, Carter and Sloh demonstrated outstanding blocking assignments for the primary, while showing great vision for double-digit gains when called. A whiff of diesel was in the air. Brown’s sweet five-yard improvisation was the final pull of the ripcord as he capped an efficient five-play drive that started near midfield and ended with 14-7 lead with Granger’s pass to a leaping sr. TE Brandon Bynum for conversion. Yep, the Eagle engine was revving and Dobbins’ offense did little to keep it on the sidelines for the remainder of the game. Aaron Murray’s forced and recovered fumble two plays into the ensuing Mustang series was countered early in the fourth quarter by the warrior efforts of Wilson and sr. DE Malik Marrow. Frosh. DT Lawrence Williams recovered a missed exchange moments later to thwart the momentum.
Payin the Bill’s Play of the Game: With the score still 14-7, the Dobbins offense had regained possession after the defensive counter punch. They rattled off 21 yards on two textbook dive plays and then decided to call the same pass pattern twice, which failed to fool eagle eye DB Brian Carter. He stepped in front of the second sideline pass, sped 68 yards to set up an easy Granger plunge from two yards out—game over, bill’s paid.
Washington Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Devon Wallace (Teeth shattering tackle on 21-7 kickoff)

Dobbins Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Chris Williams (Blocked punt in the first quarter.)

SEPT. 30
CATHOLIC BLUE
Neumann-Goretti 32, Carroll 14
Who wants the Blue Division title? The Saints' upset victory put them closer to that reality while further exposing rival Carroll’s overall lack of urgency during difficult times. Don’t be mistaken, the Saints still have holes to fill but, as this game showed, they have speedy playmakers, solid tactical game plans and an “all-day” mentality. The Patriots, on the other hand, failed to demonstrate any consistency on offense despite the obvious appearance of playmakers that exist. An indication of things to come for Carroll was delivered on the game’s first play when Neumann jr. LB’s Adam Malatino and Kadeem Singleton snuffed out the waggle play and dropped the quarterback for a nine-yard loss. A pair of strong, but off target, passes then resulted in an uneventful Carroll three-and-out. Neumann however, wasted little time pressing the issue and began with a heavy dose from the leader of the all day brigade himself, sr. RB Mark McPherson. His 17 yards on four carries set up an unpredictable 37-yard well thrown pass from sr. QB Mark Hatty to streaking wide-open sr. HB Joe Gionfriddo to cap a tidy eight-play opening touchdown drive. A short kickoff gave Carroll a midfield start and they responded with the power of sr. FB Alex Belfi, who used outstanding drive blocking from sr. C George Solometo to complete a 20-yard dive run, and the quickness of sr. HB Russell Johnson, who added 17 more. These variations opened the Saint defense for ultra-tough sr. QB Matt Cantafio to connect on a first down toss to jr. SE Ellis Rogers and sr. SE Wiley Flowers, who caught a short-range laser, dodged one defender and broke another to slip in for Carroll’s first touchdown. K Phil Dougherty added the conversion kick to tie the game. Both teams went into stalemate mode during the latter stages of the first quarter and most of the second in an attempt to lop off big chunks of yardage using their respective passing games. Following the Carroll touchdown, Neumann’s next series failed to gain a single yard due to jr. DB Geoff Prather’s hustle on a reverse and a pair of Hatty incompletions that were well off the mark. A short Saint punt gave the Patriots good field position and Cantafio kept the ball on two nice option runs for 27 yards that moved the team inside the 20, where Belfi and sr. HB Shane McMahon pounded out 15 more. Within four yards of the lead though the Saint defense of jr. DT Chris Palmer, whose impressive quickness created a second down sack, and jr. DL Brandon Terrence clamped down. Faced with a fourth-and-goal at the 13, the Patriots tried a corner fade, but Saint sr. DB Mike DiGiacomo intercepted the pass to end the promising drive. Two plays into Neumann’s next series, the Carroll defense returned the favor when jr. DB Kevin Eckel snagged an ill-fated pass near midfield. DiGiacomo stepped up again to bat away a second down pass and forced a Patriot punt. Sr. RB Anthony Sample’s 20 yard sweep and McPherson’s 12-yard cutback behind LG Chris Palmer sustained the Saint series into Patriot territory, but Flowers' interception near the pylon left the game tied with 3:30 to go in the second quarter. The feet and solid arm of Catafio appeared to have the Patriots in business in their next drive until a first down hustle sack for a 12-yard loss by Singleton couldn’t be conquered. With just 0:43 to go before halftime, Neumann put together an impressive go-ahead drive that featured a nice catch-and-run completion from Hatty to McPherson in the middle of the Patriot zone coverage for 25 yards and a second 22-yarder to sr. WR Richie DiGregorio. At the Carroll 11, Neumann went to a four-receiver set, which gave Gionfriddo room to execute a perfect slant and he reached behind his body to snag the Hatty quick pass to double the Saint lead with K George Hatton’s second straight conversion kick. They then opened the second half with an effective array of inside running by McPherson and stop hook patterns to jr. TE Preandre Watson behind the Carroll linebackers. Watson hauled in two of them for 30 yards and was left uncovered on a third that gave the Saints a 20-7 lead while using almost half of the third quarter clock. Carroll then threw everything they had left at Neumann, including a pass completion out of punt formation, to try and keep the game close only to fall to wrath of the bend-but-don’t-break Saint defense when they moved in close. Despite a pass interference penalty that advanced the Patriots inside the 15, the relentless pursuit of Maltino, among others, pushed Carroll back 17 yards where sr. LB Vinny Burgese finished off a fake punt attempt. With great field position, the Saints showcased the quick feet of solid D1 prospect soph. LG Kadeem Custis who, with great size and speed distinguished himself as one of the best young pulling guards in the city, allowed McPherson to rattle off 39 yards on two carries. At the Carroll 20, Hatty hit McPherson with a short pass and he broke three tackles on his way to a 20-yard touchdown play as the third quarter came to a close. They added a Sample pitch from two yards out moments later to put a stamp on this well-earned victory. Cantafio hung tough to deliver a well-thrown fade to jr. SE Ellis Rogers to close all scoring.
Payin the Bill’s Play of the Game: This week’s version was a little less glamorous, but effective. After the McPherson touchdown, Carroll went aerial, which left Cantafio open to Neumann’s quick defense. None of the multiple shots he absorbed in this game registered like the crushing sack delivered by jr. LB Preandre Watson on a fourth down scramble in front of the Carroll bench and homecoming day crowd—game over, bill’s paid.

Special teams leader—Vinny Burgese (caught the final Carroll onside kick attempt.)

Carroll Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—P Luke Wischnowski (Patient 10-yard pass completion out of punt formation in the

fourth quarter.)

SEPT. 29
PUBLIC RED
Frankford 42, Germantown 7
This one was way too easy. The Frankford Pioneers began defense of the Public League crown by beating Germantown with just a few pages of the playbook. For the first time in recent memory, the Bears' ineffectiveness forced the mercy rule late in the third quarter and, despite all the damage they’ve inflicted on opposing teams over the years, you couldn’t help but feel sorry for them at times. They are a team in desperate need of an identity and playmakers. Right off the bat, the Bears fumbled the opening kickoff into the oncoming Pioneer pursuit where jr. LB Tyree Latham gave the offense a short field. After a first down 15-yard belly run by sr. RB Calvin Spires, sr. FB Nate Johnson nabbed a pitch two plays later, ran around the defense and gave Frankford an quick 7-0 lead with K Ervin Goodson’s first of four conversion kicks. Pioneer sr. DT Brandon Allen, who showed excellent quickness the entire game to go along with his size advantage, was in on every tackle of Germantown’s first series, which included a sack and a net loss of minus six yards for the series. A 32-yard punt return by Goodson left Frankford 38 yards from doubling their lead and sr. QB Andre Hudson moved them inside the 15 with a 22 yard completion to jr. RB Christopher Spence. From there, Spires finished off the five-play drive with a sweep around right end for Frankford’s second touchdown. Allen, along with sr. DT Tyree Dudley seized on the Bears lackluster blocking effort again, this time for a net loss of minus five yards. With the offense set up near midfield, Frankford was in position to put the game away in the first quarter until a surprise fumble, which was recovered by sr. DT Antoine Kemp-Smith, gave the Germantown offense possession and they embarked on their only productive drive of the game. Behind resurgent blocking from sr. LT Alan Steele, LG Kemp-Smith and jr. C Jabril Logan, the combination of sr. RB’s Ryan Hardy and Eric Williams produced a 14-play drive that was capped when sr. QB Khalid Purnell connected on jr. E Darryl McBride’s well-executed skinny post. The touchdown along with a conversion kick by jr. K Ayebie Diby cut the Pioneer lead in half early in the second quarter. Frankford moved out quickly on their next series courtesy of a 18-yard completion to sr. E Warren Tinsley and a diving snag on a tipped ball by soph. RB Khalif Walker into Germantown territory. They converted a fourth-and-one and Johnson added another 12 yards on two carries, which led to a stunning three yard bolt up the middle by Hundson, who by varying the snap count left the Bears motionless, for a 21-7 lead. Quarterback sacks by Nate Johnson and Allen, coupled with a fumble recovery by jr. G William Mount on a play where the runner plowed into a teammate prevented any further scoring before halftime. One of the glaring differences between the two squads was the outstanding point-of-attack offense line play from the Pioneer front that also included sr. T William Ray, jr. G James “Polamalu” Qiulles and T William Austin. They provided Spires and Goodson gaping holes for runs of 14 and 36 yards respectively for touchdowns late in the third to close all scoring.
Payin the Bill’s Play of the Game: Any chance of a quick momentum change for Germantown was immediately crushed by the speed of Pioneer RB Ervin Goodson. He grabbed the second half kickoff, ran through the middle of the Bears coverage without hesitation, ignored flailing arm tackles and ran away from the last player with a chance for a 76-yard return and a 29-7 advantage—game over, bill’s paid.
Frankford Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader— Ervin Goodson (112 return yards and 4-5 in PAT kicks)

Germantown Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Mamady Magassouba (41 yard kickoff that resulted in a return of minus one yard.)

SEPT. 23
CATHOLIC RED
Ryan 41, Bonner 20
Wasn’t this supposed to be one of those typical grind-em-out football games? Well, what transpired was an historical aerial display. In the process of posting more points than they’ve scored in three years, the Raiders of Archbishop Ryan began league play by unveiling the precision of sophomore QB Rus Slawter (22-25-309-3), who showed outstanding poise while breaking Joe Corsanico’s 10-year old single game school passing record. His solid right arm also allowed jr. WR Nick Ferdinand (12-190) to break Bill Fulforth’s single game record for receiving. This game started harmlessly enough with a couple of short Ryan gains on the ground and two hitch passes from Slawter to Ferdinand (10 & 18 yards) that moved the home team into Bonner territory. A 16-yard dive from sr. RB Mike Marasheski wasn’t enough to sustain momentum as Friar sr. LB Brian Lake and jr. LB Dave Wisely later sacked Slawter for a nine-yard loss, which effectively ended Ryan’s first scoring chance on downs a play later. Whatever Bonner gained from the stop was countered by the aggressive pursuit of Raider sr. LB Taylor Cave, who “caved in” their running game for no gain on first down and a loss of seven yards on third. Regaining possession near midfield, Ryan made short work towards the game’s first touchdown. A 21-yard catch-and-run from sr. TE Anthony Vinciguerra, a 12-yard draw by Marasheski was capped on the next play with Slawter’s near perfect 16-yard touchdown to Ferdinand that floated in over the defenders outstretched arms. Bill George nailed the PAT kick for a 7-0 Raider lead with 4:15 left in the first quarter. Little seemed to go right for the Friars on their next series as Lake blasted in to log a second tackle for loss on the first play and jr. LB Chris Wilk assisted on the next two plays for short gains, forcing another punt. Another intermediate Slawter pass completion (22 yards) to sr. WR Rob McArdle on first down rattled the defense enough so the combination of Marsheski and sr. FB Bob "Cookie" Kilchrist could cut back in open space for 45 yards on seven carries with a dash of Slawter (10 yard pass). Camped out at the Bonner two, Slawter was then escorted into the end zone by C Taylor Cave to double the lead with a second George kick. What looked like a promising kick return for Bonner went sour when jr. LB Jimmy Weitzel belted the ball from the return man and sr. DB Joe Smith recovered to set the offense up again at midfield. The Raiders went right back to the ball control/short passing mix that featured good simple hitch running by McArdle for 10 and a well executed clear out combination completed underneath to Wilk for 18 yards. A pair of inside runs by Marasheski, led by the strength of Cave, jr. guards Bob Kelly and Anthony Corso gave Ryan their third touchdown and a 21-0 lead with 7:34 to go before halftime. On their first play of the next series though, Bonner received unexpected momentum after sr. RB Mike Curran rumbled for a 12-yard run where he fumbled to jr. WR Chris Hooper, who picked up the ball in mid-stride and outran any possible tacklers for a 73 yard touchdown. Sr. K Joe Lutes’ PAT kick cut the Raider lead to 21-7. Despite a nifty end around gain for 12 yards by McArdle, an intentional grounding foul earlier in the series proved too much for Ryan to overcome, forcing their first punt of the game. The Friars then looked to close the gap further when sr. QB Craig Love connected on sr. WR Chris Sharkey’s sweet dig-and-go but, as Sharkey sped away, Raider sr. DL Ken Mattia chased him down, reached out and grabbed his ankle for a touchdown saving tackle. Ryan’s defense, most notably Wilk and sr. DE Bill Brady responded to the previous effort with a combo sack to stall the Bonner drive just short of a first down. Every good quarterback has a moment were the last remnants of doubt are shed and confidence emanates. With three minutes to go, Slawter stood tall, showed the courage needed against oncoming pass rushers and fired the ball all over the yard. Slawter sent Ferdinand a second down quick strike for an eventual 24 yards, gave McArdle two of the same for 7 yards each and, despite being sacked four plays later, connected with McArdle against the sideline for another 24 to put Ryan 11 yards from a score. Three plays later, they came up inches short and were reserved to try a field goal until Bonner’s offside penalty gave Marasheski an easy one-yard run for a 28-7 lead with the third PAT kick. Raider sr. DB Tom Peterman forced a fumble and sr. DE Mike Ramirez ended any chance of a Bonner score before halftime. Whatever was discussed in the Friar locker room during halftime worked as they put together their best effort of the game. They started with a constant flurry of dive runs by Curran for 32 yards, which set up a stunning screen pass from Love to sr. RB Mike Dougherty and he dashed around defenders on his way to a 55-yard touchdown reception. Moments later, jr. DB Matt McGillian picked off a Slawter pass and, on their first play of the series, Love found Hooper 15 yards beyond the secondary for a 55-yard score that cut the Ryan lead to 28-20 midway through the third quarter. That’s as close as Bonner would get however. The running of Marasheski and Kilchrist, behind the solid bookends of the Raider offensive line, Wilk and soph. T Steve Verrall allowed Slawter to complete his second touchdown pass of the game to Ferdinand from 25 yards out, giving Ryan a 15 point advantage. Their defense, led up front all afternoon by Ramirez, Mattia and sr. DT Marc Fenster, pressured the Bonner offense for the remainder of the game, giving sr. DB’s Eric Dethloff and Joe Smith easy picks to squash any further threats from the feisty Friars.
Payin the Bill’s Play of the Game: With 8:29 to go in the game, Russ Slawter showed that he had indeed “arrived”. On a first play of a new series, he used an excellent max-protect scheme to fire a laser shot to Ferdinand (39 yards) and confirmed the “consistency of movement” needed for success two plays later when he hit Ferdinand again to give a 41-20 Ryan lead—game over, bill’s paid.
Ryan Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Joe Smith (recovered fumble during kickoff early in the second quarter.)

Bonner Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Matt Zabel (recovered onside kick to keep Bonner in the game.)

SEPT. 22
NON-LEAGUE
Roxborough 18, Lincoln 6
   Every contending team needs a wake-up call, right? While Roxborough seemed to do everything in their power to give this one away they eventually capitalized on the multiple opportunities the Railsplitters provided. In the process of surpassing their entire win total of last season, they’ve revealed how easily they can play into predicted outcomes. With two of their playmakers out with injuries, Roxborough seized the early momentum with a surprise onside kick that was recovered by jr. DE Diante Stokes. Just three plays into their first series, though, a botched handoff gave Lincoln possession and they wasted little time exposing the Indians' sloppy approach to this game. Sr. RB Dwayne Jones blasted through the left side of the defense for a 40-yard gain and then, on fourth-and-nine, caught an easy screen pass from jr. QB Charles Boyd, broke three tackles and danced in for a 19-yard touchdown. Lincoln sr. DE Brams Theodore met the Indians next series with a tackle for loss, forcing the game’s first punt. The Indians, behind the hustle of sr. DE Chris Koons and sr. MLB Calden Pierce, responded to Lincoln’s efforts and dropped two successive plays for no gain, but they came up two yards short of extending their next series. After a short punt gave the Railsplitters the ball at midfield, Theodore, Jones and jr. RB Calvin Philemond ran through the Indian defense for 33 yards only to have a rash of needless penalties push them back 20 yards early in the second quarter.   In need of a big play, Koons, despite the screaming from the bench to let Lincoln’s 18-yard punt fall to the ground, made a risky over the shoulder catch and rumbled 27 yards to put the Indian offense in business. On the first play however, a number of Railsplitters broke through the line, disrupted the handoff, which caused a fumble that sr. LB Michael Taylor recovered. Indian sr. LB Russhane Black, perhaps the best athlete on the team, countered three plays into Lincoln’s next series with an acrobatic interception. Faced with a fourth-and-three, Rox head coach Mike Stanley was intent on to rolling the dice with his offense until a false start penalty quickly reversed his decision. This turned out to be wise because, after Lincoln gained an initial first down, sr. DT Sheldon Walker displayed excellent reaction to a motion handoff, laid his helmet on the ball and the fumble skipped into the hands of Black, who dashed 46 yards to tie the game. When Stokes grabbed his second fumble recovery of the game on Lincoln’s first play of the ensuing series, Roxborough needed just 35 yards to take the lead.   From there however, Lincoln sr. DT Tyrone Boldin, who beat his share of double teams all afternoon, recorded the first of two sacks to stall the drive, but their special teams gave the Indians another chance at scoring before halftime when sr. DB Bruce Ford recovered a muffed punt. Tackles for losses by Jones and Boldin, left the game tied at halftime. Roxborough responded to the halftime tongue-lashing with the power running of Pierce, who carried six times for 41 yards in a nine-play drive culminated with a five-yard pop-pass from jr. QB Stephen Tucker to jr. TE Amir Boler to give them a 12-6 lead late in the third quarter. Neither team mounted any threats until the Indians regained control with 9:22 remaining in the game.
   Payin the Bill’s Plays of the Game: As they’ve shown in previous games, the Indian offensive line of T Sheldon Walker, G Kenny Marcelin, C Mark Champion, G Antoine Hughes and T Allen Johnson can be formidable when motivated. Well, with 9:22 to go, they cranked out a gem. In addition to provided Pierce a consistent B-gap that produced in six straight carries, they gave Tucker time to complete a 39-yard crossing route to Boler AND a hole big enough for Pierce to jog in untouched from 10 yards out to close all scoring—game over, bill’s paid.
Roxborough Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Diante Stokes & Bruce Ford (both recovered special teams’ fumbles)

Lincoln Defensive Statistics

Special teams leader—William James (27.5 kick average, including a touchback)

SEPT. 16
NON-LEAGUE
Bartram 32, William Penn 6
Want to write-off the Bartram Braves from the White Divison chase? Go ahead, but be warned, you could pay with a butt whooping. Like most teams here, there are cracks in the armor, but whoever patches up more goes to the playoffs. While impressive at times against the improved Penn Lions, they’re playing about 40 minutes of football right now and need play a tad longer. On the game’s opening play, jr. RB Michael Alexander (5-83) slid into hole on the left side, raced to corner and showed great acceleration towards a 63-yard touchdown run. Less than a minute later, sr. DT Maurice Jessup jarred a Lion fumble and sr. DB John "Fudgie" Pratt added 27 yards to the Braves' offensive field position. Inside the Lions' 20, four plays, including nine yards from Pratt, were capped by another turn of the corner touchdown from Alexander. Just three minutes elapsed, 13-0 Braves with sr. WR/K Shannon Wilson’s conversion kick—okay, we’re watching now. Penn appeared to have cut the lead in half when sr. RB Tafari Baron raced 66-yards on the first play of the next series, only to see the run nullified due to a holding penalty. The benefit of a 15-yard facemask penalty on the Braves though, wasn’t enough to sustain their drive much beyond another holding call moments later. A long punt return set up a second “one-play” drive as sr. QB Kris Brownlee (4-5-105) rolled to his right, threw a tracer on target while somewhat off-balance to an open Wilson for a 49-yard score and a 20-0 lead with Wilson’s second kick. (Note: Brownlee’s mechanics are outstanding, bringing a similar “consistency of movement” to that of Gratz’ Jerrick Jenkins. He combines great accuracy with the required velocity for a given situation.) Penn earned some respect behind the churning feet of Barron and power of sr. FB Justin Berry. They moved the team to midfield, but Bartram so. DB Laquan Williams intercepted an ill-advised second-and-one pass to give the offense another chance at increasing their lead. Pratt used some nice kick-out blocks from sr. RB Taron Fripps and Jessup, rushed four straight times for 41 yards and Brownlee, while under pressure, hooked up with Fripps on a lob pass for 19 yards. Then, while inside the Penn 20, the Bartrum offense lost focus, committed two false start penalties and followed that with a fumbled snap from center, which was recovered by Lion jr. LB Kente Wiggins. As if they were the team up 20-0, Penn embarked on their best drive of the game and perhaps their recent history. Barron’s hard-style running totaled 17 yards (2 carries), he gave way to so. RB Kenneth White, who added 32 yards, QB Steven Wheelings tacked on another 13 to put the team 13 yards from a score. An unnecessary personal foul on Bartram gave Penn another five and Brown, despite a three-yard loss on the previous play, bolted around right end to give the Lions their first touchdown of the 2006 season. Bartram quickly responded with an Alexander kick return to midfield. Behind the aggressive blocking of jr. T Marcel Trawick and sr. G Tristen Thornton, Pratt rattled off 10 yards, Brownlee cut through arm tackles for 31 and he capped the efficient six-play drive with a short toss to open sr. TE Tyrone Cheeseboro for a 26-6 lead. Any hope the Lions had of cutting into the lead before halftime were thwarted by the punishing blind-side sack from Braves DE Dante’ Harmon. The Lions' opening second half drive failed to generate needed momentum as Bartram’s Thornton forced and recovered a fumble. To add to the disappointment, each of Penn’s three remaining drives of the game were met with quarterback sacks and substantial losses. Cheeseboro logged the first and second sack for a total of 17 yards and jr. DE Tyler Hall capped the defensive statement with 14 for the third of four sacks overall for the Braves.
Payin the Bill’s Play of the Game: Following the fumble recovery by Thornton early in the second half, Bartrum used every back on their roster to move the ball inside the Lions 30-yard line. From there, Brownlee patiently set up in the pocket and lofted a beautiful corner fade completion to Wilson, who outran the defender for 32-6 insurmountable lead—game over, bill’s paid.
The Tackle Leaders:
Bartram
Dante Harmon—9 (3 solo, 2 TFL, 1 sack)
Tyron Cheeseboro—9 (1 solo)
Duane Jones—7 (3 solo)
Robert Roper —6 (1 solo, 1 TFL)
Maurice Jessup—4 (1 solo, 1 TFL, 1 NG)
Triston Thorton—4 (1 NG, 1 fumble recovery)
Keith Fulton—3 (1 solo, 1 TFL)
Tyler Hall—3 (2 solo, 1 TFL, 1 sack)
Laquan Williams—3 (1 solo)
Tristen Lockridge—3 (1 TFL)
John Pratt—2 (2 solo, 1 NG, 1 fumble recovery)
Tyrone Cheeseboro—2 (2 solo, 2 TFL, 2 sacks)
Special teams leader—Sayon Gbain (2 solo special teams’ tackles)
William Penn
Kente Wiggins—8 (2 solo, 1 NG, 1 fumble recovery)
David Allen—5 (2 solo, 1 NG)
Dewayne Daughty—5 (1 solo)
Kevin Minnick—4 (1 solo)
#89—3 (3 solo)
Shawn Harrel—3 (1 solo)
Christopher Rowe—3 (1 solo)
James Rainey—3 (1 solo)
Gary Burgin—3 (1 solo)
Special teams leader—Christopher Rowe (55 yards in kickoff returns)

SEPT. 15
NON-LEAGUE
Washington 26, Bensalem 20
Be afraid—be very afraid. If this game failed to serve notice, then we’re in for some lopsided scores when division play begins. What the Eagles overcame in this thrilling slugfest should put to rest any questions regarding the poise, resiliency and talent of this team. They matched a formidable Bensalem squad to the bitter end, confronted weaknesses as they arose and survived an officiating crew that seemed less than fair at times. One Eagle that illustrated the sense of urgency throughout the contest was sr. RB Jay Sloh. In gaining 177 yards on just 16 carries, he demonstrated how moving one’s feet correlates into breaking tackles. A torrid pace began the evening’s action as the Owls rolled out an efficient pro-set offense that needed just 0:46 to put points on the board. Talented Owls quarterback, sr. Shane McSweeny fired a laser shot for 46 yards and, on the next play, used a key block from sr. OL Sean Grove to cut through a stunned Washington defense for another 17 yards and the game’s first touchdown. Surprisingly, the Eagles responded in kind when Sloh outran the pursuit around right end for 28 yards on the first play from scrimmage and jr. QB Clinton Granger then rolled to his right and connected with sr. RB Brian Carter in stride for 53 yards and a tie game—whew! On their next series, the Owls showcased the elusive running of sr. RB Raju Easterling. He sliced through the Eagle defense for three to five yards a crack, but when faced with a third-and-one later in the drive, the Owls decided to call on jr. TE Dylan Manni on one of his many crossing routes for 15 yards. A nice open field tackle by sr. OLB Oliver Wallace for limited yardage and some adjustments in Washington personnel resulted in a pair of Bensalem incompletions that forced a 32-yard field goal attempt, which fell just short. Back on offense, Washington countered their opponents with a 12-yard belly run from sr. RB Fateen Brown, an 11-yard quick out completion to sr. WR Brandon Bynum, and another 47 yards (on four carries) and from Sloh to move the team three yards from the lead. A slight twist to this game was the mounted play clocks, which hurried the Eagle offense into their first delay penalty followed immediately by a botched quarterback/center exchange that Bensalem recovered to thwart the Eagle drive. (Some of the angst from the Washington bench throughout came from what they perceived as inconsistent resetting of the game clock.) The Owls went right back to the ground game, mixed in a nice halfback screen for 20 yards, another tight end crossing route to the Washington 40, but a backward pass skipped off the ground, glanced off the receiver where a hustling sr. LB Aaron Hampton regained possession. An early holding penalty though halted their next series, forcing the first punt of the game. Bensalem returned to the elusive running of Easterling, gained some yardage via penalties and eventually scored on a three-yard dive to go ahead 13-6 with the conversion kick. With just over four minutes to go before halftime, the Owls defense began to show the first signs that they would be unable to keep the torrid pace established in the first quarter. Sloh, Brown and Carter used exceptional blocking from sr. G Mike Kelly, jr. C Curtis Graham and sr. G Aaron “Pancake” Murrey to complete a 12-play drive capped by a Brown three-yard scamper to pull the Eagles within a point as the first half came to a close. Sr. DB Anthony Bright seized the first half momentum-building score and returned the second half kickoff 30 yards to set up the Eagles near midfield. The offense however, after gaining an initial first down on a pass play from Granger to jr. TE Damien Wilmer, became careless two plays later and turned the ball over to the Owls. They were equally as careless during their first possession though, nearly turning the ball over on another backward pass to force their first punt of the game. Following a Washington three-and-out, Easterling’s 43-yard punt return, set the Owls up at the Eagle 25 where they needed just four plays to gain a 20-12 lead on a nice play by Manni, who demonstrated a nice inside release technique to catch a 13-yard touchdown pass. The resiliency of the 2006 Eagles then came through in the person of Brian Carter. Starting at their 20, Carter needed one play for the equalizer as he bolted around left end, slipped perhaps the only tackler with a chance, used a timely block from sr. TE Scott Marano and outran anything Bensalem had to offer for an 80-yard statement touchdown—wow! Wilmer climaxed the momentum shift with a leaping conversion catch in the corner of the end zone to tie the game. If that wasn’t enough from Carter, he came up huge on the ensuing Owl drive and showed excellent concentration to intercept a pass that was tipped in the air by the receiver in an attempt to keep the ball away from him. Deep their own territory, Washington managed to gain 24 yards (16 from Sloh), but Owl sr. DT Zaid Traboulsi blasted through the line to sack Granger for a 10-yard loss that ended the drive. The Eagle defense then stepped up and almost recovered a forced fumble by Marano, while sr. DE Fatel Lawal brought relentless pressure that the Owls failed to overcome. Faced with a third-and-nine, Washington received some breathing room courtesy of a pass interference penalty and they proceeded to march towards the go-ahead score. Granger completed a 15-yard belly pass to Wilmer, Sloh gained 26 more via the patented trap, Brown added 12 to move the team inside the Owl 10 and Granger gave the Eagles their first lead of the game on a two-yard keeper with 3:24 remaining in the game. The missed PAT kick loomed large as Bensalem started what would turn out to be their final drive. Tension mounted as they connected on a 24-yard screen pass and 17 yards on the ground put the Owls in a third-and-four situation. At this point, a pair of questionable calls sent the Eagle bench into hysterics. First, a screen pass was snuffed out by Lawal and as the receiver was going down he tossed the ball backwards, it fell to the ground and appeared to be recovered by Washington. The officials ruled the play dead and after a lengthy discussion they then ruled the next down as third, when clearly (at least on my sheet) the correct down was fourth. Nevertheless, the Owls completed the third/fourth down pass to secure another series, which would prove to be their last.
Payin the Bill’s Play of the Game: With less than 0:30 to go in regulation and the Eagles weary and frustrated, Bensalem closed to within eight yards of a tie. Having enjoyed great success with the tight end crossing route they attempted the play one more time, but this time, LB Aaron Hampton maintained his zone responsibility picked off the pass at the two-yard line and ran 15 yards for kneel down space—game over, bill’s paid.
The Tackle Leaders:
Washington
Devon Wallace—7 (1 solo, 1 NG)
Brian Carter—7 (4 solo, 1 NG, 2 passes defended)
Scott Marano—6 (4 solo, 1 forced fumble)
Aaron Murrey —6 (2 solo)
Aaron Hampton—6 (2 solo, 1 TFL)
Fatel Lawal—5 (2 solo, 1 TFL)
Oliver Wallace—5 (3 solo)
Dennis Boddie—3 (2 solo)
Rich McPhail—3 (1 solo)
Damien Wilmer—3
Brett Sommerer—3
Special teams leader—Devon Wallace (crucial tackle on Bensalem’s final kick return)
Bensalem
Chris Smith—8 (4 solo, 3 TFL)
Luis Nieves—6 (3 solo)
Ziad Trabougi—6 (1 solo, 1 TFL, 1 sack)
Brett Moss—6 (1 solo)
Jake Ludman—5 (3 solo)
Ronald Simmons—5
Matt Elias—4 (3 solo)
Chase Barry—3

SEPT. 8
NON-LEAGUE
Central 20, Lincoln 7
For a moment there, overtime actually entered the picture (whew). Although less than flawless, this well scheduled tune-up game provided each team a chance to see their respective weak points, adjust to momentum changes and reveal playmakers. As for the playmakers, Central sr. QB John Kennedy distinguished himself among the rest, while rushing for 129 yards on 16 carries and scored all three Lancer touchdowns with the finesse we’ve come to expect from a Frank Conway-coached team. Early on however, Lincoln discovered a consistent opening in the Lancer defensive front and jr. RB Calvin Philemond used some good execution from T Demetrius Gonsalves-Rose and G Vincent Christian to move the Railsplitters to midfield. On his fourth carry of the drive, he exploded through a similar gapping hole for a 30-yard gain. A play later, jr. QB Charles Boyd hit sr. RB/DB Dwayne Jones with short pass in the right flat and he weaved for 14 yards. To his credit, Jones makes up for a lack of blazing speed with a unique ability of making himself skinny in the open field. Philemond’s number was called to the same hole and he scored on an easy blast for a quick 7-0 Lincoln lead with the jr. William James’ conversion kick. Central responded by sending sr. RB Daniel Barrett thorough the same gap twice where he pounded out 15 of his 56 yards for the game. On the next play however, a low option pitch bounced onto the turf and Lincoln sr. LB Courey Burrell recovered. A first down loss of three yards and false start penalty gave momentum right back to Lancers and Kennedy surprised the Lincoln defense on the second play of the series with a well-disguised keeper for a 42-yard touchdown run around right end. Jr. K Mauro Falaschetti added the first of two PAT kicks to tie the game. The shifty moves of Jones gave the Lincoln offense an initial first down on the ensuing drive, but Central DB Ray Harris nearly intercepted an ill-advised pass and made a crucial open field solo tackle on third down to halt the drive. After a three-and-out though, Lancer jr. LB Aaron Pierce stepped up and sacked the quarterback for a 10-yard loss, resulting in yet another punt. One more chance to snatch momentum swung to the Railsplitters when a Central runner lost control of the ball, which one-hopped right to Dwayne Jones. With the ball to midfield, the Railsplitter offense lost three yards in three plays due to the hustle of sr. DL’s Mark Surma and Michael Thompson, who both recorded tackles for no gain. After gaining 24 yards on the ensuing punt return, a personal foul then advanced the next Lancer series to midfield. From there, a Kennedy option keep for 12 yards and a Barrett run of 17 to the Lincoln 17, set up a second Kennedy keep for another 12 to double lead with the conversion kick before halftime. A stiff Lincoln defense met Central in the second half as Burrell along with jr. DT Adam Goncharsky dropped the first play for a loss, while sr. DT Tyrone Bolden brought some authority to stuff the fourth one and give possession to the offense inside Central territory. Despite another 24 yards from Philemond and Jones, Lincoln came up 10 yards short of a tie game. Each team then traded fumbles as sr. LB Michael Taylor pounced on disrupted handoff exchange and the Lancers countered four plays later when Harris forced the ball to sr. DL Calvin Washington. A pair of 20+ yard dashes from sr. RB Corey Kelly and Harris seemed to end any hope of a Railsplitter comeback until Bolden stopped a fourth-and-15 attempt early in the fourth quarter. Surma’s third down sack gave possession back to Central, but the offense fumbled again just two plays into their next series to give Lincoln one last shot at overtime. Although they managed to run eight plays (for a net of 11 yards), Surma and jr. DL Thomas Harris ended the suspense with a fourth down combo sack for a 10-yard loss.
Payin the Bill’s Play of the Game: With 3:25 left, Central QB John Kennedy brought back memories of option magician Marcel Quarterman, as his deceptive pitch gave him enough space to cut against the grain and bolt 36 yards for a 20-7 lead—game over, bill’s paid.
The Tackle Leaders:
Central
Ray Harris —10 (7 solo, 1 pass defended, 1 forced fumble)
Brock Baxter—10 (5 solo)
Mark Surma —9 (2 solo, 3 TFL, 2 ½ sacks)
Calvin Washington—8 (5 solo)
Matt Morlock—8 (2 solo, 2 NG, 2 TFL)
Kyle Nolan —4 (3 solo, 1 TFL)
David Cruz—4 (1 solo, 1 TFL, 1 NG)
Mark Thompson—3 (2 TFL)
Kyle Yeiter —3 (1 solo)
Aaron Pierce—2 (1 solo, 1 TFL)
William Brown—2
Special teams leaders—Mauro Falaschetti (2 for 3 in PAT kicks) & # 36 (2 punt returns for 39 yards).
Lincoln
Corey Burrell—9 (4 solo, 5 TFL, 1 fumble recovery)
Tyrone Bolden—8 (7 solo, 1 TFL)
Brams Theodore—4 (1 solo, 1 TFL)
Adam Goncharsky—4 (1 TFL)
Tim Algeo—3 (1 solo)
Deryk Barnes—3 (1 solo)
William James—2 (2 solo)
Vincent Christian—2 (2 solo)
Michael Taylor—2 (1 solo, 1 TFL)
Jeffery Goldwire—2 (1 solo, 1 TFL)
Special teams leader— Shariff Assad (35.3-yard “gross” average on four punts).

SEPT. 1
NON-LEAGUE
Roxborough 32, Edison 14
   Consistent smash-mouth football from the Roxborough Indians?   Too early to tell, maybe, but the performances of sr. RB’s Calden Pierce (13-154) and Kevin Hargrove (12-97) left little doubt about the Indians' pending offensive game plans. In the process of pounding out 321 total yards of rushing offense, the returning Indians responded to the awkward 2005 effort against the spirited Owls and snapped head coach Mike Stanley’s two-year losing streak versus the team.   The Indian defense made quick work of the game’s opening series when sr. NT Nafis Briggs hustled to deliver a punishing sack on the Owls second down play and a third down errant pitch by the shaken quarterback bounced into the pursuit of sr. DE Chris Koons. In business at the Edison 36, Pierce repelled inside tacklers for 13 yards on the three carries. A play later, jr. QB Steven Tucker used a broken play to create a dash around right end where Pierce and sr. TE Russhane Black executed key blocks that allowed Tucker to glide to the game’s first touchdown. After a first and 15 start stalled the Owls second series, their special teams then gave Indian sr. RB/DB Ramon Odom the entire right side and he outran the startled coverage for a 66-yard punt return and a 12-0 lead with five minutes left in the first quarter. Edison responded in kind with the inside running of sr. RB Kory Marshall, who worked off the blocking of LG Jamil Maisonet, C Antonio Morales and RG Jephunney Nduati, deflected arm tackles and rambled for 38 yards on seven carries. This set up a stunning 20-yard touch pass into double coverage from sr. QB Ernesto Medina to WR Jessley Vargas to cut the Indian lead in half.   Just two plays into Roxborough’s next series, LB Daniel Soto forced a fumble that was recovered by DL Edwin Correa, but the Indian defense regained control when jr. CB Amir Boler ripped an interception away from a Edison receiver five plays into the potential tying drive. From their own 10, Pierce, Tucker and Hargrove continued to run through and around the Owl defense, gaining first downs every other carry that included a 20-yard sweep run by Pierce. The 12-play, 90-yard drive was capped with a well-executed 27-yard screen pass for touchdown from Tucker to Pierce, aided by a crucial blind side block from jr. G Sheldon Walker. Despite a muffed punt and a roughing the passer penalty, the Indians managed to run out the first half without further scoring. A good kick return by sr. DB Bruce Ford Jr. to open the second half gave the Indians possession near midfield and they extending their lead to 26-6 (see play of the game) behind the fundamental drive blocking of RG Antoine Hughes, C Mark Champion and LG Kenny Marcelin. Owl sr. DB Robert Serrano matched the previous kick return and a nice leaping 22-yard catch over the middle by WR Kendall Thomas on a sharp throw from Medina quickly moved Edison deep into Indian territory. Although a pass interference penalty on fourth down kept hope alive, a host of Roxborough defenders clamped down on Medina’s desperation run four plays later. For the second time, the Indians embarked on a 90-yard drive, which started with 45-yard jaunt around right end by Pierce and ended on his third carry of the drive around left end from 19 yards out to extend the lead to 32-6 late in the third quarter. Edison failed to get close to the goal line until the Roxborough offense had used up six minutes of the final quarter and they needed another well thrown touch pass from Medina to a covered Thomas in order to close all scoring.
   Payin' the Bills Play of the Game: Following the 25-yard kick return to open the second half, Kevin Hargrove ran for seven yards and, on the next play, executed a perfect dive play into Edison A-gap and went 45 yards untouched to give the Indians a 20 point lead. Perhaps just as important on the play was Tucker’s precise exchange technique that left the Edison defense little time to react—game over, bills paid.
Footnotes:
   The officiating in this game was some of the finest in recent memory. Judgments were fast, accurate and the flow of the game was well maintained.
The Tackle Leaders:
Roxborough
Calden Pierce—12 (1 solo, 1 TFL, 1 NG)
Ramon Odom —8 (2 solo)
Chris Koons—6 (2 solo, 1 TFL, 1 fumble recovery)
Nafis Briggs—5 (2 solo, 1 NG, 1 TFL, 1 sack)
Markel Wright—5 (1 solo)
Kevin Hargrove—4 (1 TFL)
Amir Boler—3
Russhane Black—3 (1 pass defended)
Ellis Beamon—2 (2 assisted special teams tackles)
Bruce Ford—2 (2 assisted special teams tackles)
Sheldon Walker—2 (1 NG)
Special teams leader—Chris Koons (covered three of his own kicks and recovered an Edison onside attempt)
Edison
Daniel Soto—7 (1 solo, 1 TFL, 1 forced fumble)
Joshua Alicea—6 (2 solo)
Kendall Thomas—6 (2 solo)
Kory Marshall—6 (2 solo)
Robert Serrano—5 (1 solo)
John Martinez—5 (1 solo, 1 TFL, 1 sack)
Isaac Foley—5 (1 fumble recovery)
Eddie Torrez—3 (1 solo)
Rakeem Paige—3 (2 solo)
Special teams leader— Kory Marshall (34 kick return yards in the fourth quarter).

	Tackles	Solo	Assists	TFL	NG	Sacks	FF	FR	INT	PD
Nick Moody	9	4	5	2 (-10)	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sean Clift	6	3	3	1 (-2)	0	0	0	0	0	0
John Clark	6	0	6	3 (-5)	0	0	0	0	0	1
Andrew Regan	5	3	2	1 (-2)	2	0	0	0	0	0
Chuck Cohen	5	2	3	4 (-17)	0	2	0	0	0	0
Dom Joseph	5	2	3	1 (-2)	0	0	0	1	0	0
Matt Marcinek	4	2	2	1 (-3)	2	0	0	1	0	0
Jewhan Edwards	3	2	1	2 (-4)	0	0	0	0	0	0
Reggie Irby	3	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Anthony Pizzo	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ed Krimmel	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ricky Nau	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Chris Johnson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0

	Tackles	Solo	Assists	TFL	NG	Sacks	FF	FR	INT	PD
Chris Koons	11	2	9	1 (-1)	1	0	0	0	0	0
Diante Stokes	7	4	3	3 (-8)	0	1	0	0	0	0
Markel Wright	7	2	5	5 (-12)	0	0	0	0	0	0
Nafis Briggs	7	2	5	3 (-4)	0	0	0	1	0	0
Ramon Odom	6	2	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Sheldon Walker	6	1	5	2 (-3)	2	0	0	0	0	0
Russhane Black	5	2	3	1 (-1)	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bruce Ford	4	2	2	1 (-3)	0	0	0	0	0	0
Amir Boler	4	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Calden Pierce	4	1	3	1-(-1)	1	0	0	0	0	0
Kevin Hargrove	4	1	3	2 (-2)	0	0	0	0	0	0
Robert McGrier	3	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Shawn Campbell	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mark Champion	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Cory Temple	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Andrese Hicks	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Stephen Tucker	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0

	Tackles	Solo	Assists	TFL	NG	Sacks	FF	FR	INT	PD
Dwayne Lewis	10	1	9	1 (-1)	1	0	0	1	0	0
Terell Lewis	9	3	6	3 (-13)	0	1	1	0	0	0
Brandon Allen	8	2	6	2 (-3)	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tyree Dudley	7	2	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Chris Spence	6	2	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lamont Fitzgerald	6	2	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Josh Burnett	5	1	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Khalif Walker	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Eugene Thomas	3	0	3	1 (-1)	0	0	0	0	0	0
Markel Jefferson	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
George Ferrell	2	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Steven Ortega	1	1	0	1 (-9)	0	0	0	0	0	0
JC Montgomery	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sharon Nash	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
William Mount	1	1	0	1 (-1)	0	0	0	0	0	0
Warren Tinsley	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Sean Henderson	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ervin Goodson	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
James Quilles	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

	Tackles	Solo	Assists	TFL	NG	Sacks	FF	FR	INT	PD
Joe Snydman	6	3	3	2 (-9)	2	1/2	1	0	0	0
Shane Nolte	5	4	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
John Chapman	4	3	1	3 (-22)	0	2	0	0	0	0
Craig Williams	4	1	3	2 (-11)	2	1 1/2	0	0	0	0
Jim Love	4	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dave Keubler	4	3	1	1 (-3)	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jim Domzalski	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Brendan Foley	3	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Justin Bainbridge	3	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Kevin Backus	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tom McCue	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Christian Schrader	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Steve Mcleon	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Ray O'Hara	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Chris Bolton	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Mike Brown	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

	Tackles	Solo	Assists	TFL	NG	Sacks	FF	FR	INT	PD
Joe Mitros	9	6	3	4 (-11)	0	0	0	1	0	0
Stephen Yuan	9	5	1	1 (-3)	2	0	0	0	0	0
Joe Smart	8	4	4	1 (-1)	0	0	0	0	0	0
Nick Griffiths	6	0	6	2 (-4)	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jason Golderer	5	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Pat Doyle	5	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Robert Somerville	5	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jim Surdykowski	5	2	3	2 (-4)	0	0	0	0	0	0
Marc Newton	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Branden Williams	3	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Steve Parish	2	0	2	1 (-1)	0	0	0	0	0	0

	Tackles	Solo	Assists	TFL	NG	Sacks	FF	FR	INT	PD
Brandon Allen	11	3	8	6	2	1 1/2	0	0	0	0
Tyree Dudley	9	4	5	3	0	0	1	0	0	0
Steven Ortega	6	0	6	1	0	1 1/2	0	0	0	0
Chris Spence	6	2	4	1	0	0	0	1	0	0
Lamont Fitzgerald	4	1	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0
Nate Johnson	3	1	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
Markel Jefferson	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Josh Burnett	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Khalif Walker	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Robert Santos	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
William Ray	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Eugene Thomas	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
George Ferrell	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Akeem Whipple	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Aron May	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
#58	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kareem Steplight	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
James Qiulles	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
John Washington	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ronald Corr	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
William Mount	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Tyree Latham	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Ratai Myers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Eddie Ferrell	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

	Tackles	Solo	Assists	TFL	NG	Sacks	FF	FR	INT	PD
Joe Razzano	11	6	5	1 (-1)	0	1	0	1	0	0
Alex Holcombe	7	2	5	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Charlie Taft	7	2	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kevin Doty	7	1	6	0	1	0	0	1	0	0
Pete Haines	6	2	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bill Vernon	6	0	6	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Dave Magagna	5	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Addison West	5	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Reed Marko	4	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Joe Conaway	4	1	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Ed Logan	3	2	1	1 (-5)	0	1	1	0	0	0
# 64	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ben Finelli	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

	Tackles	Solo	Assists	TFL	NG	Sacks	FF	FR	INT	PD
Jabar Turner	9	4	5	3 (-3)	1	0	0	0	0	0
Kevin Minnick	8	4	4	1 (-3)	1	0	0	0	0	0
Kente Wiggins	6	2	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dante Atkins	5	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Hakeem Brown	5	1	4	1 (-1)	0	0	0	0	0	0
Steven Hill	4	2	2	1 (-1)	1	0	0	0	0	0
Malik Mills	4	0	4	0	2	0	0	1	0	0
Gerald Erby	4	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Maurice Clanton	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
James Rainey	3	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dashawn Williams	3	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Gary Burgin	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Waine Palmer	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Dewayne Daughty	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Lester Tukes	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Naheem Johnson	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tyhief Piner	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jerome Buckner	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0

	Tackles	Solo	Assists	TFL	NG	Sacks	FF	FR	INT	PD
Darryl McBride	8	3	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Joshua Taylor	7	3	4	1	0	0	1	0	0	0
Ryeheim Magobet	7	3	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Eric Williams	5	2	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
A. Kemp-Smith	4	1	3	1	0	1	0	1	0	0
Maurice Young	3	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Alan Steele	3	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Rahmel Hamilton	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jarett Travis	2	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Khalil Lainey	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tyree Clemons	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Chris Oliver	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Markief Moore	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tramelle McKie	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jason Hardy	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Paul Bennett	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Roxborough Defensive Statistics:

Frankford Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Ervin Goodson (Despite missing his only PAT kick, came back to nail an 18-yard game winning field goal.)

Washington Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Brandon Bynum (Two special teams tackles.)

Special teams leader—Shane Nolte (Opening 67-yard kickoff return & two solo special teams tackles.)

McDevitt Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Jason Golderer (50-yard kickoff return.)

Washington Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Hopeton Bailey (Blocked FG attempt & two solo special teams tackles.)

Northeast Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Tim Freiling (41-yard FG & 1-1 PAT conversions.)

Central Defensive Statistics:

Olney Defensive Statistics:

Roman Defensive Statistics:

LaSalle Defensive Statistics:

Dobbins Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Martin Roberts (32-yard knuckleball kickoff to start the second half and turn momentum.)

Germantown Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Tramelle McKie (Touchdown saving solo tackle on the opening kickoff.)

Washington Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Brian Carter (Momentum-shifting 76-yard kick return to start the second half.)

Gratz Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Malik Palmer (111 total yards in kick returns.)

Special teams leader—Matt Dolente (Three kick returns for 73 yards.)

Germantown Academy Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Alex Holcombe (87-yard touchdown return and one solo special teams tackle.)

Special teams leader—Eric Whitaker (solo tackled the dangerous Jerrell Toomer during a punt return with

0:26 left.)

Olney Defensive Statistics:

D. Jeoboham

Special teams leaders—Izahia Green (2 special teams tackles, one solo.)

Special teams leader—Geoff Prather (3 solo special teams tackles.)

Special teams leaders—Keith Dockery & Sean Kidd (Fourth quarter pass completion out of punt formation that, in one way or another, fooled everyone in attendance.)

William Penn Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Devon Wallace (Teeth shattering tackle on 21-7 kickoff)

Dobbins Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Chris Williams (Blocked punt in the first quarter.)

Carroll Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—P Luke Wischnowski (Patient 10-yard pass completion out of punt formation in the

fourth quarter.)

Special teams leader— Ervin Goodson (112 return yards and 4-5 in PAT kicks)

Germantown Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Mamady Magassouba (41 yard kickoff that resulted in a return of minus one yard.)

Special teams leader—Joe Smith (recovered fumble during kickoff early in the second quarter.)

Bonner Defensive Statistics:

Special teams leader—Matt Zabel (recovered onside kick to keep Bonner in the game.)

Special teams leader—Diante Stokes & Bruce Ford (both recovered special teams’ fumbles)

Lincoln Defensive Statistics

Special teams leader—William James (27.5 kick average, including a touchback)

Special teams leaders—Keith Dockery & Sean Kidd (Fourth quarter pass completion out of punt formation
that, in one way or another, fooled everyone in attendance.)