NOV. 24
THANKSGIVING RIVALRY
Comm Tech 36, Olney 0
  Though Thanksgiving was the highlight of every family’s day, Thursday morning, Comm Tech’s sr James Brunson was the highlight of this exhibition between Olney High School and Communication Tech. As I arrived at Gratz' field, James was preparing his team with some enthusiasm that made me feel as if I could go out on the field and make a few tackles. As he yelled and pumped his teammates up, I knew that he was going to be an impact player in this game; he didn’t let me down. James finished the game with 3 catches for 84 yards, two touchdowns and, oh, wait, an interception also. Comm Tech dominated in all aspects of this game, starting with sr RB Rolando Ransom. Ransom rushed for 17 carries 64 yards and punched in three touchdowns along with a two-point conversion rush that made him responsible for 20 of Comm Tech’s 36 points. For Olney, the problem wasn’t too much their offensive abilities, but that fact that Comm Tech’s defense line put pressure on anyone who had the ball in their hands. Their defense struggled and couldn’t contain both Brunson and jr WR Tylik Guilford (4 rec 115 yards) which made it easier for Comm Tech’s run game throughout all four quarters. As Olney continued to struggle, I have to admit they outnumbered Comm Tech in the fan base they had supporting them though being down by 36 (Olney is close to Gratz. CT is in deep Southwest Philly). Though Comm Tech didn’t kick any field goals or PATs, the newly installed placekicker, soph T Tiler Wright, (yes! He is a Tackle!), made some astonishing kickoffs that led to terrible field position for Olney, which couldn’t get anything started all game. Comm Tech’s sr QB Zaki Jamison, (6-14 2 TD’s 186 yards), led his team downfield with deep throws to both Brunson and Guilford, and one to Brunson went for 59 yards down field to put this game out of reach. All in all, this Thanksgiving game (better known as the “Turkey Bowl”) was dominated by a stellar Offense and Defense of the Comm Tech Phoenix.
Players of the Game
Comm Tech sr WR/S James Brunson (3 rec 84 yards 2 TD’s + INT)
Comm Tech sr RB Rolando Ransom (17carries 64 yards 3 TD’s)
Player to Look Out For
Comm Tech fr DB Donte Traynham (INT)

NOV. 12
PUBLIC AAAA FINAL
Washington 20 Frankford 13
   At Northeast High School, the George Washington Eagles took on the favored Frankford Pioneers for the Public League Championship. A touchdown by Phenom George Washington sr RB Hakeem Sillman gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead with 6:45 seconds left in the first quarter. Shortly after, Pioneers sr RB Kelly Johnson answered back with a touchdown of his own at the 3:53 second mark on a rush of 7 yards to tie the game. With jr QB Alfonso Augustine struggling to find a groove, Washington opted to go with jr QB David Gavrilov to change the passing game up a bit. On his second play of the day, he hit jr WR Rene Villafane on a 30 yard touchdown pass to give the Eagles a 13-7 lead after a missed PAT. Frankford’s jr QB Tim DiGiorgio answered back quickly with a 20 yard touchdown to Kelly Johnson to tie the game at 13-13 after a blocked PAT attempt by sr K Eric Salguero. Though the game was not quite the scoring battle some papers predicted it would be, this game will be remembered for a while due to one play that changed the whole impact of the game. With the game tied at 13 and 9:17 seconds left in the 4th, Frankford was getting ready to punt from their own 3 yard line. Suddenly, everyone gasps for air as the snap was directed not to Salguero, but to sr TE Aaron Allision who was startled by a bundle of Washington defenders in his face. He then threw the ball directly to the Washington sideline, which then gave the Eagles the ball on Frankford’s 3 yard line and an outstanding chance to score. 40 seconds later, Sillman ran in on a 3 yard rush for his second of the night and gave Washington a 20-13 lead after a successful PAT attempt. Frankford couldn’t get anything going and it came to reality that the underdog Eagles would swarm in and over take the title from the Pioneers. The clock ran out and the whole Washington crowd went nuts to show and share celebrations with the Washington players on the field as they were presented their plaque. My hat goes off to jr DE/TE Justin Moody (Whom I went to Forest Elementary with thru grade school), who put pressure on Frankford’s DiGiorgio every play even though he had a cast on. Without him in the first meeting, it was sure that he was a big difference and having him in this match up surely made the difference for Washington’s pass defense. Bringing credit to where it normally doesn’t get attention, I am sure Hakeem Sillman has to thank his stellar offensive line for opening holes for him all year and bringing this talented Washington team to the championship. Not to forget about the Pioneers, DiGiorgio being only a junior, will be back for revenge his senior year and I believe he can very well top his 26 touchdown mark. I have to say it has been a great learning experience this year doing football games and I am excited for next year! Be sure to check back for my basketball reports this winter. Thanks to a great year and good luck to all players, coaches, and seniors who will make their ways to college.
Players of the Game
Washington’s RB Hakeem Sillman (24 carries 141 yards 2 TD’s)
Washington’s DE Justin Moody (Pressuring DiGiorgio all day long)
Player to Look Out For
Washington’s QB David Gavrilov (1-3 30 yards 1 TD)
Frankford’s QB Tim DiGiorgio (13-28 182 yards 1 TD)

NOV. 10
NON-LEAGUE
West Philadelphia 50 Mastbaum 0
  There is no other word to use other than blowout to describe this match up between the West Philadelphia Speedboys and the Jules E. Mastbaum Panthers. Mastbaum started the game off with a three and out drive that led to a blocked punt by sr. TE/DE Jesse Thomas, which gave the Speedboys superb field position on their first possession. That led to a 22 yard rushing touchdown by jr. Desmond Sams and gave West Philadelphia a 6-0 lead after a failed 2 point conversion. With 3:46 seconds left in the first quarter, Speedboys sr. RB/DB Anthony Johnson intercepted soph. QB Joseph Walker which again left West Philly in the Panthers territory late in the first quarter. Again, Desmond Sams broke a 23 yard touchdown run at the end of the first quarter to give West Philly an 18-0 lead after another failed 2 point conversion by jr. QB Ricardo Streams. Though the Panthers couldn’t do anything on offense, sr. FB Alan King (4 carries 24 yards) reminded me much of San Diego Chargers FB Mike Tolbert, who both use their body and power to run over defenders on game days. With 8:04 seconds left in the 2nd, Panthers QB Joseph Walker threw another interception into the hands of jr. DB Julius Hester, which led to an impressive drive that capped off with a 5 yard touchdown yet again by Desmond Sams for his 3rd in the first half. West Philly finally converted on a 2 point conversion which gave them a 20-0 lead with 6:15 seconds left in the half. The Panthers offense stayed out of tune through all forty eight minutes of the game. To take some blame off the offense and defense, the Panthers special teams deserves some credit for the loss after muffing 5 punts for a loss of 73 yards throughout the whole game. Without those pitiful plays, you could easily assume this game wouldn’t have been as far apart as it was. With 1:42 seconds remaining in the second, a bad snap by the Panthers special teams left the Speedy Boys in position to score again before halftime. Luckily for the Panthers, soph. DB Donnell Shields intercepted West Philly’s Ricardo Streams and took away most likely another touchdown by the Speedy Boys offense. Just when you thought Desmond Sams ran out of gas, he broke his longest run of the day, a 75 yard rushing touchdown with 9:46 seconds left in the 3rd quarter  to give West Philly a 28-0 lead after Anthony Johnson’s successful rush on the conversion. On a snap over the head of Panther’s soph. P Jim-Elkins Borfay on their own 7, Mastbaum gave West Philly another two points due to a safety which gave them a 30-0 lead. It seemed as if the Speedboys Anthony Johnson was involved in every aspect of the game. Already with one interception on the day, he took another one to the house on a 26 yard interception return off of Panther’s backup soph. QB/DB Donnell Shields to give West Philly a 38-0 lead after Ricardo Streams threw a pass to sr. WR Eric “T.O.” Leslie for a successful 2 point conversion. Through the 3rd quarter, Mastbaum had yet to complete one pass and oddly didn’t throughout the rest of the game. To cap off a disastrous three quarters, the Panthers started the 4th quarter with a fumble on the kick return that gave the Speedboys the ball back that led to a quick touchdown. On the second possession play off the fourth quarter, Ricardo Streams found Eric “T.O.” Leslie wide open in the end zone for a 12 yard touchdown and a 44-0 lead with 11:46 seconds left in the game. The Panthers defense had nothing for the Speedy Boys triple threat option attack, which was responsible for practically almost every touchdown in the entire game. With 3:40 seconds left in the game, Speedboys jr FB Joseph Southern took advantage of his only carry by breaking a 19 yard rush for a touchdown that gave West Philly a 50-0 lead after a failed conversion by Ricardo Streams. On the last play of the game, the Panther’s third quarterback of the day, sr QB/WR Terrance Davis threw an interception to soph DB Barry Williams to finally end a game of misery for the 2011 Mastbaum Panthers. Desmond Sams ended up with 6 carries for a total of 144 yards and 4 touchdowns, along with Anthony Johnson’s 2 interceptions (One for a 26 yard TD) and 5 carries for 64 yards. The Speedy Boys were too “fast” for the Panther’s defense and never really had to air the ball out because of their run game. None of the Panther’s three quarterbacks could even get 1 completion which is a big reason why the score was so lop sided. All in all, West Philadelphia’s offense and defense over powered the Panther squad on every play of the game. A well deserved win for a disciplined West Philadelphia squad.
Players Of The Game
West Philadelphia RB jr Desmond Sams (6 carries 144 yards, 4 touchdowns)
West Philadelphia sr QB/RB Anthony Johnson (5 carries 64 yards, 2 INT’s 1 returned for 26 yard TD)
Player To Lookout For
West Philadelphia’s jr RB Desmond Sams (6 carries 144 yards, 4 touchdowns)
 

OCT. 28
CATHOLIC AAAA
Father Judge 42 Archbishop Ryan 14
  A familiar chant (Raul Ibanez chant) in the city of Philadelphia was mentioned not once, but five times in this matchup between Father Judge and Archbishop Ryan. “Raul!” is what the Father Judge Crusader crowd chanted after sr. RB/DB Raul Quinones put the Father Judge offense on his back and led them to the playoffs. In the first quarter, while driving his team down the field, Ryan sr. QB Mike Anusky threw a short pass that sr. Raul Quinones picked off on a diving play. A few plays later, Raul broke a 49 yard run, which gave Father Judge the 7-0 lead after soph. Connor Foley’s PAT went threw the uprights. The Ryan Raiders answered back surprisingly when Anusky, on third and 17 in Ryan territory, broke a QB sneak for a 50-yard gain to put them in scoring position with 3 minutes left in the first. This led to a 7 yard rushing touchdown by jr. Dylan Rowan, which tied the game at 7-7 after sr. Matthew Martinez’s PAT was successful. Father Judge answered back quickly when sr. RB Matt Smalley broke one for 52 yards, which put them on the 1 yard line to end the first quarter. In the start of the second, Raul punched in his second touchdown of the night to give Judge a 14-7 lead after the PAT. The Ryan offense seemed out of tune, with sr. WR Mike Palmer being covered by sr. DB/WR Tim Mills and jr. DB/FS Brandon Spatz, he was held to 1 reception for 7 yards. With 5:50 seconds left in the second, Raiders jr. RB Dylan Rowan fumbled and gave the Judge offense good field position again in Ryan’s territory. Raul yet again scored another 2 yard touchdown, which gave Father Judge a 21-7 lead after the PAT. The Raiders couldn’t seem to do anything at all on offense and after a 3 and out, they allowed Raul to leap in the end zone for his fourth touchdown (28-7) in the first half. The Raiders came out of the gate weak in the third. After putting together a productive drive, Anusky fumbled at midfield to give Father Judge good field position yet again. On a 3rd and 7, Judge jr. QB Rob Daniels hit sr. WR Tim Mills for a 29 yard connection to put them in Ryan’s territory and in great field position to punch another touchdown in. This led to Raul’s 5th touchdown of the night after he broke a 15 yard rush to give Judge a 35-7 lead with 4:20 seconds left in the third. The Raiders offense was just inconsistent; it seemed like whenever they would make a great play, the next play would be a mistake. This haunted them on offense and defense throughout all 48 minutes of the game. Palmer was always shadowed by a Top Judge defender and Judge’s D Line was something a small Raider Offensive line could not handle. sr. DE Anthony Walker put pressure on Anusky throughout all four quarters, never allowing him to have enough time to find an open man. On a screen pass early in the 4th, sr. DB Connor Donohoe picked off Anusky and that led to a 17 yard rushing touchdown by sr. Matt Smalley to give FJ the 42-7 lead. Late in the fourth, Ryan sr. RB Keith Okolo broke a 39 yard run to finally put the Raiders on the board again (42-14), but it was all too late as the time expired shortly after. With the victory, Father Judge is now the final seed, and will play La Salle in the first round of the Class AAAA playoffs. Though Raul was the unanimous player of the game, you have to mention Father Judge’s defense as major contributors to the blowout win over the Raiders. They managed to shut down Palmer (a.k.a. Wes Welker), and keep Anusky under constant pressure every play. To give the Raiders some credit, they never gave up. Every player who entered the game gave it their all no matter what the score was and I am sure I'm not the only one who noticed it. I want to thank Amauro for helping me get used to stat keeping and following the game. Also Mr. Silary for this great opportunity he has given me.
Players of The Game
Father Judge sr. RB Raul Quinones (19 car 210 yds 5 TD’s + 2 rec 17 yds)
Father Judge sr. RB Matt Smalley (20 car 111 yds 1 TD)
Archbishop Ryan jr. RB Dylan Rowan (13 car 90 yds 1 TD)
Player to Look Out For
Father Judge jr. DB/WR Brandon Spatz (Solid Defensemen)

OCT. 22
PUBLIC AAAA GOLD
Frankford 21 Washington 20
  Stunned was the word to describe a small but enthusiastic crowd that was supporting the George Washington Eagles when Frankford’s jr. QB Tim DiGiorgio threw a 14 yard TD pass to jr. WR Renz “Rodeo” Compton to tie the game at 20-20. It all came down to jr. K Eric Salguero, who trotted on the field in attempt to take the lead with :35 seconds remaining in the 4th quarter. As expected, Washington called a timeout to freeze Eric, but apparently it didn’t work as they thought it would. Eric came back to attempt the PAT, and perfectly through the uprights the ball went, which gave Frankford the 21-20 lead.
    Many Washington fans were confused late in the fourth quarter when sr. Phenom RB Hakeem Sillman punched in a 2 yd TD to take a 19-14 lead and the Eagles chose to kick a PAT instead on going for the 2-point conversion to take a 21-14 lead. You can’t blame the whole game on that PAT because during a scoreless second quarter, Washington drove down the field after Hakeem Sillman picked off DiGiorgio, which led to an interception by Frankford sr. DB Marquan Scott off of Washington jr. QB Alfonso Augustine with :13 seconds left. Washington’s major defensive standout was sr. LB Miguel Caban, who took one fumble return to the house, tying the game at 7-7, and also had another recovery late in the second quarter. After a disappointing first half, Sillman came out with a 39 yard run in the third quarter to take a 13-7 lead after the missed PAT by jr. K Jake Wright. This seemed to give the Eagles all the momentum but the Frankford crowd never died. In the fourth quarter, DiGiorgio threw a 21 yd TD pass to sr. WR Mike Brown to take a 14-13 lead after the PAT was good. Late in the fourth quarter, Sillman punched in the 2 yd TD in to give Washington a 20-14 lead and left the ball in DiGiorgio’s hands with 3:50 seconds left and a #1 seed in the playoffs waiting for the Pioneers. An eleven play drive which included eight passing plays and three runs all came down to a 3rd and goal on Washington’s 14 after a penalty and -6 yard sack that pushed back the Pioneers and left them with two final plays. After Tim’s touchdown to Compton, Mr. Silary said, “Did you know he went 8-8 on that drive?” I was shocked because after seeing that drive, I couldn’t believe he was that composed with all that was on the line (2011 is Tim’s first year playing varsity football) in those last four minutes. When Tim came back to the sidelines, he didn’t celebrate, he sat there calmly waiting for his special teams and defense to get the job done and seal the victory. For a first year varsity player, going 6-0 in Gold is quite an accomplishment and after the game the whole Frankford crowd let him know. I must admit, for this being my first game I don’t think another will come close to the excitement this one brought to me. I want to thank Mr. Silary for this opportunity and what he has taught me.
Players of the game
Washington: RB/DB Hakeem Sillman: 26-140 2 TD’s + INT
Washington LB Miguel Caban: 2 Fumble recoveries (returned one for a TD)
Frankford: QB Tim DiGiorgio 21-26 304 yds 2 TD’s
Player to Look Out For
Washington Sophomore RB Ken Everage (8 rushes-56 yds + 1 rec-43 yds)