Memorable Moments, FB 2005

Memorable Moments, FB '05

    As we await the start of the 2005 season, we'd like to hear about your memorable
moments. Whether you're a player, coach, fan or parent, or were formerly one of
those, we'd like to receive your stories about Memorable Moments you've witnessed,
or were part of, and publish them here. They need not be current. They need not even
concern high school football.
   Send your submissions to silaryt@phillynews.com.
   Please don't write in all capital letters. You may remain anonymous.
   Thank you very much.

Contributions . . .

In 1982, Edison ended a 27-game scoreless streak (believed to a national record) by
not only scoring, but BEATING University City, 20-18. The first TD came when Nick
Stinson, with his coaches yelling at him to leave it alone, picked up a rolling ball
after a punt and zoomed 59 yards down the left sideline. QB Harry Jefferson scored
the other two TDs for Edison. Our photographer left the game early, so I received
permission from Edison coach Roger Jann to drive Stinson and Jefferson back to
our office downtown for a celebration picture. Nick and Harry stood in our parking
lot, holding aloft the game ball, and that picture wound up on the back page of the
next day's Daily News. By the way, Edison had surrendered 689 consecutive points
before Stinson's TD. Amazing, huh?
-- Ted
(Just figured I'd get things going with my own memorable moment -- smile).

******

Ted
   I not sure of the year or the team. but I know that it was either against
Washington or Frankford. It was a Quarterfinal game in which Bok was down by
three TDs with about Five Minutes left in the game. They scored two TDs with
about one minute left on the clock. While going for the conversion coach Tommy DeFelice screamed
at assistant Fran Lerro to get the Kickoff team ready for the onsides kick. Franny
screamed back " We don't have one". Tommy hollered back "Well teach it to them".
Franny got the Kickoff team together gave a brief explanation and sent them out on
to the field. I don't know who the Kicker was but the ball went 10 yards and went
straight up into the air right into the hands of one of Bok's players. It was one
of the funniest dialogues I ever heard on a Football field. I'm not sure if they scored
and sent the game in Overtime but I do know they did not win the game. Just another
classic example of unique situations in the Pub.
-- Frog Carfagno
   (Ted's note: Thanks, Frog . . . I'm pretty sure this story comes from this 1991 game,
though Tom was an assistant at that time to Charlie Guida and Fran worked under
both of them . . .
Quarterfinals
Frankford 33, Bok 32
   Damien Adams rushed 23 times for 166 yards and a TD and scored again on a pass from Jerry Pollock. For Bok, Gregory Jones ran for two scores and recovered a fumble. After John Coppola's 67-yard pass to Michael Russell brought Bok within 33-32, Derek Stevenson recovered an onsides kick. But on fourth-and-16, a hook-and-lateral play from Coppola to Eddie Carter to Russell netted just nine yards.

******

   Two years ago when I was the Freshman Head Coach at North Catholic, we
where playing a game "vs" Wood and we found ourselves down 28-14 with
just under 5 min. remaining in the game. At that point Wood was getting
ready to kickoff after what appeared to be the final nail in our coffin.
At that point Daryl Robinson said to me "Coach, I'll run this one back".
Sure enough he took the kickoff 84 yds. Now down 6pts we tried an onside
kick, Wood recovered. We stuffed them 3 straight plays. When we got the
ball back we got a 15 yd equipment penalty. On 2nd and 25 Daryl Robinson
once again kept us alive by gaining 32 yds on a sweep. The next play we
scored on a 27 yd blast, we converted the 2pt conversion (had to go for
two due to rain) and won the game 30-28. The reason the game still
sticks with me is at that point Wood hadn't lost a freshman game in a
couple of years.
   Having to wear flip flops for the second half of the Neumann/West game
last year is a close second. (smile)
Bill Sytsma
Offensive Line Coach, Neumann-Goretti
   (Ted's note: Great one, Bill. Here's why Bill wore flip-flops last year . . .
   When a cleat belonging to jr. lineman Paul Bryson broke, the call went
out on the sideline for size 11s. Assistant Bill Sytsma offered his 11 1/2s
and wore flip-flops for the rest of the game. He said with a smile, "If my
feet get stepped on, Bryson's getting popped." (Nobody stepped on his feet.)

******

My dad (a Washington grad), uncle (a Ryan grad) and I
(8th grader at the time) went to the 1991 Thanksgiving
Day football game, just hoping to see a close game.
Washington, after all, had never won in the series and
the Ryan defense was giving up on average 5 to 6
points a game. With the halftime score 21-0, my uncle
went home confident of yet another Ryan victory. My
dad and I stuck it out, and saw the lead cut to 21-7,
then 21-15. A punt return for a TD and ensuing extra
point gave the Eagles a 22-21 lead, which proved to be
short-lived as Ryan regained the lead on a field goal.
The following kickoff return went for a TD and
provided what turned out to be the final score, 28-24
Washington. My uncle refused to believe us when we
told him who won -- he had to see the score in print
before it really sunk in!
Bill
   (Ted's note: I covered this game. If I remember correctly,
Ryan began substituting even before halftime and that move
backfired badly. I'll post some more details . . .
   Here we go . . .
   Washington was limited to no first downs and 11 yards
total offense in the first half . . . It won with three touchdowns
in 5 minutes, 54 seconds and four in 12:04 . . . Jamar Griffin
returned kicks for TDs of 82 (punt) and 94 yards (kickoff)! . . .
Ryan had allowed just 29 points in its previous nine games.

******

Ted,
I generally don't submit stories like this, but this play was a classic
that is still talked about 25 years later. (I hope it's not too wordy,
but I was on a roll)
Here goes:
Thanksgiving Day, 1980 – Temple Stadium
   I was a junior and the starting center for Northeast Catholic as we
attempted to win a 3rd game in a row against Frankford on Thanksgiving.
In 1978, North beat Frankford at the Vet for our 50th anniversary game.
In 1980, North held on to a 7-0 lead as Frankford scored very late in
the game, but missed the extra point for a 7-6 final. In 1980, we were
coming off a 4-4 season against the strong Northern Division (btw, 4-4
didn’t get you a playoff spot back then) and had high expectations, even
though Frankford was coming into the game undefeated.
   The play I remember most was a third and long deep in our own end of the
field. The lengendary Jeb Lynch decided it was time to try our secret
weapon, the quick kick. Normally, I wasn’t on the field for punts, as
the long snapping was left to Jimmy Gunn, but because we were running
the quick kick, I was on the field. Mark Transue lined up as the
tailback in an I-formation, but he cheated back a few steps. I snapped
the ball to Dom Damico, who turned and flipped it to Transue, who
punted the ball down the field, much to the surprise of most of the
people in Temple stadium that morning. With no returners on the field,
the ball bounced around and went into the slow roll, with many of us
North guys standing around waiting for someone to down the ball.
Suddenly, and seemingly out of nowhere, Frankford’s Brian Ramsey (DL)
came running through the crowd of North players, scooped up the ball and
headed for the nearest endzone. Unfortunately, that nearest endzone was
the North Catholic endzone. The initial instinct was to chase him,
which a couple of our guys did. I also took a couple of steps in that
direction, then stopped and thought to myself, “Is he going the wrong
way?” One of our receivers (I believe it was Rob Gerold) followed
Ramsey down the field, yelling at the other North players to leave him
alone. When he got to the end zone, he dropped the ball, which was then
covered by Gerold (I think). People on both sides of the field were
cheering, the Frankford people because they thought it was a touchdown
and the North people, who realized the ball was in our endzone, and
figured it was either 2 or 6 points. As it turns out, I think the refs
ruled that they blew the play dead and Frankford retained possession at
the spot where Ramsey picked up the ball.
   Despite that blunder, that Frankford team went on to win by 20-0 (they
scored two defensive touchdowns in the game) and won the Public League
Championship with an undefeated record.
   To add insult to injury, the next day, my picture was in the Inky with
Eric Leaks’ (Frankford - Delaware) jersey wrapped around my hand while I
was trying to block him. Although I wasn’t called for holding, it
wouldn’t have mattered in that game, as Frankford’s defense pretty
handled us all game. I believe they had like 7 or 8 shutouts that year.
Mike Ferris Sr.
Northeast Catholic, 1982 #51

   (Ted's note: This was definitely an all-timer, Mike. So much so that I
did a separate little story just about the play in the next day's paper. As
you'll notice, a couple of the names are different. Hopefully, one of us
was right -- smile. Anyway, here goes . . .
   TD THAT WASN'T
   Nov 28, 1980
   "The play" began harmlessly enough midway through the first quarter as John
Weick ---- (NOT John Weick; Mike wrote me back to say he'd run into Mark
Transue at a North function and Mark was indeed the punter in this situation) ----
punted to Frankford from the North Catholic 11. Thereafter, " the play" featured
nothing but sheer insanity.
   Step by step, here's what happened:
   Thirty yards upfield, the ball was touched by a North Catholic player.
A little more upfield, Frankford's Brian Ramsey picked up the ball, raced to
the wrong end zone as a mixed-up official signaled touchdown, then dropped
the ball.
   North Catholic's Tony Szymendera fell on the ball in the end zone and
another official signaled a TD for the Falcons.
   The officials conferred and ruled that North was guilty of an "illegal touch."
   Thus, everything after the touch was meaningless and Frankford got
possession on the North 41.
   "I always preach to our kids, 'When someone (from the punting team) touches
the ball, nothing bad can happen,'" said Frankford Coach Al Angelo. "So, they
touch the ball and Brian's probably thinking, 'Nothing bad can happen,' and
there he goes . . .
   "I even lost my bearings myself. When he was near the 15- yard line, I
realized what was happening. Geez, I was afraid to go near Brian. He
was in tears.
   "In all my time in football, I've never seen anything like it."

******

A game I'd like to remember was the NE vs Frankford night game back in
2002 was a pretty darn good game as on paper it looked as though
Frankford would steam through as they had a strong returning cast and NE
was in a rebuilding year. The game went into OT with Frankford winning
12-6 on a TD pass on 3rd & goal. NE actually could've pulled out an
upset in regulation if not for a botched PAT and a blocked field goal as
well as a dropped 35 yard reception in the last 2 minutes deep in
Frankford territory which would've set up the kicker for a 30 yard field
goal attempt, well within his range. Just a year prior, kicker Steven
Sandberg had kicked the game winning 31 yard field goal against
Frankford with less than 1 minute remaining left in regulation to give
NE a 3-0 win at Frankford. Frankford would go on to win the Pub title
but if they had have lost that would've created a 3 way-tie for first
place as NE lost to GW 2 weeks later.
-- Anthony Franklin
(Ted's note: Thanks for this, Ant.)

******

On a Sunday afternoon in early October 1990, we experienced a Puck Magic
Moment ( The Puck is a Philadelphia High School Legend beloved by
everyone; the only person in my mind who comes close was Yo Yo to the Big
5.) The game was between Cardinal Dougherty and Bishop Mc Devitt at
Cheltenham High School. Several schools had groups of coaches scouting;
it was in the pre-video scouting period, which meant a stack of play
sheets and writing quickly after each play. Nothing that happened in the
game mattered. It was at halftime that the Puck made his mark. He has a
habit of visiting coaching staffs and it usually results in him being
sent from one staff to the next. At halftime coaches either discuss the
half or get refreshments from the stand. The Puck comes up and in a few
short seconds knocks sodas to the ground and sits on soft pretzels -- OF
COURSE he took grief. 2 weeks later , the staff is getting ready to
prepare to play Dougherty and they get the McDevitt game in the tape
exchange with CD. After watching the 1st half they took a break and had
some pizza while eating they brought up the Puck--The 2nd half starts
and after about 5 plays the meeting is unable to continue because on the
sidelines is the Puck with bright yellow mustard stains on his shorts
the coaches are laughing themselves to tears-- ANOTHER notch in the
mystique which is the PUCK!!!!
-- Mike Tos
(Ted's note: Ha ha ha ha. The Puckster at his best! . . . Mike is the long-time
statman at Egan/Conwell-Egan and he, too, is beloved.)

******

Hi Ted:
   Wanted to share one memorable moment. However, having gone to Frankford
High in the 70's and being lucky enough to be associated with this
tradition-steeped football program and great Coach Al Angelo, you can
imagine there were many special moments. However, I did find one that
stands out and hope you don't mind the long-winded version below.
   At Frankford, we were in the running for the Public League Championship
every year. During my time there, we were fortunate to win it in 1975
against a very good Mastbaum team. The victory sent us to the Vet
complete with all of the trimmings (banquet a few nights before; a meet
and greet with some of the Eagles as well as the local media) before the
City Championship game against Father Judge. I remember during the week,
a television reporter by the name of Glenn Brenner at Ch. 3 stopped by
to observe one of our practices. After the camera was turned off he told
me that we were going to get "killed." I laughed it off and said, you
don't know anything about Frankford football, do you? He just walked
away, laughing. What Brenner forgot was that many of the players on both
teams knew each other from the neighborhoods surrounding both schools
and actually played club ball with or against each other. We knew going
in we had a chance to win this game!!! Plus we had an all-everything
running back in 6'2", 210 lb. George Benson, who carried us against
Lincoln in the Division Title game just a few weeks before.
   The game could have gone either way. We got down early on a disputed
touchdown pass in the far end zone (still not sure Pete Shelinsky was
inbounds) but came back with a touchdown of our own to pull within 7-6.
Then, our backup QB Jeff Clark got caught in the end zone for a safety,
making it 9-6. Late in the game, Mike DiSipio (Defensive MVP in the
game) put us in position to win by intercepting a pass. It seemed as
though fate would step in and guide us to victory, when George Benson
broke through the line with what seemed like a sure TD. However, I think
it was Judge's Matt Kaupp who, while lying flat on his back, got enough
of Benson's leg to trip him up. Next play we were intercepted and that
ended our title dreams.
   Today, I run into more Judge grads in my neighborhood (Holland) then I
do my old Frankford teammates and to a man they say what a great game it
was and how it could have gone either way. To have been a part of this
game was one of the greatest thrills of my young life. Even though we
didn't win, I am thankful to have been a student at such a wonderful
school and team that had so much spirit. I speak to Coach Al Angelo on
occasion and I always remember to tell him how grateful I am to him for
allowing me to be the team manager and statistician. When I glance at my
championship jacket that still hangs in my closet (I wish it still fit),
I know that I was part of something special. I also use my experiences
at Frankford to remind my son (who plays varsity football at Penn
Charter) that championships are never guaranteed. However, through hard
work and determination good things usually happen in sports and more
importantly, in life.
Sincerely,
Mike Weick
FHS '77
   (Ted's note: Thanks so much, Mike. All kinds of legendary people
mentioned in this one -- smile. Glenn Brenner was a starter for Lincoln's
'65 PL hoops champs and later became a national sportscaster. He
probably said Fkd would lose because the Lincoln in him wouldn't
let him even think about a Pioneer win -- ha ha. George Benson's son,
Jeremy, was a star back on recent Fkd teams. Jeffery Clark was a
basketball star primarily -- he didn't play FB his senior year, if I
remember -- and the Big 5 Player of the Year for St. Joe's. He's now
a prominent college ref. Also, after that safety, he uncorked a free-kick
punt that went 80 yards to the opposite zone! Legendary! Matt Kaupp's
brother, Bob, was later the head coach at North Catholic. And, as you
well know, Al Angelo was the best coach/molder of men anyone could
hope to have. Have fun watching your son's final season at PC, Mike.
It'll go quickly.)

Last year I had a special moment at a 60-8 football game. Overbrook beat
Imhotep and finally after 77 years made the playoffs. But I was on the
phone most of the game while I was getting information on the
Bartram-Franklin game and when it became clear that Overbrook would be
in the playoffs I told the coaches and the way they reacted and how
truly happy the kids and coaches were made it special. Remember at
Overbrook earlier that year there were no assistant coaches for football.
I know that most people who follow high school sports are into it for
the superstars who might become professional down the line or some
people are into it only for their school. But when you can see people
that happy over making school history it gives you a deeper perspective
on high school athletics.
-- Duck
(Ted's note: Thanks a bunch, Duck. That was indeed a special moment
and no doubt important for 'Brook folks everywhere. Along with folks who
had merely sympathized with the Panthers' long-time plight.)