Huck's Corner Football 2005 Return to TedSilary.com Home Page   Ed "Huck" Palmer is a headliner among our trusty statmen/observers. He is not to be confused with Tom "Puck" McKenna. (Huck is normal. Puck is not even close). He will make reports on games he sees. You may contact him at TEDDYCAT10@aol.com.

NOV. 24
NON-LEAGUE
West Catholic 13, Penn Wood 6
      This is the sixth consecutive year the Burrs and Patriots have clashed on Thanksgiving, and for fourth straight year and five of six the Burrs walked away victorious. Many thought that this one would be over early as Penn Wood entered the game (1-10), and had taken more than their share of lumps over the course of the year. The Burrs have been one of the better clubs in the Catholic League and have a date with Archbishop Wood for the CL Blue championship staring them in the face next weekend. Still, the Patriots played with a nothing-to-lose attitude and the Burrs were; let’s just say, lackluster to disinterested. All of the scoring occurred in the first quarter.  Sr. WR/DB Chris Palmer recovered a loose ball on the game’s opening kickoff and set the Burrs up at the Penn Wood 39-yard line. Seven plays later sr. QB Steven Powers fired a nice pass that hit sr. WR/DB John Maddox in stride for a 13-yard touchdown. The Patriots immediately struck back and marched 52 yards on six plays. The point-after attempt was blocked by sr. DT/OL Chris Farmer and Burrs held a 7-6 lead. Later in the first quarter the Patriots attempted a pass out of punt formation that fell incomplete. This set the Burrs up at the PW 36-yard line. On the very next play jr. RB Dennis Shaw zigged and zagged his way to the end zone to close out the scoring. West would actually dominate the second quarter. They ran 20 plays to Penn Wood’s 6 in the quarter. The Burrs would out gain the Patriots 117-to-3 in that stanza, but would fail to dent the scoreboard. There two possessions reached as far as the 17 and 12 yard lines. In the second half the Burrs offense sputtered. On the other hand the Patriots mounted a couple of threats. Their best opportunity came on their initial second half possession. They drove as far as the West 13-yard line. However, the drive was thwarted by a sack by sr. LB Danny Chavis on third down. Then, Palmer intercepted a PW pass on fourth down. Midway through the fourth quarter the Burrs held the ball ten plays and took considerable time off the clock. The series ended at the PW 8-yard line, but in the process the Patriots had used all of their timeouts. On their last gasp the Patriots managed consecutive misfires on passes, a 6-yard run, and then the game ended when sr. LB Wayne Donahue sacked PW’s jr. QB Dominic Herr (160 yards passing/rushing). To put it mildly this game was short on some of the trimmings that many are accustomed to on Thanksgiving. However, the Burrs did reach a couple of individual milestones. Maddox finished the day with 9 grabs for 109 yards. His eighth grab gave him 100 for his career. His career totals with one game left; 101 receptions and 1,752 yards. The yardage mark places him third all-time in city history. With the victory head coach Brian Fluck achieved his 50th career win. Currently in his seventh season Fluck is now (50-36). In the fourteen years prior to Fluck taking over the Burr program had only won 48 games. That just goes to show you how much things have changed for the Burrs since Brian’s arrival. The 50 wins leaves Fluck two short from the school record currently held by Vince McAneney (’57-’64). Shaw continued his good play and raced to 156 yards on 24 carries. He now has 1,537 yards on the year. This is the sixth consecutive year the Burrs have produced a 1,400-yard rusher. The others are: ’00 Abdul Sesay, ’01-’03 Curtis Brinkley, and ’04 Chris Diaferio. Powers played just in the first half and went finished 7-for-15, for 97 yards. Defensively, sr. DT Kirk Hinton made his second pick in consecutive games. He actually returned it 35 yards for a touchdown, but the score was wiped out by two Burr penalties. Leading tacklers were Donahue, Chavis, and soph. LB Marquese Sanders (all solos) all with six. Palmer, sr. DB Tyrek Smith, and jr. LB Marc Holloway each contributed four. Once again the game was witnessed by a solid crowd and plenty of former Burrs. West will now set their sights on the CL Blue championship game next Saturday at 4 o’clock, at Northeast H.S. The Burrs have dropped three straight Blue title games, including two straight to next week’s opponent Wood. The Burrs lost to the Vikings a couple weeks back 23-12.

NOV. 12
CL BLUE 1st ROUND PLAYOFF
Conwell-Egan 27, McDevitt 21 (OT)
     Earlier this season, in game played behind C-E’s school these two teams uncorked a dandy that saw the Eagles walk away with an exciting 27-20 victory. Would a repeat performance be possible? Yes, and then some!!! After looking left for dead the Eagles rallied from two touchdowns back to advance to next week’s CL Blue semifinals versus Wood. For excitement purposes let’s start at the end, more specifically the OT session. The Eagles had possession first and their sequence went like this: 6-yard run by jr. FB/LB Ray O’Hara, 3-yard run by jr. QB/DB Kevin Schafer, and then Schafer scored on a 1-yard plunge. The extra-point was pushed wide right. McDevitt’s possession went like this: a pair of 3-yard runs by sr. RB Manny Harrison on first and second down. On third down Harrison again took the ball and appeared to be headed for the game-tying score. Then, somewhere around the one-yard line, and possibly inside the one he was hit on the side by multiple C-E defenders causing him to fumble the ball forward and into the end zone. The ball traveled roughly three yards deep and into the waiting arms of C-E’s jr. LB Tom McCue. The recovery set off a wild celebration in and around the C-E sideline. Needless to say the Lancers were quite the opposite and many were overcome with grief. Now back to the beginning. Even though the Eagles struck first on a 55-yard run by sr. RB Rasuel Thomas, it was the Lancers who carried the play. The Lancers would tie the game on a 5-play, 43-yard drive that saw Harrison take the ball five times in succession. His last carry produced a 3-yard touchdown. The Eagles tried a little razzle-dazzle on the ensuing kickoff, but soph. DB Marc Newton stripped the ball and sr. DB Jim Callahan was there to make the recovery. It would take the Lancers just three plays to move the 28 yards for the go-ahead score. Again it was Harrison, this time on a 14-yard jaunt making the score 14-7. While C-E sputtered, the Lancers failed to put the game out of reach despite having a couple of golden opportunities. Harrison and sr. FB/LB Barry Porter were running for large chunks of yardage, seemingly looking unstoppable. However, one drive ended when Schafer intercepted a sr. QB Tom Maha pass at the 11-yard line. At the end of the half jr. K/DB Joe Mitros badly missed on a 32-yard field goal. So, the score remained 14-7 McDevitt as the game entered the second half. The Lancers appeared to have picked up where they left off and moved the ball on the ground right down the field on their first possession. They held the ball for the first 6:34 and ran 13 plays, but eventually stalled at the C-E 21-yard line. However, on C-E’s first play Schafer went to hand the ball off, but before he could the ball slipped out of his hands and began to roll backwards. When the dust had settled McDevitt’s sr. DE Bill Murphy had made the recovery at the C-E 4-yard line. On the very next play Harrison scored his third touchdown of the game and put what appeared to be a stranglehold on the game with a 21-7 lead. Why would anyone think that the Eagles could mount a comeback? At this point they had managed 55 yards and one first down on Thomas’ TD run. Aside from that they only had 9 yards and no other first downs. On the other hand, McDevitt had 14 first downs and 206 yards in offense. So, what happened you ask? C-E’s Schafer literally put his team on his back and willed them back into the game. It would have been really easy for this kid to sulk and bury his head after his dreadful mistake on the previous possession. Instead, he reached down and made play, after play, after play. Not wasting any time he went right to work on C-E’s next possession. The Eagles drove 60 yards on 10 plays to make the score 21-13 with 14 seconds left in the third quarter. On the drive Schafer completed both of his passes for 19 yards. The second completion was the touchdown, an 8-yard strike to jr. WR David Kuebler (4-25). On the play, Schafer did a great job of fooling the Lancer defense on a lovely pump fake before finding Kuebler wide open in the corner of the end zone. Not to go unnoticed during the drive was the running of Schafer. He reeled off critical sprints of 9, 23, and 16 yards on the drive. The 16-yarder came on a fourth-and-five play from the BM 21-yard line. C-E’s defense stiffened on the Lancers next possession and the Schafer was back at it. Again, it was a 10-play drive, but this time the drive covered 68 yards. Just like on the last scoring drive Schafer completed both of his passes. Early in the drive he hit a wide open sr. TE/DE Steve Herrmann (2-35) in the middle of the field for 23 yards. Later, an 11-yard toss to jr. WR/DB Shane Nolte set up a first-and-goal at the McDevitt 5-yard line. Showing a nice second effort Thomas spun his way in from 2 yards out to make the score 21-19. The conversion play was picture-perfect. Schafer rolled to his right and then threw back to the other side of the field to Herrmann, who with multiple blockers ahead of him found his way home to tie the game at 21-21 with 5:36 to play. Schafer also used his legs on that drive and had first down runs of 12 and 14 yards. McDevitt’s next possession ended on a nice tackle by Nolte on BM’s sr. WR/DB Brian Mitros. Needing four yards on fourth down Maha swung the ball to Mitros on a lateral. Mitros raced around the right end and dove upward where he was met by Nolte. The hit sent Mitros somersaulting into the air and left him a yard short on the C-E 34-yard line. The Eagles took over and marched to the McDevitt 42-yard line. On a fourth-and-one play Thomas was stuffed for a yard loss and the Lancers took back over with 1:42 left. Their last series in regulation went like this; incomplete pass, 9-yard run by Porter to C-E 48, 30-yard pass from Maha to B. Mitros to the 18, 4-yard run by Harrison, and then a first down pass from Maha to sr. WR Abe Doe to the seven-yard line. This is when things became somewhat confusion for the Lancers. The clock was stopped momentarily because of the first down. As the Lancers rushed to the line of scrimmage they were called for an offside penalty. The ball was placed back at the 12 and then time was whistled to begin. Meanwhile, Maha was near the sideline conversing with Head Coach Pat Manzi thinking the clock was stopped. By the time they had noticed 11 seconds had raced off and McDevitt had to burn their final timeout with 23 seconds left. On the next play Maha went two yards on a quarterback draw and then quickly reorganized his offensive unit for an intentional spike of the ball with 10 seconds left. J. Mitros’ 27-yard field goal had the distance, but was pushed just to the right. After a C-E kneel down the game went to overtime. Phew, breath-catching time!! Schafer was brilliant over the final quarter-and-a-half. For the game he completed 7-of-12 passes, for 71 yards and rushed for another 80 yards on 17 carries. Most of his lugs were designed keepers, usually up the middle or around the edge. Thomas (10-63) did score twice, but ran tentatively in between. Helping the Eagles on the line were; sr. C Ron Smith, G’s jr. Justin Bainbridge, sr. Rob Heller (left with lower leg injury), and jr. Joe Snydman, T’s sr. Rob Christine and sr. Kevin Dunn, and TE Herrmann. Defensively, Schafer was equally as good as he was on offense. He had a pick, made three pass defends, and was in on 8 tackles. O’Hara was rock steady in the middle of the defense for the Eagles, and ended with 10 tackles (7 solos). Sr. NG Ali Kunter showed strength and perseverance in the doing the grunt work up front. He made a total of ten stops, including a half of sack, and four tackles for losses all together. Sr. LB Rich Dupell twice blindsided Maha on sacks. He ended up with 2.5 sacks in the game. He totaled 8 tackles, with 5 going for 20 yards in losses. Also active on the C-E defense were; Nolte (7), Snydman (6), McCue (5), and sr. DT Jake Maurizi (5), as all had a handful of stops. To me McDevitt probably could have seized control of this game much earlier and maybe even win comfortably if they just stuck to their running game. They had a size advantage on the line and the combination of Harrison and Porter were doing considerable damage. Besides scoring all three of McDevitt’s touchdown Harrison rushed 32 times for 163 yards. He also added a nice 47-yard return on a kickoff. Porter (6’1”, 240 lbs) bulled, pulled, and carried his way to 87 yards on just 12 totes. It just seemed to me that every time McDevitt went to pass early in the game something negative happened in the form of a sack, the INT, or just an incompletion that put the offense in a less than favorable down and yardage situation. The McDevitt offense did rack up 292 yards on the night. They had their most success when they were in a two-tight end formation. Their offensive line consisted of; jr. C Brendan Gullotti, G’s jr. Jim Surdykowski and sr. Albert Leva, T’s sr. Mike Wojcik (6’4”, 280 lbs) and jr. Nick Griffiths, and TE’s Doe and jr. James Scharle. I really like Wojcik's chances. He is a big kid who moves rather well. He looks extremely coachable. Maha was erratic early and finished just 4-for-14, for 49 yards. Mitros finished with three grabs for 42 yards. Defensively, sr. LB Steve Gallagher had a team-high 8 tackles. Jr. DE Brandon Williams was next with seven stops. I liked Surdykowski (5 tackles) on the end, as he ended the game with 3 TFL’s. Wojcik and J. Mitros evenly split 12 tackles. B. Mitros added an interception. This was my first ever trip to Wissahickon to cover a game and I was impressed with the facility. Everything was pleasant about this place, except for the drive of course, which I didn’t have to worry about since I hitched a ride with West head man Brian Fluck and his assistant Brian Weathers. Thanks guys!

NOV. 11
CL RED – 1st ROUND PLAYOFF
Father Judge 27, Roman 19
     The feel of winter was certainly in the air at Widener’s Quick stadium, and for certain sideline reporters that made conditions a little nippy to say the least. Still, with winter in the air and yours truly on the sidelines, that could only mean one thing—Catholic League football playoffs! And what a game I was treated to, as the Cahillites and Crusaders did their part to see that this Friday evening was more than enjoyable. Roman came out flying and behind the play of their star, sr. OLB/WR Rockeed McCarter, landed the first blow of many that these teams would throw at each other. On Judge’s third play of their opening series, McCarter blindsided Judge sr. QB Justin DeCristofaro for a sack that forced a fumble. The ball was eventually recovered by the Cahillites sr. DT Joe Mulhern. Two plays later, McCarter, lining up in the backfield, took a handoff and waltzed in for an all-too-easy 32-yard touchdown. The sack and score by McCarter was bittersweet for the Cahillites, as their star would only see scattered time for the rest of the game as he suffered from back spasms. His presence and big-play ability would be sorely missed. Early on the Crusaders displayed little, if any, offense. Their first four possessions only netted 23 yards and no first downs. Then, seemingly out of nowhere DeCristofaro found a wide open soph. WR Andrew McHale (3-78) streaking over the middle. Using deceptive speed, he surprisingly slipped past Roman sr. DB/QB Cory Jackson and then, later on in the run, bobbed-weaved his way down to the nine-yard line. This play alone covered 64 yards. Three plays later these two hooked up once again, this time on a 5-yard scoring toss to tie the game at 6-6. The Cahillites after their early score also struggled offensively, but then untied the game off a big pass play of their own. Jackson found sr. WR Dan Jordan (2-74) on a bomb down the right sideline. Jordan did an excellent job of showing patience and then used his height advantage to jump over the smaller Judge defensive back, easily plucking the ball and then shaking loose for a 62-yard touchdown. This would close out the scoring in the first half and give the Cahillites 13-7 lead. After forcing Roman to punt on their first possession of the second half, the Crusaders wasted little time making things closer. On their first offensive play DeCristofaro hit jr. WR/DB Tom Hayes (3-66) on a rocket-screen and after some fancy leg work the talented wide out found the end zone on a 53-yard score. Judge failed to knot the game as DeCristofaro, on a designed fake kept the ball from the holder’s position, but was stopped short on the conversion run. The Crusaders would take their first lead of the game after an 11-play, 64-yard drive that started at the end of the third quarter and finished with 8:05 left in the fourth. DeCristofaro was beyond clutch on the drive. He completed 4-of-5 passes for 62 yards. Twice, he converted fourth downs. The second of these conversions resulted in a 23-yard touchdown pass to sr. WR Mark Ryan. On the conversion, DeCristofaro hit sr. FB/LB Jeff McMahon (I love this kid’s intensity) to make the score 20-13 Judge. Roman’s next drive ended when Judge’s sr. DB Will Taggert intercepted a pass thrown by soph. QB/DB Chris Johnson. Taggert proceeded to return the pick 17 yards down to the Roman 20. Then, it took the Crusaders just four plays to increase their lead. McMahon ran for nine and five yards. This was followed by a 5-yard run from jr. RB/DB Joe Thompson (17-40) and then a 1-yard touchdown run by Thompson, making the score 27-13 with 4:58 left. The Cahillites didn’t go quietly as they needed just 47 seconds to draw with in 27-19. Roman’s sr. RB Sean Woods (6-43) provided the score with a 17-yard scamper. He was instrumental a play earlier in the drive when he took a screen pass 41 yards. Later in the quarter the Cahillites would get one last chance to try to tie the game. They began the drive at their 30-yard line with 2:35 left. Johnson hit McCarter with a 6-yard pass on first down. This was followed by two incompletions. On fourth down, Johnson was sacked by McMahon on fourth down and any hope the Cahillites had was now gone. With Roman unable to stop the clock DeCristofaro took three knees to end the game. You just had to feel good for DeCristofaro. After a very good junior season the lefty gunslinger was awarded 1st Team A-C in the CL Red. Earlier in the week he sat back and got the news that four other CL Red quarterbacks were awarded either 1st or 2nd Team A-C, while he had to settle for honorable mention. I can’t say for sure whether or not this was justified, but what I can say is this. Tonight, he exhibited qualities such as leadership, toughness, clutch, and poise -- all attributes of a 1st-Team A-C quarterback. He finished 12-for-22, with 270 yards and three touchdowns. The yardage mark is second all-time in CL playoff history. Bonner’s Mike Mitros threw for 274 yards in 1992 also against Roman. DeCristofaro hit five different receivers in the game. Aside from the players already mentioned jr. WR John Tomaszewski (3-72) and McMahon (2-31) also were involved. The boys up front for the Crusaders gave DeCristofaro time to throw for the most part. This unit included: sr. C Mike McKnight, G’s jr. Brendan Kwisz and sr. Kyle Ewald, T’s soph. Dave Smith (6’2”, 277 lbs), sr. Mike Ulrich (6’4”, 292 lbs), and sr. Jude Cooke (6’7”, 292 lbs), and soph. TE Dan Keenan. Defensively, the Crusaders made things difficult for Roman for most of the night. They gave up just 78 yards on 30 totes, and held Roman QB’s to a 4-for-20 passing game. McMahon (6 tackles) recorded two sacks that totaled 30 yards in losses. SR. DT Ryan White also had two sacks that accumulated 16 yards in losses. Jr. DT Mike Murphy (6’1”, 276 lbs) added a sack too. The leading tackler for Judge was impressive soph. LB Chris Dowling, who showed sideline-to-sideline ability with 12 total stops (6 solos). Thompson (six) and Hayes (five) were also active in the tackling department. Taggert blocked a PAT and made two pass defends to go along with his pick. The Cahillites had a tough time generating any kind of consistency on offense. I was a little surprised that they didn’t use Woods more often than they did. He had been their most productive rusher on the year and only getting six carries struck me as a little odd. One of his rushes came off a fake punt that resulted in 17 yards and a first down. Speaking of punts, Woods did a nice job in that area, punting six times for 35.8 average. Jr. RB Ricky Nau (7-32) ran respectably. Soph. RB Aaron Duncan’s best moment came on a 37-yard kickoff return. Jackson finished only 2-for-12, for 74 yards. Defensively, the Cahillites seemed to wear down some in the late going. Their leading tackler was aggressive soph. LB Sean Clift with 8 stops. Sacks were had by McCarter, sr. LB Ryan McAdams (5 stops), and jr. DB Dom Joseph, who had five tackles in total and four pass defends. DT’s Mulhern (six) and sr. Rich Brandt (five) were active. Soph. DT Jewhan Edwards (6’1”, 285 lbs) looks like a keeper. Also contributing were DB Johnson (five) and sr. DB Jim Ewing who had six solo tackles. Sr. DB Aaron Pryer finished with six stops and had the hit of the night on a Judge kickoff return. This is the second year in a row the third-seeded Cahillites season ended with major disappointment. Last year, Roman also lost in the first round as the third seed. A year ago it was Bonner who sent the Cahillites home early. It was great to see Judge Head Coach Tommy Coyle and his team earn the win. I have the pleasure of working with him at Keenan’s Irish Pub in North Wildwood during the summers. There is still more work to be done for the Crusaders, but no matter what happens from this point, our after-work beverage of choice should be a little more enjoyable come summertime. Congrats T.C. and good luck!

NOV. 5
CL BLUE
Wood 23, West Catholic 12
     The Vikings claimed the CL Blue regular season crown in convincing fashion as they were two, three, four steps ahead of the Burrs all game long. The Burr defense entered the game with an impressive resume, but on this day they were no match for the supremely prepared and highly efficient Vikings. In the process, Vikings’ sr. QB Joe Kosich had a day that altered the Wood record book. He completed 12-of-21 passes, for 274 yards and three touchdowns. The yardage mark became a new school record, surpassing the 260 yards of Jeff Crompton in '99. To start the game, Wood jr. RB/DB Matt Little returned the opening kickoff 23 yards to their 47-yard line. Six plays later Kosich fired a missile that hit a streaking jr. WR/DB Jim Daley coming across the middle. A slight slip by a Burr defensive back was all he needed to find his way into the end zone for a 45-yard TD. The Vikings never looked back and DOMINATED the rest of the first half. Their next two possessions failed to produce points, even though they reached as far as the four-yard line and then the twenty before stalling. However, they expanded their lead at the end of their fourth and final drive of the half. Again, it was Daley, this time on a 14-yard rocket thrown by Kossich. The touchdown came on a 3rd-and 13 play and followed an injury to Wood’s star, and I mean STAR WR Chris Lorditch. More on Lorditch to come, but it had appeared that he had gotten the wind knocked out of him. Anyhow, Daley, with a Burr defender draped all over him, showed excellent concentration and eked his way just inside the pylon for the score. Even though the Burrs were seriously outplayed they still trailed only 7-0 prior to this. The touchdown came with 33 seconds left in the half and did considerable damage in the back-breaking department. How much did Wood dominate in the first half? Try these numbers on for size. The Vikings ran 36 plays to just 11 for the Burrs, they had a 12-to-1 first down margin, and 189-to-20 advantage in total yards. Can’t get more one-sided than that!! Every time West made a good defensive play, almost immediately the Vikings countered. Thrice in the half they converted 2nd-and-14 yards+ with long pass plays. All of the plays took place roughly ten yards from scrimmage and in the middle of the field. All had significant RAC’s to them too. That’s run-after-catch for those of you not familiar with the term. West jr. RB Dennis Shaw returned the second half kickoff 25 yards to give the Burrs good field position at their 40-yard line, but the drive produced a dud and they ended up punting after three plays. Two plays into Wood’s series they provided the dagger that the Burrs would never recover from. Kosich appeared to audible while under center. He glanced out at Lorditch on the far side of the field and then tapped the top of his helmet a couple of times. After a quick, two-step drop he fired a pass down the right sideline that found Lorditch. He had to pause slightly as the pass arrived, but turned on the jets after the catch and shredded a touchdown-saving attempt by West star sr. DB/WR John Maddox. The play covered 78 yards and gave Wood an insurmountable 20-0 lead. The Burrs would show a sign of life on their subsequent possession when underrated sr. WR Chris Palmer took a quick inside-slant pass from sr. QB Steven Powers and outran the Wood defense for a 75-yard touchdown, making the score 20-6. However, the Burrs complicated matters when they were called for an unsportsmanlike penalty on the conversion attempt. This forced the kickoff to come at the 20-yard line, instead of the 35. After a fair catch, the Vikings started with great field position at their 48-yard line. This drive wouldn’t result in a touchdown, but the Vikings did hold the ball for 12 plays, took a chunk of time off the clock, and actually did expand their lead when Lorditch crushed a 33-yard field goal. This gave the Vikings a three-score lead at 23-6. The Burrs managed to chalk up a late score on a 1-yard run by Shaw to give us our final. In the game, the Wood offense racked up 20 first downs and 373 yards in offense. The West defense came in only allowing 125 yards per game and just 28 total points on the season. Kosich was masterful, especially when a play was needed. He threw four passes that went for more than 30 yards (45 (TD), 50, 31, & 78 (TD)). Lorditch once again proved why he is one of the best underclassman in the entire Catholic League. He finished with 5 grabs for 164 yards. All five of his catches went for first downs. The lanky and SPEEDY receiver is just a flat-out playmaker. People have asked me in the past what level I thought he can play at. I’ve always said that I thought he could be a star at a Villanova or Delaware, but the more I see him, he displays abilities that may land him at a higher level. I’m sure the Wood people are on this, but I would be sending tapes out to an assortment of D-1 schools. This kid could be perceived as a sleeper, and eventually a steal for some school. Stay tuned! Aside from his receiving numbers and field goal, he also boomed Wood’s only punt 51 yards. If there is a more valuable player in the Blue this year you would have a tough time proving otherwise to this observer. Sr. RB Bryan McCartney (24-86) didn’t run wild, but did provide some tough yards and at the least kept the Burr defense honest. I left impressed with Little, who made four snags for 57 yards, rushed 6 times for another 22 yards, and had one return for 23 yards. He also played a quality defensive back. The Wood offensive line relies more on technique and grit, rather than overwhelming power. They showed great cohesiveness and played a sound game today. Members included; sr. C Matt McFadden, G’s sr. Chris Smith and sr. Matt Knox, T’s Mike Gallagher and Brian Holly, and sr. TE Ryan Dolan. Defensively, the Vikings barely broke a sweat in the first half as they sat back and watched their offense control the ball. However, when they were called upon they were solid. They held the Burr running game to only 30 yards on 22 carries. Leading the way was jr. LB Pat McAfee who had two sacks among his team-high 8 tackles. Dolan also added a sack and had 6 stops in total, while jr. DB Pat Devlin made a nice leaping fourth quarter interception. Gallagher and sr. DE Sean Forsyth created havoc on the line of scrimmage. Offensively, the Burrs only managed seven first downs in the game and almost immediately had to change their intended game plan. A lone bright spot on this side of the ball was the play of Powers who entered in the second half. He completed 6-of-14, for 195 yards. A few of his passes were beautifully thrown and had zip on them. His prettiest throw was a 43-yard bomb to sr. WR Parris Shannon that set up the final West score. Palmer (4-120) exhibited good hands and nice speed on his receptions. This kid has turned into a pretty good player and has had really nice year for the Burrs. Maddox (2-48) made a lovely leaping grab for 29 yards late. Shaw never got on track and only managed 40 yards on 15 totes. Defensively, the Burrs were multiple steps behind, sloppy, and undisciplined. They committed three encroachment penalties that certainly didn’t help the cause. Tackling wasn’t especially sharp and they littered the game with mental mistakes. Still, give the Wood coaching staff credit for placing their weapons in areas where they had a considerable advantage. They made the plays and the Burrs didn’t on this day. Overall, the Burr defense was on the field entirely too long. Wood ended up running 66 plays to the Burrs 39. That’s quite a disparity. Because of the amount of time they spent on the field numerous Burrs put up solid tackling numbers. Sr. LB Wayne Donahue made a total of seven stops (3 TFL’s). Included in this was a sack in which he forced a fumble. He also added an interception off a fake field goal. Other tackle leaders were, sr. DT Chris Farmer (9 stops, half of sack, & fumble recovery), soph. LB Marquese Sanders (8 stops – sack), sr. LB Danny Chavis (8 stops – 1.5 sacks), DB Palmer (8 stops), jr. DL Anthony Rhoades (7 stops), and jr. LB Marc Holloway (6 tackles). Sr. DB Matt Ambrosine and sr. DT Kirk Hinton evenly split ten stops. The Vikings have now beaten the Burrs in four of the last five games, including the last two CL Blue championships. Many believe that this won’t be the last time these teams meet, as a third straight title encounter is quite possible. However, much can happen until we get to Dec. 3. With the loss the Burrs snapped a 15 game league winning streak, while Wood expanded their league winning streak to 12 games.

OCT. 29
CL BLUE
West Catholic 20, Carroll 0
   The conditions called for a defensive game. It was chilly, the wind blew considerably in one direction, and the track was soft/slow with patches of mud scattered throughout. And boy did the Burr defense use these conditions to their advantage! West was downright nasty and held the high octane Patriots to just 26 yards in total offense, including a -4 rushing. Ouch! Over the last five seasons, a span covering 60 games the Pats had never been held under 100 yards in total offense. This was only the third time they were held under 100 yards rushing. And it was also just the third time they had been shut out during this span. Carroll entered the game averaging 317 yards per game, including 235 yards on the ground. However, they must have felt like they were playing in a phone booth with the way the Burrs put a stranglehold on anything they tried to do. After the game, West Head Coach Brian Fluck exclaimed, “I wish I had 11 game balls to pass out to the entire defense.” That’s how proud he was of this unit. Leading the charge was sr. LB Wayne Donahue who had a team-high 11 tackles. This kid just sets the tone week-in and week-out for the Burrs. What a hard-nosed player! Jr. DE Anthony Rhoades was everywhere too. He registered 10 tackles, including 2 sacks. In total, he had 4 TFL’s that accumulated 30 yards. Jr. LB Marc Holloway (6’1”, 220 lbs) and soph. LB Marquese Sanders (6’2’, 210 lbs) might not get the recognition that Donahue and Rhoades have, but they’re certainly beginning to make a name for themselves. Sanders made seven tackles (3 TFL’s), among them was a half of sack, and he deflected a punt. Holloway chipped in with six stops. Other sacks were had by; sr. LB Danny Chavis (5 tackles), sr. DT Chris Farmer (2 TFL’s – 16 yds), and a half of sack by sr. DB Matt Ambrosine. Remaining members of the defensive unit were; sr. DT Kirk Hinton, jr. DE Isiah Edmond (3 tackles, 30-yard Blocked punt return), sr. DB’s Tyrek Smith and Harold Davis, sr. DB John Maddox, and frosh. LB Raymond Maples who saw spot duty. Check these numbers out; Carroll’s offense ran 45 plays, 35 of them went for three yards or less. They were thrown for losses an amazing 13 times, phew! As for the scoring in the game there wasn’t much, as Carroll’s defense played really well for the most part too. In fact, the Burrs first score came courtesy of a Pats special team miscue. Carroll’s jr. P/DE Rob Sklaroff accidentally took a knee while fielding a poor snap from center at his own 10-yard line. This gave the Burrs a golden opportunity and two plays later jr. RB Dennis Shaw scampered in from the ten on a counter play. The PAT was short and the Burrs led 6-0. The score remained that way for a while. The Burrs unleashed an impressive drive that started midway through the third quarter. They started on their twenty, eventually traveled to the Carroll one, held the ball for 18 plays, but did not score. The final few plays of the drive involved some controversy. First, West was awarded a first down at the five-yard line after a fourth down pass was incomplete on a pass interference call. The ball was poorly thrown and obviously not catch able, as it short-hopped the intended receiver. There might have been some incidental contact, but I thought the Burrs caught a break. However, after this I thought the Burrs scored a touchdown twice, but instead the officials ruled that knees were down. The first one occurred on the other side of the field, so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. This ended the third quarter and made it fourth down. So, after the teams switched sides West called a sneak for soph. QB Eric Brennan (who is 6’5”). Initially, Brennan was stopped, but he wiggled to the right and fell easily into the end zone, at least that’s what I thought. Somehow, the official said that his knee hit down first. I just didn’t see it that way, but hey the Burrs probably shouldn’t have been in that position, except for the interference call a few plays earlier. Two plays after Carroll took over there was more controversy around the goal line. The Burr defense stuffed Carroll jr. RB Brent Christie (15-47) for what the near sideline ref called a safety. However, the sideline referee from the other side ran straight across and overturned the call, saying Christie had been tackled just outside the end zone. Personally, I thought that was the correct call. When the dust had settled Carroll was forced to punt into the wind and afterwards the Burrs started with great field position at the Carroll 24-yard line. Brennan came up empty on three pass attempts, mixed in with a procedure call, and the Burrs were faced with a fourth-and-15 from the 29. Then, Brennan beautifully lofted a pass to the far corner that Maddox easily ran under for a 29-yard touchdown. Why on earth he was singled-covered by such a smaller player is beyond me? This gave the Burrs some much needed breathing room. Later in the fourth this same combination hooked-up for a second time, this time on a lovely 48-yard fly pattern. Again, Maddox easily out-leaped the smaller defensive back. Brennan then found sr. WR Chris Palmer for the conversion to close out the scoring. Brennan finished 5-for-19, for 124 yards. He wasn’t exactly sharp, but he was victimized by at least four or five drops. Shaw ran hard all day and the conditions slowed him up some, but I liked the toughness he showed. He produced 123 yards on 30 totes, for his sixth consecutive 100-yard game. Donahue like always blocked with fury and also managed 34 yards on 7 carries. With 77 yards receiving today Maddox (1,560) eclipsed the 1,500 yard barrier for his career. The Patriots just couldn’t muster anything close to a drive until the late stages. This threat ended with sacks by Chavis and Rhoades. Only four times did Carroll manage a play for more than 10 yards, and their longest play went for just 15 yards. Defensively, the Pats have a lot to be proud about. They played hard and inspired throughout. Sr. LB Jake Szulinski registered 9 tackles, forced a fumble, and made a nice leaping interception to halt a potential Burr scoring opportunity. Athletic soph. DB Ellis Rogers had a team-high ten tackles. I was really impressed with jr. DE John Pettine (6’3”, 240 lbs). He made seven stops, forced a fumble, and registered a sack. Sr. DT Dan Ferry and jr. DB Ryan Downs each recovered fumbles. Sr. DB Mark Smith (2 pass defends) and jr. LB Marcus Mattaway evenly split ten tackles. This was the fifth shutout of the season for the Burrs. Amazingly, this defensive unit has only given up three offensive TD’s in thirty-six quarters. With the win the Burrs secured a playoff bye. Next week, they travel to Warminster to take on two-time CL Blue champs Archbishop Wood. The winner will stake claim to the regular season crown and an undefeated league season.

OCT. 28
CL RED
O’Hara 14, Roman 13
     Even though I felt the hint of chill at the tip of my toes it was an ideal night for football in Quick Stadium at Widener. Tonight’s theme – Defense!!! The Cahillites and Lions went at each other tooth and nail all evening long, and if it wasn’t for a missed PAT they may have battled a little more. The defenses dominated for long spurts and with each passing series the hitting became more intense. In fact, of the four touchdowns in the game only one was the result of a prolonged scoring drive. We’ll start there first. Midway through the second quarter Roman’s jr. DB Dominique Joseph nicely stripped the ball from Lion’s jr. RB John Dempsey. The ball was recovered by sr. LB Ryan McAdams and the Cahillites took over at their own 47-yard line. Roman ran the ball on 12 straight plays and finally scored on sr. QB/DB Cory Jackson’s one-yard dive. Sr. RB Sean Woods was very instrumental during the drive, as he carried seven times for 39 yards. An end of the half heave by O’Hara QB/DB Anthony Walters was intercepted by Jackson, and the Cahillites went into recess with a 7-0 advantage, and upset on their minds. The Lions first possession of the second half ended when Walters was sacked for a 12-yard loss by McAdams. Almost immediately I heard Head Coach Danny Algeo bellow, “Savage get loose!!” This was directed towards frosh. QB Tom Savage. The Lions defense did their part and forced Roman to punt and when the Lions took over, indeed, Savage entered the game as the Lions QB. Roman’s sr. OLB Rockeed McCarter slammed Dempsey for a two-yard loss on first down, but what happened next changed the whole complexion of the game. Seemingly out of nowhere, Savage dropped back to pass and lofted a beautiful spiral down the right sideline. Who was on the receiving end? How about Walters? Yes, he had moved to WR when Savage entered the game. While the ball was in there air there was a slight, incidental bump between Walters and Joseph who was on the coverage. The bump allowed Walters to get the necessary space to easily make the catch and all but waltz into the end zone for a 67-yard TD. The PAT knotted the score at 7-7. Once again O’Hara’a defense forced a three-and-out and a punt. Then, three plays later the Savage-to-Walters combination was at it again. This time they hooked up for a 33-yard gain. As Walters once again outdueled Joseph. This put the ball at the Roman nine. Still, the Cahillite defense stiffened and the Lions were ultimately faced with a third-and-goal from the thirteen. What play would you call? How about Savage-to-Walters again? Well, that’s exactly what happened and for the third time in a five-minute span Walters outfought Joseph and easily plucked the ball over him to give the Lions a 14-7 lead. Interestingly, before Savage entered the game the Lions had just 40 yards in offense and one first down on 22 offensive plays. The damage this duo produced was worth 123 yards on just three plays. Talk about getting sucker-punched! However, this group of Cahillites were game all night and they continued to battle as the game progressed. Finally, with time running out Roman Head Coach Jim Murphy did some substituting of his own. He decided to put soph. QB Chris Johnson into the game. This move paid off dividends almost immediately. The strong-armed Johnson unleashed a beautiful bomb to sr. WR Dan Jordan (2-68) down the middle of the field. Right after making the catch, Jordan bounced off a tackle-attempt from Walters and easily trotted into the end zone for the 56-yard score. However, sr. K Ben Paranzino’s kick was pushed to the right and narrowly missed. Now, with 2:16 on the clock the Cahillites still trailed 14-13. The subsequent onside kick was recovered by O’Hara’s jr. DE T.J. Long. Roman would start one last possession with 1:06 left. They began at their 22-yard line. A procedure call brought the ball back to the 17. Then, Johnson threw two deep passes that were batted away by sr. DB Harry Duke and then Dempsey. On third down, Johnson was sacked by sr. DT Ed Callahan (5 tackles) for a 3-yard loss. On fourth down, Johnson’s deep pass intended for McCarter was batted away by Walters around midfield. The Lions took one knee and the game was over. Now back to Walters. His performance tonight is exactly why he is on the radar of D-1 scouts. Blessed with tremendous athletic ability he can hurt teams in an assortment of ways. He was 0-for-4 passing and only managed 8 yards on 5 rushes, but just when the Cahillites thought they had neutralized him, he found another way to inflict damage. Truly an amazing player! And in my opinion right at the top of the heap for MVP of the CL Red. Savage, the younger brother of former Haverford School star and current Wisconsin player Brian Savage, has all the makings of being a star. He is blessed with a big-time arm already. He finished 3-for-5, for 123 yards. There were 16 punts in the game and 13 possessions that ended after just three plays. The Cahillites, who had won four straight coming into this contest, looked much improved since their last loss, a 41-0 thrashing at the hands of SJ Prep. They held the usually potent O’Hara ground game to just 60 yards on 30 carries. Impressive jr. LB Matt Marcinek had a team-high 10 tackles. I like this kid and the desire he brings to the position. The Cahillites appear to have quality soph. in LB Sean Clift. He made eight stops. Sr. DT Rich Brandt forced a fumble that was recovered by sr. DT Joe Mulhern. Soph. DT Jewhan Edwards (6’1”, 285 lbs) showed some big-play ability during a second quarter stretch when he made three tackles, two went for losses. McCarter only had five tackles, but four went for losses that accumulated ten yards. Man, does this kid ooze athleticism!! Despite the beating Joseph took from Walters he did manage six tackles and two pass defends. I have no doubt that he’ll bounce back. Woods had some decent moments against a stingy O’Hara defense and rushed for 48 yards on 15 totes. Jackson passed 6-for-15, for 51 yards. What a defensive performance put forth by the Lions terrific LBing corps. Sr’s Scott Taylor (13 – 4 TFL’s - .5 sack), Greg Smith (12), and Todd Cannon (11) as they all registered double-digit tackles. WOW! These kids just have a nose for the ball and no apparent weakness. There is always one of them around the ball seemingly on every play. Interceptions were had by; Dempsey and Duke. Jr. DE Joe Goldschmidt had three sacks for 19 yards in losses. Soph. DT Isaac Prince continued to impress and made six tackles, including a half of sack. On offense the leading ground gainer for the Lions was Dempsey (17-45). O’Hara sr. P Pat Quinn booted 8 balls for a 35.8 average. This game rivaled last year’s thrilling overtime contest in which the Lions won 24-21. The Cahillites used a hurry-up offense for much of the game. You could often see every member of the offensive unit looking at charts that were taped to their wrists prior to plays. Will “Big Willy Stlye” McGonigle was once again in the house and patrolling the sidelines. In his quest to become the next hot dog eating king he polished off a mere six prior to the game. Or so he says! Quite naturally he kept myself and Daily Times all-timer Terry Toohey on our toes. Will’s best line probably came after I asked Terry who had just carried the ball, he quipped, “C’mon Huck, pay attention.” Ha ha ha. For those of you who have worked games with Willy, then you realize why this comment got my attention.

OCT. 28
INTER-AC
Malvern 44, Penn Charter 24
   It’s been a while since I’d been to Malvern, so it was easy for me to forget how much of a pain it is to get there. But that sentiment really hit home when I was detoured off of Paoli Pike with kickoff just moments away. Still, using the innate instincts that my fearless leader Mr. Ted Silary has graciously passed along, I somehow managed to get to the field just in the nick of time. As I trotted down the hill and towards the field, I could see what appeared to be a white-colored jersey coming into my line of sight. As it turns out, it was PC’s soph. WR/DB Eddie Bambino and he was in the midst of returning the opening kickoff for a TD. After a little scrambling I was informed that the return covered 93 yards. Ok, breathe please? Unfortunately for the Quakers' overall highlights would regress from this point. The Friars, using a balanced rushing attack, put on a tremendous ground display reminiscent of some of the Nebraska Cornhuskers teams of the early 90’s. Malvern immediately answered PC’s score with one of their own. They needed just four plays to cover 63 yards; a 15-yard hook-up between sr. QB Ian Mitchell and sr. WR/DB Trey Womack, 11-yard run by bruising sr. FB Tom Hagan, 15-yard scamper by cat-quick sr. RB Jimmie Cotton, and finally a 22-yard burst by Mitchell. PC’s next possession ended with a fumble recovery by MP’s sr. DT Mark Miller at the Quakers 17-yard line. Then, two plays later Mitchell was at it again. He capped a 15-yard scoring run with a leap into the end zone just inside the pylon. This gave the Friars a 12-7 lead. A defining moment took place early in the second quarter. PC was driving for what appeared to be a go-ahead score and were situated at the MP 3-yard line. However, a bad exchange led to a fumble and MP’s rugged sr. LB Steve Layne was there to pounce on the loose rock. This led to a methodical, 13-play scoring drive for the Friars and gave them a 20-7 lead. During the drive Hagan (18 yards) and Cotton (19 yards) had key runs. Mitchell capped the drive with a 1-yard plunge and sr. RB Will Miller added the conversion run. With a sense of comfort around them the Friars relaxed and just like that PC’s jr. RB/DB Sean Dressel zipped 77 yards for another Quaker kickoff return just moments later. This pulled them to within 20-14. However, the momentum would be short-lived as Malvern once again answered. This time they covered 78 yards on ten plays which produced a back-breaking touchdown with just 45 seconds left in the half. Again, it was Mitchell supplying most of the playmaking. During the drive he passed to Layne for gains of 21 and 8 yards, he also scrambled for 19 yards before connecting with a wide open Hagan for a 12-yard touchdown. Cotton added the conversion run and Malvern had increased their lead heading into the locker room 28-14. The Friars controlled the ball for most of the third quarter and then built upon their lead late in the stanza on a 33-yard field goal by jr. K Joe Buckley. PC answered with a field goal of their own early in the fourth to move with 31-17. This was courtesy of a 29-yard boot by jr. K Eric Muller. Any hopes of a PC fourth quarter comeback were dashed when Mitchell galloped in from 45 yards out just five plays into the Malvern subsequent drive. PC’s sr. QB Brendan McNally would toss a short 7-yard TD to Bambino and Cotton would shake-and-bake his way in from 13 yards to close out the scoring. I was very impressed with Malvern’s Mitchell. He reminds me somewhat of former Episcopal QB Brian FitzPatrick with his fakes and ball skills in running the option. What makes him probably more of a weapon is that he is probably a little quicker and he is undoubtedly surrounded with more weapons. So, teams just can’t concentrate on containing him. He was sensational today and produced 239 yards in offense. He passed 4-for-8, for 56 yards and carried 18 times for 183 yards, and had a hand in five TD’s (1 pass, 4 runs).  Still, he wasn’t a one-man show and had considerable help from his backfield mates. Hagan, impersonating an ox, bulled, pulled, and carried defenders for 98 yards on 13 totes. Cotton, who serves as the change of pace back was shifty enough to gain 95 yards on 14 lugs. Layne put forth modest numbers with 33 yards on just 6 carries. In total, the Friars rolled to 409 yards on the ground and 465 yards all together. Impressive!!! They also kept the chain gang in shape with 25 first downs. Paving the way up front were; impressive jr. T Paul Ostick (6’3”, 250 lbs), T Miller, sr. G Joe Rawlings, sr. G Brian Gatti, jr. C James Downey, jr. T Mike Lynch, and jr. TE Brian Bryer. Kudos to this bunch!! Defensively, the Friars were tough versus the run and in essence only gave up one score in the late going. Jr. LB Alex Forte had a team-high 10 tackles. Sacks were had by jr. DB Matt Bernier and Ostick, who ABSOLUTELY PLASTERED McNally. Jr. DB Joe Hoban, Layne, and Hagan all were active with five stops. The Quakers are solid football team, but just couldn’t match Malvern’s physicality along the line of scrimmage. This prevented them from running for much success and obviously stopping the run. Despite the loss I was impressed with many of their players. McNally appears to be a heady kid, who has nice physical tools as well. Today, he completed 15-of-27, for 184 yards. His prettiest completion was a 40-yard hook up to sr. WR Kevin McGarvey where he fired a pass in between two Malvern defenders along the far sideline. I also liked the heart he displayed after being hammered by Ostick on a sack late in the game. On the very next play he calmly sat in the pocket and found sr. TE Brian Teuber for 23 yards and a first down to sustain the PC drive. During the game he connected with five different receivers; Teuber (5-65) and McGarvey (4-69) were the most active. Defensively, sr. LB Mike Weick is of the throwback mold. He plays with an edge and is very aggressive, he finished with 10 tackles. Dressel also played well on defense and contributed 10 stops as well. McNally managed a pick, while jr. DE Drew Fullen (5 tackles) had a sack. Steady sr. LB Joe Rauchut added 7 tackles. Soph. DT Mike McInerney forced a fumble that was recovered by jr. LB Anthony DiSalvo. Soph DT Ryan McGarvey and soph. DB Blaise Fullen evenly split ten tackles. Amazingly, the teams combined for 1,025 yards in offense and returns. Penn Charter had 251 yards on 10 returns. The teams combined for 116 offensive plays in the game. The Friars now appear to have a firm grasp on the Inter-AC crown. They still have a game left with Epsicopal, but the Churchmen fell to PC 27-0 just two weeks ago.

OCT. 22
CL BLUE
West Catholic 21, Neumann-Goretti 2
   Boy, was it miserable or what today? I’m not the biggest fan of covering/watching games in the rain and today’s weather made this experience downright not enjoyable. It rained throughout. At times it was just a light drizzle, but a sweeping steady rain was also on the menu for large parts. In fact, it got so uncomfortable that I retreated to the close quarters of the Penn Wood press box, where maximum occupancy currently stands at three. As for the game, it often took on the complexion of the weather, dreary and damp. The Burrs got the first break of the game late in the first quarter. N-G’s sr. WR/DB Hiram Bowman made a bad decision and tried to field a high punt at his two-yard line. He bobbled and then picked the ball up just inside his end zone. He avoided one Burr pursuer, but could not slip past sr. WR Chris Palmer and was hauled down for a safety. After the free kick the Burrs took over at their 47-yard line. Junior RB Dennis Shaw had runs of 23 and 5 yards. Then, after an incomplete pass he easily got outside and scored on a 25-yard gallop. The point-after made the score 9-0. The Burrs would cross the end zone two more times before the half ended. First, Shaw sped 24 yards up the middle for a 15-0 lead. This touchdown was set up by a lovely 31-yard hook up between sr. QB Steven Powers and sr. WR Parris Shannon on a third-and-19 play. Later, sr. DB Harold Davis blocked an N-G punt, giving West the ball at the Saints’ 17-yard line. Three plays later and with :15 seconds left in the half, Powers found Palmer in the corner of the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown toss. The score gave the Burrs a comfortable 21-0 lead. Shaw had a stellar first half, carrying the ball 17 times for 160 yards. His touches were minimized in the second half and he finished with 188 yards on 25 totes. To N-G’s credit they didn’t quit and outplayed the Burrs in the second half. It didn’t necessarily show up on the scoreboard, as they could only manage a safety when West jr. P/DE Anthony Rhoades inadvertantly knelt down while fielding a snap in punt formation. Still, the effort they displayed should be applauded. The Saint defense held the Burrs to just one first down and 14 yards on 19 plays in the second half. Offensively, they were in West territory four times, but could not penetrate the Burr end zone. Twice, the Burr defense stymied the Saints on first-and goals inside the five. First, soph. LB Marquese Sanders recovered a lateral on a pass thrown behind the line of scrimmage by Saints’ jr. QB Mark Hatty. Later, the Burrs allowed just one yard from the 4-yard line on four plays. Sr. LB Wayne Donahue was instrumental on a couple of stops and Davis batted a pass away on fourth down in the end zone. In the game, the Burrs got a sound defensive effort from a host of players. Aside from just narrowly missing their fifth shutout of the year, they also held the Saints to just 64 yards rushing on 37 carries. Amazingly, this unit has allowed just three offensive touchdowns in 32 quarters of football. Rhoades was a fixture in the Saints’ backfield. He made 9 tackles, with three going for losses. Donahue also had nine stops, with two for losses. Sr. LB Danny Chavis, who played for N-G last year, had six tackles. Sanders also made six stops. Davis chipped in with five tackles and sr. DT Roosevelt Ben added a sack. Towards the end of the game sr. DB Matt Ambrosine made a pick at that West goal line. Rhoades unleashed some nice punts despite the poor weather. He punted five times for a 35.2 clip. One punt traveled a short distance and took away from his overall average. The Burrs played without four starters today. Sr. WR/DB John Maddox (ankle) and jr. LB Marc Holloway (hamstring) sat out with injuries. While sr. DT/OL Chris Farmer and jr. OL Ode Evans missed the game due to school-related infractions. All but Evans should return for next week’s game versus Carroll. The Burrs once again were bitten by the penalty bug with 9 infractions for 71 yards. The Saints played a spirited contest, a play here or there, and then things could have been much closer. Offensively, I like the way jr. FB Anthony Davis ran. He provided runs of 13, 13, 19, and 27 yards in the game. He ended with 15 carries for 89 yards. Jr. FB Mark McPherson (5-28) also ran hard and punished a few would-be tacklers on a couple of instances. Hatty completed 7-of-20, for 104 yards. He started the game by connecting with sr. WR Chuck French (5-68) for 11 and 16 yards. He prettiest throw was a 50-yard completion to Bowman (3-53). Defensively, I like the energy that sr. DT Barry Canady (6’0”, 250 lbs) put forth. He had a sack amongst his five tackles (3 TFL’s) and forced a fumble. Fumble recoveries were made by soph. LB Kadeem Singaltary and jr. DT Jimmy Niven. Bowman made a nice pick to halt a Burr scoring drive. Sr. LB Rich Allen led the Saints with 7 tackles, while soph. DB Adam Malatino added six. Soph. DB Darrell Dulany hustled for five stops. It was good to see former West star and current Syracuse player Curtis Brinkley on the sidelines. Sadly, Curt’s father is extremely ill and that has brought him home for a little while. Our prayers and thoughts are with the Brinkley family in this time of need.

CL RED
OCT. 21
O’Hara 42, Bonner 7
     Despite the final score there was a moment in this game when everyone at Widener’s Quick stadium had to at least pause and think that this game might turn out to be a barnburner. That moment came on the last play of the first half. Bonner’s sr. QB Marc Verica fired a laser in between two Lion defenders to sr. TE/LB Steve Wheatley for an 11-yard touchdown. The score pulled the Friars to within 14-7 and gave them oodles of momentum heading into the locker room. It was Wheatley who set up the score when he yanked and recovered the ball from the Lions’ jr. RB/DB John Dempsey on a terrific individual effort. Unfortunately, the next defining moment occurred with an injury. O’Hara started the second half with two short runs and was faced with a third down situation. On the second of these runs, Bonner’s sr. DT Pat Dix seriously injured his knee. It was very evident that he was experiencing excruciating pain and his leg was immobilized. Also, an ambulance was called and the game was delayed roughly twenty minutes. When play got ready to resume I mentioned to someone on the sideline that this first play could really set the tone for the rest of the game. That possibly Bonner could come up with a huge stop and build off the momentum they had established at the end of the half. Or that the Lions would reel off a huge offensive play and restore the dominance they had going in the first quarter. As it turned out, sr. QB Anthony Walters took a keeper around the left end for ten yards and a first down. Not a significant play in the yardage department, but this along with Dix’s injury more than likely took the wind out of Bonner’s sails. Seven plays later Dempsey waltzed in from the three and the rout was on. The Lions would go onto score three more touchdowns and a field goal leaving no doubt that they will be a force to be reckoned with as the CL Red season winds down. Early on, it was all Lions. It took them just three plays to score on their opening possession when Dempsey took a speed sweep and zipped 47 yards to paydirt. On their next series the Lions converted three third-downs, while marching 71 yards in 13 plays for their second touchdown. This time it was Walters on a 1-yard run, making the score 14-0. After this the Bonner defense stiffened and forced two fumbles and two punts on O’Hara’s four second quarter possessions. The second of these fumbles led to the Bonner touchdown. Amazingly, even with 42 points on the board the Lions did not complete a pass. They only attempted three; Walters (two) and frosh. QB Tom Savage (one). Dating back to the 2000 season the Lions have played 65 games prior to this one and had completed a pass in all. Lord knows how much further this goes back. Might be a job for Mr. Silary! Anyhow, for as inactive as the passing game may have been the running game was just the opposite. The Lions turned 52 carries into 355 yards. Not bad considering that the Friars have played decently on defense. In this game it was the Dempsey coming out party. He carried 18 times for 192 yards and three scores. After suffering an ankle injury early this season he has been ok, but not spectacular liked many expected coming into the season. Well, tonight all that changed, as he displayed the combination of speed and power that was advertised. His most impressive jaunt came in the third quarter. He again took a speed sweep around the right end and sped 75 yards down the sideline. You had to be there to know what I’m talking about, but it appeared that a couple of Friars had the angle on him just beyond the line of scrimmage. One of these defenders was Wheatley, who was terrific in defeat, but a slight hesitation allowed Dempsey to get the corner and the race was on. Walters (10-56) ran for 47 of his yards after the intermission. The last of these runs was a beautiful 7-yard burst for a fourth quarter touchdown. Sr. FB Joe Juisti (14-66) once again ran hard and effectively. He did lose two fumbles and re-injured his knee on the second of these fumbles. Still, he is very much a key to igniting the Lion offense with his inside running. Jr. FB Andrew Neubauer (3-34) wowed the Lion sidelines late with a 28-yard rumble up the gut. This run led to a 26-yard field goal by sr. K Tim Moore. In the waning moments soph. DB Kevin Ward took a punt 82 yards to close out the scoring. After muffing the kick initially, Ward recovered, broke to the right and sprinted down the right sideline for the score. Providing the running room for the Lion rushers were; jr. C Sean Murray (5’11”, 250 lbs), G’s jr. Pete Plousis and jr. Jerry Penrose (6’1”, 258 lbs),  T’s sr. Tim Conneen (6’4”, 220) and sr. Nate Higgins (6’0”, 285 lbs), and soph. TE Mark Wedderburn (6’6”, 210 lbs). Defensively, the Lions were once again dominant. They allowed just five first downs and held the Friars to minus-3 yards rushing. The defensive line of sr. Matt McGrath, sr. Ed Callahan (5 tackles), jr. Joe Goldschmidt, and impressive soph. Isaac Prince (I love his tenacity) were in the face of Verica all evening. The Lions registered seven sacks in the game. Callahan and Prince each had a pair, sr. LB Greg Smith had 1.5, and McGrath added one. Sr. LB Todd Cannon had a half of sack and was the leading Lion tackler in the game with seven. Sr. LB Scott Taylor added four stops. Offensively, the Friars pretty much used a shotgun formation throughout. Never did they attempt to establish a running game. I know the Lions are very tough in that area defensively, but you just have to run the ball more than they did. Their RB’s only rushed eight times, four of these came very late when the game was already decided. Verica was their most active rusher, mostly with sacks or running away from potential sacks. He did manage 13 rushes, but netted just -13 yards. His best moments passing came late in the second quarter. He completed five straight during this stretch. For the game, he finished 11-for-23, with 101 yards. His favorite target was jr. WR/DB P.J. Sheridan (4-31). In total, seven Friars made receptions. As I mentioned earlier Wheatley was tremendous in defeat. He was in on 12 tackles (8 solos) and forced two fumbles (1 recovery). At 6’3”, 220 lbs he has nice size and runs rather well too. In my opinion he is good enough to garner at least some 1-AA attention. Like always, sr. LB Matt Licci (7 tackles) played a tough and spirited game. Sheridan continues to impress me. Tonight, he made a fumble recovery and chipped in with 7 tackles. Sr. DT Devon Moore made a fumble recovery that was forced by sr. DE Brain McBride. Sr. DB Mike Dougherty added five stops. Sr. DB Ryan Hunt had a sack. Before getting hurry Dix was a force and made five solo stops in the first half. Hopefully, he gets well soon and makes a complete recovery. Sr. P Mike Tomasco had a busy night with nine boots. His kicks only averaged just over 29 yards, but most had serious hang time. Once again I had the pleasure of covering the game with O’Hara statman Will “Kobayashi” McGonigle. Prior to the game he quickly noted how he polished off six hot dogs. No wonder the ladies at the concession stand appeared to be working feverishly 45 minutes prior to kickoff and with no one in line. As for the game, let’s just say that Big Willy Style adds an extra element to my evening. I jokingly told a few former O’Hara players during the game to bring a video camera next time to tape the sequences between Willy and myself. Suggesting that HBO or Showtime could be interested, smile!!!

OCT. 16
CL BLUE
West Catholic 19, Kennedy-Kenrick 6
     Boy did the beginning of this one start out interesting! The Wolverines held the ball for the first 9:23 and ran 16 offensive plays. Are you thinking touchdown? How about a field goal? Well, K-K got as far as the six-yard line, but neither got accomplished. In fact, even though they started the drive at their thirty, they only amassed 17 yards in offense. The Burrs seriously aided their cause with 47 yards in penalties. Much of the damage came on a double personal foul call during a K-K punt. This took the ball from the K-K 41-yard line to the West 29-yard line. Also, early on in this drive the Burrs lost two of their better defensive players in sr. DB/WR John Maddox (ankle) and jr. LB Marc Holloway (hamstring) to injury and neither would return. Against a stiff wind the Wolverines opted to not attempt a 23-yard field goal and went for it on fourth down. A fade to star sr. WR Jermaine Pierce (6’3”, 230 lbs) was slightly underthrown and knocked down by sr. DB Harold Davis. From this point, K-K had a ton of trouble getting anything going. Their next six possessions ended after three plays or less. Four ended with punts and two by interceptions by the aforementioned Davis. The Burr defense was stifling throughout. K-K sr. QB Gerry DiNolfi did manage a 5-yard touchdown run late, but prior to that was sacked 6 times for 43 yards in losses. For the game, West held K-K to 59 yards in offense, including -12 yards on 26 carries. Sacks were had by; jr. DE Anthony Rhoades (two), frosh. LB Raymond Maples, sr. LB Wayne Donahue, soph. LB Marquese Sanders (4 tackles), and sr. LB Danny Chavis. Rhoades and Donahue were fixtures in the Wolverine backfield and each recorded eight stops. The heady Davis (5’7”, 160 lbs) was spectacular against the much bigger Pierce all afternoon. Pound-for-pound this kid is one of the toughest players in the league. He had perfect position on his second pick and then added a nifty 29-yard return to set up the West second score.  Sr. DT Kirk Hinton (6’5”, 275 lbs) added four tackles and sr. DB Tyrek Smith blocked a PAT. Offensively, the Burrs only had three first half possessions, but they made good on two of them. The first touchdown resulted off a broken play. Faced with fourth and sixth from the K-K 13-yard line, sr. QB Steven Powers narrowly avoided the K-K rush and at the last second shoveled the ball to jr. RB Dennis Shaw. Shaw easily got the necessary yardage to move the chains, but his dive from multiple pursuers over the pylon gave him the score. Powers was inserted into the game after soph. QB Eric Brennan got the start. With the wind howling considerably, the Burr coaches probably thought that Powers’ arm was more equipped to handle the conditions. Just prior to the half it was indeed Powers’ arm supplying a lift. Twice, he found sr. WR Chris Palmer for first downs. The plays gained 19 and 14 yards respectively. Donahue added an eight-yard run to the one and then he pounded in from there on the next play to make the score 13-0 with :30 seconds left in the half. Early in the fourth quarter West made the score 19-0 after a 2-yard burst by Shaw. Powers finished the game a solid 5-for-8, with 70 yards. Palmer did most of the damage with four grabs for 64 yards. Shaw, who has been chewing up opposing defenses recently, was at it again today. He finished with 246 all-purpose yards.  He carried the ball 29 times for 165 yards, added 68 yards on two returns, and 13 yards receiving. His longest run came off a beautifully set up draw play that accounted for 34 yards. Despite his lofty yardage numbers give the K-K defense some credit for at least making him earn what he got. He’s not the biggest of backs, so after 32 touches you can expect soreness to be felt early this week. Donahue added some punch and rumbled for 60 yards on 8 totes. The Wolverines aren’t always the most talented or deepest team, but they always put forth excellent effort and always display toughness. Today was no exception. Defensively, they made the Burrs earn everything they got. Jr. LB Tim Bowman made his presence felt with 9 tackles. I really liked the way he flew around the field. A couple of sophomores were also active in LB Matt Ganley and LB Greg Santangelo, each recorded six tackles. Sr. DB Scott Marston made four stops and had two pass defends. Soph. DB Drew Gulotta and jr. DE Alex Johnson evenly spit eight tackles. The athletic Pierce made five tackles and swatted a PAT attempt in Bill Russell type fashion. Twice, he impressively chased down the speedy Shaw before he could turn the corner and get outside. Offensively, the Wolverines just had a tough time dealing with the Burrs speed. Dinolfi finished 5-for-15, with 71 yards. Pierce (2-21) made two early grabs for first downs, but was unheard from thereafter. Sr. RB Troy Taylor (14-19) has had some nice moments this year, but found operating room at a minimum. His best run came on a 32-yard kickoff return. Sr. WR Zach Molyneaux (2-43) had a 34-yard reception that helped set up the K-K touchdown. Sr. P/K Kevin Lawrence has a quality leg and punted four times for a 45.0 yard average. With a little over a minute to play the Burrs made a first down at the K-K three-yard line. They opted to take a knee and then remain in the huddle, rather than try for another score. Prior to the game in a classy move there was a moment of silence for former SJ prep star Kyle Ambrogi who passed away earlier in the week.

OCT. 7
CL RED
O’Hara 14, LaSalle 0
     The Explorers entered this pivotal CL Red contest on a major roll. They had won their first five games of the season and had outscored their opponents an amazing 183-to-34. Their offense was illuminating scoreboards to the tune of 36.6 points per game and their defense had posted two straight shutouts. Still, many were pointing to this game to see how far they had really come and how good they really were. O’Hara is the defending CL Red champ and boasts one of the stingiest defenses in the area. So, how did the Explorers do? Overall, not terrible, but offensively operating room was scarce, and that is being generous. LaSalle had ten possessions in the game. Not one of them lasted more than five plays. The O’Hara defense set the tone early and never looked back. On the game’s first play, Explorer soph. QB John Harrison dropped back to pass and was hammered to the ground right after he released the ball by O’Hara’s sr. DE Matt McGrath. The pass fell incomplete, but a defensive presence was instantly established and more importantly made known. In the game the Explorers only managed 44 yards on 31 plays, ouch!!! The Lions held them to just three first downs and allowed them to cross midfield only once. This came after a 57-yard punt return by sr. RB Chris Ashley midway through the first quarter. The scamper placed the ball at the O’Hara 23-yard line. Afterwards, Ashley (7-32) rushed for 8 yards down to the 15-yard line on first down. However, McGrath sacked Harrison for an 11-yard loss on second down, Harrison rushed for one yard on third down, and he threw an incomplete pass on fourth down. LaSalle would never threaten again and the closest they would get to the end zone was when they ran through it on their way to the locker rooms at halftime. That’s how dominant this O’Hara unit was tonight. Who were the leaders? Again, it was standout sr. LBs Greg Smith and Scott Taylor leading the charge. Smith finished with 6 stops (2 TFLs) and Taylor added five (2 TFLs). These two kids really have a nose for the ball, not to mention tremendous discipline to be where they need to be constantly. Any time you shut down a team that has been as high-powered as LaSalle has been, then you just know that contributions were put forth by many. Sr. DBs Kyle Peterson and Harry Duke were on lockdown alert like a couple of prison guards in the middle of a riot. Each made a pick and evenly split four other pass defends. I like the strength and energy that soph. DT Isaac Prince exhibits. He had two TFLs, including a sack. Sr. LB Todd Cannon also had a sack. Offensively, the Lions did all of their damage in the first half. On their second possession of the game talented sr. QB/DB Anthony Walters found impressive soph. TE Mark Wedderburn (2-92) for a lovely 49-yard completion. Shortly thereafter, sr. FB Joe Juisti (5-29) rumbled 11 yards to the two on a fourth-and-one play. Two plays later Walters bulled in from the one. The Lions wasted little time adding to their advantage and scored again the next time they had the ball. This time, Walters hit the imposing Wedderburn (6’6”, 215 lbs) in the middle of the field and then watched him bounce off multiple defenders before easily trotting in for the touchdown. The play covered 43-yards and demonstrated just how much of a force this youngster is going to be for the Lions. This kid oozes athleticism and two years from now we could be looking at a 6’8”, 245 lbs Ricky Dudley (Ohio St., Oakland Raiders) clone. Once again, like on so many other occasions Walters was the most talented player on the field. Tonight, he rushed for 86 yards on 17 carries and passed for another 100 yards (3-for-7). Deceptively strong and blessed with tremendous quickness he his rarely brought down by the first pursuer. Never have I seen a high school quarterback unleash as many spins during the chase as he does. This kid is REALLY fun to watch play. If I had a minor criticism of his game, it would be directed at his willingness/ or settling to scramble almost immediately. Though it is fun to watch and often successful, I just think if he would learn to hold onto the ball a second longer, then bigger pass plays could be achieved. Jr. RB John Dempsey (19-76) battled for everything he got tonight. Early on, running room was limited, but he churned out runs of 11 and 18 yards late in the contest to build his numbers. This kid is strong and has very good speed, but he seemed a little tentative tonight. It could be possible that he is still trying to shed the rust from his early-season ankle injury. O’Hara accumulated 309 yards of offense in the game. Helping pave the way were; jr. C Sean Murray, jr. G’s Jerry Penrose and Pete Plousis, and soph. T Kevin Grant and sr. Nate Higgins (6’0”, 285 lbs). Earlier in the week the Lions top offensive lineman, sr. T Dan Gough (6’4”, 275 lbs) had surgery on his knee (MCL tear). Their hope is to possibly get him back by the playoffs. Also, the Lions who have been ravaged by injuries this year lost Juisti to yet another knee injury during the second quarter. This kid has been arguably the Lions' best offensive player in the early going and is unquestionably a team leader. I wish him well and a speedy recovery. Coming into this game I figured that the Explorers would have trouble running the ball on the Lions. Still, I thought by the way they have passed the ball, that they would be able to connect on a few big plays; or at least sustain a few drives. It just never happened! Harrison at times looked like a deer in headlights. He finished 6-for-16, for just 32 yards. Matt Ihlein hauled in three of those passes for 26 yards. Defensively, I was impressed with La Salle. After allowing consecutive touchdowns to O’Hara in the first half they really buckled down from that point on. One of their top defenders, and in my opinion, one of the best defensive backs in the CL is jr. Jack Forster. Tonight, he made a nice diving pick in the end zone and added 8 tackles. This kid plays with fearlessness, savvy, and smarts. The leading Explorer tackler was jr. LB Sean Saverio with 11 stops. Soph DT Andrew Wood (sack) and jr. LB Dom Baker evenly split 14 tackles. Also contributing for the Explorers were; jr. LB George Frantz, jr. DE Scott Waters, and sr. LB Joe Tubolino, who all registered five stops in the game. Entering the game LaSalle Head Coach Joe Colistra needed just one win to become the school’s all-time leader in that category. He remains tied with John “Tex” Flannery at 149 career wins. Luckily for me the forecasted heavy rain stayed away for the most part of the game. A couple of times it picked up to a steady pace, but for the most part it was just a nuisance type drizzle/spray. In fact, the field was rather nice and I wouldn’t say that the rain caused much interference in either team trying to run their offense. Lookout Kobayashi, the world famous hot dog eating champion! As it turns out you just may have some stiffer competition come next summer in the one and only, Will “Big Willy Style” McGonigle, an O’Hara manager, statman, cheerleader, beat writer, and now hot dog eating champion. Prior to the contest Big Willie polished off a mere four dogs in a matter of minutes. He later boasted and explained that it was nothing, once claiming to have dusted 20 in a day before, phew!!! Somebody fumigate the O’Hara lavatories!

OCT. 1
CL RED
Roman 18, Bonner 7
   This might only be the second week of the CL Red season, but this game was rather high on the importance scale for both teams. Both squads were in search of an identity and a win would certainly help establish one, or at the least provide some much needed confidence. In a defensive struggle for the most part, it was the Cahillites who discovered offensive life when they needed to. Trailing 7-0 and struggling to find some offensive continuity, Roman took possession at their own 20-yard line with a little over three minutes to play in the half. Early runs by sr. QB/DB Cory Jackson of 9 and 12 yards gave the Cahillites some life. Then, taking his first snap of the game jr. QB/DB Dominique Joseph nicely slung a pass down the right sideline to sr. WR Dan Jordan (2-51) for a 40-yard completion. On the play, Jordan showed nice concentration and beat two defenders in the process. It appeared to me that a slight hesitation by the Bonner defensive back cost him a chance at making a play on the ball. By the time Jordan was hauled down he had reached the nine-yard line. A run for no gain and incompletion followed. On third down, Jackson swung a pass out into the flat to soph. RB Aaron Duncan, who was tackled inside the one-yard line with time running out. The Cahillites used their last timeout and on fourth down Jackson bulled in on a sneak with just 0:04 left in the half. The PAT failed and the Cahillites still trailed 7-6, but momentum was gained and eventually it carried over to the second half. Actually, it was the Friars who had the first possession of the second half and they moved the ball impressively. They ended up reaching the Roman 14-yard line, but a sack by sr. LB Ryan McAdams (11 yards) and a procedure call on Bonner stalled the drive. They opted to go for it on fourth down from the 29-yard line, but the pass from sr. QB Marc Verica to sr. WR John Hayes was slightly behind and under thrown. Hayes, who had a step on his defender failed to make the circus grab. Roman took over and methodically moved the ball downfield. Sharing the ball in the backfield the Cahillites reached the Bonner 13-yard line. But like Bonner they stalled, as Bonner’s sr. LB Matt Licci brought down Duncan for a 2-yard loss. Then, sr. LB Steve Wheatley sacked Jackson for a 7-yard loss. On fourth down Roman sent in the field goal team to try a 39-yard field goal, but before they could get situated they were called for a delay-of-game penalty. Thinking they were now out of kicking range, Head Coach Jim Murphy ordered the offense back onto the field. Again, it was Joseph that came out to quarterback and with Bonner somewhat confused he lofted a pass to sr. WR/LB Rockeed McCarter (6’3”, 210 lbs), who easily outjumped the much smaller Bonner defensive back for a 27-yard touchdown. Help from the safety was considerably late, and with Roman faced with a fourth-and-nineteen their options were seriously limited. The fact that Rock wasn’t double-covered was a critical mistake. This drive spanned 71 yards and took 12 plays to complete. Kudos to Joseph, as his only two attempts and completions were big-time back-breakers to the Bonner defense. Bonner’s next possession produced a three-and-out. The Cahillites began their next series at their 35-yard line. Largely behind the running of sr. RB Sean Woods, Roman needed just eight plays to score their third straight touchdown. Woods finished the drive with a 12-yard scamper with 3:24 left to play. At the beginning of the run he beautifully side-stepped a couple of Bonner would-be tacklers at the nine and then scored easily. The Friars had one last gasp to make some noise. After a gorgeous 49-yard hook-up between Verica and Sr. WR Mike Tomasco (4-83) the Friars reached the Roman 11-yard line. Soon after they had a first-and-goal from the one, but failed to score and burned two timeouts in the process. Jr. LB Matt Marcinek made consecutive stops on Bonner rush attempts in this sequence. One was a 2-yard loss of the bone-crushing variety. On fourth down sr. DB Jim Ewing batted down a Verica pass attempt towards the back of the end zone. The Cahillites took over and needed just two plays to kill the clock. Offensively, after a slow start the Roman offense picked up steam and accumulated 221 yards on their last three drives. Woods rebounded after an early fumble that thwarted a Roman potential scoring drive. He finished with 12 carries and 92 yards. Duncan (10-45) was effective on a few counters and kept the Bonner defense off balance. Jackson only combined for 50 yards of passing and running, but his ability to make a play while on the move really gave the Cahillites some life and loosened up the Bonner defense. The Roman O-line really picked it up from the end of the second quarter on. Members of this unit included; sr. C Jude Martin, G’s sr. Rich Brandt and soph. John Mazzola, T’s sr. Kevin Kenney and sr. Reginald Burton (6’3”, 318 lbs), and jr. TE Chuck Cohen. If I have a criticism of the Roman offense it is their inability to get McCarter more involved. I know there are a few factors why this may be the case. First, Roman is a run-oriented team that uses a three-back, one-wideout formation often. Secondly, this is his first year at Roman and he really hasn’t been with them that long.  He transferred very late in the summer. So, gaining knowledge of their system might be holding him back. Still, this kid has tremendous physical skills and I just believe that getting him the ball more often would only be beneficial for the Roman offense. Defensively, the Cahillites were solid throughout. I really like Marcinek, who has good size 6’3”, 220 lbs. He finished with a team-high 8 tackles, four went for losses. Five other Cahillites ended with four stops; McCarter (2 for losses), McAdams, Joseph, sr. DB Aaron Pryer, and sr. DT Brandt. The good news for the Friars was that they got the return of Verica, a Virginia recruit. He had missed the previous two games with an injured left collarbone. Early in the second quarter he gave the Friars the lead on a 1-yard plunge. Aside from that his numbers were only modest. He finished 6-for-16, with 110 yards. It was apparent to me that the Bonner coaches scaled down their passing plays some. I’m assuming that they didn’t want him to incur too many hits on that still sore shoulder. Most of his attempts came off of play-action and straight drop-backs. Missing were the designed rollouts. Knowing Verica’s propensity to scramble, they probably didn’t want to put him in a position where he could re-injure the shoulder. Coming back from a pretty serious injury this was probably a good move. Still, the Friars are so much more effective when he is on the move. Sr. RB Frank Bizzari (12-61) had a 40-yard run that help set up the Bonner touchdown. For the most part the Bonner running game was just so-so. However, one player did catch my eye and I’m not real sure what his deal is, because I haven’t seen him to date. The player was sr. RB Calvin Powell (6’1”, 200 lbs). He only rushed the ball twice, but the runs produced 11 and 12 yards. To me he showed good acceleration through the line of scrimmage and a powerful stride. I don’t know, but the way he ran the ball indicated to me that a few more carries couldn’t do much harm. We’ll see what happens! Defensively, the Friars played hard, but they seemed to wear down as the game wore on. I really like jr. DB P.J. Sheridan. This kid packs a serious wallop from the secondary. He ended the night as the Friar’s leading tackler with eight and recovered a fumble that was forced by sr. DT Devon Moore (4 tackles). The impressive Wheatley (6’3”, 215 lbs) was active with 7 tackles. Licci (6 tackles) split a sack with sr. DE Brian McBride. Sr. LB Shane Reagan made three stops for losses. While sr. DB Ryan Hunt added five tackles and sr. DB Vincent Port made an interception. Things won’t get any easier for the Friars as they’ll travel to take on the SJ Prep this Saturday. The Cahillites will try to sustain their momentum when they travel to play Ryan this Friday.

OCT. 1
CL BLUE
West Catholic 42, Cardinal Dougherty 6
     When a team enters a game as considerable underdogs, limiting and keeping mistakes to a minimum is always a good place to start. Well, the Cardinals didn’t do themselves any favors by fumbling the opening kickoff. The Burrs made the recovery and wasted little time lighting up the scoreboard. On the first play after the fumble, soph. QB Eric Brennan went up top to sr. WR/DB John Maddox (2-52) for an all-too-easy 31-yard touchdown. The game was only fourteen seconds old and the undermanned Cardinals were already facing a deficit. As the half wore on the Burrs would frolic and enter the intermission up 42-0. The entire second half was played with a running clock. Doing much of the damage in that first half was jr. RB Dennis Shaw. He turned his ten touches into 241 yards of total offense and four touchdowns. He rushed 9 times for 184 yards and 3 TD’s and added another touchdown on a 57-yard scoring pass. All of this came in the first twenty-four minutes, amazing!!! His scoring runs covered 33, 9, and 82 yards. His niftiest run came on the pass play though. He took a short toss from Brennan at the line of the scrimmage and made two ankle-breaking moves to get himself free. This kid has all kinds of wiggles and shakes while in the open field and has little trouble making the first defender miss. He also added a two-point conversion via a pass from Brennan. Speaking of Brennan he only completed 5-of-13 passes, but those completions produced a hefty 174 yards. His best throw was probably his third touchdown pass when he found a streaking sr. WR Parris Shannon down the left sideline for a 42-yard score. Interestingly enough, Dougherty only trailed 14-0 as the game reached the latter stages of the second quarter. This is when the flood gates opened and West scored an amazing four touchdowns in a 2-minute and 38-second span. The Burr defense was at it again and didn’t allow any points until the final minutes with deep subs in the game. This was just the second offensive touchdown this unit has yielded in five games. Today, they forced five turnovers. Interceptions were had by sr. DB Tyrek Smith and sr. DB Harold Davis. Davis got his off a tipped ball when Maddox nailed a Dougherty receiver coming across the middle. Fumble recoveries were made by Shaw, Davis, and frosh. LB Corey Johnson. Jr. DB Khiry Carter, jr. DE Isiah Edmond  (5 tackles), and sr. LB Maurice Seawright forced fumbles. Sr. DT Chris Farmer and frosh. LB Raymond Maples contributed sacks. The leading tacklers for the Burrs were jr. LB Marc Holloway with nine (All in the first half), sr. LB Wayne Donahue (five), and soph. LB Marquese Sanders (five). Holloway, who has a high-powered motor seemed to be all over the field in the first half. Late in the first quarter Davis returned a punt for a 28-yard touchdown, only to have it taken away during a Dougherty timeout immediately after the score. Dougherty Head Coach Ernie Covington contended that Davis had signaled for a fair catch. Before West had a chance to kick the extra-point the referees conferred and took the touchdown off the board. On the sidelines, Davis was asked by yours truly, teammates, and coaches if he had indeed made the fair catch signal. Without hesitation, Davis admitted that the call was correct. That prompted me to say, “Harold doesn’t lie, and he always tells the truth.” That prompted assistant coach Virnest Beale to chime in, “Does Harold lie? Yea, for a touchdown Harold would lie!” The West offense rolled to 334 yards in the first half (364 total). Helping the cause on the line were; sr. C Marty Blithe, G’s jr. Ode Evans and sr. Roosevelt Ben, T’s sr. Farmer and sr. Kirk Hinton, jr. TE Anthony Rhoades, and Donahue at fullback. Though the score may not have shown it, this Dougherty team seemed to have more talent on it than some of their more recent squads. Defensively they battled hard and like I stated earlier trailed just 14-0 late in the second quarter. In the first half they put a lot of pressure on Brennan and sacked him three times. Those sacks were had by; sr. LB Andrew Gillespie (4 tackles), jr. DE Charles Gladman (listed at just 5’7”, 160 lbs), and soph. LB Quinte White. Soph. LB/TE Sean Kidd (4 tackles) and soph. DB Braheem Carroll made fumble recoveries. Sr. DT Ronald Saunder had a team-high 7 tackles and forced a fumble. Offensively, the Cardinals have some serious beef on their O-line. Sr. T Kellen Kemp (6’3”, 290 lbs) is a potential prospect. Sr. G Matt Boerner (6’2”, 357 lbs) and jr’s Paul Howard (5’10”, 310 lbs) and Steve Hart (6’0”, 282 lbs) also add some serious bulk. I like the toughness and persistence that soph. QB Philip Baxter displayed. He finished 11-for-23, with 86 yards and a TD. The score was a 2-yard toss to jr. TE Joe Demarzio. Jr. RB Sean R. Williams was active, but found little operating room. He rushed 12 times for 23 yards and caught 6 passes for another 28 yards. The Cardinals most productive rusher was sr. Matt King (6-27). Kidd made a couple of nice grabs over the middle that netted him 28 yards.

SEPT. 30
CL BLUE
Wood 28, Kennedy-Kenrick 7
     On a lovely fall evening for football, Wood’s ultra-consistent sr. RB Bryan McCartney rushed his way to a pretty impressive milestone. Tonight, he became the twenty-fifth rusher in city history to surpass the 3,000-yard barrier. He finished with 157 yards on 29 tough totes, and scored two touchdowns. He now has 3,027 yards and counting. I really like how this kid runs the ball. No, he’s not the fastest back out there, and he certainly isn’t the strongest, but the kid just gets it done. Rarely do defenders get a clean hit on him and he is almost always moving forward at the end of runs. His best attributes are probably his quick feet and cutback ability that allows him to turn three or four-yard runs, into seven and eight-yard runs. The Viking offense was pretty much running on all cylinders tonight. I just loved the way they spread the ball around on offense. Rarely did they line up in the same formation on consecutive plays, or at least it seemed that way. They opened the game with an 11-play, 80-yard drive. They converted three third downs on the drive, with the last one providing the score. It was a 24-yard pitch and catch from sr. QB Joe Kosich to jr. RB Matt Little. Little did an excellent job of not losing concentration on the pass as it softly flew over a Wolverine defender. Though the final score may have showed a three touchdown difference it was definitely much closer than that for much of the game. In fact, K-K also used an 11-play, 80-yard drive to tie the game midway through he second quarter. Sr. QB Gerry DiNolfi capped the drive with a 1-yard sneak. The score was set up by a hard 9-yard run by soph. RB/LB Derek Jones (6-30). Afterwards, the Vikings needed just three plays to cover 70 yards to regain the lead. This time jr. RB Pat McAfee took a short crossing pattern and then sped down the right sideline for 56-yard touchdown. On the play, he received some nice down-the-field interference from jr. WR Jim Daley. He didn’t necessarily lay out a K-K defender with a vicious block, but he did get in the way of a couple to give McAfee the room he needed to zoom away. The second half was pretty much all Wood, as they held the ball for three possessions. The last one was a three-play let’s run out the clock sequence. However, the first two were an offensive coordinator’s dream. Covering 66 yards on 10 plays the Vikings made the score 21-7 on a McCartney 6-yard rumble. Key plays on this drive were a 31-yard speed sweep to promising jr. WR/DB Chris Lorditch and a 8-yard hook-up between Kosich and jr. WR/DB Pat Devlin on a fourth down play. The next time the Vikings got the ball they took 9:23 off the clock, and went 95 yards on 16 plays. Again it was McCartney supplying the exclamation point, this time with a 1-yard dive. Earlier in the drive he unleashed runs of 16 and 27 yards. To give you an idea of how fundamentally sound Wood’s offense was, they converted 10-of-15 third or fourth down conversions. Very impressive!! In the game they ran 58 offensive plays that produced 400 yards of total offense (234 rushing, 166 passing). I was impressed with the throwing of Kosich, as he ended up 13-for-20, for 166 yards and two scores. I expected more of a lumbering player, but I thought he moved rather well during a few rollouts and he also exhibited a strong arm. Lorditch is a star in the making. He didn’t have a tremendous game (3-32), and he dropped what would have probably been an 86-yard touchdown (A ball thrown perfectly by Kosich), but you can just tell that he is a threat whenever he gets his hands on the ball. He is a rangy target, with above average speed. When he gets a little stronger he will certainly be a handful to contain. I also liked Devlin (6-57) who shows all the skills to be a clutch, possession-type receiver. A lot credit needs to go the Vikings O-line that helped pave the way for the impressive yardage accumulated by the skilled position players. They are; sr. C Tim Colbridge, G’s sr. Matt Knox and sr. Chris Smith, T’s sr. Mike Gallagher and sr. Brian Holly, and sr. TE Ryan Dolan. Defensively, the Vikings were solid. I didn’t see that smothering, fly-to-the-ball type unit that I saw the last two years, but they were still very good nonetheless. Their most defining moment came late in the third quarter. Still only down two scores the Wolverines had a first-and-goal at the Wood 2-yard line. The field position was set up by back-to-back completions from DiNolfi to sr. WR’s Jermaine Pierce (More on him to come) and Zach Molyneaux that covered 27 and 22 yards respectively. However, sr. RB Troy Taylor was stuffed for a one-yard loss by DE Gallagher and soph. LB Bob DeLucas on first down. Then, there was an incompletion to the right corner of the end zone on second down. On third down, Taylor was stuffed for a two-yard loss by Devlin. Finally, while under heavy pressure, Dinolfi’s pass attempt to Pierce was thrown out of the side of the end zone and the Wolverine scoring threat was squelched. Wood took over and then marched 95 yards for their last score to seal the deal. Their leading tackler on the night was DeLucas with six. McAfee added five, including a sack. Sr. DT Matt McFadden notched a sack, while Gallagher and jr. DT Matt Clark split a sack. LB Smith recovered a fumble and DB Daley made a fourth quarter interception. The Wolverines were game all night and had some good moments throughout the contest. Offensively, DiNolfi was 8-for-15, with 145 yards. His main target is the highly athletic and physically gifted Pierce (6-100). For the third time this year he went over the 100-yard receiving mark in a game. At 6’3”, 230 lbs. he is a big-time match-up problem for opposing defenses. Nearly all of his receptions were fade patterns close to the sideline. I was really impressed in how calm he seemed to be when looking back for the ball. Once, he hauled one in that appeared to go through the hands of two Viking defenders. This kid is a SERIOUS talent and should play at a VERY HIGH LEVEL in college. He was no slouch on the defensive side of the ball either from his OLB position. Tonight he finished with ten tackles, with 8 being solos. I also like the spunk and grit that soph. LB Greg Santangelo showed on defense. He too made ten stops (6 solos) and on a few occasions he packed a nice wallop on some open field tackles. Sr. DB Scott Marsten, a high-flyer on the hardwood, made nine tackles to help the cause. Jones added six stops, while jr. DE Alex Johnson (five) and jr. LB Tim Bowman (four) were also active. There was an unfortunate sequence of events for K-K late in the second quarter. Trying to drive for a tying score and having the ball at the Wood 48-yard line the Wolverines lost 29 yards on two plays. First, DiNolfi was called for intentional grounding, which is a 5-yard penalty from the spot of the foul. This play lost 14 yards. Then, Pierce was called for offensive pass interference and this lost another 15 yards. Both plays were also a loss of down. So, after some encouragement from a DN statman regarding that his team may have had a down taken away, K-K head coach Mike McTamney asked the side judge if this was the case. He was told that both penalties were a loss of down as well as the yardage. His response, “Wow, what is this world coming to?”

SEPT. 23
CL RED
SJ Prep 41, Roman 0
     Well, for the second time in three weeks I had the unpleasant experience of watching one of the Catholic League’s premier players fall to an injury. This time it was SJ Prep’s ultra-productive sr. RB John Shaw. During the Prep’s first drive Shaw took a handoff around the left side of the line. He was pulled down, not completely from behind, but at least partially by Roman’s sr. DB Cory Jackson at the 4-yard line. Immediately he began to twist and turn in what appeared to be agonizing pain. The play took place on the opposite side of where I was, so I didn’t get that great of a look at it. A few minutes later he was carried to the sidelines by a host of teammates and later taken to a nearby hospital. At first, it was said to be a left knee injury, but I recently heard that he broke his left fibula, the non-weight bearing bone in the leg. An optimistic timetable for this kind of injury can be as early as 4-to-6 weeks. We here at tedsilary.com wish John nothing but a speedy and healthy recovery, and we all hope to see him back out there again before the season concludes. For this is not just a loss for the Hawks, but the entire Catholic League community. As for the game, two plays after Shaw’s injury sr. FB Ryan Bradley (6’3”, 232 lbs) bulled in from the one-yard line. This concluded a very methodical 12-play, 60-yard drive for the Hawks. On the drive, they converted three third-downs. Before being injured Shaw rushed for 45 yards on 7 carries. Despite the touchdown, the injury to Shaw appeared to take the wind out of the sails of the Prep, at least a little while. The Roman defense was playing with an edge and had the Hawk’s usually potent offense off balanced. Their next two possessions ended in turnovers. Both were supplied by Roman’s active and talented jr. DB Dominique Joesph (Also a talent on the baseball diamond). First, he made a nice interception and then on the next Hawk possession he forced a fumble that was recovered by sr. LB Ryan McAdams. Still, the Cahillites couldn’t take advantage and they themselves were having trouble moving the ball. Still trailing just 7-0, the Cahillites are probably kicking themselves for what transpired on the Hawks next possession. On a third down play, Joseph again made a brilliant defensive play and blew up an underneath passing play that loss two yards. However, some unruliness took place in the Roman secondary that led to a personal foul call on the Cahillites, thus giving the Hawks new life. Still, after two plays that lost eight yards and a procedure call the Hawks were faced with a third-and-twenty-three. Then, on a back-breaking play, talented jr. QB Chris Whitney stepped up in the pocket, rolled to his left, and at the last second calmly hit sr. TE Matt Leddy (6’3”, 235 lbs) crossing down field. Impersonating something you would see at a tractor pull, Leddy hauled a Roman defender an extra ten yards to the five-yard line for a 54-yard gain. On the next play, Shaw’s replacement soph. RB Jamir Livingston (More on him later) scooted in for the score. A penalty on Roman’s kickoff return brought the ball back to their 13-yard line and they quickly went three-and-out. After a short punt the Hawks were in business at the Roman 39-yard line. Seven plays later the score became 21-0, as Whitney found a wide open sr. WR Tom Elliott for a rather easy 13-yard touchdown with just :14 seconds left in the half. A break here or there the Cahillites could have easily just found themselves down just the one score, but it just wasn’t to be. Like they have done on countless occasions the Hawks took advantage of their opponent’s mistakes. Ted and I talk about this all the time, but if I had a nickel for every time the Prep has scored that end of the half, nail in the coffin touchdown, then my bank account would be a lot heftier. As the second half began the Hawks left little doubt that this game would be theirs. They scored on all three of their third quarter possessions; 4-yard run by Livingston, 17-yard run by Livingston, and a 4-ayrd run by jr. RB Bradley Wright (11-40). The fourth quarter was played with a running clock. After replacing Shaw, Livingston looked a bit nervous and only gained 7 yards on his first four carries. This would not continue though, and the diminutive (5’7”, 150 lbs), but speedy back gave the Hawk faithful something to look forward to while their franchise heels. His next 9 carries would produce 106 yards. And despite his smallish stature he showed little hesitation in running between the tackles. At times looking like a rock skimming off a lake, that’s how quick his feet were moving. I also get the sense the Livingston might have an acrobatic side to him, as a few of his runs ended with him spinning through the air. Right now, he reminds me a little of former Prep star and current Univ. of Delaware player Danny Jones. He finished with 113 yards on 13 totes. This was my first look at Whitney who has shined in the early going this season. Tonight, he was just ok. All of his passing came in the first half and he finished with 101 yards, on 6-for-13 passing. The Prep defense was stifling all night. They held the Cahillites to just four first downs and 47 yards in total offense. Interceptions were had by; sr. DB Andy Shalbrack (5 tackles), sr. LB Josh Howley, and jr. DB Brian Brinkman. Sr. LB Colin Wixted added five tackles, while Leddy and sr. DB Dave Clement evenly split eight. Jr. DE Neil Doogan made two stops for losses. Soph. K Tim Edger thrice nailed PAT’s over the far wall and into the street. Offensively, the Cahillites had trouble doing much of anything. Sr. RB Sean Woods (6-33) had an early 27-yard run. Later on, soph. RB Aaron Duncan contributed a 21-yard pass play from Jackson. Aside from this though, offensive success was few and far between. Twenty-two of Roman’s thirty-four offensive plays went for two yards or less! The Cahillites had been rotating Joseph and Jackson at the quarterback position. Tonight, soph. QB Chris Johnson saw considerable time as well. Defensively, even with allowing 40+ the Cahillites had some decent moments. Aside from what I already mentioned Joseph added six tackles and two pass defends. Sr. DB Aaron Pryer led Roman with 8 tackles. Sr. DT Rich Brandt chipped in with seven stops. Sr. LB Rockeed McCarter had a sack. Soph. LB Dan Lennon was active with six tackles. Finally, Jackson and jr. LB Matt Marcinek (6’3”, 220) evenly split ten stops.

SEPT. 10
NON-LEAGUE
West Catholic 21, St. John’s (D.C.) 0
   For the second consecutive week the Burrs defense laid a goose egg on their opponent’s side of the scoreboard and walked away with another victory over a quality opponent. This was a very solid win for the Burrs as this St. John’s team had a nice combination of size and speed throughout their line up. Their offensive line’s average dimensions were 6’4”, 289 lbs. and the Burrs' defense was faced with a serious size disadvantage. Still, this was not going to discourage this group, which has as much speed and a fly-to-the-ball mentality as any Burr defense in recent memory. Though the Cadets entered Burr territory on seven of eight possessions, crossed the Burr thirty six times, and even got inside the ten twice, they could not penetrate the West end zone. Every time it appeared that St. John’s would break through, a Burr defender was there to make a play. West held St. John’s to just 162 yards in total offense, and just 15 total yards in the second half. They also recorded six sacks and forced two turnovers, with one going for a late touchdown. There were many stars for head coach Brian Fluck’s defense. For starters, we’ll begin with jr. DE Isiah Edmond who finished with three of the Burr six sacks. Overall he had made eight tackles (5 TFL’s, 28 yards) and recovered a fumble. Also contributing sacks were; jr. LB Marc Holloway (8 tackles – 1 sack), sr. DT Kirk Hinton (6’5”, 270 lbs) had a sack amongst is his five stops, and sr. DT Chris Farmer (6’5”, 260 lbs) and jr. DE Anthony Rhoades (5 tackles) each spilt a sack. Sr. LB Wayne Donahue once again played a rugged and spirited game. The hard-hitting middle linebacker made 8 tackles and forced a fumble. Division-1 prospect sr. DB/WR John Maddox led the Burr defense with 9 tackles. While soph. LB Marquese Sanders (5 tackles) and sr. DB Harold Davis (4 tackles, 3 pass defends) played an active game. Offensively, the Burrs didn’t play a particularly sharp game, but made a play here and there to get the job done. Once again Fluck rotated QB’s with soph. Eric Brennan (6’5”, 190 lbs) and sr. Steven Powers. It was Brennan was got the start, but Powers who directed a nice second quarter scoring drive for the game’s first score. He smoothly orchestrated a 10-play, 81-yard drive that was capped by a lovely 36-yard touchdown pass to sr. WR Chris Palmer (3-51). On the play, Palmer calmly broke free down the middle of the field and easily split a couple of Cadet defenders for the score. Powers went 5-for-6, for 78 yards on the drive. He attempted just one other pass in the game. Brennan finished 2-for-4, for 30 yards. He most productive pass was a 26-yard fade to Maddox (2-46) who made a spectacular circus grab over a St. John’s defensive back.  The Burrs running game was non-existent is the first half, but came to life after the intermission. Shifty jr. RB Denis Shaw carried just three times for minus-three yards in the first half, but he was very instrumental in the Burrs second touchdown. He carried the ball six times for 48 yards during their 68-yard, 11-play third quarter touchdown march. The drive was capped by a 1-yard sneak by Brennan. Shaw finished with 78 yards on 16 totes for the game. A lot of credit has to be given to the Burrs offensive line that hung in there and did some positive things in the second half. Included in this unit are; sr. C Marty Blithe (6’2”, 240 lbs.), G’s Farmer and jr. Ode Evans (6’1”. 240 lbs.), T’s Hinton and sr. Roosevelt Ben (6’5”, 255 lbs), and TE Rhoades. Also, Donahue made some punishing blocks from the fullback position. Soph. C Robert Somerville and G Edmond provided some quality moments in relief. The Burrs final touchdown came on a nice 25-yard interception return by sr. DB/WR Erik Frazier with just under two minutes left in the game. Recently added sr. K Hanif Williams, a lefty, calmly booted all three of is point-after attempts. Lastly, Rhoades absolutely blasted a fourth quarter punt that traveled an amazing 74 yards. Sure, some of the yardage total came after the roll, but this ball was seriously hit from the beginning. It traveled at least 45-to-50 yards in the air and had tremendous hang time to go along with it. Next week the Burrs will travel to Widener to take on reigning CL Red champs Cardinal O’Hara in what promises to be a stiff challenge for this Burr team. This will be the home opener for the Lions and the first high school game played under the lights at Widener’s recently refurbished stadium.

SEPT. 9
NON-LEAGUE
Bonner 20, Interboro 15
   A week after being handed an embarrassing loss to neighborhood rival Upper Darby the Monsignor Bonner football team was looking to make a step in the right direction. So, last night they traveled the short distance to the South Avenue Sports Complex to take on another county toughie, Interboro. At game’s end this Friar club and coaching staff had to be pleased with their efforts, but did it come at a cost? Sr. QB Marc Verica (Virginia recruit) was injured while being sacked late in the first half. Although he spent the rest of the game on the sideline cheering on his teammates, he did so with his left shoulder heavily bandaged. Further evaluation was to come later last night at a nearby hospital. While Verica was in the game he conducted two Friar scoring drives. The first was a nine-play, 47-yard drive that featured all runs except for a 12-yard completion from Verica to sr. WR John Hayes. The drive was capped by a short 1-yard plunge by Verica. It was set up by a nifty 24-yard interception return by sr. DB Ryan Hunt, who snatched the ball out of midair after sr. DT Pat Dix got a paw on it at the line of scrimmage. On Bonner’s next possession, after a nice 18-yard punt return by soph. RB Matt McGillian, the Friars set up shop at the Bucs 38-yard line. From there they needed just six plays to get the game’s second score. This time it was sr. RB Mike Curran (7-27) who took a toss around the left end for 15-yard scoring run. In Verica’s half of action he finished with 31 yards on 9 totes and was 3-for-5, for 39 yards passing. He also had a 54-yard touchdown to sr. WR Mike Tomasco called back due to a penalty. Ironically, it appeared to be Tomasco who committed the illegal shift as he turned up field just slightly before the ball was snapped. Though the coaches had to be happy about the two offensive scores their team produced, they had to be elated by the play of the defense in the first half. The Friars held the Bucs to just three first downs and 73 yards of offense over the first twenty-four minutes. With their leader out the Friars had to know that their 14-point lead was not at all safe, especially with the quality of opponent on the other sideline. However, it was a Bonner miscue that gave the Bucs some life. With under a minute to play in the third quarter Verica’s replacement, jr. QB Craig Love threw an errant pass that found Bucs’ jr. LB Eric Brown who proceeded to return it 44 yards for the touchdown. On the subsequent PAT attempt Hunt broke through and got a hand on the ball, but unknowingly by the Friar defense it found the waiting arms of another Interboro player who ran it in for a two-point conversion, making the score 14-8. With this it appeared that ol' mo had begun to change. Bonner’s next possession ended with a three-and-out. After a 27-yard punt return by the Bucs they appeared to be in prime position to seize control when they started at the Bonner 32-yard line. But the Bonner defense stiffened and four plays later they regained possession. They wasted no time capitalizing on the momentum that the defense just swung back. On the first play, sr. RB Frank Bizzari (11-113) took a pitch left, made a beautiful cutback towards the middle of the field and then ran away from multiple Interboro defenders for a 65-yard touchdown. The Bucs would not go away easily and came right back to score on an 8-yard pass from jr. Jim Takacs to Brown with 6:42 remaining making the score 20-15. However, behind the strength of sr. LB Shane Reagan’s recovery of a muffed punt the Friars were able to claim their first win without any real threat in the late going. Defensively, it was a marked improvement for the Friars. They yielded just 143 yard in offense to Interboro and held their usually potent running game to just 61 yards on 26 carries. I couldn’t help but notice a couple of obvious adjustments in the Friar defense. Sr. LB Matt Licci (DT last week) and sr. OLB Steve Wheatley (DE last week) had changed positions. For Licci it was back to the spot that garnered him an All-Catholic selection last year. He must have enjoyed the switch as he finished with a game-high 10 tackles, including 4 TFL’s. Wheatley also looked comfortable at his new spot and added 6 stops. Still, they weren’t the only Friar stars on that side of the ball. Dix really helped set the tone early and was in the ‘Boro backfield numerous times, he finished with 7 tackles. Jr. DB P.J. Sheridan added a pick. In a game that featured plenty of wallops it was Sheridan that may have incurred the loudest. He was absolutely flattened while catching a punt, but to his credit he did a terrific job of hanging on to the ball. Offensively, the O-line help the Friars churn out 224 yards on the ground. This unit consisted of; TE Wheatley, jr. C David Diehl, G’s sr. Miles Huff and sr. Greg Ledva, and T’s sr. Tim Kelly and sr. Mike Ford. Sr. Matt Boland and sr. Omar Bullack did an admirable job at the fullback position. As for Love he didn’t complete a pass in three attempts, but he did pick up a couple of first downs on designed QB keepers up the middle. He finished with 26 yards on 6 carries. I would like to end with just a few thoughts on Verica. First, I wish him nothing but the best and a speedy recovery. He is one of my most enjoyable players to watch in the Catholic League, and hopefully his injury is nothing serious. If that were the case then not only would the Bonner football team feel the loss, but so would the entire CL community.

SEPT. 2
NON-LEAGUE
Upper Darby 34, Bonner 6
   The Friars entered this neighborhood rivalry contest with high expectations for this coming season. And even though this was only one game the Friar community must be feeling at least a little disappointed, if not extremely disappointed after this outcome. Bonner was just totally dominated and overwhelmed by their neighborhood counterparts. The Royals, who will look to bounce back on the scene in the Central League, took control early and scored on their first three possessions leaving no doubt who will hold bragging rights in and around Upper Darby at least for one year. One of Bonner’s lone bright spots came with them trailing 13-0. Virginia-bound sr. QB Mark Verica (6’3”, 195 lbs.) beautifully lofted a 65-yard scoring strike to sr. WR Mike Tomasco to pull the Friars within 13-6 on the first play of the second quarter. However, this momentum would be short-lived as the Royals demoralized the Friars with a workmanlike 10-play, 65-yard scoring drive. Trailing 20-6, Bonner looked to possibly get back in the game when they forced the Royals to punt on their first possession of the second half. The punt traveled just nine yards and Bonner was left with reasonably good field position at the Upper Darby 43-yard line. However, after two one-yard runs Verica was sacked on third down, thus forcing Bonner to punt the ball back to the Royals. These would be Bonner’s only three plays of the third quarter. On their subsequent possession Upper Darby held the ball for ten plays before putting the Friars away with their fourth score of the game on the first play of the fourth quarter. For good measure the Royals added a fifth touchdown on their next possession. This Friar club does have some talented players, but also some glaring weaknesses. At least that’s the impression I left with. Verica is still a capable playmaker, but if some cohesiveness on the offensive line and something resembling a running game doesn’t develop, then he could be in for a long and adventurous year bobbing and weaving around oncoming defenders. Tonight, he was a modest 8-for-15, with 153 yards. He was picked once and sacked a total of five times. Tomasco (4-111) was his main target and appears to be viable option. Sr. TE/DE Steve Wheatley (3-32) showed nice hands on the balls thrown his way. Sr. RB Frank Bizzari (10-40) sped to 29 yards on his first two carries, but his next eight totes went for just zero or one yard. Another concern I have for this group of Friars might be overall team speed, especially defensively. The Royals just ran through, around, and away from them all evening. They amassed 389 yards in total offense, including 302 yards on 45 carries. Despite this I did leave impressed with a couple of Friar defenders. Jr. DB P.J. Sheridan (6’2”, 185 lbs) showed nice ball-closing ability and hitters mentality for a good part of the night. He finished with 7 stops. Sr. DT Pat Dix (6’3”, 280 lbs.) also had seven stops and moves rather well for a big kid. Sr. DB Vince Port showed brass and also notched seven tackles. Sr. DT Matt Licci finished with six stops. For the time being he is playing on the line, but was a 1st-Team A-C selection at linebacker just a season ago. The Friars were missing a couple of projected starters in jr. RB/DB Mike Dougherty (foot) and sr. OL Steve Clement (wrist). A speedy return by one or both of these kids should benefit Bonner immensely. Though we don’t normally cover Upper Darby I would like to mention a few kids that stood out for them tonight. Sr. WR/DB Nick Ciccone, who I coached against in the UDHL baseball league, was at times tonight the best player on the field. He snared five receptions for 72 yards and also made a lovely sideline interception. Sr. RB Simoni Marco Lawrence chewed up 136 yards on 24 carries and scored twice. He showed a nice blend of speed and strength. Hard-hitting jr. LB Will Bradley made eight tackles, including a sack. Lastly, jr. QB Blaine Fox, also a UDHL product and making his first varsity start, finished 7-for-7, for 87 yards passing. All of this came in the first half. For the Friars it doesn’t get any easier as they’ll take on Delaware County power Interboro next week. I look for nothing short than a marked improvement from this Friar club.