Huck's Corner Football 2008 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.

Click here for statistical comparison - - - West 2008 vs. Carroll 2000.

NOV. 27
NON-LEAGUE – THANKSGIVING
Malvern 34, SJ Prep 27
     Last season, the Friars came into this Turkey Day game with an identical (9-0) record as this year’s version. But last year the Hawks had their way with the Friars and headed to the post-game feast with a convincing 33-6 victory to ruin the Friars hopes of a perfect season. Today, it appeared very much so that we were in for more of the same. With 7:12 left in the second quarter, sr. QB Mark Giubilato took a keeper around the left end for a 17-yard touchdown, giving the Hawks a commanding 21-0 lead. Sr. OG Mike Pinciotti (6’3”, 292 lbs), looking like a guy going after the last drumstick on grandma’s dinner table, provided a devastating block in assisting Giubilato. This child abuse moment was a microcosm of how the game had gone to this point, as the Hawks were just having their way with the Friars. However, things would begin to change in favor of Malvern soon after, and before long they would be the ones sitting at the head of table. Hey, any time you can comeback from a 21-point deficit against a team of SJP’s caliber, then there has to be a crucial, game-turning moment, right? You betcha! After the Hawks' third score, their defense forced a three-and-out and a punt. On the next play, SJP sr. RB/DB Mike Yeager took a handoff 60 yards to the Malvern 23-yard line. He was thrown out of bounds by Malvern sr. DB/RB Neil Willis in a rough manner. No flag was thrown (I’m not sure one was warranted), but afterwards Yeager was hit for a personal foul. I’m not positive if it was retaliatory or merely jawing at the official. Anyhow, this pushed the ball back to the 38-yard line. They still had a first-and-ten, but disaster struck with a fumble on the next play. Mammoth sr. DT Sean Ferguson (6’4”, 340 lbs) did the forcing, while jr. DT Joe DiTrolio made the recovery. This was the second time that the Hawks turned the ball over right after a huge play. Earlier, sr. LB Mike Pereira returned an interception 56 yards to the Malvern 26-yard line. On the next play, sr. QB/DB Billy Conners made a pick at his 5 on a pass that was under thrown. After the fumble, Malvern would finally ignite the scoreboard, but they needed a gigantic play from Conners to do so. And as it turns out, this would the first of many great plays by the scrappy, but athletic Conners in the game. Faced with a fourth-and-5, Conners sprinted to his left with the option to throw, but instead, held on to the ball and nicely cutback to his right at about the twenty. From here he easily found the end zone for a 34-yard score with 3:15 left in the half. You got the sense at this moment that the Friars weren’t going to go away. It remained 21-7 Hawks into the third quarter. To begin the second half the Friars built upon the momentum they captured near the end of the opening half. It took them just a 1:40 to draw within 21-14 on a 17-yard pass from Conners to sr. TE/DE CJ Mooney. The score was set-up by a 35-yard run by sr. RB James Connelly. SJP’s first series of the second half ended with another interception by Conners in the left flat. The ball was tipped by Mooney near the line scrimmage and deflected to Conners. Four plays later we had a tie ballgame, as Conners beautifully lofted a pass to the right flag to impressive sr. WR/DB Joe Price for a 40-yard strike. Earlier in the game the sure-handed Price had a ball slide off his fingertips that would have been a sure touchdown. This play gave him a little redemption, but he was far from finished in the redeeming area. Early in the fourth quarter, Malvern was faced with a third-and-six from their twenty-nine. The call was a simple hitch to Price to the left. He made the catch about yard pass the marker, but after the lone SJP defender failed on a tackle attempt it was clear sailing. Yes, 71 yards to paydirt! The point-after failed, but Malvern had just scored their 27th straight point to take the lead. Refusing to put their tails between their legs, or should I say have their wings clipped, the Hawks soared back. Their subsequent drive covered 76 yards on 12 plays. Yeager, playing the role of the workhorse, carried eight times for 50 yards on the drive, including a 15-yard capper. The Hawks also failed on the point-after and the tilt was tied with 5:48 left. Malvern’s game-winning possession began at their 27-yard line. Showing a ton of poise, Conners calmly orchestrated his crew. Twice he converted third down chances. First, he connected for 14 yards to Price. Then, he used a sneak to gain two yards. The game-clinching play came via another Conners-to-Price hook-up. It covered 27 yards and came with 37.1 seconds left. To be honest with you, but the score was way too easy. How the Hawks allowed a player of Price’s talents to get that much space was inexcusable. Afterwards, the Hawks had one last-ditch effort beginning at their 34-yard line. They reached Malvern’s 49-yard line with 7 ticks left, but a final play, a screen to Yeager, netted just 8 yards. The unassuming, but effective Conners was brilliant, like he’s been all year. He finished 15-for-23, for 268 yards. Included in this was an 8-for-8, 187-yard performance over the final 24 minutes. He accounted for all five Malvern scores with 4 passes and one rush. He also added 42 yards on 8 carries. Price (7-172) was held to just one snag for seven yards in the first half, but exploded for 6 catches for 165 yards. What a terrific player! For those of you who haven’t seen him I’d say he’s in the mold of former Wood great Chirs Lorditch, but probably is a little stronger than Lorditch was at this stage. Connelly (13-87) and Willis (11-42, 78 yards on 5 returns) were the primary rushers for the Friars. Sr. WB Rob McCabe made 5 catches for 64 yards. All total, the Friars posted 440 yards of offense. Great job by the guys in the trenches! Leading the way were: sr. C Matt Devlin, G’s sr. Mike McCorkle and Ditroilio, T’s sr. Bobby Panchisin (6’2”, 280 lbs) and sr. Dave Umile, and Mooney (6’4”, 235 lbs) at tight end. On defense, Mooney (sack, 7 tackles), sr. DB Tom Keefer (seven, 6 solos), McCorkle (seven, 6 solos), DiTrolio (7 tackles), Ferguson (five), and Willis (five) were headliners. For the Prep, Yeager played extremely well with 193 yards on 28 carries and 2 TD’s (Also, 7-yarder). He also added 70 yards on 4 returns. Giubilato had 154 yards of passing (4-for-14, 62 yards) and rushing (11-92). His best toss of the game came on a 34-yard touchdown to sr. WR Dan Turner. The Hawks also eclipsed the 400-yard plateau in the game with 407 total yards. If I had a complaint with the Hawks' offense it was that, in my opinion, they put the ball in the air 6-to-8 too many times. I believe that the power attack, with a few more Giubilato keepers, could have been more of an effective path. Defensively, jr. FB Stephen O’Hara (6 tackles) forced a fumble, recovery by jr. DE Bill Mancini. Yeager and sr. DB Dan Casey each made seven tackles, with many of them being tag-team efforts. Jr. RB/LB Garrett Compton was next with 5 tackles. For the game, the teams combined for 847 yards of offense and 1,106 yards, counting returns. It remains to be seen if this will be the last hurrah for Malvern’s legendary Head Coach Gamp Pellegrini. He was non-committal to yours truly afterwards on that issue. Either way he’s had a tremendous career, and arguably this year’s team was his finest ever. For the Hawks, it was a season of near misses. Their four losses all came to excellent teams and for the most part they were in all of these games, but only to come up just short in each. Many quality seniors graduate on both clubs, so next season should be interesting to see who can reload the quickest.

NOV. 22
1ST ROUND AA STATE PLAYOFF
West Catholic 63, Palisades 20
  Well, I think it’s safe to say that no one will be accusing the Burrs of making their first state playoff appearance a non-exciting one. West would score touchdowns on their first nine possessions of the game. Check that! They did fail to score once in the first half, but that came after getting the ball at their 35-yard line with just 7 seconds left in the half. Still, even this series produced 43 yards on a quarterback draw by sr. Curtis Drake. Palisades, which plays in the Colonial League in District 11, was almost doomed from the start. They won the toss and of course opted to take the ball and keep it away from the potent Burrs. However, West kicked off with the wind at its back, so when the Pirates failed to move the chains, then the track meet was on. The Burrs’ defense forced a trio of three-and-outs to start the game. Each of these was followed by short punts into the wind and consequently prime real estate for the dynamic Burrs. On just their second offensive play, sr. RB/DB Rob Hollomon sped 64 yards for the first score. Trust me folks, but he was just getting started. The next two times West had the ball it was Drake locating the end zone on runs of 13 and 10 yards. Just like that West was up 22-0 with 4:14 still to play in the opening quarter. To end the first quarter, R. Hollomon ripped off another long run to get the Burrs out of a hole, this time covering 67 yards. Then, four plays into the second quarter the score ascended to 29-0 on a 5-yard run by R. Hollomon. On the Burrs’ next possession it was more of the same. Once again, R. Hollomon broke off a long one on the Pirates’ defense. This time he raced 73 yards to paydirt to make it 35-0. At this point, there was still half the second quarter to play and R. Hollomon had already rushed for 232 yards on just FIVE carries. Wow!!! Still playing hard the Palisades’ offense would cash in on their next possession, making it 35-7 on a 5-yard run by sr. RB/WR/DB John Gruver. The next time the Burrs had the ball it looked like the parade to the end zone was going to be temporarily slowed. After a wild center snap and delay penalty, West was faced with a third-and-33 from the 46. Surely, they would be stopped. Not exactly! First, Drake flipped to sr. RB/DB Raymond Maples for 21 yards. Afterwards, he threw a swing pass to R. Hollomon on fourth down and the speedster did the rest for a 25-yard score and his fourth touchdown of the half. That was his 37th total touchdown of the season, which tied SJP’s Pat Kaiser (in '02) for the city record. Not ready to put their tails between their legs just yet, the Pirates unleashed an impressive 61-yard drive that took only 46 seconds. For the second time they removed the mercy rule status before the half. Hey, it would have been real easy for them to just pack it in, but they chose to continue to fight. Admirable! Once again it was their star Gruver doing the honors, this time on an 8-yard pass from jr. QB Adam Hardy. To begin the second half the Burrs wasted little time getting that 35-point lead back. On the first of the third quarter, Drake hurled a lovely pass down the middle of the field to a streaking sr. WR Eric Young. The play was good for a 52-yard score and 49-14 advantage. On their next possession, again, it took just one play to score, as Maples zoomed 50 yards for a touchdown. Later on in the third quarter Maples would cap the scoring for West with a 14-yard run. Palisades would tack on a feel good score in the final minute on a 10-yard run by back-up soph. QB Josh Parris. All total, the Burrs offense produced 592 yards. Crazy! The trio of R. Hollomon (6-243), Drake (10-157) and Maples (8-112) ran wild. Some quick math tells me that’s 512 rushing yards on 24 carries. Yes, an astounding 21.3 average per rush. Drake was also 3-for-3 passing for 98 yards! Drake eclipsed a couple of impressive barriers in the game, as he surpassed 3,000 yards passing and 2,000 yards rushing. He now has exactly 5,100 totals yards! Oh, yeah, today was his 30th (30-2) win as a starting quarterback. How many signal-callers can claim that distinction? As good as this terrific trio has been, they wouldn’t be half the players they are without the quality path-clearing they receive from the boys up front. Kudos to all! Included here are: Jr. C Jake Zuzek, sr. T Victor McNair, sr. T Austin Peters, sr. G Covisia Wilson, and sr. G Paul Murtagh. Also supplying a helping hand were sr. FB Juan Rozier and soph. TE Jim Lynch. Young only has 12 catches (36.7 ypr) on the season, but seven of them have gone for touchdowns. Defensively, Maples provided some earth-shattering hits (6 tackles) and recovered a fumble. Sacks were had by sr. DE Chris Williams (6 stops), jr. DT John Ruppert (1.5), and sr. DE Artis Carroll (.5). Sr. DB Haleem Hayward made five solo stops and forced a fumble. Jr. LB Dante Dickens chipped in with five, while jr. DE Dontae Lewis played well with four tackles. Adding to the cause was soph. DB Brandon Hollomon with 3 solo tackles (TFL) and as many pass defends. B. Hollomon replaced jr. DB Ray Manuel (shoulder) in the starting line-up. The 63-point output gave the Burrs 655 total points on the year, which is good for an incomprehensible 50.4 per game average. Next week, the Burrs will take on District 2’s Dunmore in the state AA quarterfinals. Dunmore reached the AA state final last season before losing to Jeannette, which had the services of the #1 player in the country in Terrelle Pryor. The game is slated for Friday night at Northeast H.S., 7 o’clock start time. Oh, yeah, before I forget, I have to give a major shoutout to Jim “Jimmers” McShane, who made the trek to Allentown on his own to cheer on the Burrs. I believe Jimmers was the only “traditional neighborhood” guy to make the trip. The Burrs appreciate it!

NOV. 15
NON-LEAGUE
Bonner 48, Neumann-Goretti 0
  This was one of those add on games that sometimes show up at the end of the year. Typically between teams who miss out on the playoffs, which was the case for Bonner (AAA) and N-G (AAA). Both clubs have forthcoming Thanksgiving Day games in a week and half, so why sit around idly, right? You betcha! I applaud both coaching staffs and their players for taking advantage of this open week to schedule a game. The easy thing to do would be to sit back and wait for Thanksgiving to get here. Allowing the kids to play another game is always a good thing in my mind, especially if you’re trying to build toward future success within your program. Well, now that the game is over I wonder if N-G chief Bill Sytsma is having second thoughts. Smile! Things turned for the worse for the Saints almost from the get-go. They did start the game with a promising defensive series by a forcing a Bonner punt. However, their return man fielded the ball at the five and proceeded laterally and backwards. He was ultimately brought down in the end zone by sr. DB Brendan Gutierrez for a safety. Next, sr. RB Eric Petransky took the subsequent kickoff untouched down the middle for a 65-yard touchdown. Just like that the Saints trailed 9-0 only 2:26 into the game. Bonner would cap their next possession with another score on an 18-yard rumble by sr. FB Tim Ferry. In the second quarter Ferry would add another touchdown on a 5-yard blast. They would take a 22-0 lead into the intermission. In the third stanza Bonner would reach the comfortable confines of the end zone yet again. Doing the honors this time was jr. TE/FB/LB Don Beese on a 13-yard pass from soph. QB Sean Quarterman. Things really got out of hand from the middle of the fourth quarter on. Jr. RB Kyle Schuberth scored on an 8-yard run to bring the game to mercy rule status with 8:45 left. Soon after, Beese plodded across with another 13-yard touchdown, this time on a rush. Hmmm? I wouldn’t say this kid is overly superstitious! Not one, but two 13-yard touchdowns! Guess what? The plays were his first reception and first carry of the season! I know of at least one player that was happy this game was added. Smile! Bonner’s final touchdown produced some head scratching moments by yours truly. With the clock running N-G had one final possession after Beese’s second touchdown. There was less than a minute to play and N-G back-up QB jr. Mark Stinsman just misfired on a pass attempt. Ok, no big deal. Regroup and maybe get another play off, maybe not. Instead, Sytsma requested a timeout to stop the clock. Perplexing with the score already 41-0! Anyhow, Stinsman's next pass was intercepted by jr. DB Joshua Dukes along the N-G sideline and he easily returned it untouched 45 yards for a touchdown. Just 34 seconds remained in the game. N-G would get it back again and try another pass, but Stinsman was sacked by soph. DT Nick Maile for an 11-yard loss to end the game.  The Saints had little success on offense, as they could only produce 64 total yards on 41 plays. Jr. DB John Wichmann had an interception for Bonner. Additional sacks were had by sr. DT Mike McCreight, sr. DE Matthew Mannion, and sr. DE Aaron Wallower. Sr. LB Larry DelViscio and Beese evenly split ten stops, while soph. LB Marcus Collins added four. Offensively, the Friars had 308 yards of total offense, including 285 yards on the ground. Not only were the 48 points the Friars scored easily a season high, but it was just four points short of what they totaled in their first ten games. The muddy conditions were ideal for Ferry, who churned out 104 yards on 11 rugged totes. Also, lending a hand were Petransky (15-83) and Shuberth (12-67). Assisting up front were jr. C Mike Murphy, sr. G Robert Borman, jr. G James Colivas, sr. T Matthew Spellman, and sr. T Ed Brady. This was my first look at N-G and I was anxious to catch a glimpse of star two-way lineman Kadeem Custis. However, Custis was in street clothes and that chance was negated. I asked him at halftime what the issue was and he told me that he was suspended because he was tossed from their previous game versus Dougherty. Oh well! Not much to report about the Saints offense, but jr. QB Anthony Mastrando did play with brass. Defensively, DB Shane Thomas made 10 solo tackles. This kid might be a freshman. I thought I saw that somewhere, but can’t remember where. N-G’s roster does not have years on it. Ugh! Jr. Jesse Kinsey made seven solo tackles, while LB Anthony Jannelli also added seven (5 solos). Chipping in were LB John Snyder and LB Paul Lind with five apiece. Bonner and Neumann-Goretti (nee St. John Neumann) are old PCL Southern Division rivals. I believe this is the first time they squared off since the traditional South/North leagues were switched to Red/Blue in ‘99.

NOV. 14
AA SUBREGIONAL FINAL
West Catholic 56, Ben Franklin 6
  On a misty and damp night, the Burrs and Electrons met for a chance to be one of just sixteen AA teams left playing after this weekend. Because of a quirk in the system this game was dubbed as a subregional final, even though both squads reside in District-12. Because neighboring District-1 only has three AA teams, they couldn’t conduct district playoffs. So, last week the subregional’s top two seeds, West and Bok, clashed for the D-12/City Championship game. Meanwhile, Franklin, who lost the week before in the Pub Final to Bok, was off tangling with D-1’s top team, Lower Moreland. The Electrons bested LM, 22-6, and therefore, restored state playoff hopes. As it goes these hopes would be dashed, if not quickly, but thoroughly on this night, as the Electrons just didn’t have enough to match West’s firepower. In a season with statistical anomalies for West, tonight was no different. How about this one? Despite leading 35-0 at halftime, West ONLY ran 10 plays to Franklin’s 35. These ten plays produced 305 first half yards. Their shortest outbursts covered just 5, 10, and 15 yards, but all came on touchdowns. The other seven plays averaged 39.3 per try. By game’s end, Franklin would hold a 49-to-23 advantage in plays. I don’t officially track time of possession, but from looking at my stat sheet, I’d venture to guess that West only held the ball for ten of the forty-eight minutes in the game. To be honest, Franklin did some good things early. Their first possession produced a first down near midfield before a punt was in order. Ok, two plays later sr. RB Rob Hollomon zipped 58 yards for a touchdown for the game’s first score. Then, Franklin’s next possession had a disastrous ending when QB Khaleem Brown fumbled while being sacked by jr. DT John Ruppert. The ball squirted free and sr. DE/OLB Chris Williams easily scooped it up and trotted home from five yards. Afterwards, Franklin would hold onto the ball and then some. It seemed like they had it for an hour! Their next series produced 15 plays, but would ultimately stall at the West 16-yard line. Soon after, they would get it right back, as a 40-yard pass play between sr. QB Curtis Drake and sr. WR Brandon Williamson ended with a fumble on a tremendous individual effort by IMPRESSIVE sr. DE/TE Jamel Haggins. Even though Haggins lines up near the line of scrimmage, he hustled downfield and caught Williamson from behind, all the while jarring the ball loose. Franklin wouldn’t do anything with this opportunity, but after a good punt by Haggins, and a West penalty, the Burrs were somewhat pinned at their 11-yard line. To this point, Franklin had dictated play and was probably satisfied with how things were transpiring. There was only 5:37 left on the second quarter clock and the score was still hanging in respectable-ville, at 14-0. Not so fast! Who said fast? Boy, can this West team zip around a football field! They would go onto score three more times prior to the half ending, and before Franklin knew what hit them we were in mercy rule territory with a 35-0 score. First, they marched 89 yards on three plays; 39-yard run by Drake, 35-yard run by R. Hollomon, and 15-yard scoring pass from Drake to soph. TE Jim Lynch. Next, they needed just two plays to cover 58 yards; Drake-to-sr. WR Eric Young for 48 yards, followed by a 10-yard burst by sr. RB/DB Raymond Maples. Finally, a 22-yard punt return by R. Hollomon put the ball at WC’s forty, but just 27 seconds remained in the half. No problem! Drake found soph. WR Quran Kent for 55 yards to the Franklin 5-yard line. Their were only four ticks left on the clock, but the first down mixed with a couple of dinged Electrons allowed the Burrs to collect themselves at the line of scrimmage. When play was restored West had plenty of time to get another play off, and Drake scooted around the right side for a touchdown with time expiring. This was a highly efficient sequence. With a running clock time flew by in the second half, but the Burrs still had time to capitalize on their only two possessions. Doing the honors here were; R. Hollomon (5-yard run) and Maples (11-yard run). Franklin experienced some elation late in the game when Brown found a leaping sr. WR Donnell Jones on a 32-yard scoring pass. The touchdown came with 1:31 left. Afterwards, Franklin kicked the ball deep and R. Hollomon fielded it on a bounce. Oh, no! Yep, he returned it 77 yards for a touchdown. This drew the ire of the Franklin sideline, as they felt that R. Hollomon shouldn’t have been in the game any longer. Though, I don’t think West’s Head Coach Brian Fluck left him in the game maliciously, but maybe it would have been best for a couple of younger players to line-up deep. I have covered West for a long time and they have never changed their kickoff return package. No matter what the circumstances have been in a game. It is what it is! Typically, teams don’t even kick it deep to them, so I think the entire sequence caught most off guard a bit. At game’s end, there were some less than friendly discussions between the teams, but things ultimately concluded peacefully. It ended up being a record-setting night for the Burrs. Jr. K Tim Carroll’s (8-for-8 on PATS) next to last extra-point gave West 585 points on the season, breaking the 584 points Carroll scored in 2000. Carroll accomplished their feat in 13 games, while this was game number 12 for West. The Burrs accumulated 432 yards on their 23 plays (18.3 avg). For the season, they surpassed 5,000 total yards (5,248). Drake went over the 1,000-yard mark in both rushing and passing for the season in the game. Amazingly, he has only had 69 rushes to date, good for a 14.5 average. Tonight, he rushed thrice for 94 yards, while passing 5-for-6 for another 169 yards. His eight plays produced 263 yards. R. Hollomon rushed 5 times for 115 yards and had 214 all-purpose yards on seven total touches. He now has 33 touchdowns on the year. The city record is 37. Maples added 37 yards on 7 carries. Defensively, sr. DE Artis Carroll made 7 tackles (3 TFL’s), including a sack. Williams had 7 tackles (5 solos). Jr. LB Dante Dickens was in on 8 stops, including 3 TFL’s. Also having good moments were; Ruppert (5 tackles), sr. LB Jordan Culbreath (four), sr. DT Dwayne Shaw (four), sr. DT Covisia Wilson (four), and sr. LB Devir Moody (four). Sr. WR/DB Saeed Briscoe made four tackles on returns. For Ben Franklin, I left extremely impressed with Haggins. I made it a point to wish him well afterwards. Seemed like a real nice kid and all indications from others are that he is indeed top-notch. The Electrons only made 18 tackles for the entire game, and he was in on eight of them. Seven went for solos and twice he made tackles deep downfield on smaller/quicker players. Very impressive! Jones was next with three solo tackles. Sr. DB Jeffrey Neal (muffed punt) and sr. RB/DB Shuron Briggs recovered fumbles. On offense, Briggs (24-66) and sr. RB Robert Ingram (12-39) exhibited toughness while running hard and had some decent moments. West will now advance to the 1st round of the state playoffs. They will play District-11 Palisades, who beat Palmerton 26-21 Saturday night. The game will be played in D-11 (Allentown/Lehigh Valley) next weekend. Specifics will be known Monday morning.

NOV. 8
DISTRICT 12 AA CITY TITLE
West Catholic 55, Bok 0
  In the first City Title football game since 1979 (3A & 4A will play over the next two weeks), the Burrs behind their high-powered offense and smothering defense wilted the Wildcats in a one-sided affair. Yes, the score does indicate a men-versus-boys outcome, and in some facets it was just that. However, I have to give the Wildcats credit, especially the defense, for making the explosive Burrs work for their scores. Through 10 games this season the Burrs have scored 16 times on their first play of a possession and 30 total times in three plays or less. Often demoralizing teams before a sweat had been broken. Today, Bok actually smacked West back a little and played hard and tough throughout. I mentioned to some sideline observers that it was good to see a team hit the Burr skill people, that in the last month or so it’s been too easy for them. Overall, the Wildcats never stopped West, as they scored on all seven possessions. But in the first half West did need nine, 11 and 10 plays to score on three of those possessions. So, resistance by the Bok defense was evident. On the first possession of the game Bok received some juice from a pass interference penalty, but the drive would immediately stall and this would be their only first down of the opening half. Afterwards, West methodically marched 75 yards and took a 7-0 lead on a 6-yard keeper by sr. QB Curtis Drake (Penn St.). Bok’s next possession ended with a fumble forced by sr. RB/DB Rob Hollomon and recovered by sr. DT Dwayne Shaw at the Bok 32. Two plays later, Drake connected with sr. WR Eric Young (3-61) for a 30-yard score. Bok’s sr. WR/DB Troy Martin did get a piece of the slightly underthrown ball, but it drifted right into the waiting arms of Young, who easily scampered in for a 14-0 lead. The Drake-to-Young connection was responsible for the third Burr score too. This one converted a fourth-and-seven situation and covered 22 yards. On the play Drake nicely split a trio of Bok defenders on a quick a slant pass. The fourth West score came with 20 seconds left in the half on a two-yard plunge by R. Hollomon, making it 28-0 at the intermission. It capped an impressive 67-yard drive during the final minutes of the half. To begin the second half Bok’s jr. DB Manny Gregory recovered a kickoff that caromed off a West up-man. Soon after, Bok’s offense would move the chains on their own doing for the first time. Then, after a 6-yard run by sr. RB Ray Tucker the Wildcat sideline began to show signs of life, even prompting a TS.com colleague of mine to bellow, “That ain’t K-K out there!” Smile! A Burr procedure call would give the Wildcats another first down at the Burr 25-yard line. However, the euphoria would be short-lived, though, as jr. LB Dante Dickens and sr. DE Artis Carroll combined to bring soph. QB Andre Frazier down on an 11-yard sack. West’s next two touchdowns were a direct result of Drake’s magnificent athleticism. It’s this athleticism that in my opinion puts him on a whole other level in most games. First, he scored on an 11-yard keeper. At the play’s outset he seemingly was cut off by multiple Wildcat defenders, only to send out a fake that crippled all in the area. It was subtle, but devastating nonetheless! Then, on the first play of the fourth quarter, with the ball at the Bok 39-yard line, he orchestrated one of the better plays I have seen all year. Faced with a third-and-17, he took an option play and headed around the right side. Then, at the 17-yard line, and just he was being brought down by a pair of defenders he pitched to R. Hollomon, who easily scooted in from here. You just don’t see plays like this at this level. Truly amazing! The Burrs would add two more scores before the final whistle sounded. Jr. DB Ray Manuel returned an interception 64 yards down the Bok sideline. After that soph. FB Albert Campbell (3-47) rumbled in from 13 yards to close the scoring. The Burr offense accumulated 421 yards in the game. Drake was highly efficient with 193 yards of offense; throwing 8-for-9 for 122 yards and rushing 8 times for 72 yards. R. Hollomon rushed 14 times for 119 yards, while sr. RB/DB Raymond Maples added 52 yards on 7 totes. Supplying support and direction were the boys up front: jr. C Jake Zuzek, G’s sr. Covisia Wilson and sr. Paul Murtagh, T’s sr. Victor McNair and sr. Austin Peters, and soph. TE Jim Lynch. When looking at the Burr offense, then how is this for efficiency? Over the last seven weeks, West has had 60 possessions not counting a handful that have ended because of time running out before half-time or at the end of a game. They have scored touchdowns on 53 of them! For the season that same scenario has produced 71 scores in 90 chances. Phew!! Defensively, the Burrs held Bok to 44 yards of offense on 39 plays. Jr. DT John Ruppert was strong on the line of scrimmage with four tackles plus a sack. Other tackling headliners were: A. Carroll (six), Manuel (five), sr. DE Chris Williams (five), Dickens (five), jr. LB Bill Tobin (five), Zuzek (four), and sr. LB Devir Moody (four). For Bok, it was tough sledding offensively. Their leading rusher Tucker could only manage 25 yards on 15 carries. Bok’s longest gain came on the next to last play of the game, a 14-yard run by jr. RB Gary Jackson. No other play yielded more than seven yards and the Wildcats could only manage 5 first downs. Defensively, they had many kids play hard. Martin led with 7 solo tackles. Gregory, sr. NG Kevin Bryan, and sr. DB Brahkim Poole each made five stops. Meanwhile, jr. DE Jacqual Dobbs (2 TFLs) and soph. LB Khalil Neal added four apiece. Soph. P Walraven Daniel punted four times for 34.5 average. The game was played at South Philly’s wonderful Super Site complex. A good crowd was on hand to witness the game. As many know Bok coach Tom DeFelice is a West grad, so this added extra appeal to the contest. Despite the outcome coach DeFelice and his staff have nothing to be ashamed of. Year in and year out they do a TERRIFIC job with this Bok team. I have little doubt that these kids become better people from the lessons Tommy and his staff offer up.  Prior to the game the PA announcer did a great job in player introductions. Kudos! Each team lined up in opposite end zones and trotted to midfield to shake hands with their respective head coaches. The Burrs will now play Ben Franklin next weekend. Huh? Didn’t Franklin just lose to Bok in last week’s Pub final? Yes, they sure did, but were given second life so Lower Moreland from District-1 could have a state playoff opportunity. Yesterday, the Electrons knocked off LM, 22-6. In a week’s time we’ll see if the Electrons can SHOCK the world!!!

NOV. 7
CATHOLIC LEAGUE AAAA SEMIFINAL
Father Judge 30, O’Hara 14
   “It is not the size of the man but the size of the heart that matters” – Evander Holyfield. And with that, I introduce to you Father Judge’s jr. RB Curtis Wortham. Listed at 5’5” and a generous 155 lbs, it was easy to notice that Wortham was one of the smallest players participating in last night’s PCL Semifinal between the Crusaders and Lions. Not a problem! Though he began the season third on the depth chart, things have nicely transformed throughout the season for Wortham, and the Crusaders are all the better for it. With mighty mite status attached, Wortham is a major cog in why the Crusaders have advanced to their first league championship game since 1996. They’ll be looking to capture a crown for the first time since 1984, as they await the winner of today’s other semifinal between St. Joseph’s Prep and La Salle. Wortham’s first carry of the game produced 39 yards and he never looked back, on his way to setting a new Judge record for rushing yards in a game. All total, he carried 26 times for 294 yards and 4 touchdowns, surpassing the 272 yards that Jerry Magallanes set in 1981 (also in a playoff game). His running style can be described as patient, but decisive when the opportunity presents itself. He uses a nice blend of quickness and shiftiness to get going downhill quickly, often hiding behind his line before making his primary burst. His four touchdowns covered 50, 22, 2, and 57 yards. The last two were back-breakers towards O’Hara comeback hopes. The two-yard run came with 14.8 seconds left in the opening half. It capped an 11-play, 80-yard drive to make the score 24-7.  Soph. QB Tony Smith supplied two big plays on the drive. He started things with a nifty 40-yard keeper down the right sideline. Then, he converted a fourth-and-one from the O’Hara 19-yard line to preserve the drive. At the beginning of the second half it didn’t take long for the Crusaders to make yet another statement. Wortham started the half with an 11-yard run. Then, on the very next play he unleashed a major jolt with a 57-yard sprint for his fourth visit to the end zone. Later in the quarter Wortham got his team out of a hole with a 66-yard run from the twelve to the O’Hara 22-yard line. This gave him 288 total yards with 4:16 still left in the third quarter. I instantly started thinking playoff record, so I called our fearless leader Mr. Ted Silary, who stated that the record is held by SJP’s Pat Kaiser with 316 yards in 2002. OK, that record still stands, as Wortham only managed six more yards on three carries the rest of the way. We won’t hold it against him, smile! In actuality, O’Hara had the ball for the better part of the rest of the game and this limited additional opportunities. Wortham’s exploits were a big reason Judge was successful in this game, but make no mistake, it was the dominance on both sides of the line of scrimmage that really set the tone for the Crusaders. A terrific night was had by the offensive line in assisting Judge to 364 total yards. Leading the charge here were: sr. C Matt Schule, G’s sr. Jeff Brewer and sr. John Lavelle, T’s Joe Gallelli and Tom Keenan, and sr. TE Ryan Langdon. Kudos to causing terror in the trenches! Defensively, the Crusaders were stout when it counted the most. Aside from a one big play early, most of O’Hara’s offensive output came during hurry-up mode in the second half. Judge recorded 5 sacks and 11 total plays went for losses. Sacks were had by; sr. DT Anthony Leon (Two), sr. OLB Adam Nowak (6 tackles), Langdon at DE, and sr. LB Luis Crespo. Jr. DB Kevin Toner (4 tackles) had an interception. Soph. DB Conner Thompson led Judge with 8 tackles (7 solos), while sr. LB’s Tim McCaffrey and Joe Swallow each added seven total stops. Sr. DB Tom Ryan had three apiece of pass defends and tackles. Lavelle also played a strong game on the line with four stops. Sr. K Pat Schultz, a lefty, started the scoring with a 26-yard field goal. He later narrowly pulled a 39-yard attempt. For O’Hara, their season ends with four straight losses after winning their first seven games. In some statewide polls they were ranked as high 5th in the 4A class at one point of the season. In their defense, they started to resemble a mash unit as the season wore on. Multiple injuries to significant contributors really cheated this team in the end. Personally, I’m not sure they were as good as some of these polls suggested, but I’m disappointed they didn’t get a chance to at least play the games at full strength. It would have been interesting to say the least. Yes, I understand that injuries are part of the game and every team goes through them, but this team was besieged an inordinate amount of times during this campaign. One of the more significant injuries they suffered was to star jr. RB/DB Corey Brown (National top 30 jr. prospect), who had missed the last five weeks with a knee injury. He returned tonight and wasted little time making his presence felt. On just his third touch of the game he went 71 yards untouched through the middle of the line. The play momentarily gave O’Hara a 7-3 lead. Early in the run he looked a little unsure of himself as he headed through the line. Almost like, can I do this? If I ventured a guess I would say he was probably only at 80% and lacked the explosiveness he is normally accustomed to. The knee looked ok, maybe a gimp here and there, especially late, but the rust of not playing certainly played a part. He ended the game with 97 yards on 12 carries, while adding another 54 yards on 5 receptions. These were very respectable numbers considering what he came back from. Sr. QB Tom Savage (Rutgers) last experience as an O’Hara quarterback went like many of his others. He was under considerable pressure throughout. Some could say that the game’s first play was a microcosm of his career at O’Hara. With Brown lined up in the slot he had beaten his man down the middle of the field, only to have the pass sail too far. However, I have to give him credit for toughing it out for the full 48 minutes. Not once did I see poor body language or a morsel of quit in this kid. I admire that he competed to the final whistle, often taking hard hits on the way. He finished the game 17-for-32, for 201 yards and TD, a 16-yarder to sr. FB Anthony McCloskey (6-72). He ended his career with 3,902 career passing yards and 30 TD’s. I believe that good things will happen for this kid at the next level. Defensively, three Lions made five tackles apiece; jr. LB Mike Huf (2 TFL’s), sr. DT Chris Nolan, and sr. DE Andrew Glace. Meanwhile, three others; McCloskey (2 TFL’s), sr. DB Joe Cassidy, and sr. DB Mikal Rone added four each. Soph. LB Drew Formica blacked a PAT. Gritty sr. RB/DB Evan Higgins (wrist) returned sporting a huge padded wrap taking up the lower part of his arm. He was limited to mostly defensive duties. O’Hara was without sr. LB Nate Oropollo (Achilles) and jr. lineman Matt Williams (shoulder). When the playoff schedule first came out this game was set for Widener University. Widener is O’Hara’s home field, so needless to say the first-place Crusaders were not overly thrilled of that idea, especially because their fan base would have to travel down I-95 on a Friday night. Eventually the game was switched to Northeast High, Judge’s part-time home field. The attendance showed who was playing closer to home too. Judge’s side had a strong crowd and they occupied the bigger set of stands. O’Hara’s side was lacking a bit and if it wasn’t for members of the band and cheerleaders, then student turnout was pretty much non-existent.

NOV. 1
CATHOLIC LEAGUE AA FINAL
West Catholic 56, Carroll 7
  If you’ve been a regular at West Catholic football games this season, then chances are that you have the school song running through your mind at odd junctures of the day. Probably often wondering, why can’t I get that song out of my head? See, every time the Burrs score, the cheerleaders belt out the school song to celebrate. Through ten games this season the girls have followed through on this tradition SIXTY-NINE times! The Burrs have now scored 481 points (48.1 per game) this season and at the moment show little signs of even remotely slowing down. As for tonight, you might ask, but was there ever a glimmer of hope that Carroll could keep it close? Sort of, but it didn’t last long. West began the game’s opening possession with consecutive procedure penalties to make it first-and-20. You had to think the Pats would be hoping to tighten up and force an opening series punt. This could do wonders for their confidence, right? Sorry, but that just wasn’t going to happen! On the very first play from scrimmage, dynamic sr. QB Curtis Drake took a keeper around the left end for 44 yards. Two plays later, he found sr. WR/DB Haleem Hayward down the middle of the field for an easy 18-yard score just 1:24 into the game. Then, after the Burr defense forced a three-and-out, sr. RB/DB Rob Hollomon took hold of a punt and exhilarated the crowd with an electrifying 65-yard return for another touchdown.  Later in the opening quarter Drake kept the ball on an option play and zoomed to paydirt with a 69-yard gallop! To watch this kid run in the open field is truly amazing! Think gazelle on the open terrain of the Serengeti. At times it doesn’t look like his feet are even hitting the ground. This made the score 21-0 with 3:54 left in the opening quarter. As we moved into the second quarter it was more of the same. On the very first play of West’s next possession, R. Hollomon once again turned on the jets, this time scoring from 75 yards. With 9:51 left in the second quarter West led 28-0. At this point they had attempted exactly six offensive plays to Carroll’s 21. Mind-boggling! The Burrs would go on to score two more first half touchdowns; a 30-yard run by R. Hollomon and a 12-yard blast by soph. FB Albert Campbell. The score would soar to 56-0 in the third quarter after R. Hollomon’s third (10 yards) and fourth (35 yards) rushing touchdowns of the game. What a couple of weeks this kid has had! Tonight, he rushed five times for 156 yards. He also returned three punts for 108 yards, all the while scoring five touchdowns. In the last two games R. Hollomon has scored 11 touchdowns! He has carried the ball 14 times (10 rushing scores) for 368 yards (26.3 ypc). Meanwhile, Drake rushed 4 times for 142 yards. He mixed those exploits with a 3-for-4, 98 yards passing effort. All total, West racked up 502 yards of offense, the third time this season they have eclipsed this mark. They accomplished this on just 34 plays (14.8 avg). Soph. RB Brandon Hollomon chipped in with 47 yards on 7 carries. Sr. WR Eric Young added a 66 yards on a screen pass. The offensive line once again did a yeoman’s job in paving the way. Once again this group includes: jr. C Jake Zuzek, sr. G. Covisia Wilson, sr. G Paul Murtagh, sr. T Victor McNair, sr. T Austin Peters, and soph. TE Jim Lynch. Injuries to sr. FB Juan Rozier (knee) and soph. FB Anthony McDonnaugh (wrist) had the Burrs travel down the depth chart for a fullback. Campbell (2-36) and jr. Marcus Burwell (2-19) filled in admirably. Defensively, the Burrs were staunch for the most part. Sr. DE/OLB Chris Williams and jr. LB Dante Dickens each made 7 tackles. Dickens also supplied one of the hardest hits I have ever seen by a West player, when he smashed into a Carroll wide receiver trying to make a catch across the middle. I think I felt the stadium shake, smile! Jr. DT John Ruppert made five stops and recovered a fumble. Sr. DE Artis Carroll made 7 tackles, two went for losses. Also chipping in were jr. LB Bill Tobin and jr. DB Ray Manuel (2 pass defends) with tackles apiece. Carroll avoided the shutout with 3:17 left in the game on a 61-yard hook-up between sr. QB Luke Wischnowski and sr. TE/DT Chris Kennedy. Other than this the Pats could only manage 108 yards on 45 plays. However, on Carroll’s second and third possessions they marched into West territory, only to have fourth down chances turned away by the Burr defense. Wischnowski combined for 110 yards of rushing and passing. Defensively, Kennedy and sr. DE Jack Lowney each made seven tackles. Two of Lowney’s stops went for losses. Kennedy had four punts for a 37.8 average. West will now play for the District-12 Championship versus Bok, who bested Ben Franklin 32-12 in the Public League 2A Final yesterday. The game is slated for next Saturday at 2 o’clock, at the South Philly super sit complex. Bok is coached by Tom DeFelice, who was a star quarterback for West back in the early '60s. Interestingly, DeFelice was the last two-time All-Catholic quarterback for the Burrs until Drake accomplished it this season.

OCT. 31
CATHOLIC LEAGUE AAAA
SJ Prep 45, Roman Catholic 3
     Hey, where’s everyone at? Geez, you would think one of our professional sports teams had recently won a championship and a victory parade had taken up most of the day. Oops, there was a parade today celebrating the Phillies’ World Series title and reports were that nearly 2 million showed up. Yes, I was one of them, but that’s a story for another day! Also, let’s not forget about all of those little costume-wearing ghouls circulating around the Delaware Valley on this Halloween night. Add in the fact that this league finale had little-to-no significance in terms of the standings, then I guess it wasn’t a surprise the game was sparsely attended and the atmosphere meter never really progressed in an upward manner. I have covered quite a few SJ Prep games over my time and not once have I patrolled the sidelines with such a bland and un-zestful aura within the stadium. Oh well, can’t really place blame on anyone when considering the circumstances. And I’m sure the Prep faithful will turn out in masses when next week’s PCL 4A playoffs begin. So, did the blah environment affect the teams? Well, who knows for sure, but one thing was obvious, and it is that these two clubs are without a doubt heading in opposite directions. The Hawks took a business-like approach and dismantled the Cahiliites in just about every facet of the game. Meanwhile, Roman looked battered and emotionless. Over the last two weeks the Cahillites have been wilted by tough opponents by a combined score of 87-to-14. It was easy to see that spirits have been dampened. Earlier in league play Roman dropped a pair close league losses, so maybe this weighed heavily on them. In this game the Hawks seized control almost from the get-go. On the game’s fourth play, sr. QB Mark Giubilato (Temple) took a quarterback-draw 46 yards to the one. Two plays later sr. RB/DB Mike Yeager squeezed through the line for the game’s first touchdown. Roman would momentarily restore some order after star sr. RB/DB Kasseim Everett provided a 54-yard burst, which led to a 30-yard field goal by soph. Ryan Haber. However, the momentum would be short-lived, as Yeager capped the Hawks’ next series with his second 1-yard scoring run. Giubilato passed to sr. TE Dan McGeever for the conversion to make the score 14-3. Then, after the defense forced a punt, jr. RB Garrett Compton zipped in from 34 yards with just 7 seconds left in the opening quarter. The rout was on! The next time Compton touched the ball he broke an early tackle attempt and zoomed another 72 yards to paydirt. The Hawks next possession began with a 46-yard punt return by Yeager. This was immediately followed by an easy 15-yard scoring pass from Guibilato to sr. WR Anthony Johnson. The game reached mercy rule standards with just 8 seconds left in the first half when sr. K Kurt Skalamera belted a 24-yard field goal and a 38-3 lead. The only scoring in the second half was a 9-yard burst by sr. RB Bill Bonner. The Hawks accumulated 302 of their 367 total yards in the opening half. The play of the offensive line was instrumental in the onslaught. Contributing members included: jr. C Ryan Donovan, G’s sr. Mike Pinciotti (6’3”, 292 lbs) and Shawn Davis (6’0”, 265 lbs), and T’s Mark Arcidiacono (6’5”, 282 lbs, Penn St.) and jr. Seth Betancourt (6’6”, 289 lbs). Compton totaled 132 yards on just 7 carries, while Yeager managed 12 totes for 68 yards. Giubilato mixed 55 yards rushing with another 39 yards passing (3-for-7). Also running well were Bonner (6-26) and frosh. RB Eric Neefe (6-27). Defensively, sr. LB Mike Pereira was a force with 5 solo tackles and a pick (37-yard return). Frosh. DB Skyler Mornhinweg had four stops and an interception. Jr. DE Bill Mancini made 2 TFL’s (4 total stops), while soph. LB Dan Pellicciotti contributed 5 tackles. Sr. DT Andy Marshalick added a fumble recovery and batted a pass down at the line of scrimmage. For Roman, not a whole lot to talk about. Everett did rush for 98 yards on 15 carries, but really never got off after the early 54-yard run. Jr. QB/DB Kevin Regan was victimized by multiple drops and finished an icy 1-for-16 (5 yards). That completion came after twelve misfires. Like I mentioned, Regan received little help from teammates. To make matters worse he took a wicked knee to the head when making a tackle on Pereira after his interception. He was slow to his feet, but eventually wobbled to the sidelines. Soph. WR/DB Dennis Regan managed 77 yards on returns. Defensively, K. Regan, sr. DT Amir Little, Sr. TE Tahir Basil, and sr. LB Marty Bernard each made five tackles, while Everett added four. A year after winning the PCL Red Championship the Cahillites will miss this year’s playoffs. Next week’s PCL 4A semifinals will feature O’Hara versus Father Judge and SJ Prep taking on La Salle. Judge, La Salle, and the Hawks all finished at (5-1), but Judge gets first place due to a better defensive yield in the games amongst the three teams. La Salle gets second place via their regular season win over the Hawks. I expect both semifinals to be good ones, but the Hawk-Explorer contest has a chance to be a dandy!

OCT. 24
CATHOLIC LEAGUE AA SEMIFINAL
West Catholic 63, Kennedy-Kenrick 21
  Records are made to be broken, but are they made to be broken this quickly? The city record for rushing touchdowns in a postseason game is four. It had been accomplished nine times over the years heading into last night’s Catholic League AA semifinal contest between the Burrs and Wolverines, played at the South Philly super site complex. With this in mind, West’s ultra-speedy sr. RB/DB Rob Hollomon must be a young man of little patience. It took Hollomon just over ten minutes of game time to tie the mark. Better yet, check this out! He only needed four carries to do it! Yes, his first four touches covered 36, 35, 59, and 12 yards and all went for Burr scores. He would later add scoring runs of 21 and 38 yards to bring his total six, thus, shattering the mark. His 36 total points surpassed the 32 points SJP’s Pat Kaiser scored in a playoff game in ’02. Kaiser got his total on both touchdowns and kicks. For the game, Hollomon scored on 6 of his 9 carries and gobbled up 212 rushing yards. I guess it’s safe to say he didn’t mind the extra workload. What? He only had nine carries! Well, backfield mate, star sr. RB/DB Raymond Maples (calf contusion) was unavailable. So, it’s more than likely that Hollomon’s totals would probably have been cut in half if he had been in available. I’m pretty sure he’ll take it, though! Hollomon wasn’t the only Burr in a record-setting mood. Jr. K Tim Carroll connected on nine PATS, eclipsing Frankford’s Bill Sheerin’s (’97) record of seven. The fact that the Burrs frolicked so easily wasn’t all that surprising. They slammed the Wolverines 50-0 earlier in the month and held a whopping 239-to-26 scoring advantage over all of their league counterparts during the regular season. However, the manner in which they did it was borderline amazing. In my years of covering high school games I have never seen a team score so much, so fast! The Burrs, who now have 425 points in nine games, scored 42 first quarter points and had 56 pasted on the board with 7:27 still showing on the second quarter clock. Phew! Five of Hollomon’s scores came in this sequence. Other scores were provided sr. QB Curtis Drake (Penn St.) with a 16-yard run, a 57-yard pass play from Drake (4-for-5, 90 yards) to sr. WR Eric Young, who provided some nifty moves after the catch before turning on the jets, and an electrifying 60-yard punt return by soph. WR Quran Kent. It was at this time that West Head Coach Brian Fluck temporarily called off the dogs. I’ll explain later. K-K did show signs of life, albeit against the Burr second-team, as halftime closed in. The Wolverines scored twice in the last 5:53 of the half. First, sr. QB Ryan Sedja plunged across from a yard out. This was set-up by a 42-yard burst by jr. WR Cullen Rota on a speed sweep. Later, sr. FB Jerry Ploskon bulled in from two yards. Beforehand, jr. RB/DB Andrew Regan (10-37) ripped off runs of 14 and 18 yards. Things got a little dicey in the friendliness department between the coaches as the second half started. Thinking that K-K tried an onside kick to begin the half, Fluck summoned his starters back onto the field. In the second quarter a similar thing happened after a K-K score. In two plays Hollomon ripped off runs of 12 and 38 yards (TD) to make the score 63-14. K-K’s Head Coach Mike Santillo and assorted assistants yelled over in Fluck’s direction for a brief time. Santillo even sent the head referee over to explain that he wasn’t attempting onside kicks after either touchdown. That his kicker just didn’t follow through correctly on what he was instructed. Soon after, cooler heads prevailed. Fluck even directed his team to do something I have never seen in a game before. With 4:30 left in the third quarter, the Burrs reached the K-K 15-yard line. At this point, soph. QB Kyle Heggs took four straight knees, giving the ball back to the Wolves on downs. In the fourth quarter, Sedja found sr. WR Joe Mancini for a 20-yard touchdown to close out the scoring. On the subsequent kickoff, the ball was sent high and down the middle of the field. It was fielded by R. Hollomon, who briefly stood still, then took a knee. Afterwards, no ill-will was shown between the staffs. Fluck and Santillo even gave each other a hug (How nice, smile!) and talked about what happened. This was comforting to see! It’s not uncommon in my travels to other PCL games to see the staffs mingling in the same area while filming a potential opponent. So, I know the relationship between Fluck and Santillo has been an easy-going and cordial one over the years. OK, time for some additional games notes. The first quarter alone featured 13 possessions. Wow! You won’t see that too often! The Burrs scored on all six of their turns, while K-K had the ball seven times, with one carrying over into the second quarter. Part of the problem for the Wolverines was that Sedja misfired on his first nine opening quarter throws. And what happens when you incomplete a pass? The clock stops! Add in two turnovers and a four punts that travel an average of 17.5 yards, and you are just looking for trouble against a team as explosive as West. West forced four turnovers in the game. R. Holloman had a pick, while sr. DT Dwyane Shaw, sr. DE/OLB Chris Williams, and soph. FB/LB Albert Campbell (Forced by jr. DT Dontae Lewis) all recovered a fumbled. Jr. LB Dante Dickens led with 6 tackles, while Campbell and Lewis each made five. Offensively, sr. FB Juan Rozier managed 45 yards on four touches. He left in the second quarter with what is hoped to be just a knee sprain. Soph. RB/DB Brandon Hollomon had 49 yards on 5 carries. All total, West had 458 yards on 35 offensive plays (13.1 avg). Paving the way were: jr. C Jake Zuzek, G’s sr. Paul Murtagh and sr. Covisia Wilson, T’s sr. Victor McNair and sr. Austin Peters, and soph. TE Jim Lynch. For K-K, jr, LB Tim Young recovered a fumble and made 4 solos tackles. SR. WR/DB Ronell Fairel had four stops and made a tremendous diving reception along the West sideline for his only catch. Jr. DE David Tornetta also had four tackles. The Burrs will play the winner of the Carroll/McDevitt (Sunday, 1 o’clock, @ P-W) in the PCL 2A Final. The game is tentatively set for next Saturday night at 7 o’clock, at Plymouth-Whitemarsh.

OCT. 18
CATHOLIC LEAGUE AAAA
Father Judge 37, Bonner 0
  After an auspicious start to the season, the Crusaders seemed to have righted their ship some. After today’s victory they currently sit atop the ever-tough PCL 4A division with a (4-1) record. Playing their best football during the last month, Head Coach Tommy Coyle’s team appears to be peaking just at the right time. Today, they handled the outmanned Friars with a business-like approach and performance. Coyle could often be heard instructing his troops to remain focused and take care of their own business from play to play. Early on, the field was titled favorably in Judge’s direction, and they wasted little time taking advantage of their opportunities. Sr. DB Ryan Fenningham ended Bonner’s first possession with a diving pick near the Crusader sideline. Soon after, jr. RB Curt Wortham scored the first of his three opening quarter touchdowns. Touchdown #1 covered 21 yards. Later on, he scored on runs of 25 and 3 yards. With 2:07 left in the opening quarter this baby was all but over, as Judge held a commanding 21-0 lead. The Crusaders attempted thirteen plays in that opening stanza; all but two were runs by Wortham. The other two plays were pass completions from soph. QB Tony Smith to sr. WR/DB Tom Ryan. Their second connection went for 49 yards on a fly pattern down the right sideline. This preceded Wortham’s third score. Bonner showed some life as they game moved into the second quarter. Passing plays from sr. QB/DB Brendan Guiterrez to sr. WR Ryan Lincke (11 yards) and jr. WR/DB John Wichmann (16 yards), along with an 18-yard run by sr. FB Tim Ferry helped put the ball at the Judge 14-yard line. However, the drive stalled and jr. K/P Dan Vanderslice 31-yard field goal try was slightly pushed to the right. Vanderslice’s next opportunity to kick came in the form of a punt, but the snap zipped over his head. By the time he corralled the ball it was too late, as Judge’s sr. LB Brian Novak easily engulfed the punt attempt. When the dust had settled, the Crusaders took over at the Bonner four. Two plays later Smith fired to Ryan on a slant route for a 3-yard touchdown, making the score 28-0. Later in the half, the Friars again showed signs of life when they reached the Judge 43-yard line with slightly over minute to go in the half. However, things quickly fizzled after back-to-back intentional grounding calls on Guiterrez. Judge’s sr. DT Jeff Brewer (12 yards) and sr. DT Anthony Leon (15 yards) were credited with sacks. Tack on five yards apiece with the penalties, and the Friars were now situated at their 20-yard line, looking at a third-and-FORTY-SEVEN! On the very next play the ball was fumbled and Judge’s sr. DB/RB Luis Crespo recovered at the seventeen. Judge ran the ball thrice and seemed content on just heading into the locker room with the four-touchdown lead. However, on the last run a 5-yard face mask was called and Judge was afforded one last play with no time on the clock. Next, sr. K Pat Schultz calmly drilled a 35-yard field goal to make it 31-0. In the second half, sr. RB Tim Donohoe capped the scoring with a 3-yard run. The score came with five ticks left on the third quarter clock. The rest of the game was played under the mercy rule. All of Wortham’s (15-74) production came in the opening half. Donohoe (13-58) took most of the reps in the second half. Smith went 4-for-4, all in the opening half, for 69 yards. Ryan (3-63) was his featured target. Defensively, jr. LB Kevin Leneghan made a late-game interception. Impressive sr. OLB/WR Adam Nowak notched a sack. Sr. LB/FB Tim McCaffrey led with 5 tackles, while Crespo, Ryan, and Leon all had four apiece. For Bonner, their most productive offensive player was jr. RB Eric Petransky who rushed 14 times for 61 yards. Guiterrez managed just a 4-for-15 showing for 57 yards through the air. Leading the defense was soph. LB Marcus Collins with 9 tackles. Sr. LB/DT Mike McCreight was next with 7 stops (6 solos). Three of these tackles went for losses and he also forced a fumble. Sr. LB Don Beese made that recovery. Sr. LB James Wilent had a sack, while soph. DB Marco Dapkey made five tackles. It was Senior Day for the Friars and prior to the game there was a nice moment. After the seniors were acknowledged with their parents, they presented a game ball signed by the entire team and coaching staff to Mike DeLacy (’91). Mike was former All-Catholic receiver for the Friars and has been featured on the team’s roster all season long. Mike is battling Lou Gehrig’s disease, but is commonly seen on the Friar sidelines during games. Hang in there Mike, for your spirit and loyalty towards the program is felt by many!

OCT. 17
CATHOLIC AAAA
SJ Prep 34, O’Hara 0
  It was the Catholic League’s version of Friday night lights at Colonial Stadium at Plymouth-Whitemarsh H.S., as the Hawks and the Lions took center stage in front of a national audience. Huh? Yes, this game was bookmarked as a major tussle between the folks at ESPNU during the preseason and tonight it was time for the stars to shine. Well, on one side of the field that is exactly what happened, but the other side could offer up no more than a flicker or two. This baby was as lopsided as the score indicates. And then some! The Lions entered unbeaten and with a lofty state ranking to back it up. However, they also came in with a multiple and significant injuries. Jr. RB/DB Corey Brown, one of the nation’s might sought after recruits, is still out with a MCL injury. His replacement, and do-a-little-of-everything, sr. RB/DB Evan Higgins is also out with a wrist injury. Both could remain sidelined for multiple weeks too. To make matters worse, the Lions were missing a pair of offensive lineman as well. Were these injuries the reason the outcome stood where it did? Partly! Would the services of these players have helped the Lions cause? Somewhat! Would they have made enough of a difference to actually change the outcome? I doubt it. Not on this night! The Hawks were beyond stout on both sides of the line scrimmage and anyone who knows anything about them, knows that when they are going well, then they are getting big-time efforts along the line of scrimmage. Tonight was one of those nights! Though 34 points were pasted on the scoreboard, I’m going to start the highlight part of my report with the Hawks defense. Boy, this group was wickedly good tonight. If this was a case of child abuse, then DHS would have been there early in the second quarter. One of the reasons ESPNU decided to cover this game was the presence of O’Hara’s sr. QB Tom Savage (6’5”, 220 lbs), a Rutgers recruit, and one of the more high-profile signal callers in the country. Well, aside from an early flurry or two, Savage must have felt like he was in a phone booth with three sumo wrestlers, as room and time was nowhere to be found. Savage finished 10-for-27, for 71 yards. He was also sacked EIGHT times! Five other times he avoided sacks with runs of zero, zero, one, three, and four yards. All total, the carnage of his 13 carries went for minus-36 yards. Ouch!!! On 53 offensive plays, the Lions offense could only muster 49 total yards and four first downs (Zero in 2nd half!). Eighteen of their 26 rushes went for zero or negative yards. Folks, it was not pretty! Well, unless you were a member of the Hawk defensive line. To them it was quite beautiful. Contributing members were; sr. DT/OL Mike Pinciotti (3 tackles, 1.5 sacks), sr. DT Andy Marshalick (4 tackles, 1.5 sacks), sr. DT Joe Ventresca (1.5 sacks), jr. DE Bill Mancini, jr. DE Sean McGinn, and jr. DE Mike Zikoski. The Linebackers weren’t too shabby either. Sr. LB Mike Pereira (sack, 2 other TFL’s), impressive jr. LB Mike Labor (1.5 sacks, 5 other tackles), and jr. Stephen O’Hara (Sack, 2 other TFL’s) were often dominant. Sr. DB Dan Casey made a total of six stops, with three coming on special teams. Frosh. DB Skyler Mornhinweg was active with four tackles. All total, the Hawks defense forced ELEVEN Savage punts. Offensively, the Hawks started fast and scored on two of the first three possessions. On the opening series of the game it didn’t take the Hawks long to dent the scoreboard. Just 1:23 into the game sr. QB Mark Giubilato (Temple) trotted in from five yards for an ultra-quick 7-0 lead. Preceding the touchdown, Giubilato connected for 34 yards to Pereira on the game’s first play. This was followed by a 28-yard sprint on the very next play by sr. RB/DB Mike Yeager (14-108). The Hawks drove on their second possession, but lost a fumble in O’Hara territory. However, they would cap their next series with a 32-yard scoring pass from Giubilato to sr. WR Dan Turner to make it 14-0. The touchdown came on a fourth-and-nine play and followed an offside penalty on the Hawks. Interestingly, the play was whistled dead right after the Hawks snapped the ball. It looked like the Lions had a blitz called coming from Giubilato’s left. Well, on the re-do, the Lions again appeared to blitz from that side of the field, but Giubilato rolled slightly to his right, away from oncoming defenders. He quickly threw the ball and nicely hit Turner in stride before the safety could get over. In the second quarter, Yeager took a punt 65 yards for the third Prep visit to the end zone. Yeager showed much shiftiness during the run, including an excellent cutback during the latter part of the return. I guess you could say the nail-in-the-coffin score occurred in the third quarter. On SJP’s second offensive play of the second half, jr. RB Garrett Compton took an innocent handoff off-tackle, methodically slid towards the left, and then raced down the left sidelines untouched for a 78-yard touchdown. This was way too easy, as there wasn’t a Lion defender in sniffing distance. The Hawks final score came on 6-yard burst by Labor with 3:53 left. Only a missed PAT prevented the game from reaching mercy rule proportions. The Hawk offense accumulated 403 total yards. Is it me, or does that talented Hawk offensive line seemed to be rounding into shape? They were both good and nasty tonight. Members include: jr. C Ryan Donovan, sr. G’s Shawn Davis and Pinciotti (6’3”, 292 lbs), and T’s jr. Seth Betancourt (6’6”, 289 lbs) and sr. Mark Arcidiacono (6’5”, 282 lbs). Sr. Dan McGeever and O’Hara assisted from the tight end position. Compton (12-125) and Yeager (14-98) were effective with the rock in their hands. After a blistering start, Guibilato leveled off somewhat, but still contributed 107 yards passing and 24 yards rushing. Pereira had 63 total rushing and receiving yards. Not much to say about the Lions on offense. Their leading receivers were srs. Billy Morgan (4-24) and Bob Royal (3-35). Amazingly, O’Hara won the turnover battle 4-to-0. Soph. DB Ryan Laughlin made an interception and was involved in nine tackles (8 solos). Jr. LB Mike Huf (6’3”, 230 lbs) displayed good instincts with a game-high 10 total stops (8 solos). He also recovered a muffed punt, as did sr. LB Anthony McCloskey (5 tackles). Sr. DT Chris Nolan recovered a fumbled. Sr. DB Joe Cassidy hustled for 7 stops. I think it is terrific that our kids get an opportunity to play on television. And having ESPN involved makes it even more unique. I mean how many of us can say we had that chance? However, the game really dragged on with all of the TV timeouts. The amount of time during stoppages was often lengthy. I’m not too sure having to do that every week would be pleasant. I clocked the game at roughly 2:50! Former O’Hara student and manager Willie “Big Willie Style” McGonigle was of course on hand tonight. However, he had to put his usual stat-keeping duties to the side. Willie was asked to be one of the sound guys for the ESPNU crew. You know, one of those guys that hold the circular plastic device up around their heads, which picks up the sounds at field level. This got me to wondering. What would it be like for trusty companion Tom “Puck” McKenna to tackle such a job? Whoa, dicey! First-off, Puck’s plastic circular device would have to come equipped with excellent windshield wipers, preferably the Michelin RainForce series. There just would be no way around the incontrollable mist. Also, could you imagine the sounds, grunts, groans, snorts, and other bodily movements that would passed along to an unsuspecting national audience. Yikes, probably wouldn’t be a good idea!

OCT. 11
CATHOLIC LEAGUE AA
West Catholic 64, Dougherty 7
  If taking on a team that already considerably outmans you wasn’t enough, then how is this for a recipe for disaster? Your first seven possessions either end with a turnover or a three-and-out. To complicate matters the punts you get off travel an average of 16.3 yards. Short field galore! And for a team as lethal as the Burrs, then there is just no way to overcome such predicaments. West ran a TOTAL of sixteen plays in the opening half. They scored on six of them! All total, these plays produced 306 yards.  The offensive scores were sandwiched around a defensive score. This was provided by sr. LB Devir Moody on a 23-yard fumble return. The fumble occurred after a vicious hit by sr. RB/DB Rob Hollomon on a Cardinal receiver in the flat. Hollomon, who is usually known for his opening field bursts on the other side of the ball, really laid the wood here. Offensive heroics in the opening half were provided by many. Sr. QB Curtis Drake completed all three of his passes (68 yards), two of them went for touchdowns. On the other end were sr. WR Brandon Williamson (35 yards) and sr. WR Eric Young (26 yards). The dynamic duo of R. Hollomon (4-99) and sr. RB/DB Raymond Maples (6-95) each scored a pair touchdowns. R. Hollomon’s covered 3 and 48 yards, while Maples went for 1 and 39 yards. In the second half, additional scores were provided by jr. RB Kaheem Summerville and soph. RB Lamont Davis, both came from a yard out. The most productive rushing reserve for the Burrs was soph. RB Brandon Hollomon (8-47). In the game, twelve different Burrs carried the football. Jr. K Tim Carroll went 8-for-8 on PATs. Defensively, sr. DB Haleem Hayward and jr. DB Ray Manuel notched interceptions. Soph. LB Anthony McDonnaugh led the defense with 5 tackles. The sixty-four point total marked the second time this season West has crossed the 60-point plateau. They now have exactly 300 points (42.9) scored in the seven games. Through three league games the Burrs hold an astonishing 177-to-19 scoring advantage. Next week, McDevitt gets a chance to see if there is a chink in the Burr armor. Dougherty had one true drive in the game and it was a good one. On their first possession of the second half they marched 86 yards on seven running plays. Jr. QB Tarik Morris went straight-ahead for 8 yards to break the shutout. Earlier in the drive, sr. RB Terence Johns (18 & 30 yards) and jr. RB Don Calhoun (17 yards) produced good runs. Johns rushed 9 times for 68 yards and also added 71 yards on six kickoff returns. The most impressive Cardinal on defense was sr. LB Deuce Colbert with six tackles (6 solos), including two for losses. In closing, I’d like to mention just one little issue I had from the game. I can’t say for certain that something negative even happened, but it’s more of gut feeling. After the Burrs' final touchdown they lined up to try the extra-point. Myself, as well as many others, really weren’t paying attention, but I heard the West holder call out fire. This is usually the signal that a bad snap has taken place, and we might need to throw it. Well, the holder did throw it and it was completed for a conversion. Now, the snap was a little high/wide, but it appeared to be a ball that probably could have been handled and placed down. As the players exited the field Head Coach Brian Fluck, with a confused look on his face, asked what had happened. I’m not even sure he saw the play from the beginning. Eventually, the players involved all gave innocent accounts of what had transpired. Maybe it was innocent, so I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt this time. However, you need to realize that something like that can NEVER happen! Your team just competed and played hard for an entire game. Yes, you overwhelmed your opponent, but you played the game and treated them with respect throughout. So, there is never a need to intentionally demoralize them. Let’s hope this wasn’t the case!

OCT. 10
CATHOLIC LEAGUE AA
Carroll 29, Kennedy-Kenrick 20
  With just five teams in the Catholic League 2A division, movement within the standings can occur from week to week, especially since there are only four league games per team. Tonight, not only were bragging rights on the line for these usually bitter rivals, but more than likely third place security for the winner. Why is that important you may be wondering? Well, with four of the five teams from the league making the playoffs, the fourth place team would get the daunting task of locking horns with West Catholic. West has already dismantled each of these teams by the combined score of 113-12. A logical mind would suggest, let’s avoid them for as long as possible. With the victory the Pats have more than likely assured themselves a third place spot. All they’ll have to do is knock off last place Dougherty in next week’s league finale. Tonight’s theme for the Pats – Run, run, and run some more! Carroll attempted 56 plays (Not counting three late kneel downs) and 53 of them were runs. Wasting little time, the Pats took the opening possession of the game 55 yards on 7 plays for the game’s first score. Interestingly, five different players carried the ball to start the game. Capping the drive was a slippery 23-yard run by soph. RB/DB Ryan Shea, on a counter criss-cross play. Then, as the Pats typically like to do, they tried a fake on the conversion. The play was far from smooth, but successful nonetheless, as soph. TE Matt Donaldson hauled in the deflected pass from sr. QB Luke Wischnowski. On Carroll’s second drive, it was more of the same. All runs, with Wischnowski and Shea doing the bulk of the damage. Again, Shea found paydirt on a counter criss-cross run, this time from 11 yards out. The drive covered 61 yards on nine plays. With the score now 15-0, the Wolverines would show some life with a nice drive of their own. It was the passing game that got K-K moving, though, as sr. QB Ryan Sedja hit a sprawling sr. WR/DB Ronell Fairel for a 9-yard touchdown. Prior to that, this same duo connected for 29 yards to bring the ball inside the Carroll ten. The Wolverine momentum would be short-lived, though, as once again the Pats drove the field behind a dominant rushing attack. On their third successive possession, the Pats used all runs to again find the end zone. Wischnowski did the honors from 7 yards. This capped a 66 yard drive on ten plays. So, in three possessions Carroll ran 26 running plays, accumulated 182 yards, and scored three times. At this point, if you got up to hit the concession stand, then chances are you missed K-K’s scoring second possession. It took the Wolverines just 57 seconds to cover 56 yards on three plays. In an aerial assault that would have made the coaches at BYU proud, Sedja lit-up the Radnor sky. The first two passes went to Fairel for 21 and 16 yards. Then, Sedja nicely lofted a pass to the right side of the end zone that found sr. WR/DB Cullen Rota for 19 yards and a score. K-K would fail to convert on a two-point try for the second time, and the score stood at 22-12. The game would sit here until the fourth quarter. A big reason why was because K-K turned the ball over thrice in the third stanza. Interceptions went to jr. DB Chris Shuster and jr. LB Tom Murrin. Then, Murrin recovered a fumble that was forced by jr. FB/LB Bryant Mortiz. With the game sitting at a 10-point deficit for a while, I never got the sense that K-K was truly ever close to threatening. Carroll would put the game out of reach at the 8:02 mark of the fourth quarter on a 3-yard burst by Moritz. The formula was more of the same, as the Pats went 50 yards on 9 rushes for the game-clincher. Showing plenty of fight and no-quit spirit, the Wolverines tacked on another score with 1:26 left. On fourth down, Sedja tossed his third scoring pass of the game, and his second to Rota. The play covered 20 yards. He then hit Fiarel on a conversion pass to give us our final. As noted, Carroll used a balanced rushing attack. Leading the way was Wischnowski, who earned 111 yards on 21 carries. With tonight’s effort, he was able to eclipse the 1,000-yard rushing plateau. He now has 1,103 career rushing yards, while needing just another 51 combined yards of rushing/passing to past 3,000 for a career. I think the 1,000-yardrushing mark for a quarterback is a significant number, so acknowledgment was required. Smile! Also, running well was Shea (9-64), Mortiz (9-58), and jr. Zach Parke (8-37). What time is it? That’s right, it’s time to show some love to the boys in the trenches. This group included: jr. C Jim Clemons, G’s jr. C.J. O’Brien and jr. Eric Shaw, T’s sr. Jack Lowney (6’3”, 260 lbs) and jr. Seamus Finnegan, and sr. TE Chris Kennedy (6’3”, 285 lbs). Great job by all! Defensively, Carroll was led in the tackling area by Moritz with nine (6 solos). Lowney registered a pair of sacks, Kennedy notched 1.5, and jr. LB Chris King had a .5 of sack. Murrin, soph. DB Greg DiSanto, and soph. LB Matt Brigg evenly split 12 stops. I was informed during the game that sr’s RB/LB Dillon McClernon and WR/LB Sean Crossan, who suffered neck/concession injuries on the same play in the opener versus O’Hara, have been lost for the season. Both of them played in subsequent games since the injury, but both experienced concussion-like symptoms afterwards. It was good to see each of them on the sidelines cheering their teammates along. Even though the action might be over, there will still be time to experience positive learning moments by being part of the team. For K-K, Sedja competed throughout, and finished 12-for-24, for 201 yards. Fairel (6-120) and Rota (3-49) were his favorite targets. Jr. RB Andrew Regan (12-51) found most of his running room in the second half. Defensively, jr. LB Tim Young was everywhere and made 14 tackles (10 solos). This kid oozes toughness, despite not being that big. Other tackling headliners were; jr. LB David Custer (nine), Fairel (eight), sr. LB Jerry Ploskon (seven), soph. LB Chris Ploskon (six), and Rota with six. During the fourth quarter K-K was given a sideline warning. Then, before the line judge even got back towards his spot, they were hit with another one just moments later. I was on the other side, but I guess they meant it when they said warning! It was a beautiful night for football, very cool and relaxing. It was even more beautiful when the PA guy announced that Phils had secured a 2-0 series lead with an 8-5 win over the Dodgers! Who has the Phever?!?!

OCT. 4
NON-LEAGUE
North Catholic 28, Carroll 22
  When the Catholic League master schedule first came out, I remember thinking to myself that this AA-AAA crossover game had potential. Then, the season started and these clubs have pretty much traveled in different directions. The Falcons had won four straight after an opening week loss to Coatesville. Meanwhile, the Patriots had only managed one win in five contests entering today’s game. So, from that vantage point, not much was expected in terms of competitiveness. Guess what? It was quite the contrary, as North needed a late score to fend off a game bunch of Patriots. They also needed a pair of record-setting performances to secure their fifth straight win. For the second time this year sr. WR/DB Mike Scott set the single-game receiving record for the Falcons. Four weeks ago. Scott turned a pair of catches into 140 yards against Ryan to establish a new mark. Today, he exceeded that number by 53 as he turned 8 snags into 193 yards. Two of his catches went for scores (80 & 14 yards). Well, if a receiver is setting records, then someone has to be feeding him, right? Sr. QB Dennis Logue also found a spot in Falcon lore by passing for 281 yards on 15-for-27 marksmanship and three touchdowns. This outing allowed him to unseat Dave Markowski’s 259-yard day back in the ’87 season. For dramatic purposes let’s fast forward to the fourth quarter. With 7:43 left, Carroll sr. QB Luke Wischnowski plowed in from the 1 to make the score 21-20. Then, with the Patriots set-up in extra-point formation, Wischnowski took the snap and rolled right on a fake. He nicely found imposing sr. TE/DE Chris Kennedy (6’3”, 285 lbs), who was wide open in the back of the end zone for the conversion, thus giving his team a 22-21 lead. On the drive, soph. RB/DB Ryan Shea supplied two critical plays. First, he ripped off a 41-yard run on a speed sweep to the left. Then, he carried for two more yards on a fourth-and-two from the 5. After this series both the Falcons and Patriots had drives end in punts. North’s game-winning drive began at their 35 with 3:24 left. They needed just six plays to find the end zone; a Logue-to-Scott 14-yard connection with 1:18 left. Prior to this, Logue hit Scott for 16 yards, and also completed two other passes to soph. WR Dave Sherman that covered 18 and 13 yards. Interestingly, after the touchdown the Falcons decided to kick the point-after, instead of going for two to make it a seven-point game. I guess there are two types of thoughts here. One may have been that with a six-point lead just a touchdown couldn’t beat them. Carroll would still have to kick a PAT to win the game. Though, they were already perfect on two PATs and one conversion pass. In the end, it wouldn’t matter, as Carroll would only march as far as the North 42-yard line. At this spot and on fourth down, jr. LB David Williams knocked down a pass by Wischnowski near the Carroll sideline with 19 seconds remaining. In earlier action, North jumped ahead on the first possession of the game. Jr. RB Eugene Byrd (19-81) bounced across on a 15-yard run. On the game’s first play he ripped-off a 22-yard gain. However, after these two carries he found running room scarce and even took some thumping hits from a couple of the bigger Carroll lineman. In the second quarter, Carroll would put two scores on the board. First, jr. Miguel Sanchez took a speed sweep around the left end for a 9-yard touchdown. This was set-up when Carroll easily converted a pass off a fake punt. With Wischnowski stationed as the up-back, he took the snap, and calmly hit Shea for a 21-yard gain. This was Wischnowski’s only pass attempt of the first half. He has had some interception miseries recently, so one has to wonder if the Carroll brass took a more conservative approach. My guess is yes. Later, the Patriots would go up 14-6 on a 28-yard sprint by Shea. This score was set-up by an interception by Shea, who returned 15 yards just two plays earlier. North would score a critical touchdown with just 24 seconds left in the half. Providing the honors was jr. QB/WR Ryan Etsell on a 12-yard fade pass from Logue. The 6’5” Etsell showed some nice paws in going amongst a trio of Patriot defenders who were in the area. I didn’t notice Etsell in the game at other junctures, so I wonder if they strictly just use him near the end zone on such plays. Etsell, actually transferred out of North and over to Father Judge prior to school starting. I’m not sure how long his stay lasted, but he was back at North rather quickly. After the touchdown, Logue hit Sherman for the two-pointer to make the score 14-14. Late in the third quarter, the Falcons would gain a 21-14 lead on a rather innocent play. After making a catch on a short slant route, Scott bounced backwards off two different Carroll players, at separate times, and then snuck down the sidelines for an 80-yard touchdown. Great individual effort! North’s offense rolled up 375 yards in the game. North’s kicker is jr. Andrew Pierson, who also serves as a reserve on the OL. After North’s first touchdown he missed a PAT on a low line drive, but he did score a goal, as he nicely tickled the twine in the top left-hand corner of the soccer goal stationed just behind the goal post. It should be mentioned that in North’s JV game versus Lansdale Catholic last week, Pierson successfully belted a 40-yard field goal in the waning moments to give his team a 3-0 victory. How many times has that ever occurred at the JV level? Defensively, the Falcons received a handful of good performances. Williams led with 14 total tackles and really showed a nose for the ball. Sr. LB Joe Mascino also reached double-digits with 11 stops. Jr. DB Stephan Singleton made a key interception just over the goal line to thwart a Carroll scoring opportunity. Steady sr. LB Eric Moore (4 tackles) suffered a left foot injury at the end of the first half and did not return. Much of Carroll’s success on offense came on speed sweeps and criss-cross type runs. Shea (10-92) showed nice quickness, and totaled 142 all-purpose yards. Sanchez (4-38) displayed similar skills as Shea. Inside room for Wischnowski (9-35) and jr. FB Bryant Moritz (13-35) was hard to find. Six of Wischnowski’s nine pass attempts (3-for-9, 50 yards) came during Carroll’s last foray with the ball. On defense, jr. DB Zach Parke had a sack, while Mortiz (7 total stops) and Kennedy split a sack. Jr. DB Chris Shuster returned an interception 34 yards. Sr. DT Jack Lowney (6’3”, 260 lbs) was active on the line with four solo stops. Jr. DT Chris King (6’3”, 245 lbs) also played well on the line with four tackles. Aside from an early poor punt, Kennedy did a great job of getting decent hang-time on some other boots. Five of his punts combined for a 38-yard average. This was my first look at the new turf at Radnor High’s Prevost Field. In year’s past this field was often the victim of some swampy/muddy conditions, so the new turf should do wonders on this front. Kudos to Fr. Ed Casey, who nicely handled the PA duties throughout the game! He did his best to promote the concession stand as the first half concluded. He was able to sway yours truly, as I sampled a dog during the intermission.

OCT. 3
CATHOLIC LEAGUE AA
West Catholic 50, Kennedy-Kenrick 0
  Not much the outmanned Wolverines could do on this night. Even at full strength, playing with the talented and speedy Burrs would be a tough road to sled. Now, complicate matters by not having the services of your two most productive offensive players; sr. QB Ryan Sedja (shoulder/collarbone) and sr. RB Aaron Regan (concussion). To date, this pair has supplied 949 of K-K’s 1,087 yards (87.3%) from scrimmage. To make matters worse, the Wolverines were down to their fourth-string quarterback. All total, four different Wolves took snaps at quarterback in this game; none of them had the “QB” position next to their name on the team roster. Yikes! To say that the offense didn’t run smoothly would be an understatement of epic proportions. On 26 offensive plays, the Wolverines managed a grand total of minus-14 yards and zero first downs. Their longest play went for just six yards; a pass completion from jr. Cullen Rota to jr. TE Tim Young. They never had the ball for more than four plays on a possession and the longest drive traveled just five yards. This happened twice. Despite the miseries suffered by K-K, I appreciated the effort that Head Coach Mike Santillo’s bunch put forth all night. Many kids were asked to do things that they weren’t accustomed to, and they gave it their all. That is to be commended! Right from the get-go you knew things weren’t going to go well for K-K. On the fifth play of the game, West sr. RB Raymond Maples was stuffed in the backfield and at the tail-end of the play the ball squirted free. K-K recovered and as expected gained some juice. However, the refs huddled and said that there was an inadvertent whistle or something or other. It did look like Maples’ progress had been stopped well before the ball came out, but I never really heard a whistle. It was a confusing scene to say the least, and the K-K coaching staff was livid after the ruling. Anyhow, they gave the ball back to the Burrs, and two plays later sr. QB Curtis Drake (3-for-4, 127 yards) flicked a 17-yard scoring pass to soph. TE Jim Lynch down the middle of the field. There would be no looking back, as the Burrs would score two more touchdowns on their next two offensive plays, then add a fourth score to make it 29-0 before the first quarter clock expired. Also reaching the comforts of the end zone in the opening quarter were; sr. WR Eric Young on a lovely 69-yard pass from Drake, sr. RB Rob Hollomon (7-74) on a 35-yard dash, and Maples (11-119) with a 14-yard burst. In the second quarter, the duo of R. Hollomon and Maples were at it again, as both ripped off 25-yard scoring runs. By the time halftime arrived, the score elevated to 43-0 and the mercy rule was upon us. In the second half, the Burr rushing reserves got into the action. Soph. RB Brandon Hollomon (3-41) scored the game’s final touchdown on a 5-yard run. Prior to this he had runs of 21 and 15 yards sandwiched around a 44-yard sprint by soph. FB Leroy Wesley (4-50). B. Hollomon is the younger brother of Rob, and he too has some game to him. Definitely one to watch next season! Interestingly, West ran the last 19 plays of the game, as they held the ball for the entire fourth quarter (16 plays). The last two of these plays were kneel-downs from the K-K 5-yard line. Six different rushers carried during this sequence. Soph. RB Lamont Davis (5-41) was the most active in the late going. Everything wasn’t exactly squeaky clean for the Burrs, as for the second straight week they were plagued by penalties. They committed nine infractions for 82 yards. Two were committed on touchdown runs. The Burrs overcame one of the penalties that wiped out a score, but lost a 63-yard TD run by Drake on another, which ultimately led to their only punt of the game. All total, the offense generated 511 yards, marking the second time this season they have eclipsed the 500-yard plateau. Kudos to EVERY member of the O-line who chipped in throughout the game!  Jr. K Tim Carroll successfully booted all six PAT attempts. On one other point-after attempt there was a high snap, which prompted holder soph. Jaelen Strong-Rankin to throw to soph. FB/LB Anthony McDonnaugh for the conversion. This wasn’t a big deal in the scope of the game, but a closer look at the last names of these two individuals might ring a bell or two. Rankin is the son of former West/Drexel basketball star John Rankin. The elder Rankin went onto become a Philadelphia police officer, but lost his battle with leukemia a couple of years ago. McDonnaugh is the nephew of current Temple player and former Germantown star Omar McDonnaugh. For the lack of a better term (Smile!) we’ll say that Anthony doesn’t possess as much liveliness on the personality front as his uncle, but he already shows a strong/solid body and potential to go with it. Tonight, he registered four solo tackles and served well in his first start at fullback with sr. Juan Rozier unavailable. Adding interceptions on defense were jr. DB Ray Manuel (4 tackles) and jr. DB/RB Kaheem Summerville. Jr. LB Bill Tobin recovered a fumble. Jr. LB Dante Dickens and sr. DT Dwayne Shaw split a sack. Jr. DT Jon Ruppert made two stops for losses and wreaked havoc up front. For K-K, jr. LB Ed Kelly recovered a muffed punt. The leading tacklers were; jr. LB Dave Custer (seven), Young (five, TFL), soph. DE Anthony Carr (five), and sr. LB Jerry Ploskon (five). In terms of playoff positioning K-K has key contest next week against Carroll. Hopefully, they can get a few of their horses back for that game.

SEPT. 27
CATHOLIC AAAA
SJ Prep 22, Father Judge 18
  Last week, the Hawks saw their amazing 55-game league unbeaten streak snapped by an upstart La Salle club. This week they started a new winning streak, but it didn’t come easy, as the Crusaders battled admirably all evening long. If the Hawks' first two games tell us anything, then it is that the battle for the four 4A CL playoff spots is going to be a good one. Currently, there appears to be five solid teams residing in the 4A league. Also, there might not be a lot of separation between each of them, but one team will be on outside looking in come November. For the Hawks, they should feel fortunate that they made just enough plays to slip past a game Judge team. For sitting at (0-2) would have been not only an unfamiliar sight for the Hawk faithful, but a dangerous one in terms of postseason possibilities too. Still, there is much to like about this Hawk squad, and they very much so have the potential to get even better as the season progresses. Tonight’s game featured a little of everything: Timely offense, hard-hitting defensive moments, crucial turnovers, and clutch plays. Early on, the Crusaders appeared to have a solid grasp on the proceedings. They would go up 2-0 when the Hawks’ second possession ended with a faulty snap while in punt formation. The ball ended up traveling 29 yards into Prep’s end zone, where it was ultimately recovered by the Prep for a safety. With momentum behind them, Judge built upon their lead after the subsequent free kick. Two plays into the series, soph. QB Tony Smith (6’3”, 185 lbs) hit sr. WR/LB Adam Nowak for 33 yards to the Prep 20. Jr. RB Curtis Wortham followed with consecutive runs of 9, 5, and 4 yards. From there sr. FB/LB Joe Swallow bulled across for a 2-yard touchdown and Judge now led, 9-0. SJ Prep’s big break came on special teams when sr. DB Dan Casey recovered a muffed punt at the Judge 29. This really was the break the Hawks needed, because up until this point, they were sluggish at best. Four plays after the miscue, sr. QB Mark Giubilato (6’3”, 228 lbs – Temple) threw a strike to sr. WR Dan Turner for an 8-yard touchdown, making the score 9-7 Judge. Judge’s next possession began with roughly 3:30 left in the half. Prior to running a play the Hawks exhausted their last timeout. At this time, I instantly thought to myself, call safe plays or even three runs to move the clock closer towards halftime. After all, Judge had the lead and was going to get the ball first to begin the second half. As it turns out, a short run on second down was sandwiched between a pair of incompletions on first and third down. Hey, I don’t profess to be a coach, but if had a nickel for every time the Hawks have scored one of those punch-to-the-gut, dagger-to-the-heart touchdowns at the end of half, then I'd be rich man. I just didn’t think Judge could afford to allow the Hawks another trip to the end zone after controlling the game for the first 19 minutes. So, would it happen again? You betcha! On the very first player after a Crusader punt, sr. RB/DB Mike Yeager, who was brilliant all game long, took a handoff and zipped around the left corner. Then, at about the Judge 25, he reversed fields with a marvelous cutback. All total, it was a 65-yard jaunt and the Hawks surged in front by a score of 14-9 with just 2:27 remaining. Not much happened in the third quarter, though, the Crusaders did squander a glorious opportunity to regain the lead. Once again, Smith connected with Nowak, this time for 35 yards, which brought the ball to the Prep 15. However, this was followed up with a pair of backbreaking penalties that netted 27 yards. Ouch! Before long Judge was faced with fourth-and-40! At the beginning of the fourth quarter Judge’s defense stymied a Prep possession and forced a punt from deep in their territory. Judge sr. WR/DB Tom Ryan returned it 30 yards to the Prep 10. Two plays later Smith connected with sr. TE Ryan Langdon (6’5”, 22b lbs) for a 7-yard score. The two-point attempt failed, but Judge still grabbed a miniscule 15-14 advantage. This lead would be short-lived, though, as Prep would answer in kind just moments later. Doing the honors was Yeager on a five-yard run through the middle. Then, Giubilato added the conversion run to give his squad a 22-15 lead with 8:11 left. Setting up that score was a 61-yard hook-up between Giubilato and sr. WR/DB Anthony Johnson (3-90). On this play, Johnson did a wonderful job of slightly coming back for the ball on a deep out. After making the catch he shredded a tackle attempt and sped down the left sidelines, finally getting nudged out of bounds at the Judge 20. Judge would follow this was a 39-yard kickoff return by sr. QB/WR Tim Donohoe to the Prep 34. However, on first down, Smith underthrew Nowak by a hair on a deep post, thus, allowing Yeager make the interception. Are you ready for yet another twist? On the Hawks’ next play, Giubilato lost the ball on the center exchange and Judge’s Ryan made the recovery at the Prep 16. With a golden opportunity presented to them, the Crusaders would misfire on three pass attempts. Consequently, they would have to settle for a 38-yard field goal, which was nicely booted by sr. K Pat Schultz. The Crusaders would eventually get the ball back one additional time, but started this possession at their own 20. Again, Smith could not connect on three pass attempts, and with a little under five minutes to play, a punt was in order. Judge would not see the ball again. The Hawks methodically wilted away the clock by holding onto the rock for 11 plays. Yeager rushed eight times for 34 yards in this sequence, all the while converting three third-down chances. For the game, Yeager was rock solid! He rushed 25 times for 148 yards. Aside from the pick, he made three solo tackles and had SIX pass defends. I like this kid! He undoubtedly has his fair share of talent, but I suspect he’s even a better player because of how hard he plays too. Helping in the trenches was one of the area’s biggest and more talented offensive lines. Included here are: sr. C Matt Dykan, G’s sr. Mike Pinciotti (6’3”, 292 lbs) and Shawn Davis (6’0”, 265 lbs), and T’s Mark Arcidiacono (6’5”, 282 lbs), a Penn St. recruit and jr. Seth Betancourt (6’6”, 289 lbs), who is sure to get his hands on more than few big-time offers when his high school playing days are complete. Sr. TE Dan McGeever assisted in the blocking department as well. Giubilato played well and threw some nice balls. Many of them were short-to-medium drag plays towards the sidelines. He finished an efficient 9-for-15, with 168 yards. The fullback combination of sr. Mike Pereira, jr. Mike Labor (3-51), and jr. Steve O’Hara combined to make five grabs for 70 yards. Defensively, O’Hara was active at linebacker. He finished with a team-high 9 tackles (7 solos, 2 TFLs). The impressive Labor (6’3”, 221 lbs), also a LB, notched a sack and recovered a fumble. Jr. DE Bill Mancini also registered a sack, while forcing and recovering a fumble. Pereira (6’1”, 233 lbs) made six solo tackles, two TFLs, and forced a fumble. For Judge, I like the potential of Smith at quarterback. He already has good size and possesses a frame to add strength. He threw many good balls in the game, but I got the sense that he was still a tad wet behind the ears. With a little more seasoning good things should happen. His top targets are Nowak (4-95) and Ryan (4-45). Wortham (15-30) showed flashes early, but found running room hard to come by as the game wore on. Wortham can expect his workload to increase now that sr. RB Rob Harris has left the team. Defensively, the Crusaders were physical and used a team-oriented approach. Leading the way was Swallow with a game-high 12 tackles (9 solos). Nowak, one of the league’s better two-way players, made 11 stops, including a sack. He also made a thundering hit to force a fumble. Sr. LB Tim McCaffrey was active with 9 tackles (8 solos). Jr. DE Greg Kovacs (6 stops) also registered a sack. Soph. DB Steve Owens recovered a fumble. Also hustling for the Crusader defense was sr. DB Ryan Fenningham (6 tackles) and sr. DT Jeff Brewer (5 tackles). Meanwhile, Ryan contributed three apiece of solo tackles and pass defends. Though the game was competitive and entertaining throughout, it did drag on some and eventually had that never-ending feel. I timed it at about 2:45. The teams combined for a lofty 112 plays from scrimmage. They also combined for 15 punts. Back to the potential competitive nature of the CL 4A league, but there are two marquee games this coming weekend: O’Hara visits Roman, while LaSalle travels to Judge.

SEPT. 20
NON-LEAGUE
Roman Catholic 17, Chestnut Hill 7
  During the first two games of Roman’s season, the Cahillites seemed to bring that chip-on-our-shoulders approach. After all, they were the defending CL Red champions, but in both their games, first West Catholic, then Souderton, the Cahillites were considered the underdogs. They split those two games, a tough overtime loss to West, followed by a convincing victory over the Indians. And after doing so, they have gotten the attention of many in and around Southeastern PA. Today, though, they came into the game as the hunted, as Chestnut Hill looked to pull off the upset. Things got off to a good start for the Blue Devils. On the second play from scrimmage, emerging jr. RB/DB Ibraheim Campbell ripped off a 56-yard run to the Roman 15-yard line. Four plays later, Campbell slammed home from the four to give Chestnut Hill a quick 7-0 lead just 3:34 into the game. Then, soph. DT Colin Kelly and sr. LB John Kuneck combined to stop Roman’s sr. FB Amir Little on a fourth down run at the Roman 28. This gave the Blue Devils a golden opportunity to increase their lead. However, the drive would stall and a 41-yard field goal attempt by jr. K/P Pat Connaghan fell a few yards short. Next, Roman had a 12-play drive stall at the CH 15-yard line, but soph. K/P Kyle Haber put them on the board when he blasted a 32-yard field goal that was PLENTY good. Later in the half, the Cahillites would take the lead for good when jr. QB/DB Kevin Regan nicely lofted a pass to his younger brother, soph. RB/WR/DB Dennis Regan, for an 8-yard touchdown with 2:32 left in the half. The score was set up by a K. Regan to soph. WR Kawaun Chavis 47-yard pass completion. After the intermission, most of the game was played between the thirties. Roman supplied the game’s most critical stop midway through the fourth quarter, as sr. LB Marty Bernard brought down Campbell for a one-yard loss on a third-and-five play from the Roman 45. Then, on fourth down, CH soph. QB Dan Gallagher failed to handle the snap while in the shotgun. The play ended losing nine yards, but more importantly gave the ball back to Roman. Three plays later, sr. RB/DB Kasseim Everett, who was relatively kept in check by the Blue Devils, finally broke free up the middle for a 39-yard score to ice the game.  I say "kept in check" because in his first two games, Everett ran wild to the tone of 300+ all-purpose yards. Today, things didn’t come as easily and he had to earn every single one of his yards. He finished with 152 yards on 25 grueling runs. Multiple times he had to leave the game with assorted nicks and cramping issues. K. Regan had his best day as a passer, going 10-for-16, for 140 yards. Early on, he connected with Chavis (3-84). Later, little bro’ D. Regan (5-45) was his main target. D. Regan also added 22 yards on 3 carries and a 27-yard kickoff return. All total, the Cahillites accumulated 320 yards of offense. Defensively, Bernard registered six total tackles, including a sack. Sr. LB Geoffrey Johnson was next with five stops. K. Regan made four stops and three pass defends. His height (6’4”) really helps Roman in obvious passing situations, as he is often able to get a paw on the ball. Sr. DE Bob Kalinoski, sr. DT John Marcinek (6’3”, 310 lbs), and sr. LB Terrell Hutchins each made four tackles. Sr. DB Marshall Kelly was active with three stops and two pass defends. For Chestnut Hill, Campbell rushed 24 times for 128 yards, marking the fourth straight game he has eclipsed the 100-yard barrier. You’ll remember that his brother, Rashad Campbell (Cornell), starred for the Blue Devils during the past three seasons, rushing for 4,204 yards in his career. The current Campbell probably isn’t as quick or shifty as his brother, but he has good speed and a much stronger body. I like his potential! He actually impressed me on both sides of the ball, as often brought the wood from his secondary position. He had some smashing hits in the game, and finished with 9 total stops (7 solos). His most impressive defensive play came when he brought down Everett late in the first half to prevent a possible Roman score. While tackling Everett he was able to rip the ball away and then secure it all in one motion. The Blue Devils other impressive offensive player, at least in an athletic sense, is soph. WR Jon McAllister. He only managed two grabs for 49 yards, but he should have some big receiving days over the next few years. He also is a highly touted baseball player. Gallagher had a tough time getting comfortable and finished with 62 yards on 4-for-15 passing. Defensively, sr. DB Julian Brown contributed 8 tackles (6 solos). Sr. DT Kyle Keller had a sack. Sr. LB Phil Thomas made six stops, while Kelly added five. Registering four tackles apiece were: sr. DB Alex Logue, Kuneck, jr. DE Brendan Plunkett, sr. LB Matt Flannery (2 pass defends), and McAllister. It was a beautiful day for a football game and the people in attendance weren’t the only ones enjoying the action. At certain junctures of the game, an inordinate amount of dragonflies would be seen hovering about the field of play. They weren’t much of a nuisance or anything, but I have never seen this many of them before. Interestingly, they only seemed to come around when the action subsided at given times.

SEPT. 19
CATHOLIC LEAGUE AA
West Catholic 63, Carroll 12
  Where to begin? For starters, some had pondered that this could be the marquee CL AA match-up when the season began. However, the Pats had been mostly disappointing so far, dropping two of their first three games. And even their lone win was a not-so-comfortable one-point victory against Overbrook, typically a middle-of-the-road Pub squad. So, prior to the game, there wasn’t a lot of confidence in the air that Carroll would be able to hang with the SPEEDY Burrs. Well, it didn’t take long to realize that these thoughts would indeed come to fruition. The Burrs unleashed one of the more mind-boggling statistical assaults that I have ever seen. On just 27 offensive plays West rolled to 563 yards of offense. Yes, good for 20.9 yards per play! They also turned more than half of their plays, 14, into first downs. Five times the Burrs scored on their first play of a series! And we’re not talking about scoring touchdowns after a turnover deep in Carroll’s territory. We’re talking about lengthy jaunts that covered some gaudy real estate. The Burrs’ five one-play drives covered 74, 61, 34, 62, and 70 yards. These five plays alone traveled 301 yards! They also had a two-play series that went for 93 yards, including an 88-yard scoring run. For good measure, they added a kickoff return for another quick score. Their other two scoring drives were snail-like and took six and eight plays, respectively. All total, West churned out 703 all-purpose yards (140 yards on 3 returns). Early on, it appeared that Carroll had some momentum. The game’s first possession ended with a Carroll punt, but jr. DB Chris Shuster made a recovery of a mishandled ball at the West thirty. However, Carroll could only manage four yards and failed to convert on fourth down. Zoom-Zoom-Zoom, as West sr. Rob Hollomon wasted little time setting the tone with a lightning-quick 74-yard sprint. Believe it or not, but the Burrs were stopped on fourth down on their next possession. Carroll responded with a seven-play, 61-yard scoring drive. Sr. QB Luke Wischnowski (6-for-13, 82 yards) hit hulking sr. TE Chris Kennedy (6’4”, 285 lbs) in the flat and the big guy rumbled down the sideline 40 yards to make it, 7-6. This glimmer of hope would be short-lived, though, as Hollomon fielded the ensuing kickoff and raced another 74 yards. From this point things got seriously anti-climatic, as West frolicked with four second quarter touchdowns to send us into mercy rule territory (43-to-6) by half. Doing the honors in the second stanza were: sr. FB Juan Rozier with a 61-yard burst up the middle that featured a devastating move on a defender downfield, an 88-yard sprint by sr. QB Curtis Drake on his only carry of the game, a 15-yard run by sr. RB Raymond Maples (4-43), and a lovely 34-yard passing strike from Drake (3-for-6, 91 yards) to sr. WR Eric Young. West would hit the half-century mark on the first play of the second half. Again, it was Hollomon doing the damage, this time from 62 yards. The whirlwind Hollomon was nasty throughout! He rushed 5 times for 149 yards and had two returns worth another 118 yards. Aside from the kickoff return he had a 44-yard punt return that was a shoelace away from being a 78-yard score. That’s 267 all-purpose yards on just seven touches. Oh wait, he also made two leaping interceptions and a fumble recovery (Forced by Maples) on defense. Even the West reserves got in the act as the game wore on. Soph. QB Kyle Heggs had a 1-yard plunge and soph. FB Leroy Wesley went up the gut untouched for 70 yards to close out the scoring. Soph. RB Brandon Hollomon, brother of Rob, added 33 yards on three carries. Jr. K Tim Carroll suffered a small fracture in his back during a valiant effort on PAT’s, going 7-for-7. After West’s last touchdown the Burrs were forced to go for two because Carroll’s back had stiffened up considerably. Let’s give major shout-outs to the boys up front. You could have driven a small car through some of these holes. Playing a part were: jr. C Jake Zuzek (6’2”, 288 lbs), T’s sr. Victor McNair (6’0”, 280 lbs) and sr. Austin Peters, G’s sr. Covisia Wilson and sr. Paul Murtagh, and soph. TE Jim Lynch. Defensively, twenty-six Burrs made a tackles in the game, as plenty of kids got an opportunity to play. Sacks were had by; jr. LB Dante Dickens (6 tackles) and Zuzek. Soph. LB Anthony McDonnaugh led the way with 8 stops (7 solos). Also chipping in were: jr. LB Bill Tobin, soph. DT Ike Ugwu, and jr. DT John Ruppert with four apiece. For Carroll, they did have some good offensive moments, but three first half turnovers really did them in. They actually doubled-up West in total plays, 59-to-27. For the game they ended with 320 yards of offense. Their top rushers were jr. FB Bryant Moritz (10-68) and soph. RB Andrew Novak (7-47). Jr. QB Luke Lyons scored the Pats second touchdown on a 2-yard run. Defensively, no Carroll defender had more than two tackles. Sr. LB Sean Crossan, who was injured in Carroll’s opener versus O’Hara, returned to the line-up. He and teammate, sr. LB Dillon McClernon, collided towards the end of that game and had to be carted off. Fortunately, both avoided serious injury. McClernon was on hand and cheered his team from the sidelines. Crossan may have been dinged again, though, as I thought I saw him trying to get back into the game after being shaken up. By game’s end the teams had combined for a lofty 1,127 all-purpose yards. Phew!!!

SEPT. 13
NON-LEAGUE
La Salle 27, West Catholic 26
  If you’re someone who likes a nice old fashioned defensive tussle, then Colonial Stadium at Plymouth-Whitemarsh was not a place for you Saturday night. The offenses of the Explorers and Burrs just had their way with the other team’s defense all evening long. The teams combined for 740 yards from scrimmage (884 yards counting returns) and 39 first downs. In the end it was the Explorers pulling off the upset by the slimmest of margins. With 1:12 left in the fourth quarter West Catholic sr. QB Curtis Drake scampered in from seven yards to bring his team within one. West Head Coach Brian Fluck opted to go for two points in hopes of grabbing a lead. An earlier PAT was blocked and though two others were successful, Explorer defenders were close-by on those as well. On the two-point try, Drake, a Penn St. recruit, lined up in the shotgun. He had sr. RB Rob Hollomon behind him and to his left. Three wide receivers were also spread out to the left. The play was an option run in that direction, but the Explorers’ defense did a good job of stringing the play out. When Drake finally did make his move to cut it up, they were waiting for him. With no place to go, Drake desperately pitched to Hollomon, but the ball was behind him and too difficult to handle. Eventually it rolled free near the 10 before finally being blown dead. Afterwards, the Burrs' onside kick was struck in the air and secured by La Salle sr. RB Mike Donohoe roughly 20 yards downfield. Then, soph. RB Jamal Abdur-Rahman, who was brilliant throughout, ripped off a 10-yard gain on first down. Three kneeldowns later the game was over. It’s hard to imagine the Explorers offense playing any better than they did tonight. Leading the way was impressive jr. QB Drew Loughery, who was near perfect, going 15-for-16, with 193 yards and two scores. He completed his first nine attempts and didn’t misfire until the 1:36 mark of the third quarter. He scoring throws went to jr. WR Sam Feleccia (6’3”, 210 lbs) for 19 yards and Abdur-Rahman for five yards. Loughery also contributed another 32 yards on 6 carries, including a 5-yard scoring run. At 6’1”, 195 lbs this kid possesses some nice tools and brings valuable mobility to the position. Tonight, he made some beautiful throws to Feleccia along the sidelines. Feleccia finished with 110 yards on 7 receptions, and frequently took advantage of shorter Burr defensive backs. Also starring on offense was Abdur-Rahman, who contributed 98 yards rushing on 14 carries and another 48 yards on four catches. Add in the 50 yards on returns and the quick-footed back amassed 196 all-purpose yards. Aside from his touchdown reception, he also added a 26-yard scoring burst in the second quarter. On the other side of the ball he was often the last line of defense for the Explorers and registered nine tackles (7 solos), but his most pivotal defensive moment came when he intercepted a pass in his own end zone to thwart the Burrs’ opening drive of the game. Donohoe managed 40 yards of rushing and receiving on six total touches. The Explorer offensive line did a tremendous job of pass protection and rarely the Burrs get a sniff at Loughery. This unit consists of: sr. C Sean Abbott, G’s jr. Mike DiGiacomo (6’0”, 270 lbs) and jr. Steve Szostak, and T’s sr. Bob Siess and sr. Jake Hostrander. Defensively, there were a host of Explorers with good tackling numbers. You’ll get that when they other team runs amazing 60 offensive plays. This unit didn’t do a great job in stopping the potent Burr offense, but they were strong in a few areas and at least slowed them down a little. From what I heard, tackling in last week’s loss to Malvern was shabby. But tonight they were solid in that area and rarely did West runners get additional yardage after first contact. Also, La Salle did a good job of making sure that West didn’t have any quick-strike scores on long runs. West had to earn most of their yards during the game. Leading the way in tackles was sr. Kevin Farrington with 12 stops. Sr. DE Ryan Eidenshink was active with eight tackles. Sr. LB John Kerrigan (forced fumble), Siess, and jr. LB Anthony Cognetti (blocked PAT) each registered six tackles. Jr. DB George Giovinazzo recovered a fumble. For West, they were able to churn out 405 yards of offense and 22 first downs. I’m pretty sure they’ll be kicking themselves over two first half turnovers. Both were followed by La Salle touchdowns, and conceivably prevented two scores of their own. The turnovers came during drives where West had already run nine and eleven plays, respectively. Not one West drive traveled less than 53 yards. As I mentioned, they were able to run 60 plays. Not a single play resulted in a negative loss. How many times can you this has happened when a team runs that many plays? In the first half alone, West had 36-to-12 play advantage, but trailed on the scoreboard 13-6. Doing most of the damage for the Burrs was their star-studded backfield of Drake, R. Hollomon, and sr. RB Raymond Maples. Drake combined for 185 yards of rushing and passing; 13-91 on the ground and 9-for-14 for 94 yards in the air. The shifty R. Hollomon raced for 120 yards on 16 carries, while Maples added another 84 yards on 15 totes. These three also provided all of the touchdowns, with all coming on runs: R. Hollomon (two and three yards), Maples (one-yard), and Drake (seven yards). Supplying space on the line of scrimmage were: jr. C Jake Zuzek (6’2”, 288 lbs), G’s sr. Paul Murtagh and sr. Covisia Wilson, and T’s sr. Victor McNair (6’0”, 280 lbs) and sr. Austin Peters (6’0”, 295 lbs). Tackling leaders for the Burrs were: R. Hollomon (six), sr. DE Chris Williams (five), jr. Ray Manuel (four), and sr. DT Dwayne Shaw (four). Though the game was played at P-W it was considered a West home game. The Burrs' usual home field, Widener University, was only available on Friday, but the Explorers couldn’t play then because assistant coach and former quarterback great Brett Gordon was married on Friday night. Congrats!

SEPT. 12
NON-LEAGUE
Roman 32, Souderton 14
  So far in this young season the only thing that has slowed down Roman sr. RB/DB Kasseim Everett has been Hurricane Hanna. Last week, the Cahillites were idle when our area was besieged by stormy weather. Mother Nature’s lack of cooperation forced their game last Saturday to be cancelled. Well, that and their out-of-state of opponents’ lack of flexibility forced the cancellation. But, hey, what do you expect from a bunch of New Yorkers? In the two games Everett has played, a season-opening setback to West Catholic and tonight’s clash with suburban toughie Souderton, all he has done is produce 300+ all-purpose yards in both of them! News alert for those of you who don’t know, but this kid is GOOD!!! Tonight, he turned his team’s first two offensive plays into long scores. After a fumble by Souderton on the game’s first play from scrimmage, the Cahillites wasted little time getting the ball into their most dangerous player’s hands. Initially set up as a lone back, Everett scurried in motion to the right-slot. Strangely, no one from Souderton’s defense slid out to cover him. OK, make it easy if you want. And easy it was, as Everett flew down the field and jr. QB Kevin Regan (3-of-6, 74 yards) beautifully hit him in stride for a quick touchdown, just 29 seconds into the game. Souderton would respond with a methodical, 11-play, 79-yard drive to tie it. However, on Roman’s next offensive play, Everett went off right-tackle and zoomed 60 yards to recapture the lead, a lead they would never relinquish. Everett would add two more running scores that covered 35 and 12 yards respectively. Of all of the touchdowns, the 12-yarder was probably the most impressive. Seemingly stopped in the backfield, he spun off a tackle attempt and bounced outside. Once out there, he left two other Indian defenders in his dust with some wiggle from the hips. Impressive! For the game he carried 24 times for 243 yards. He also added 11 more yards on free kick, as well as 56-yards receiving, for a grand total of 310 all-purpose. Oh, yeah, for good measure let's toss in eight tackles (6 solos) and a pass defended on the other side of the ball. This kid has a unique running style: he is not only fast, but also combines a level of toughness that you usually don’t see from a player his size (5’10”, 180 lbs). Advice to future opponents – Tackling drills!  Obviously, when a rusher goes off like this that the grunts up front are going to play a pivotal role. That was certainly the case tonight as; sr. C John Matthews, G’s sr. Bob Kalinoski and jr. Matt Schlicking, and T’s sr. Tahir Basil and jr. Kevin Kelly were instrumental throughout. Also chipping in the defender-removal process were; sr. Amir Little at fullback, sr. TE Geoffrey Johnson, and jr. OL Gary Masino. Masino had replaced Matthews for a portion of time in the second half, as Matthews took care of business in a nearby lavatory. This actually led to a funny moment upon Matthews’ return. With a Cahillite lineman dinged, Matthews emerged back into the stadium and out of nowhere was running and yelling, “I got him, I got him, coach!” This prompted Roman’s first-year Head Coach Joe McCourt to bellow, “Get off the field Matthews, this isn’t rough-touch!” At the intermission the Cahillites led comfortably, 27-7. Things got a little uneasy after Souderton snuffed out a punt and recovered in the end zone, making 27-14 early in the third quarter. However, the Cahillites responded with a nice drive that ended with a 29-yard field goal by jr. K/P Kyle Haber. The final scoring came when Basir blocked an Indian punt that eventually rolled out of the end zone. This was the rangy Basil’s second block in as many games.  Defensively, Roman received fumble recoveries by soph. DB Dennis Regan (Forced by Little) and sr. DB Marshall Kelly, who also made an interception. Sr. DT John Marcinek (6’3”, 310 lbs) was a force on the line with five stops. Meanwhile, sr. LB Marty Bernard, sr. LB Terrell Hutchins, and Johnson evenly split 12 tackles. Through two games Everett has accumulated 518 of Roman’s 674 yards from scrimmage (77%). After winning the CL Red championship last year, the Cahillites lost numerous key contributors from that team to graduation. A lot of people were unsure of what to expect from them this year and that a possible rebuilding period was to be expected. So far that hasn’t been the case, as they took a good West team to overtime and crunched this Souderton squad, who came in ranked in some people’s SE PA Top 5. It’s still early, but I like what I see from the bunch so far. 

SEPT. 12
NON-LEAGUE
O’Hara 7, Haverford School 0
  Today’s overriding theme can be summed up with one simple word – Wet! Fortunately, we were spared chilly temperatures and there was very little wind, but it rained in steady-to-hard fashion from beginning to end. It was not pleasant at all! And on top of that, I was not prepared for the conditions even a little. I had to forgo stat-keeping for the second quarter, as my legal pad and make-shift cover were overcome by the perfect storm. Additionally, my maroon Temple hat dripped reddish dye all over the long-sleeve white T-shirt, thus, I resembled a 3rd grader after a bout with a cherry water ice. Luckily, Daily Times’ H.S. writer John Lohn was in attendance too. Of course, John was much more equipped to handle the conditions and agreed to pass along the second quarter stats to me at halftime. In the meantime, I served as the world’s wettest and pinkest spotter, smile! As for the game, it carried a will-anyone-score feel midway through the fourth quarter. The key sequence went like this. Haverford School’s jr. DL Bob Boyle recovered a fumble that was forced by jr. LB Andrew Herm. On the next play, from the O’Hara 40, sr. RB Terance FitzSimmons scooted 12 yards and the Fords appeared to be in business. However, the following play produced an incomplete pass and that was piggy-backed by a fumble by sr. QB Dan Judge as he dropped back to pass. O’Hara’s jr. DE Brendan O’Callahan made the recovery at his own 32-yard line. Next, the Lions used ten consecutive running plays to score the game’s only touchdown. Franchise jr. RB/DB Corey Brown carried the ball on seven of the ten plays, including the last five totes. Up until this point the Fords defensive front did an excellent job of bottling up the speedy and talented back. Still, when a player of Brown’s caliber continues to get opportunities, he is bound to make something happen. His break-free moment came in the form of a 32-yard gallop to the Fords’ 25. A short time later he slipped through the line for a 9-yard scoring run. Afterwards, the game clock showed just 4:23 left. To begin their next drive, the Fords started with good field position at their 43-yard line. However, the slippery pigskin did them in for the second straight offensive play. O’Hara’s sr. OL/DT Dennis Mushrush was there to pounce and give the ball back to the Lions. A 26-yard run by Brown was the key play in allowing O’Hara to hold onto the ball for most of the remaining time. The Fords did get it back deep in their territory, but just 24 ticks remained. They managed to run six plays, but got no further than their 29-yard line before the final gun had sounded. Brown finished with 120 hard-earned yards on 23 carries. Interestingly, 15 carries and 83 of these yards came in the final quarter. Sr. QB Tom Savage (Rutgers) was harassed all day and the wet conditions didn’t help in the throwing and catching departments either. He did finish with 85 yards on 9-for-15 accuracy, though. His main target was sr. WR Bob Royal (4-31). My defensive stats for both teams are inaccurate because I couldn’t track them in the second quarter. In the other three frames, sr. DB Evan Higgins registered 5 solo tackles for the Lions. While, O’Callahan, jr. DE/C Matt Williams, and sr. DL/OL Andrew Glace notched a sack apiece. It’s hard to say what the outcome of the game would have been if played in ideal conditions. My hunch is that O’Hara still leaves with a victory, maybe with further separation than the one touchdown final. Still, the Fords were game and probably would have put up a much greater fight than some of the prognosticators (Smile!!!) had predicted. In fact, early on the Fords have several opportunities to jump on top. Three times in the first quarter they had drives enter O’Hara territory. One even started at the Lion 22-yard line after sr. DB Chris Ambrogi got a piece of a Savage punt. So, what prevented the Fords from making that early statement? Penalties! HS committed seven infractions worth 50 yards (9 for 75 yards total) in the initial half. Six of these were of the procedure or delay-of-game variety. Not good! For the most part, the Fords’ offense had trouble finding space and was limited to just 28 second half yards. Fitzsimmons was their most productive rusher with 62 yards on 7 carries. The versatile Judge could only manage 60 yards passing and rushing. On the defense, the boys in the trenches were stalwart throughout. Jr. DL Sam Shea (1.5 sacks, 6 other tackles), Boyle (2 fumb. Rec., 7 tackles), and jr. Kieran Avis (3 stops) were game-long forces. Sr. Shomari Watts was impressive with a sack and 6 tackles. Jr. DB Joe Nassib (five) and soph. Carl Walrath (four) were active in the tackling area. Fords’ Head Coach Michael Murphy and his staff have this club headed in the right direction. I expect them to be a tough out for most of the teams on their schedule.

SEPT. 5
NON-LEAGUE
Bonner 7, Interboro 6
  The Friars entered this non-league contest with 24 consecutive losses that had covered parts of four seasons (1, 11, 11, and last week’s opening loss to Upper Darby). In last week’s setback there were glimpses of hope, though, as Head Coach Tom Oropeza’s club had fought hard versus Upper Darby for a half before wilting after the intermission. Tonight, they turned one opportunistic offensive series and a game-long defensive surge into that elusive streak-breaking win. Trailing 6-0 in the second quarter, a Bucs return man failed to field jr. Dan Vanderslice’s punt deep in his own territory. When the dust had cleared Bonner’s sr. DB Dave Smith emerged from the pile with possession, thus, setting the Friars up nicely at the Bucs’ 10-yard line. On the next play, sr. QB/WR Brendan Gutierrez took a keeper around the right side for the score. Interestingly, Gutierrez was only behind center when starter jr. Anthony DiGalbo was temporarily sidelined with a bloody nose. Next, Vanderslice blasted the deciding PAT through the uprights despite having to do so from five yards further back after a Bonner penalty. In the second half, while the Bonner offense sputtered (Zero first downs, just three yards of offense), the defense took over. Their most defining moment came with a bend-but-don’t-break stand that spanned over the second half of the third quarter and early stages of the fourth. Interboro held the ball for sixteen plays, but ultimately fell two yards short after some timely Friar resistance. Playing prominent roles for Bonner during Interboro’s first-and-goal chances were soph. DB Anthony Jackson and Smith. Jackson was directly involved on the first three plays. First, he guided an Interboro rusher out-of-bounds on three-yard loss. Then, with a Buc’s receiver slightly open behind him, he athletically got his hand on a ball to deflect it out of the end zone. On third down, Interboro executed a nice slant pass, but Jackson brought down the receiver at the two. Opting not for a short field goal attempt (An earlier PAT attempt was kicked low and into the Bonner line), the Bucs decided to go for it. With the ball in star sr. RB/WR/KR/DB/P Shawn Krautzel’s hands Smith shot through the line to bring him down at the line of scrimmage. Still, Bonner wasn’t out of the woods yet, as their subsequent series netted just two yards and forced a punting situation. Afterwards, Interboro was again in business at the Bonner 35-yard line. However, the Friars’ defense was once again up to the task, as sr. LB James Wilent intercepted a third down pass and returned it 28 yards to the Buc’s 42-yard line. Though the offense wouldn’t capitalize, the field position had turned in Bonner’s favor. Vanderslize nicely lofted a punt that was fielded at the nine-yard line and because of quality height on the kick; jr. LB Don Beese was able to bring Krautzel down at the seven with 4:07 left. With the game clock approaching two minutes Interboro decided to go for it on fourth-and-eight from their nine-yard line. However, a pass attempt was thwarted by Jackson. At this point a few sideline onlookers and myself started to discuss that Interboro should allow Bonner to score on purpose, thinking that a touchdown and extra-point would still only make it an 8-point game, with roughly 2:15 left on the clock. At the time, the Bucs still possessed two timeouts. Anyhow, they decided not to do that and eventually even accepted a 10-yard Bonner penalty after a play in which they stopped Bonner for no gain. This allowed them to replay second down and Interboro had to use their final timeout. Why? Strange! In the end, Interboro did stop Bonner from scoring, but just 5.8 seconds remained on the clock. Oh yea, they started that drive from their 15-yard line too. A last-second, razzle-dazzle, Hail Mary try was snuffed out again by Jackson, his third such pass defend of the quarter. Defensively, the Friars were led by Smith with 9 tackles (7 solos).  Wilent added a sack worth seven yards. Sr. LB Tom Fitzgerald and jr. DE Matt English were active with six and five stops respectively. Jr. DB Sam Christie, sr. LB Larry DelViscio, Jackson, and Beese each contributed four tackles apiece. Vanderslice did a good job in the punting department with seven kicks that went for a 30.7 yard average. A few of these were good directional kicks with decent hang time away from the dangerous Krautzel. Offensively, sr. RB Tim Ferry was the most productive Friar with 51 yards on 11 carries. DiGalbo, a transfer from West Catholic, finished 4-for-9 with 42 yards. Bonner was without the services of key holdovers; sr. LB Mike McCreight (knee) and jr. RB Eric Petransky (leg). When the final horn sounded the Bonner coaching staff and players were joined by a host of students to celebrate in the win. It was obvious that all involved understood the significance of the victory. Personally, it was good to see the Friars put at end to the losing streak. Their roster doesn’t possess the biggest or fastest collection of kids, but they play hard and deserve to be rewarded. On top of that, the coaching staff is littered with good guys that bring much passion to their craft. I’m hoping they can build upon this and experience additional success down the line.

AUG. 30
NON-LEAGUE
West Catholic 34, Roman Catholic 28 (OT)
  For the eighth straight year the Burrs and Cahillites opened up against each other with a tangle at the shore. The series has been mostly competitive and there have been some good contests along the way, but today undoubtedly provided the series’ most exciting clash. Entering the game this is what we knew about the teams. Both were coming off seasons that ended with some hardware, Roman (Red) and West (Blue) won Catholic League titles. The Cahillites had some holdovers remaining, but were mostly hit hard by graduation. Meanwhile, the Burrs returned possibly the best backfield in Southeastern PA. Still, this is high school football where anything can happen. And today, it did, and then some! I’ll fast forward to the midway point of the fourth quarter. West sr. RB Rob Hollomon just raced 20 yards to the Burrs a 28-14 lead with 6:16 left.  Roman had looked spent for a while now, as West had scored the game’s last three touchdowns to turn a 14-7 third quarter deficit into a 14-point lead. But an opponent should never relax when sr. RB/DB Kasseim Everett, a recent Delaware recruit, is on the other side of the field. This kid was remarkable throughout! Then, in typical never-say-die fashion, he provided the spark his club needed by returning the ensuing kickoff 88 yards to make 28-21. We have a ballgame again! The Burrs offense was contained on their next possession to set-up a punting situation. Roman’s sr. OL/DE Tahir Basil (6’3”, 260 lbs) broke free and engulfed the punt, allowing the Cahillites to take over at the West 25-yard line. On the very next play, Everett snaked free for 24 yards to the one. Two plays later, jr. QB Kevin Regan slid in for the tying score with 2:12 left. The Burrs had one last try and went as far as Roman’s 43, but eventually stalled to send the game in overtime. West won the toss and opted to play defense first. Roman’s series went as follows: sr. FB/DT Amir Little 1-yard rush, incomplete pass in end zone (sr. TE Geoffrey Johnson appeared to be open), and 6-yard rush to the 3 by Everett. On fourth down, Roman used a full-house backfield look and tossed it left to Everett. The Burrs strung it out and Hollomon and sr. DB Haleem Hayward forced Everett out at the three. Next, the Burrs possession started ominously, with a too-many-men penalty that pushed the ball back to the 15. However, on the very first play, bruising and speedy sr. RB Raymond Maples ripped through the middle, ultimately carrying a defender or two into the end zone for the game-clinching score. Needless to say the Burrs erupted into joy, while the Cahillites left with dampened spirits. What a game! What a finish! No, the entire outing wasn’t picture perfect for either club, but for week one, on an extremely hot and humid afternoon, this baby was quite enjoyable to witness. At the beginning, the Burrs took their opening series 72 yards on just five plays for a quick 7-0 lead. Hollomon did the honors with a 25-yard spring. Prior to that, sr. QB Curtis Drake (Penn St. recruit) found sr. WR Brandon Williamson for a key 26-yard hook-up. When Roman got the ball they too marched 72 yards for a score, though, they needed two extra plays to do so. The slippery, determined, and tough Everett raced 37 yards to deadlock things. After this, the dangerous Hollomon took Roman’s kickoff and sped 89 yards down the left sideline for another score. However, the play was wiped out by an illegal block call on the opposite side of the field. West went on to hold the ball for ten plays, but the series ended when Everett intercepted a deflected ball and returned it 37 yard to midfield. In the second quarter Roman squandered a golden opportunity to grab the lead, fumbling the ball inside the five, where Maples recovered at the two-yard line. Afterwards, the Burrs couldn’t get away from the shadows of their own end zone and ended up punting. Roman took over at the West 38-yard line and on the very first play Everett raced in for a 14-7 lead. This is where the score stood entering the third quarter. The Burrs were able to hold Roman on their first possession, eventually taking over at their 23-yard line. Three plays later, Maples zoomed down the middle for a 65-yard touchdown, but this was nullified by an illegal block downfield. The play still netted 26 yards, though. Then, on play 13 of the drive, Drake wiggled in from one to tie the game. On the first play of the fourth quarter, K. Regan again had problems with a snap and the Burrs’ sr. LB Jordan Culbreath recovered at the Roman 22-yard line. On the next play, Drake took a keeper around the right end untouched for a 21-14 Burr lead. For West, the backfield of Maples (13-120), Hollomon (14-108), and Drake (14-82) all had good moments. Drake was a little off mark in the passing game, going just 4-for-11, for 42 yards and two picks. There may be some cohesiveness issues with an inexperienced wide receiving corps. I expect this to be worked out in the coming weeks. Good day in the trenches for the O-line that consisted of: jr. C/DT Jake Zuzek (6’2”, 288 lbs), Gs sr. Paul Murtagh and sr. Covisia Wilson, Ts sr. Victor McNair (6’0”, 280 lbs) and sr. Austin Peters (6’0”, 295 lbs), and soph. TE Jim Lynch (6’3”, 202 lbs). Sr. FB Juan Rozier did a good job as a lead blocker. On defense, the leading tacklers were; jr. LB Dante Dickens (nine), Maples (five), and Culbreath (five). For Roman, Everett was sensational. He ended with 206 yard rushing on 18 carries, and amassed 344 all-purpose yards in the game! Hey Ted, I think we found our, best-performance-by-a-player-in-defeat for week one. A lot of times when you watch good high school backs you’ll see that they either have great speed or run really hard and are hard to bring down. Well, Everett demonstrated both qualities in this game. I can’t even begin to tell you how many tackles he broke today. Just a determined runner! Assisting him in the trenches were: sr. C John Matthews, G’s jr. Matt Schickling and jr. Kevin Kelly, T’s Basil and sr. Bob Kalinoski, and Little at fullback and Johnson at tight end. K. Regan finished 4-for-8, for 51 yards passing. Defensively, sr. LB Marty Bernard put in a full day’s work with 10 tackles and a .5 of sack. K. Regan added 8 stops and .5 of sack. His brother, soph. RB/DB Dennis Regan, made a nice sideline interception. Basil and sr. S/LB Nick Santiago evenly split 10 tackles. I only have one complaint on the day and that is neither team supplied rosters. I’ll excuse Roman’s first-year Head Coach Joe McCourt, who was making his varsity debut today. But West head man Brian Fluck will feel the wrath of Huck if it happens again. C’mon, I only printed one up August 11th on the first day of camp. Smile!!!

AUG. 29
NON-LEAGUE
La Salle 45, Plymouth-Whitemarsh 0
  The Explorers wasted little time in setting the tone, as impressive soph. RB Jamal Abdur-Rahman returned the opening kickoff 41 yards to the 49 yard line. Five plays later and just a 1:53 into the game, sr. RB Mike Donohoe bulled in from the one to start scoreboard operator’s night. La Salle, whose 76-man roster features just 12 seniors, went on to score on their next three possessions as well, building an insurmountable 24-0 advantage midway through the second quarter. Eventually, the lead would swell to 31-0 by the intermission. Some of the players’ faces may have changed for Head Coach Drew Gordon and his staff, but the system remains the same. The Explorers rely on a rhythm offense that likes to incorporate all of the skill people. Tonight was no different, as La Salle just had its way with an undermanned Colonial squad. The game would reach mercy rule proportions on Donohoe’s (7-yards) second rush touchdown of the game with 7:59 left in the third. In the first half alone, the Explorers ran 32 plays (16 of each) for a lofty 284 yards. At quarterback, La Salle no longer has the services of John Harrison or his 5,810 career yards, which is good for second place on the city’s all-time list. The top spot belongs to Drew’s son, and another La Salle all-timer, Brett, a current assistant on the staff. However, no need to fret Explorer fans, as we welcome you jr. Drew Loughery. This kid already is pretty good and in time could be special. At 6’1”, 195 lbs he’s a bigger version of Harrison. He’ll also add a good amount of athleticism to the position. Tonight, he exhibited some of the pinpoint passing capabilities that typically make the La Salle offense go. In the first half, he went 10-for-16, for 166 yards (Finished 11-for-18, 183 yards) and two scores. His first scoring pass was an easy-as-pie 45-yard strike down the sideline to jr. WR/LB Sam Feleccia (6’3”, 210 lbs). Last season, Feleccia began the season as the Explorer top tailback. As I suspected he would outgrow the position some, and is now on the outside. Considerable success is expected! Loughery’s second scoring tally went to Abdur-Rahman for nine yards. With little space to be had after the catch, Abdur-Rahman displayed some shiftiness to dodge his way into the end zone. Prior to this, Abdur-Rahman scored on 11-yard run that made the score 17-0. The last Explorer touchdown went to jr. RB George Giovinazzo on 5-yard rumble. Jr. K Mike Bennett nailed a 37-yard field goal and seven PATs. I liked this kid last year and he’ll more than likely be a top five performer at this position in the area. Oh yea, he’s now wearing #1, which is much more appropriate than the #91 he sported last year. Smile! Interestingly, the Explorers rushed for one more yard (184), than they passed for (183). Much balance in the 367 total yards they accumulated. Donohoe was the primary horse on the ground, going for 106 yards on 16 lugs. He’s recognized as one of the area’s better punters too, but had no such opportunity to hone this skill in a traditional sense tonight. However, with his team faced with a 3rd-and-29, he did uncork a quick-kick that netted 45 yards and was settled on the inch-line by an alert jr. WR Connor Hoffman. Meanwhile, Abdur-Rahman showed versatility with 116 all-purpose yards on just eight touches. The sure-handed Hoffman made three catches for 47 yards, including a 37-yarder that led to a score. Providing space on the O-line were: sr. C Sean Abbott, G’s jr. Steve Szostak and jr. Matt DiGiacomo (6’0”, 270 lbs), T’s sr. Bob Seiss and jr. Dylan Gavin, and jr. TE Steve Jones (6’4” , 210 lbs). Defensively, sr. LB Joe Radaszewski (6 tackles) recovered a pair of fumbles, while sr. DB Kevin Farrington (6 tackles) and jr. DB Vinny Migliarese made picks. Jr. DE Steve Sinnot notched a sack worth eleven yards. Seiss made two TFL’s. The defense yielded just 116 yards on 42 P-W plays. This La Salle team could have interesting possibilities. No, P-W didn’t provide the stiffest of challenges, but the Explorers took care of business fast and decisively. And for a team that hopes to be good, this is what you would like to see against an inferior opponent. As the year travels on I’m confident that the offense will be able to do good things. The question will be, does LaSalle have enough physicality on both sides of the line of scrimmage to fend off stronger opponents? Upcoming games against Malvern and West Catholic should provide some answers. In closing, I also covered this game last season, and on the opening kickoff jr. DB/WR Shane Brady suffered a very serious leg injury. Well, I’m happy to report that Shane has made it all the way back and is again playing football. In fact, he started at defensive back and was involved in two tackles. It’s great to see you playing again, Shane!!!

AUG. 29
NON-LEAGUE
McDevitt 35, Lower Moreland 0
  This was leg one of my opening day triple-header. Yea, I know, three games, can you tell I’ve been longing for the season to begin? Hey, it’s one my last days of summer vacation, so I might as well do something I enjoy, right?  Anyhow, the 10 o’clock in the morning start time allowed me to be one of a select few to be witnessing the first action of the 2008 gridiron season. Nice! Fearless website leader Ted Silary was down at the new South Philly Super Site complex taking in Bok-Southern, which also started at 10. It was rather business like for the Lancers, as they handled the Lions with relative ease. They wasted little time in doing so too, scoring on their first two drives of the game. The drives covered 65 and 70 yards. On the eighth play of the opening series, sr. QB Luke Sawick rolled to his left and patiently hit jr. do-everything WR/SB/DB/P Drew Seigfried streaking across the middle. He capped the play with a dive to paydirt that ultimately covered 38 yards. Earlier, the series was kept alive when sr. WR Rodney Ellis made a nice 15-yard catch off a deflected ball to convert a third down. McDevitt’s second touchdown came on a two-yard plunge by soph. RB Matt Conroy. This score was set-up by a 22-yard reception by jr. FB Matt McGrory and a 27-yard burst by Conroy just prior to the scoring run. Eventually, the Lancers would put the game away for good with their third visit to the end zone. It was a back-breaker and came with just 1:32 left on the first half clock. Again, it was the shifty Conroy supplying the honors. This time he scooted 25 yards. He seemed to be stopped almost immediately, but somehow wiggled free into open space. Prior to the score Seigfried made first down snags of 14 and 12 yards. He also made a solid block on the scoring run. I really like this kid, but a little more on that later. While the Lancers offense was taking care of business, the defense was doing their part as well. McDevitt held the Bears' wishbone attack to a dismal -16 yards on 16 first half plays. Trust me, this was not offense played at its finest! The Oklahoma Sooners of the '80s they were not. I often wonder why some coaches put kids in systems that they obviously have no chance of being successful with. Oh well, that’s a story for another day. In the second half the Lancers would tack on two more scores and with 6:11 remaining we had our first running clock of the season. The fourth touchdown came in the form of a 33-yard pass from Sawick to sr. WR/DB Steve Harris. As Sawick was flushed from the pocket you could here Harris downfield yelling, “Luke, Luke….” Well, sure enough he found him for an easy score. The final score came courtesy of a Sawick 1-yard sneak. Not a bad day at the office for the McDevitt office as they churned out 410 total yards. Sawick finished a solid 8-for-17, for 150 yards. Conroy turned 23 totes into 154 yards. Not bad for the youngster, who got the start for sr. RB Justin Schley, who was sidelined with a lacerated kidney. Ouch!!! He’ll be out of action for three-to-four weeks. Seigfried is undoubtedly McDevitt’s most complete player. This kid has Jack-of-all-trades ability, and possesses a tremendous amount of savvy. All he did was turn his three carries into 88 yards and make 4 catches for another 75 yards. Two of his five solo tackles went for losses. Also, he showed good hands and confidence in fielding punts. Three times he made fair catches in traffic. More times than not kids at the high school level allow the ball to bounce on punts. And because of this they often lose more real estate in the process. It’s refreshing to see a player competently handle this facet of the game. It’s was an early season game, but not too early to give the boys in the trenches some love for a job well done. The Lancers line consisted of: sr. C John McCormick, G’s sr. Todd Mienke and jr. Chris Manero, rotating T’s sr. Tyler Butler (6’2”, 275 lbs), jr. Sean Maguire (6’3”, 250 lbs), and soph. Kevin Polansky. Defensively, the Lancers yielded a sparse 63 total yards in the contest. The Lions were led to just six first downs. Two came on penalties in the first half and the other four came on one second half drive. McDevitt saved the shutout with a nice stand after the Lions had a first-and-goal from the eight-yard line. Jr. DE Wallace Weaver made seven solo tackles, registered a sack, and recovered a fumble. Jr. DT Tim Montgomery and McCormick added sacks. Sr. LB Ed McGowan chipped with eight stops, while soph. DE Ray Haines added five. Jr. K Kevin "The Boot . . . Nah, Make It Das Boot" Gallagher belted five successful PATs. He also gets mentioned because he said hello to me on the sidelines. Smile! McDevitt came out and took care of business. It was an encouraging performance for Head Coach Pat Manzi’s club. However, Lower Moreland was small and had little-to-no team speed, so we’ll probably get a better indication of how good McDevitt is in the weeks to come.

AUG. 29
NON-LEAGUE
West Philly 26, School of the Future 14
  If you read my first report, then you’ll remember seeing that I was going to catch a triple-header on this first Friday. Well, it didn’t exactly turn out that way. This game was originally scheduled for 10 o’clock too. Then earlier in the week it got switched to 3 o’clock. However, when I showed up there was nothing to be found, except for a couple of West Philly coaches. They asked me where I was from and I told them. They said the game got changed back to 10 o’clock a couple of days ago. I immediately called the BOSS – Mr. Ted Silary!!! He was not happy! I have to ask, but why can’t the greatest high school sports writer of all time not be notified? Why can’t the greatest HS website get a heads up? Oh well, what can you do? The ride wasn’t all that far for me, so I wasn’t that disappointed. Also, West Philly plays at 48th and Spruce, just a stone’s throw from West Catholic. I remembered that the West freshman team was opening their season against Roman Catholic, so I decided to take that in instead. No stats, though! However, I did get treated to a decent game for that level, as the Burrs prevailed 14-6 in a hard-hitting affair. The third leg of coverage was up the Blue Route to catch La Salle at Plymouth-Whitemarsh. The Explorers romped, 45-0. I’ll have a report on this too, but it won’t come until later this weekend. I’m a little pooped and I have an early wake-up call to make the trip to Wildwood for the varsity version of West and Roman. Explorer faithful, your patience is appreciated . . .