Huck's Corner Football 2013 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. Twitter . . . @HuckPalmer.

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DEC. 10
EDBIT
  With Greg White's 1,338 rushing yards this past season, West Catholic has now had a 1,000-yard rusher in 14 straight seasons. This just happens to be the length of the TedSilary,com website. West did not have a rusher reach 1,000 yards in 1999. This is by far the longest current streak amongst all of the city teams. In fact, the next two closest are Wood and Imhotep, who currently possess four consecutive seasons of a 1,000-yard rusher. The next longest streak over these past 14 seasons was posted SJ Prep with 10 (2000-2009). Following the Hawks is CHA/SCH Academy with a streak of six (2006-2011). In 2007 our city league teams produced 22 1,000-yard rushers, which is the high water mark since 2000. In 2001, city teams only produced six 1,000-yard rushers. All of the programs that have been around for the last 14 years have at least one 1,000-yard rusher to their credit. But five of them only have one: Bonner-Prendie (2009), Episcopal (2004), Northeast (2005), Edison (2007), and Central (2013) was added this season with Walter Pegues' (1,187 yards) campaign. Fels (2006), Prep Charter (2007), Lansdale Cath (2008), and Mastery North (2012) joined their leagues after the 2000 season and have not yet notched a 1,000-yard rusher. West Catholic has had a total of 17 1,000-yard+ seasons in the last 14 years. Ten different players have contributed to the success. The average 1,000-yard rushing season for the Burrs has looked like this: 13 games, 206 carries, 1,622 yards, & 20 TDs. Curtis Brinkley (2001-02-03) had three seasons of 1,000+ yards and holds city career marks for most rushing yards in a season (2,813) and career (7,413). In 2007, Rob Hollomon and Raymond Maples each rushed for 1,000 yards. One year later QB Curtis Drake joined them in what is believed to be the only time three teammates eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark. The trio of Drake-R. Hollomon-Maples carried the ball 406 times in 2008 for 4,871 yards. That was good for 12.0 yards per carry between them. Also, 76 of those carries (18.7%) produced a touchdown.  Five other times since 2000 have a pair of teammates surpassed 1,000-yards rushing in the same season; Carroll (2002), SJ Prep (2003), Wood (2010 & 2011), and Imhotep (2012).

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DEC. 3

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NOV. 28
THANKSGIVING RIVALRY
PUBLIC-PUBLIC
West Philly 14, Overbrook 8 (2 OT)
   On the last five Thanksgivings yours truly has had the pleasure of covering the SJ Prep-Malvern clash. At least a couple of those games were played at Villanova, with the others in the cozy confines of Plymouth-Whitemarsh. This year’s SJP-MP game was moved up and played last Friday, so today I had a new assignment with twelve games on the docket. Yep, it was down to good ‘ol 58th & Elmwood and Bartram Field. Thanks to heavy rains yesterday field conditions weren’t exactly optimal for good offensive football. Serious mud existed from 40-to-40, and even beyond those points was dicey until you got towards the 15-yard lines and in. Oh well, it was still a game to see and it had its moments like all do. Early on, West sr. RB Eric Davis appeared to be wearing special cleats. In the first half he had runs of 10 yards or more five times. Early in the second quarter he started right, then somehow cut back through Mudville for an impressive 73-yard touchdown. Jr. OL/DL Teair Tart-Spencer (6’5”, 290-lbs) powered in for the conversion and a 8-0 Speedboy lead. Later in the quarter, Davis ripped-off a 24-yard run and then followed that with a 45-yard sprint. Credit jr. DL Shafiq Taylor with super hustle to bring Davis down at the 9-yard line. Thus, saving what looked like another long Davis score. Two plays later, Davis gained two yard to the seven, but would ding an ankle/knee and hobble off. WP had no timeouts at this points, so the ‘Brook bench was thinking that the Speedboys were trying to pull a fast one. With their best player so far? I didn’t feel it. Davis limped off and never did return. He finished with 170 yards on 11 carries. West Philly’s threat ended one play later when QB Lavelle Harper slipped and fumbled. Sr. QB/DB Takieyn Harris made the recovery for the Panthers to end the half. To start the second half the Speedboys had major complications while in punt formation. Eventually, Panthers sr. LB Daniel Stephenson scooped-up the slippery pigskin and scored from twenty-one yards out. Sr. RB Maurice Jarmon added the conversion run to deadlock things. From here? How about a whole lot of nothing? Nine combined possessions produced a total of negative-12 yards, two first downs (One thanks to a penalty), and eight punts. The other possession ended after two plays and with time expiring. When the game moved to OT the thought was that some positive movement could be had. Heading towards the far end zone, the field was more than manageable. Alas, the execution was not. At least not initially. WP started first and had runs of zero, minus-5, minus-10 (Sack by Harris), and an incomplete pass on fourth down. For, ‘Brook they had runs of minus-3, minus-2, and incomplete pass, and an interception (Soph. DB Mitchell Hudgins). Moving to overtime #2 the Panthers began things. The series went as follows; two-yard run, minus-2 on a run, and consecutive misfires by sr. QB Michael Williams. Then, it happened! On the game’s 80th offensive play we had our first completed pass, as Harper hit sr. WR/DB Stephen Pressley for nine yards to the one. On second down, Harper  was stopped for no gain, but after a timeout he once again tried a sneak and was successful for the win. Mom, put on the biscuits, I’m coming home. Smile! Earlier in the year these teams met with Overbrook winning, 2-0. They held the Speedboys to just six yards of offense. Today, WP returned the favor; holding the Panthers to three yards on 38 offensive snaps. However, take away Davis’ first half exploits for WP and they were held to negative-35 yards on 33 other plays. Phew! Defensively, I was impressed with Tart-Spencer who had ten tackles, including 6 for losses. He also stripped and recovered a fumble. Soph. two-way lineman Kwadere Fleming (6’3”, 265-lbs) also had a few impressive moments on both sides of the ball. He ended with 6 stops; with four going for losses. Pressley added a pick. SR. LB Ericson Tarlue hustled for 7 tackles (5 solos). For Overbrook, Taylor (5 stops) also notched a fumble recovery. Sr. DL Justin Brown had some good moments with 8 stops (6 solos; sack; 3 other TFLs). Sr. LB Erron Peterson and sr. DL Jordan Brown (3 TFLs) evenly split ten tackles. Sr. DB Ronald Riddick notched a sack. All total, twenty-nine plays went for negative yardage; 137 negative yards to be exact. West Philly has now won three straight Turkey Day games and hold a 15-11 series lead since ’89.

NOV. 25

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NOV. 22

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NOV. 15

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NOV. 11
EDBITS
  West Catholic's Burrs plays their home games at Widener University, but they do not mind at ALL when the schedule calls for them to travel to South Philly. See why below.

NOV. 9
D-12/1 2A SUBREGIONAL SEMIFINAL
West Catholic 26, New Hope Solebury 7
  Not much was known about the Burrs’ opponent entering this game, so it was hard to get a read on how competitive this one would be. The Lions, who play in the Bicentennial League, were game throughout, though. They battled and frustrated the speedier Burrs for pretty much the duration. And in the end, I doubt West Head Coach Brian Fluck was overly beaming with his team’s performance. Still, a win was garnered and that is never too much of a bad thing. Now, West will play powerful Imhotep Charter, who thumped Springfield-Montco (53-7), in the other semifinal. Ok, so how did this one unfold? After a forcing a three-and-out on the Lions’ first possession, the Burrs needed 9 plays to march 63 yards for the game’s first score. Soph. FB Andre Mintze did the honors on a 5-yard burst. On the drive, jr. QB Antwain McCollum connected with sr. WR/DB Patrick Amara (21 yards) and jr. WR/DB Ahkil Crumpton (18 yards). Star sr. RB Greg White added a 19-yard burst to also aid the drive.  Later in the opening quarter West would begin a drive at NHS’s 30-yard line after a 15-yard punt return by Crumpton. Runs of 11 & 17 yards by White moved the ball to the 2-yard line as the quarter ended. Then, White scored on the opening play of the second quarter from here. NHS would chop into the lead midway thru the 2nd quarter after sr. LB Kevin Jarrett recovered a fumble at the West 41-yard line. With the help of a 15-yard personal foul penalty on West, the Lions used 7 plays to march into the end zone, as sr. QB Connor Hayden burrowed in from the one on a sneak to make the score, 12-7.  After the intermission, the Burrs got a big play from Crumpton (3-85) who made a leaping catch over two NHS defenders. The play covered 50 yards and put the ball at the NHS 29-yard line. Next, McCollum converted a 4th-and-8 chance with a 12-yard scramble to the 5-yard line. Two plays later, freshman RB Calil Wortham scooted in from the six to make it, 18-7. West would ice the game the next time they had the ball when White zoomed 70 yards untouched around the right edge. A trio of West wideouts provided guidance to paydirt. Wortham added the conversion catch from McCollum to close out the scoring. In the waning seconds, NHS had a chance on a fourth-and-one from the the one-yard line, but jr. LB Neil Satterwhite and Mintze stopped Hayden for a one-yard loss. For West, White finished with 159 yards on 19 carries. This output was good enough to put him over 3,000 yards for his career (3,020). Interestingly, White accomplished this feat in only 19 starts as a varsity player. He did carry the ball 31 times for 244 yards in 8 games as a back-up as a sophomore. White is now the 5th recent Burr rusher to eclipse the 3,000-yard milestone; Curtis Brinkley ’02, Dennis Shaw ’06, Rob Hollomon ’08, and Brandon Hollomon ’10. Also, Dave Williams ’12 (2,862 yards as a Burr in 2 seasons) is in the 3,000-yard club, but he ended his career last year at Imhotep Charter. McCollum ended the game 5-for-9, for 106 yards. Defensively, the Burrs got a strong performance from a number of guys. Jr. DB Dave Swen led with ten tackles (8 solos). Jr. OLB/DE Romeo Gunt (9 total stops) and Satterwhite (8 stops) each registered a pair of sacks. Sr. DE Jalil Branch (5 tackles) also added a sack. Soph. LB Amir Postley hustled for 8 tackles, while sr. DL Anthony Ukaha (2 TFLs) had a strong game on the line. The South Philly Super Site has become a home away from home for the Burrs. Since the 2008 season the Burrs are now (16-0) at this site. Going back even further to before its conversion as a super site, the Burrs have won 19 straight here. Their last loss at 10th & Bigler came in the 2000 season (27-0) to Neumann.

NOV. 6

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