September reports
October reports

DEC. 3
CATHOLIC RED FINAL
SJ Prep 41, O'Hara 7
  People associated with a league, whether as a player, coach or fan, like to think that no team is so good that it borders on untouchable and that its chances for victory are darn near automatic. But in Game 1 of this finals doubleheader, Wood did a 30-12 number on West to win Blue honors for the third consecutive year and, in this one, Prep was dominant in upping its season's edge over O'Hara to 72-14 and claim the Red crown for the fourth time in five years. Conventional wisdom was that O'Hara needed to score at least three TDs to be able to hang and that one of them would have to come from the defense. In effect, one TD did, and it was even the first of the game! But the good vibrations were as short-lived as a Hawk Talk report without a reason to belly-laugh and over time the avalanche of Prep points was impressive. The Hawks were immediately impressive, as they lined up in an extra-tight, two-TE formation and marched downfield in their first possession. Soph RB Jamir Livingston had runs for 16 and 10 yards and jr. QB Chris Whitney uncorked a 24-yarder. But on first-and-goal at the 9, O'Hara's defense regrouped nicely and soph K Tim Edger was wide left with a 19-yard field goal attempt. Considering the difficulties he experienced in the Thanksgiving game with La Salle, his confidence was on the verge of being shot. He was even shaking his head as he left the field. The next significant moment involved the other Edger, sr. WR/PR Bill, and it also did not go well. Bill dropped a punt and jr. Rob McLaughlin recovered at the Prep 26. On third down, coach Danny Algeo switched QBs, going from sr. Anthony Walters (hobbled by a tender ankle, which made him mostly ineffective when he lined up at WR) to frosh Tom Savage, and Savage rifled the ball to soph TE Mark Wedderburn for a 12-yard gain to the 10. Jr. RB John Dempsey went for 4 yards and then sr. FB Joe "Juice" Juisti added 6 and the PAT from sr. Tim Moore made it 7-0 with 7.9 seconds left in the first quarter. Know what? O'Hara managed NO first downs for the rest of the game and finished with just that one! But this must be said: O'Hara did score about midway through the second quarter on a 50-yard pass from Savage to gritty sr. WR Chris Myers. The play was a thing of beauty as Myers made the catch at the Prep 35 and put on a quick move to evade defenders in the middle of the field and then go the rest of the way. There was a flag, though, for motion and it all meant nothing. (Later, a little birdie told me that Andy Hafele, who assigns the referees, was hot at halftime, and thought the call was unjustified and said so to his group. Wonder what the TV broadcast showed? Or didn't show?) The score was 7-7 when that happened and Prep had gotten the tie in the same manner O'Hara had claimed the lead -- on a botched attempt at a punt return. This time, sr. Harry Duke could not hold on and sr. Dave Clement recovered at the 21. Whitney delivered a 13-yard pickup to the 1 on third-and-3 and Livingston scored from the 1. Prep made it 10-7 just before halftime on T. Edger's 24-yard field goal. Big plays on this drive were a get-it-started, 40-yard run by Livingston and a 16-yard hookup between Whitney and B. Edger. The FG attempt became necessary after sr. LB Scott Taylor made consecutive tackles on Livingston, with the first going for a 3-yard loss. Second half? Sure you want to hear this, unless you're a Prep loyalist? The Hawks had five possessions and each one produced a score. In order: 2-yard TD run by Livingston; 32-yard FG by T. Edger; 8-yard TD run by Livingston; 2-yard run by sr. FB Charlie Noonan; 1-yard TD run by Livingston. If you're counting at home, that means Livingston (32-187) finished with four TDs and that ties the game record set in '02 by Prep's Pat Kaiser in a 38-7 win over Roman. (Pat scored 32 points total that night thanks to a FG and five PAT.) Mir's last TD should have come on a 28-yard run, but he eased up when he thought he was in the clear and Dempsey, a track speedster, did a tremendous job of not giving up on the play and came more than halfway across the field to knock him out of bounds at the 1. Violently, too. What a hit! Aside from Livingston, Prep received strong rushing from Whitney, along with spectacular skills of evasion, let's call them. Often, Whitney uncorked nice gains on plays that saw him take the snap, step back slightly, hesitate briefly and then angle his way through the center-guard hole. Kind of a new-fangled QB draw, I guess. Also, he was quite impressive in the pocket as he found ways, sometimes just with a simple hip-flick or quick, full-body sidestep, to get away from multiple pursuers. Nice job! Prep's line: jr. C Joe D'Orazio, sr. G Jim Dunn, jr. G John Gazzola, sr. T Jim McKenzie and jr. T Jeff Battipaglia, sr. TE Matt Leddy and jr. TE Steve Schell. The feel-good moment of the latter stages came when Noonan was able to score. If not for an early-season injury, he would have been the primary fullback all season. Two plays before he scored, he went for 25 yards and absolutely trucked a defender near the end of the run. Meanwhile, here's the unit that held O'Hara to one first down and 55 yards total offense: Es Leddy and jr. Neil Doogan, Ts Noonan and jr. Ryan Haber, sr. MLB Josh Howley, sr. OLBs Ryan Malarick and Colin Wixted, sr. CBs Clement and Ryan Malarick, sr. SS Dave Mendez and FS Whitney. The game ball (well, at least one of them; not sure if multiples were awarded) went to Tim Edger for the way he rebounded from the La Salle misadventure. A lot can happen between now and then, but it's not like Prep will sink backward next season. Notice how many underclassmen are listed above, especially on offense. Having your QB and best rusher return, along with 3-4 linemen, is not a bad place to start.

DEC. 3
CATHOLIC BLUE FINAL
Wood 30, West Catholic 12
   We all have moments in our lives we regret and would like to forget. West's collective "moment" for 2005 actually spanned 24 seconds in the very latter part of the second quarter and turned a scoreless game into one that, truthfully, might as well have ended right then and there. From 0-0, the score zoomed to 14-0 and Wood had the building block it needed to claim a third consecutive title and sentence West to a fourth straight title-game loss. TD No. 1 came with 40.5 second left when sr. QB Joe Kosich, who'd mostly misfired early, hit jr. WR Chris Lorditch with a perfectly thrown 14-yard scoring pass. Unless my eyes were deceiving me, Lorditch made the catch almost exactly in the middle of a four-pack of Burr defenders. They appeared to be aligned in almost a perfect square, too. West coach Brian Fluck took an aggressive approach on the ensuing series, but it backfired. Sr. QB Steven Powers was too strong with a medium-length pass and jr. DB Pat Devlin, just sitting in the back, was able to make an easy interception at the Wood 41 and return the ball down the right sideline 44 yards to the West 15. Devlin wasn't done. He immediately caught a TD pass in the right part of the end zone after Kosich did a wonderful job of NOT tipping off early where he was going to throw. Only 16.5 seconds remained in the half and you could almost hear the suspense being removed from the game. Let's backtrack for a moment. The first TD was set up when sr. DT Mike Gallagher blocked a punt. Wood took over at the Burrs' 45 and faced 4th-and-1 at the 36 when Kosich hit Devlin for a 22-yard pickup. Sr. LB Wayne Donahue, mostly outstanding with 11 tackles, was covering Devlin on this play, and he slipped to the turf just after the catch was made and Devlin added 12 more yards. The third was mostly uneventful except for Lorditch's 24-yard field goal with 25.6 left. Wood struck again with 11:01 left in the fourth quarter as sr. RB Bryan McCartney (24-115) zipped 47 yards. B-Mac was running to his left, but sidestepped a West defender at maybe the 15 and then ran toward the right side to get into the end zone. It turned out to be the final score of his wonderful career and certainly left him, no doubt, with a special memory. Down by 23-0, West finally showed signs of life. The Burrs had just two first downs to this point, but slapped together consecutive scoring drives as the TDs went to Donahue on an 11-yard run and sr. WR John Maddox on a 5-yard flip from soph QB Eric Brennan (the second-half replacement for Powers). West did recover the onsides kick! One problem: The ball did not go 10 yards. The final score came at 19.2 on a 20-yard run by a backup, sr. RB Patrick Avallon. That drive covered 44 yards and began after a fumble recovery by soph LB Bob DeLucas. Wood's defense included sr. E Sean Forsyth, jr. E Matt Clark, sr. Ts Mike Gallagher and Matt McFadden, outside LBs sr. Ryan Dolan and DeLucas, jr. MLB Pat McAfee, jr. CBs Jim Daley and Matt Little and jr. Ss Kevin Lynn and Devlin. McAfee (11) and Forsyth (10) led in tackles. Coach Joe Powel got very emotional during the onfield post-game meeting with his squad and was bawling big-time by the time he presented the game ball to an injured lineman, sr. Chris Smith. Soon thereafter, Smith was hoisted by his teammates, who yelled again and again, "Smitty! Smitty! Smitty!" Nice! Later, assistant John McFadden showed me a picture from 1978 with Hockey Puck in the background. John was a player on that Wood squad. Legendary stuff! I took a pic of THAT pic, and if it looks OK I'll post it somewhere. Ha, ha. It'll be interesting to see where West's program goes from here. Wood and Carroll will return a number of quality players in '06, as will West. But four straight title-game losses are a serious kick to the groin and the Burrs will have to muster all kinds of strength to keep the program at a high level. As you can imagine, Huck (West '87) was rather disheartened. He works part-time as a disc jockey and when I asked him whether he had work after the game, he responded, "I'm gonna work on some beers." As the game ended, Huck pointed out that West had allowed 87 points all season and 53 had been scored by Wood. That speaks volumes, of course.

NOV. 26
PIAA CLASS AAAA QUARTERFINAL
Liberty (Bethlehem) 42, Frankford 6
   One week after setting a city record for the slimmest margin of victory (four points) in a three-game championship run, Frankford now owns the Public League mark for most defeated champion as this setback left its final record at 9-5. (Judge's '83 CL championship squad, which went 8-6-1, still holds the city mark.) What a wild eight days. Fkd first edged Northeast, 14-13, for Pub honors; then was stunned by 0-11 North Catholic on Thanksgiving, 12-0; and then traveled to Allentown's wonderful J. Birney Crum Stadium on a cold, but not brutal night, to play a school just a few miles away. Liberty's band alone has 250 members and its crowd numbered at least 3,000, I'd think. Fkd was lucky to have 15 supporters, and that estimate might be generous. Put it this way: the school sold NO tickets in advance and had to cancel tentative plans to rent a "fan bus" (or buses). Also, the cheerleaders were no-shows. I'm sure PIAA officials, who care about money first, second, third, fourth and fifth, are cursing their decision to let the good, ol' Pub into the organization. Good thing this isn't like a certain college FB conference, which was able to kick out Temple because it didn't bring enough money into the coffers. In time, maybe it WILL come to that. We can hear it now: "Listen, guys, it was nice idea. But you do nothing for us. Just go back into your own little world and forget this statewide stuff, OK?" If it happens someday, remember where you read it first (smile). Anyway, playing its second game in three days (and, of course, third in eight), Fkd was no match for a rested squad with balance and talent, and it got mercy-ruled with 5:52 left in the third quarter. Liberty scored on three of its first four possessions while holding Fkd to four three-and-outs in that same time frame, so any hope that the game could be competitive was quickly dashed. A short time later, Fkd got a drive going and collected two first downs while reaching midfield. But a short pass by sr. QB Ryan Hardy was intercepted and the Hurricanes (how does a school in Pa. wind up with THAT nickname?) needed just three plays to score again. Ouch. A 17-yard completion to sr. E Alonzo Williams moved the Pioneers to the Liberty 30, but four incompletions followed. Right near the end of the half, sr. DB Shariff Mintz (the roster has Shareef; he confirmed that it's wrong) delivered a hard hit at the end of a pass play and sr. DT Josh Taylor recovered. As the teams came out for the second half, Frankford's players and coaches still appeared to be in a positive frame of mind. But deep down, I think everyone was just hoping the game would not become an embarrassment and that the "guest" side of the scoreboard would lose its zero. That did happen, of course, but first there was some disaster. Liberty tallied with 5:52 left in the third quarter and then went for two, and made it, so the mercy rule would kick into effect. The kickoff bounced away from one would-be returner, and then another, and the ball wound up being recovered at the 2! Yes, the 2! The Hurricanes immediately rang up yet another TD and the PAT made it 42-0. OK, just one more thing to worry about. Can Fkd score? Finally, the Pioneers showed sustained life. They marched 81 yards in 10 plays and scored with 11:15 left on a 23-yard strike from Hardy to sr. E Maurice Bellinger. The catch was made in the middle of the field at about the 4 and Bellinger did a nice job to get into the end zone. First he made one guy bounce off. Then he dragged the other. Nice effort! Fkd had one more possession. Hardy's 9-yard keeper provided a first down, but the Pioneers soon were faced with fourth-and-11 and the call was for a fake punt. Hardy, also the punter, was picked by a late-arriving d-back on a play that appeared early to have big potential. Oh, well. Sr. LB Eric "Sarge/Captain Crunch" Hairston and Mintz led Fkd in tackles with seven. Jr. E/OLB Steven Ortega was next with five. Six guys had four. Sr. LB Damon Brockington also recovered a fumble. Jr. FB Calvin Spires was able to pick up 42 yards on 13 carries, but he would have LOVED gaining six more yards as his final season total was 994. I made the trip with the beloved Hockey Puck. Nothing like spending three hours in a car with him (ha ha). No matter how many times I tell him to dial it down a few notches, he talks at high volume throughout. Before the game, Puck went off in search of a program and then came back to tell me there wouldn't be one. So, we walked over to the Liberty coaches and asked one of the assistants if he had a roster. He said, "A roster? You stop carrying rosters with little league football." Only in the Upstate!! I finally wound up asking for help from the athletic director, and we did get a roster. Guess what? We matched it against a Liberty roster that a reporter from another paper had gotten hold of. Two of the first four names on the rosters were spelled differently. Standing nearby was District 12 chairman Robert Coleman. "Make sure you mention that," he said, smiling.

NOV. 24
THANKSGIVING RIVALRY
North Catholic 12, Frankford 0
   Maybe you'll find this hard to believe, even if you're partial to North, but this was the 14th time through the years that the Falcons bested Frankford in a season in which it won the Public League championship. Fourteen times! (With one tie, also.) This was the first time the Falcons accomplished the feat when entering with a winless record (0-11). Frankford bested Northeast, 14-13, for Pub laurels five days earlier and spent the week preparing both for North and Bethlehem Liberty, its opponent in a PIAA Class AAAA state quarterfinal Saturday night. Coach Mike Capriotti was true to the rivalry, though, and wound up playing his available first-liners throughout. I only noticed two exceptions: sr. DT Chris "Kringle" Cruz was out with a leg injury and sr. E/OLB Eric Hairston was home sick. And in the second quarter, sr. QB Ryan Hardy departed with what was feared to be a broken left (non-throwing) wrist. Honestly, Frankford would have had a much better chance with Hardy going the distance. But a win? I think not. North played hard and smart and with passion and pretty much dominated and "Cap" was classy enough to offer effusive praise for North's coaches, five of whom are Frankford grads. While pitching a shutout, North held the Pioneers to four first downs and 76 yards total offense and only one of their 41 plays gained as many as 10 yards. Also, they got only as far as North's 31. Amazing, right?! The unit included: sr. E Charlie Klink, jr. E Ron Page, sr. T Dan Shields, jr. T Radcliffe Phillips, soph NG Eric French, jr. LB Tom Hannan, soph LB Chris James, jr. LB Ryan McCullough, jr. CB Rich Cruz, soph CB Terrell Oglesby and jr. S Daryl Robinson. Only two seniors, you'll notice. Oglesby had a spectacular fourth quarter, running in unopposed off the corner for a sack and two TFLs worth 28 total yards. Klink made eight tackles and his early hit on Hardy caused a 2-yard loss and a fumble, with Oglesby making the recovery. Just after the Pioneers roughed Klink on a punt, Cruz went straight up the middle for a 52-yard touchdown. The Falcons' other score came 4:48 before halftime on an easy-as-pumpkin-pie, 11-yard pass from frosh Dennis Logue to McCullough. R-Mac had three catches for 51 yards on the nine-play, 43-yard drive, which started in ominous fashion with a 6-yard sack by sr. OLB Alonzo Williams. Even the second play resulted in a loss as jr. E Nate Johnson and jr. T Tyree Dudley dropped Robinson for a yard. But on third-and-17, Logue hit McCullough for 24 yards and McCullough followed with two more third down catches, including the TD. The Falcons could have added another score before halftime after receiving a huge boost from a hook-and-lateral play (Logue to McCullough to Klink) that covered 23 yards and moved the ball to the 36. Robinson (21-105) ripped off a 12-yard gain but Logue, under pressure along the sideline, tried to force a throw and sr. DB Christopher "Boobie" Wilson intercepted at the 1. Frankford had one brush with excitement in the second half. On the last play of the third quarter, jr. Chris Spence reeled off a 39-yard punt return (tremendous block by sr. LB Damon Brockington!) to get the ball to NC's 35. But on third-and-6, Oglesby downed sr. RB Brandon Norris for a 14-yard loss and, you could just TELL, the Pioneers were cooked. They did get another chance to stir, though, when Klink suffered an 8-yard loss when he dropped the snap on a punt and DB Joe Bohannon recovered at the 33. First play: 8-yard loss, thanks to Oglesby. Third play: 6-yard loss, thanks to Oglesby. Soon, the Falcons were releasing almost three full months' worth of frustration and anguish. Their record was 1-11 and for any it felt like 11-1. Meanwhile, here's the breakdown for the years in which North performed big-time Thanksgiving heroics:
Records Final (Except for Fkd '05)
Year -- Score -- NC ---- Fkd
1933 -- 23-6 --   4-3-1 --- 7-2-0
1936 -- 6-0 --    *8-0-0 -  5-1-2
1947 -- 19-13 -- 8-2-0 --  8-2-0
1948 -- 13-7 --   8-1-0 --  7-1-1
1954 -- 31-12 -- 3-5-1 --  8-2-0
1960 -- 20-13 -- 5-5-0 --  9-2-0
1964 -- 12-10 -- 4-6-0 --  8-2-1
1969 -- 24-14 -- 6-5-0 --  10-2-0
1972 -- #12-12 -- 1-9-1 -- 8-1-1
1973 -- 14-0 --   6-5-0 --  10-3-0
1978 -- 21-14 -- 5-6-0 --  9-1-1
1984 -- 35-6 --   8-3-0 --  9-1-0
1986 -- 14-13 -- 4-6-0 --  8-3-0
1996 -- 20-19 -- 6-6-0 --  11-1-0
2005 -- 12-0 --  1-11-0 -- &9-4-0
*-won CL title.
#-tie.
&-state playoff remaining.

NOV. 23
NON-LEAGUE
Malvern 21, Bonner 0
   You can create a game between two Augustinian schools and hold it at an Augustinian university (Villanova), but you can't make people care when there's no true reason to do so and this one was largely a dud. People watched, but made very little noise and at times this had more the feel of a scrimmage than anything else. Having lost a week and a half earlier to Valley Forge and its 52 post-grads (smile), Malvern's players no longer had dreams of achieving the best record (11-0) in school history dancing around in their heads. Meanwhile, the life had been sucked from Bonner's season long ago. Malvern did not play that well and still won comfortably. The game was still scoreless approaching the midway point of the second quarter when THE play to sum up Bonner's season occurred. Sr. DB P.J. Sheridan, who had an interesting night, picked off a pass by sr. QB Ian Mitchell on the Bonner 15 and . . . immediately lost the ball. Jr. TE Matt Bernier recovered on the 20 and Malvern (notice how we haven't used Friars yet? that's both teams' nickname) hit paydirt in just two plays, a 7-yard run by sr. FB Steve Layne and a 13-yard sweep right by sr. HB Jimmie Cotton (10-62). Late in the second quarter, Bonner mismanaged the clock on a series that began with 1:58 left and Malvern took over on its 25 with 1:18 left. Malvern needed seven plays (plus a spike) and Mitchell went 6 yards at 13.8. The drive was a killer (big play: 40-yard pass to sr. WR Trey Womack) and the Bonner guys were visibly deflated as they headed to the locker room. The second half was largely uneventful. Malvern's scoring drive covered 44 yards in six plays and was capped by Mitchell on a 14-yard run. The TD play itself was vintage, though, as Mitchell kept to the left and got within maybe 8-10 yards of the sideline before reversing his field and bobbing and weaving and finally scooting into the right corner of the end zone. Malvern showed incredible rushing balance this season thanks to Cotton (113-748), Mitchell (115-655) and sr. FB Tom Hagan (104-632). Defensively, jr. DE Paul Ostick had a sack in the first half and later posted a fumble recovery after jr. LB Will Miller dislodged the ball while sacking sr. QB Marc Verica. Miller also had another sack and a TFL. Jr. LB Alex Forte also notched a sack and some other highly visible stops. The Virginia-bound Verica finished 7-for-15 for 77 yards. He began on fire with three straight well-placed completions for 30 total yards, but the drive was terminated by a fumble (recovery by Mitchell). Bonner could have eased within 7-3 with 4:51 left in the second quarter, but sr. Tom Hayes was wide left on a 34-yard field goal attempt. The kick was VERY strong, meanwhile. Would have been good from maybe the mid-40s. Sr. DL Greg Ledva also had an interception for Bonner while sr. LBs Matt Licci and Matt Boland were punishing tacklers (sr. OLB Steve Wheatley, SO impressive in my two earlier looks at Bonner, was out with an injured ankle). Sheridan was the guy who missed the tackle on Mitchell's 6-yard TD. And in the fourth quarter, he was absolutely trucked by Layne on a 13-yard gain. Know what happened next, though? Miller lost the handle on a run up the middle and Sheridan outbattled several others to make the recovery, so that was nice. The game's start was briefly delayed because the down marker and chains were not on the field. Head linesman Jim Casey went into a back room, dug them out and trotted triumphantly across the field, carrying everything. For unknown reasons, about one-fourth of the lights flickered off early in the third quarter. They came back on as Mitchell posted his 14-yard score. Malvern coach Gamp Pellegrini wore a jacket celebrating his squad's 1986 title. "It's the warmest of all of them," he said. Bonner jr. Craig Love, the injured backup QB, served as the ballboy. At one point he asked me who I was and I said, "I work for the Daily News . . . and a website." He said, "Do you do Ted Silary?" I said, "I AM Ted Silary." He smiled sheepishly and said, "That was awkward." I told him a similar thing happened two years ago with a player from Ben Franklin who's now one of the best rushers in the city (Maurice Dantzler). "Hopefully, that luck will hold," he cracked. Malvern won last year's inaugural AB, 36-12.

NOV. 19
CATHOLIC RED SEMIFINAL
O'Hara 35, La Salle 14
   As the final seconds melted away at Northeast High, injured sr. L Dan Gough sidled over and mentioned he would be submitting a pretty strong candidate for the CL defensive player of the week. No promises, but there's no doubting that Dan's Dandy is VERY much worthy. Sr. LB Scott Taylor accumulated 57 yards on a pair of second-half interceptions. The yardage total could have been higher, but the goal line stopped him. That's right. Taylor turned both picks into TDs! The first one covered 17 yards and pulled O'Hara into a 14-14 tie with 5:22 left in the third quarter. Taylor, who mostly lines up in the middle, on this play jumped a sideline route. He made the pick and rolled down the sideline and made a dive into the end zone. It happened on the home side and Taylor headed toward Roosevelt Blvd., for those who can picture it. His second journey covered 40 yards and came immediately after jr. RB John Dempsey (22-132) ran 3 yards to make it 28-14 with 2:08 left. This time he finished in the opposite end zone, and along the La Salle side. A short time later, Taylor punctuated his performance by making a TFL on La Salle's final play. This game had some strange elements. Though the Lions trailed at halftime, 14-7, they boasted 20 more plays and by game's end the bulge would be 69-40. La Salle started quickly. Soph QB John Harrison slapped together an impressive drive, completing passes for 13 yards to jr. Jack Forster (what an outstanding outing THIS kid had!), 38 to sr. Alain Bonny and 20 again to Forster. Harrison went in from the 1 two plays later and La Salle led, 7-0. Forster finished with seven catches for 107 yards. He also blocked a field goal attempt, got off a 39-yard punt from the very back of the end zone, uncorked a 36-yarder under HEAVY pressure after a bad snap, made his always authoritative tackles and even got away with a slight push before making a 7-yard TD catch (smile). As Forster made the snag, sr. DB Anthony Walters sat in the end zone and turned up his palms as if to say, "Yo, ref, where's the flag?" That was the only thing, officialswise, that went La Salle's way in the first half. Along that sideline, cries of "just GIVE them the game" (and worse) were common. On consecutive plays, the Explorers were called for illegal participation, defensive holding and a personal foul. No wonder coach Joe Colistra and pretty much all of his aides were livid. The other TD in the Lions' 28-0 second half outburst was scored by sr. WR Chris Myers on a 20-yard pass from frosh QB Tom Savage. Savage made a perfect delivery on a slant and the ever-feisty Myers dragged a few guys into the end zone. Hey, come basketball season, maybe he'll line up at power forward! (smile) Savage received extended playing time because Walters suffered an injury to his lower left leg on the fourth play of the third quarter. He said later he might have strained or torn a muscle. Of course, when a team runs 69 plays all kinds of tackling opportunities are available. Sr. ILB George Hudson was in on 14 stops and jr. OLB Sean Saverio made nine. At halftime, as the Explorers approached the steps to go to their locker room, there was a brief shouting match between some ex-Lions and La Salle's players/coaches. Our legendary ex-La Salle writer, Jack "In the Box" Crouse, was camped out along La Salle's sideline with long-time sidekick Mike "Stat Boy" Grant, who's helping to coach the freshman team. Jack insists he doesn't read Hawk Talk. Hmmmm. Must be a hater thing that only La Salle/Prep people would understand (smile). Danny Algeo raised his career record to 50-30 in seven total seasons (four at Roman, one at Phoenixville, two at O'Hara).

NOV. 19
PUBLIC LEAGUE FINAL
Frankford 14, Northeast 13
   This was one of those games where it was lost as much as won. Pretty much in equal amounts. Frankford scored its two touchdowns off fumbles, with one even in immediate fashion, so it did live kind of a charmed life. And it eventually bagged the win when sr. K-P Chris Mountney was unable to come too close on a 38-yard field goal with 43.1 seconds left. But on the other hand, you could say Frankford did make its title entrance through the front door because it went for two and converted with 6:42 remaining and that took cubes. OK, let's set that scene. Lamone Fox, Northeast's sr. franchise RB, lost the handle on a run up the middle and sr. DB Christopher "Boobie" Wilson recovered on the 12. Jr. RB Calvin Spires ran for 4, 3 and 5 yards for the TD and Frankford faced a decision. Let jr. Kyle Berry, who'd missed one earlier, try for a PAT, or go for two. Berry at first ran onto the field, but after a timeout was called, coach Mike Capriotti opted for a two-point bid. Sr. QB Ryan Hardy rolled to his right, hesitated a little, hesitated some more and eventually cut it up inside. He appeared to be hit by numerous tacklers, but he dragged his way into the end zone with a wonderful second/third effort and the Pioneers had a 14-13 lead. Northeast had two more possessions. Strangely, Fox only touched the ball on one of eight plays. Very strangely. NE's last possession was given life when sr. DE Jesse Joseph made a strip and recovery on a run by jr. Shareef Mintz. With the ball at the Fkd 22, sr. RB Ste'Shaun Johnson was stopped for no gain (by Mintz) on a sweep right, Fox was held to 2 yards (by sr. LB Brandon Norris) on a run up the middle and Johnson was stopped for no gain (by Mintz and sr. DE Eric "Captain Crunch" Hairston) as he again tried to ease right. Mountney's FG attempt landed 9 yards deep in the end zone, and to the right of the right upright. Frankford ran out the clock from there and the celebration was on. Many of the Vikings could not hold back tears, and some sank to the turf in despair. Meanwhile, Frankford's student and adult fans rushed onto the field to enjoy the moment. Later, the teams lined up to receive individual gold and silver medals. I probably don't have to look this up: Frankford is the all-time city king when it comes to skin-of-their-teeth playoff wins in one season. Their three postseason victories came by four points total! Phew! They also won by 16-14 over Overbrook and by 13-12 over Germantown. Rather incredible, right? Maybe a baseball team, or even a basketball team, could accomplish that kind of feat, but a FB team??!! Frankford's first TD came just 2:11 into the game when sr. LB Damon Brockington (low) and sr. DT Chris Cruz (high) powdered sr. QB Charles McGinn. Jr. DE Nate Johnson snagged the ball right out of the air and went 33 yards for a score. Berry's kick was no good. Northeast answered in the second quarter in conventional fashion, slapping together an eight-play, 32-yard drive after only a 17-yard punt. Fox and Johnson did the running to get the ball to the 1, then McGinn squeezed in from there. Mountney's kick was good. NE's second TD occurred with 6:55 left in the third quarter -- and again was a 1-yard sneak by McGinn. This "drive" had to cover just 5 yards (well, 10, because there was an immediate procedure penalty) after sr. Derek Butler recovered a dropped punt. The extra point was an adventure. Mountney never got a chance to kick. After having to stand up to handle a high snap, jr. holder Michael Small, the QB much of the season as McGinn nursed an injury, was swarmed under before he could throw a pass. That play, of course, would later loom large. Though it got lost in the eventual shuffle, NE made an impressive defensive stand deep in its own territory as the fourth quarter opened. Frankford had first-and-goal at the 5 and then was moved back by procedure. The sequence: Johnson for 4 yards (tackle by Joseph and sr. LB Chris Zepp), Johnson for 3 yards (McGinn and sr. LB Seth Shapiro), Norris for no gain (Fox and sr. DL Walter Maiellano) and Hardy for minus-2 on a rollout right (Butler). It was a wonderful series, but all the good vibrations disappeared two plays later when Fox was unable to hold onto the ball. Like anyone who was neutral, I had many mixed feelings after the game. I felt good for the Frankford guys who'd proved their mettle with the game on the line and bad for the Northeast guys who'd fallen short. That's one thing about tight championship games. All directly involved in the winning and losing will relive the moments, if not forever, for a very long time . . . Meanwhile, Capriotti said Frankford will play its Thanksgiving game vs. North Catholic as scheduled at 9:45 a.m. The Pioneers' first-round game in the state playoffs will be Saturday at 7 p.m. against Liberty HS, of Bethlehem. We've been told the game will NOT be played in Philly. We'll keep you posted.

NOV. 18
CATHOLIC BLUE SEMIFINAL
West Catholic 12, Carroll 0
   Sometimes you can't be sure about the things you see over the course of a football season. But of this we can be SURE and CERTAIN, and nothing needs to be left to doubt. Carroll has usually spent this entire decade impressing all with its offense. But this year, with these players on these teams, the Patriots' O was oh-so-inadequate against the Burrs' D. The first time was not a mirage. In the teams' first meeting, played on Oct. 29 and covered for the site by Huck, Carroll not only was blanked, 20-0, but was held to 26 yards total offense and minus-4 in the rushing category. There was almost a total rerun tonight at way-chilly Widener. Carroll ran 46 plays. It netted 44 yards and jr. QB Matt Cantafio was dropped seven times en route to nine carries for minus-56. Ouch and more ouch. West's ability to disrupt the Patriots' offense, especially the pass, was so complete, offensive coordinator Fran Murphy called six consecutive runs on what turned out to be his team's final possession and there was only one possible explanation: He knew the chances of getting decent protection for Cantafio were basically non-existent. The tone was set right away. Jr. DE Anthony "Blood" Rhoades dropped sr. FB Jake "The Snizzz-ake" Szulinski for a 2-yard loss on Carroll's first play and, following an incompletion, came right back to record a 12-yard sack. The Rhoades to the QB remained open all night. Anthony later logged sacks for 8, 12 and 11 yards so his yardage-"gained" total for the night was 45 yards! Phew! Sr. DT Chris Farmer recorded a pair of sacks for 17 yards as well as a TFL for 2. Carroll ventured into West territory just once and that came late in the second quarter. On fourth-and-1 at the West 30, the call was for a pass. Sr. DB Tyrek Smith did the break-it-up honors and no peeps were heard the rest of the way. The most significant defensive play came midway through the first quarter when sr. DT Kirk Hinton smelled a middle screen to Szulinski and drifted back slightly to make an interception at the Carroll 19. Jr. RB Dennis Shaw immediately went 19 yards for a TD. The Burrs' second quarter score came on a 1-yard sneak by sr. QB Steven Powers. The drive covered 40 yards in seven plays after sr. LB Daniel Chavis tipped a pass and sr. DB Matt Ambrosine wound up with the pick. Shaw finished with 215 yards on 28 carries and, as Huck agreed, it was quiet, big-time performance. It had the look of a mid-100s outing, but 215 it was. Why the West coaches had Powers whip 19 passes was beyond me. He wasn't throwing too well and some of his receivers had the dropsies and it appeared the Burrs could have stuck with the run all night. Some speculation on my part: coach Brian Fluck was looking ahead slightly to the title game in two weeks and was working on passing because he feels it'll be needed to beat Wood (assuming Wood gets past C-E). It'll be interesting to see whether Powers or soph Eric Brennan (0-for-4 in late duty) gets the call in the title game. Just like West dominated Carroll on the line of scrimmage, Wood did likewise to West in the teams' first meeting. West's defense included: Rhoades and jr. Isiah Edmond at E; Hinton and Farmer at T; Chavis and soph Marquese Sanders at OLB; sr. Wayne Donahue and jr. Marc Holloway at ILB; and assorted guys (srs. Harold Davis, John Maddox, Palmer, Smith and Ambrosine) at DB. For Carroll, jr. Ryan Downs and soph Geof Prather made picks and jr. DL Jordan Faust wreaked a certain amount of havoc. While walking along West's sidelines, I heard one of the Burrs comment, "When I fart, it's coming out like ice cubes." Where else can you get this kind of info?? Ha, ha.

NOV. 12
PUBLIC LEAGUE SEMIFINAL
Northeast 21, Washington 6
   Charles McGinn, a lefty, transferred from Ryan to Northeast with designs on becoming the starting QB. First he was, then he wasn't (due to injury) and now he is again and next Saturday he'll have a chance to lead his team to the PL title and a berth in the state playoffs. McGinn had a two-pronged effect on this one, and it was early. On the second play of the second quarter, thanks to pressure from sr. DE Jordan Strickland, McGinn made an interception at the goal line and returned the ball to the NE 42. The Vikings then marched 58 yards in 10 plays and took a 7-0 lead on a 4-yard yard by sr. franchise RB Lamone Fox (21-63) and sr. Chris Mountney's PAT. Washington posted one first down on its ensuing possession, then had to punt, and it was a short one (10 yards). Sr. RB Harold "Aaron" Miller picked up 11 yards, then McGinn delivered a perfect strike in the left corner of the end zone to sr. TE Derek Butler (the baseball catcher; all catchers have good hands -- smile) for a 37-yard TD and a 14-0 lead. Washington slapped together an impressive drive as the third quarter opened, covering 68 yards in 14 plays and getting a 4-yard TD run from sr. RB Fateen Brown. Sr. QB Thomas Wilmer, who'd struggled before intermission, went 3-for-3 on this drive and received help of a terrific leaping catch (for 11 yards) from sr. FB Cecil Wise. Washington was still hanging around midway through the fourth quarter, but disaster struck in the form of a bad snap on a punt. The loss totaled 24 yards, Strickland recovered the ball on the 5 and Fox immediately ran for what proved to be what we all thought it was -- the clinching score. The Eagles did momentarily fly high on their ensuing possession as Wise made an all-time, leap-and-lay-out catch that produced 38 yards in addition to oohs and aahs, moving the ball to the NE 32. But Brown fumbled on the very next snap (strip AND recovery by sr. LB Seth Shapiro) and even Washington diehards began strolling toward the exits. There will be some interesting dynamics for the title game. One of them: Matt Evangelist, NE's offensive coordinator, was a QB for Frankford and his brother, Mario, is an assistant there now. NE's band was a shade late marching into the stadium and the National Anthem wound up being sung over the PA system by some Washington ladies. At halftime, believe it or not, with few even paying attention, Northeast's band, from right in the stands, played the NA again. Yes, at halftime! When I asked NE's band director why that had happened, he shot back, "Because Washington's band needs to learn how to play that song!" Friction between bands. Gotta love it. Amauro, Duck and Bill were in attendance, as was the legendary Keith Hines, my longtime sidekick back in the day. Keith still works occasionally on Saturday events, but he can't make weekday games because he's now a non-teaching assistant at Washington (he formerly worked at Frankford). Amauro gave Keith a ride to and from the game. His ears paid a price. Keith can talk! (ha ha). And keep you laughin'.
Big props to one of NE's down linemen, sr. Walt Maiellano. He went low again and again, sacrificing his 5-7, 150-pound body for the greater good. Also, soph DB Nafis Muhammad twice shed ornery blockers and made tough tackles barely an instant later. Impressive!

NOV. 11
CATHOLIC BLUE FIRST ROUND PLAYOFF
Carroll 41, Neumann-Goretti 27
   One thing was certainly established this year in the meetings between these teams: Carroll had little trouble moving the ball. After racking up 468 yards in the regular season, the Patriots came back with 431. Did N-G uncork some hard hits? Of course. Were there some nice individual efforts? Yes again. But as a group, the Saints just did not quite stack up and that made the difference. Carroll scored on six of nine possessions and let the clock run out with the ball on the N-G 7 as the game ended. Jr. FB Brent Christie is out with an elbow injury, so sr. Jake "The Snizzz-ake" Szulinski, who had a bit of a back problem earlier this season, is in his old spot and would have been anyway as Christie lined up at HB in last week's final regular season game with Conwell-Egan. Szulinski ran 16 times for 63 yards and a TD and added another score on an 8-yard pass from jr. QB Matt Cantafio. Among others, I kidded Snake about his estimated 4-inch vertical leap on the play. But he really did leap and did make a nice play while easing toward the right corner. It was a clutch catch on fourth-and-goal and it followed a 5-yard loss, when sr. LB Vinny Burgese dumped jr. HB Shane McMahon. The score was set up by an interception by soph DB Ellis Rogers. Cantafio and Rogers. There's a message in there somewhere. Neither one made All-Catholic and both, undoubtedly, were playing with some extra motivation. Cantafio went 9-for-16 for 161 yards and three scores, as he also hit sr. HB Josh Halladay and jr. WR Wiley "Coyote" Flowers. Halladay had a big night, going for 139 yards and two TDs on 21 carries and adding two catches for 71. Carroll's line: jr. C Dan Ferry, sr. G Kevin Smart, jr. G Matt Hallinan, jr. Ts John Pettine and Bill O'Brien and sr. TE Ryan Bergin. N-G also had some impressive moments on offense. Jr. QB Mark Hatty went 8-for-17 for 115 yards and three TDs, one to sr. HB-WB Hiram "H" Bowman on a perfectly placed ball to the right corner -- and I do mean PERFECTLY -- and two to sr. TE Chuck French (also well delivered). The running game was basically non-existent, though, except for a 47-yard scoring run by jr. Mark McPherson on the final play of the third quarter. It came on a guard trap just after Szulinski, still a backup linebacker and standing on the sidelines, warned the defenders to watch out for a guard trap! McPherson also had a big fumble recovery after Burgese dislodged the ball from Cantafio early in the fourth quarter. French's second TD brought the Saints within 34-27 and there was serious excitement on that sideline and in the stands. It faded, though, as Szulinski and others picked up tough yardage and Halladay eventually went 18 for a TD. When he reached the end zone, he looked back to see three would-be tacklers lying on the ground, almost as if they'd been perfectly placed there. One of the linemen crowed, "We left a trail (of bodies), baby!" Funny moment after the game: I asked Szulinski, "So, what's your first name?" And he said, "Jake . . . J-a-k-e." I always figured Jake was a nickname. Guess it's his real name. Or else his real name is something he'd rather forget (smile).

NOV. 10
NON-LEAGUE
West Phila. 18, Mastbaum 6
   Somebody's "0" had to go, and that somebody turned out to be West. Was this vintage football? Hardly. Was it pretty to watch? Not exactly. Was there way too much sloppiness in the form of penalties and even shaky player/coach decisions? Of course. But the afternoon was well worth it, especially when the scoreboard got to 0:00 and half of the players got to hoot and holler and smile from ear to ear for the first time this season. West received rushing TDs from soph Jebril Brown (9-89), sr. Atland Williams (12 yards, only carry) and jr. Brandon Johnson (7-71) while sr. FB William "Baby Bear" Blackwell (9-57) blocked well and also was a presence on defense. Mastbaum scored first late in the first quarter as sr. QB Chris Bennett (5-for-13, 78) connected for a 15-yarder to jr. TE Richard Stratton, who made a juggling catch while backing up. Jr. Cornell Kelley provided a 39-yard return to the Mastbaum 40, then Brown immediately sped the rest of the way on a sweep right. An interception by soph Hal Chambliss gave Mastbaum a golden chance late in the first half, but it was botched. The Panthers had no timeouts. A 17-yard run by sr. FB Michael Parker (18-126) got the ball to the 14. But on first down, Bennett was thrown for a 7-yard loss by Williams. No problem. Just run up to the line, spike the ball and regroup for two more chances. Uh, no. A running play was called. Sr. Maurice Upshur was stopped for 2 yards. End of half. Brutal. Early in the third quarter, jr. Corey Johnson (earlier interception) returned a punt 33 yards to the Mastbaum 40. Brown quickly zoomed 25 yards and Williams scored three plays later. Mastbaum's next possession ended horribly when sr. P Sean O'Reilly had to deal with a bad snap. He did a nice job of salvaging something, a 3-yard completion to jr. Hector Marrero, but it was far short of first-down yardage and West took over on the Mastbaum -- hey, here's that yard line again -- 40. Johnson went for 6 yards, then 34. Mastbaum had two fourth quarter possessions. Sr. G-LB Antoney Denton (impressive!) ended the first with a leaping interception at the West 5. The second? Not sure. Parker was inches from the end zone with what would have been a 16-yard TD (sr. Michael "The Legend" Leak had recovered a bad snap on a West punt to set things up) when he somehow fumbled. It's possible Denton slightly dislodged the ball, but no one seemed to think so. Brown made the recovery at the 2. If that play didn't sum up Mastbaum's season, I don't know what did. What a shame! And Parker had been so tough, so good, all day. West did most of its running behind sr. C Lawrence "Juice" Brown (6-2, 340) and sr. G Darren Watson (6-5, 320). Brown at one point received a holding penalty to negate a good play and coach John R. Lay yelled out, "That's a 4-year player! Thanks, Juice!"

NOV. 6
CATHOLIC RED
Roman 26, La Salle 23 (two OTs)
   I could have watched this one deep into the night, baby. Think about it. How often do football games truly come down to the last play? This one did. Several times. How can you not love that?! The teams played hard and mostly in clean fashion and there were very few mistakes. The team had to do wonders for Roman's confidence level for two gigantic reasons. No. 1, the Cahillites won on the road. No. 2, they triumphed on a field goal after having a FG blocked on the final play of regulation. Where to begin? Hmm. Let's go to the end of regulation and proceed from there. With the score tied at 16-16, Roman drove from its 40 and got a first down at the 6 on a 2-yard sneak by sr. QB Cory Jackson. Sr. RB Sean Woods was no stopped for no gain by sr. LB Dom Baker and sr. DL Greg Crone and Roman coach Jim Murphy told the refs to halt the clock at 0:03 for a timeout. Soph Chris Fiovaranti came out to try a 21-yard FG. La Salle iced Fiovaranti with back-to-back timeouts and then, finally, with jr. RB Ricky Nau snapping and Jackson holding, Fiovaranti tried his kick. Blocked! By jr. DB Jack Forster! Who came in right to left! We go to OT! From there: On third down, Jackson snuck in from the 1 and Fiovaranti kicked. La Salle's possession, frankly, was a circus due to three big calls. On first down, soph QB John Harrison threw a 10-yard TD pass to jr. RB Chris Ashley, but the play was nullified by offensive interference away from the ball. With the ball back at the 25, Harrison's incompletion was negated by roughing the passer and the penalty took the ball to the 12. Harrison threw low, then completed a 7-yarder to sr. TE Drew Wilkins. Guess what? This one didn't stand, either. Defensive interference was called and La Salle accepted the half-the-distance penalty because it meant an automatic first down at the 6. Sr. DE/OLB Rockeed McCarter deflected Harrison's next pass, but the next snap brought a TD as Harrison sent a swing pass to sr. FB Mike Padgeon. Jr. K Ryan Cain added the PAT. On to OT No. 2! An encroachment call put the ball on the 5, then Ashley picked up a yard. On third down, jr. S Dom "I Like When the Girls Call Me Dominique" Joseph made an end zone interception. Phew, back to a Roman possession. Jackson kept left for 2 yards. Soph Aaron Duncan picked up 5 yards on a sweep. Jackson threw just a shade long to Duncan and then, after two more timeouts, Fiovaranti hit his game-winner. The Cahillites rushed onto the field and Murphy kept pumping his fist while yelling, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" In the postgame huddle, during which he praised his squad's intestinal fortitude, Murphy said he was "35 going on 67" and later added through tears, "I'm a mess . . . Let's do the prayer." A quick recap on regulation: Roman scored an early safety when a punt-snap sailed over Forster's head out of the end zone; the Cahillies' TDs came on passes from Jackson to Joseph (8-yard fade; great leap!) and Duncan (on rollout; tremendous block by McCarter). La Salle scored on a 1-yard run by Ashley, a 4-yard pass from Harrison to sr. TE Drew Wilkins and a 26-yard FG by Cain (set up by sr. Kevin Ulrich's fumble recovery when Jackson dropped a punt; hit by Forster). Hockey Puck was in attendance and kept track of tackles from upstairs. OK, now let me find the paper in this avalanche (smile). Ah, here it is. For La Salle, he had jr. LB Sean Saverio (also the baseball catcher) with eight tackles (2 sacks), jr. LB Greg Frantz with 9, sr. LB George Hudson with 12 (2 for losses), sr. LB Joe Tubolino with 9, and Forster with 12. He checked and checked again, but said no one from Roman had more than 4 stops. "That gonna look bad," he moaned. McCarter did have an early 13-yard sack. Throughout the game, Roman went with a no-huddle approach. Murphy would call out a formation and then the players would stand in position, waiting for the actual play call. At times, many would be looking at wristbands with the info under plastic. When a Roman player went down with an injury, Murphy yelled, "Get his wristband!" When Roman was called for a personal foul at one point, Murphy wondered quite loudly what the offending player had done. One of the Cahillites yelled back from the field, "He kneed him in the (gonads)."

NOV. 5
CATHOLIC RED
SJ Prep 31, O'Hara 7
   Recent history has shown us that SJ Prep is prone to the occasional title-game stumble (as in '00 and '04), but when it comes to the regular season, forget it. One, two, three, four, five, SIX full years without a slipup and the total streak stands at 41 thanks to a win in the final game of '99. Yes, as in the last century. North spent two years in the Blue Division, don't forget, so the regular season division wins by year are seven apiece in '00, '01, '02 and '05 and six apiece in '03 and '04. Simply amazing. Was this one light and breezy and non-stop fun like a Hawk Talk report? (smile) Not quite. The Hawks were locked in a 7-7 struggle at halftime. But late in the third quarter, they reeled off three TDs in under 3 minutes, shocking the overflow crowd at Plymouth-Whitemarsh, and the game's competitive nature went poof! The avalanche began with a 3-yard scoring run from soph Jamir "Mir" Livingston (30-134). The gigundo play came right beforehand as jr. QB Chris Whitney (5-for-10, 118) hit sr. WR Bill Edger for a 32-yard gain. On O'Hara's subsequent play, frosh QB Tom Savage threw a pass that was jostled ever so slightly. The tip (by jr. DT Ryan Haber) did not change the flight of the ball, but did slow the speed ever so slightly. Sr. OLB Colin Wixted picked it off at the O'Hara 38 and zoomed for a TD. Edger again was prominent in assuring the third TD would get added to the scoreboard. He returned a punt 25 yards to the Lions' 30, then was hit by Whitney for a score on the very first play. Phew, talk about firepower. The game was sputtering along at 7-7 and then, boom, to quote John Madden, it was 28-7. The Hawks did add another TD in the fourth quarter on a 9-yard run by Livingston, but it was wiped out by holding. Soph Tim Edger, Bill's brother, then wound up blasting a 24-yard field goal. The Prep finished with 330 yards from scrimmage. O'Hara wound up with 268 as jr. RB John Dempsey rushed for success (11-129). The Lions began with sr. Anthony Walters at QB. Late in the first quarter, on a fourth-and-seven play, he switched to WR and Savage was inserted. A fade to the right side was called and I thought Walters did a spectacular job of getting one foot inbounds on what was roughly a 20-yard catch. (I was standing 3 yards away). The line judge, for whom I have great respect, saw it differently. Nevertheless, O'Hara DID score first, and in wild fashion. On second-and-seven midway through the second quarter, Whitney flipped a quick screen pass to the right. It was backwards, though, and Wixted, as the wingback, had little chance to catch it. The ball dribbled into the end zone and sr. DB Harry Duke recovered for a Lions TD! The Prep answered on the ensuing series, going 64 yards in 10 plays after B. Edger ripped off a 25-yard return. The only two plays of the drive to net at least 10 yards came first and last; Whitney's 16-yard keeper and Livingston's 11-yard TD. Savage is going to have many wonderful experiences (all he throws are spirals!), but he was picked off three times tonight. Wixted was joined on the interception list by Whitney and sr. nickel back Tim Lutz. The O'Hara folks suffered through some uneasy moments when star sr. LB Greg Smith departed with a neck injury. It didn't appear to be ultraserious, but he left via stretcher (from the sideline) in a rescue vehicle. Before the game, O'Hara manager Will "Big Willy Style/Where There's a Will" McGonigle came acoss the field with O'Hara ballboy Nick Horan, age 12. Nick mentioned that he's related to West Catholic DE Anthony "Tough Tony" Rhoades and I said to Nick, "That means we're blood, too, buddy!" He was appropriately shocked. Nick said Ant is a cousin of a cousin. Ant's mom is my wife's second cousin. You keepin' track of all this? (smile) I even pulled out my somewhat trusty cell phone, called the Mrs. and told her, "Hey, Pie (her nickname; long story; well, not THAT long; she has a round face; like a pie), I found us a new cousin. Six or seven times removed, probably, but that's OK, right?" Anyway, I come from a small family, so I'm getting into this new-relatives stuff. Just so they don't come banging on my door some night or day (or any time) looking to deplete my supply of Tastykakes. Even the Mrs. knows to keep her distance . . . Meanwhile, O'Hara needed just a FEW more people on its sideline. John Lohn, of the Delco Times, put the over-under number at 200. That's not counting players and coaches. Brutal. 

NOV. 5
CATHOLIC BLUE
Neumann-Goretti 27, Dougherty 18
   You know a league is crazy when a team that's into a fifth year without a division win enters the final day of the regular season with a chance to make the playoffs. That team, Dougherty, put forth a valiant effort, but the result was another L and anyone who wants to see a playoff game will have to pay admission (or try to say they work for TedSilary.com -- ha ha). All kinds of yards were rung up in this one. Once it started, that is. Dougherty did not arrive until shortly before what should have been the 2 p.m. kickoff and the incessant waiting around caused N-G assistant Bill Sytsma to say, "Dougherty should go with a new motto -- Traffic and Transit on the 2's." He added, "KYW -- that's the first button on my car radio." Dougherty buses were stuck on the Expressway, along with many other vehicles, and the game didn't start until about 2:20. When it did, well, when the second half did, sr. RB Hiram "H" Bowman was da H-bomb. Somehow, he had no scrimmage touches in the first half (well, he did have one, but it was negated by a holding call). In the second, he turned five touches into 140 yards and two scores. He made two receptions for TDs of 64 and 30 yards from jr. QB Mark Hatty (5-for-7, 174) and turned one of two his two carries into a 7-yard score (the other went for 8 yards). Also, on a halfback pass, he hit sr. WR Chuck French for a gain of 31 yards and that play immediately preceded his own 30-yard TD catch. French showed a big-play knack as his four receptions went for 111 total yards. Jr. RBs Anthony Davis (12-69) and Mark McPherson (7-30, TD) also had some moments. N-G's grunts: sr. C Ernie Cimadamore, sr. Gs Paul Bryson and Tommy "Vectorman" Howlett, and sr. Ts Michael Flynn (of anti-Hawk Talk fame -- smile) and Dominic Orlando. In all the Saints accumulated 310 yards. Despite the loss, the Cardinals also had some fun, though during and afterward the coaching staff was highly hissed that so many holding calls were signaled. It was unbelievable. I'm pretty sure every one negated a big play, too. CD posted 179 yards rushing and 163 through the air as sr. Derrick Israel (20-115, two TDs) keyed the ground game and soph QB Phil Baxter went 12-for-20. If Dougherty comes up with some decent blocking over the next two years (the cornerstones, G Kellen "Bubba" Kemp and T Matt Boerner, are seniors), this kid could have some fun. The most effective plays were screen passes, usually to the right to jr. RB Sean Williams. On a screen left, though, it was Israel who motored for a 50-yard TD with 3:54 left, drawing the Redbirds within 27-18. N-G had already begun subbing by that point. On the conversion, CD lined up for a trick play and then had to call time when the alignment wasn't right. A missed kick followed and the deficit remained in the two-scores range. Davis did some hard running to collect two first downs and sr. backup QB Anthony Giletto wound things up with kneel-downs. N-G's best defensive effort was turned in by McPherson as the first half wound down. He made consecutive tackles as CD tried for a late score and then the fourth-down pass was low to jr. WR Roberto Townsend. Late in the third quarter, a decent CD opportunity again was thwarted when jr. LB Vinny Burgese and sr. DL Ryan Howlett (Tommy's cousin) combined to dump sr. RB Charles Gladman for an 11-yard loss on fourth-and-7. Before the game, I told sr. K Dan Juliano I wanted to take a picture of his famous right shoe, the one that flew off his foot and went right through the uprights earlier this season. He said he couldn't remove his shoe. "Once it's tied, I don't take it off anymore. Not taking any chances." After Dougherty drew within 27-18, N-G coach Steve Smith turned to kid younger kids on the sideline and said, "Sometimes, I have no idea why I do this." He then added, "See how gray my hair is? I'm only 27." The kids were wide-eyed. He's really about 45. Dougherty brought no kicking tee and had to borrow N-G's. N-G sr. lineman Mike "Smack" Smakulski is out with another ankle injury and his leg is lightly encased. Frosh Jim Dougherty said, "You know how some people have shoes lined up in their closet? Smack has braces." Jr. DL Jimmy Niven says he wants to do a Hawk Talk-style column and call it "The Way 'Niv' Lives." He also had me take a picture of the tattoo on his right forearm. Phew, some days I'm the luckiest man in America (ha ha).

NOV. 4
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Malvern 39, Episcopal 0
   The hope was that this would be competitive and that Malvern would at least need to break a sweat while winning another title under the legendary Gamp Pellegrini (18 in 28 years, 14 outright; 250 total wins in a 39-year career over three schools). That hope died a quick death when two of Episcopal's main players, sr. QB Tim Ivory and soph FB Andrew Kissner, departed with ankle injuries before the first quarter ended. Would the Churchmen have truly pushed Malvern? Not positive. Would they have been able to show more juice? Undoubtedly. The first break came midway through the first quarter when Ivory made an errant pitchout and sr. DB Ian Mitchell recovered 19 yards behind the line of scrimmage at the EA 48. Seven plays later, Mitchell scored from the 1. On EA's next series, Ivory was knocked out of action when jr. LB Alex Forte dropped him for a 6-yard loss. A punt resulted and, pfft!, sr. RB Jimmie Cotton took a perfectly timed pitchout from Mitchell (on his way down) and went 65 yards. If the game had been a balloon, all air would have been out of it. The next score came 9:46 before halftime when a snap came dribbling back to, and then past, sr. P Matt Ebert. As someone (pretty sure it was soph Kevin Corbett) occupied Ebert, sr. DL Brian Gatti scooped up the ball and went 8 yards for a score. Oh, brother. The Friars wound up holding EA to 39 yards and three first downs. The starting defenders: sr. E Tom Hagan, jr. E Paul "War Paint" Ostick, sr. Ts Mark Miller and Joe Rawlings, sr. LBs Steve Layne and Will Miller, jr. LBs Matt Bernier and Forte, sr. CB Trey Womack, jr. CB Joe Hoban and Mitchell at safety. The shutout was the third in league play for the Friars, who punished their foes to the tune of 167-24. (Penn Charter scored all of the points and only one of the TDs came from scrimmage.) Cotton went for 126 yards and two scores on eight carries. Jr. Joe Buckley hit four PATs and a 32-yard field goal. The best run was turned in by Layne's soph brother, Chris, in the final minute. He headed to the left sideline and appeared to have no chance to gain positive yardage, let alone earn six points. But he bobbed and weaved and avoided what should have been pushes out of bounds and then, at about the 5, did a cutback/spin move and eased into the end zone. Outstanding! MP's starting linemen were Gatti, jr. G Jim Downey, No. 70 (not on roster, sorry), and Ts Ostick and M. Miller. W. Miller had a fumble recovery (hit by Ostick) to set up a TD in addition to an interception. It'll be interesting to see whether Malvern can surge forward and post the best record in school history (11-0) with wins over toughie Valley Forge and vastly disappointing Bonner. It would be Gamp's fourth perfect team (9-0 in 2001, 10-0 in 1995 and '80). To those who keep asking: I have no affinity for Va. Tech. It's just a hat!! (smile) A few years ago, for $5 apiece at Wal-Mart, my kids picked out hats representing Boston College, Florida and VT just because they thought they looked the coolest. BC got messed up. Florida's around here somewhere. VT is now in use. I'm thinking of putting a strip of tape on the bill: "It's just a hat!" Malvern's No. 44, listed as soph TE-DE Mike McKee, was beggin' to get his name on the website. There you go, buddy.

NOV. 3
NON-LEAGUE
Bartram 46, Mastbaum 14
   Mastbaum can't do anything right this season. It even messes up at the coin toss. Somehow, Bartram wound up with the ball AND the wind at its back to open the game and the score went to 21-0 in short order. Mastbaum's only true hope to move the ball is by passing, right? Well, sr. QB Chris Bennett threw no passes in the first quarter -- admittedly, the wind would have made things difficult, but he has a STRONG ARM -- and a punt went for minus-22 yards when it was affected by the wind way above field level, landed crazily and set off in the wrong direction like a jackrabbit. Incredible. Bartram's first three drives necessitated three plays, then two plays and four plays. Jr. RB Tyrell Coleman ran for the first two scores. Jr. QB Tyrone Cheeseboro wriggled into the end zone from the 1 for the third. (The bad punt wound up at the 7.) The Braves averaged just under 13 yards per play (24-313) as Coleman (9-114) rushed for three TDs and soph RB Michael Alexander (6-54), sr. FB Kevin Pace (4-63) and Cheeseboro managed one apiece. Also, Cheeseboro hit Bobby Byrd for a 57-yard score. It was a big event for Byrd because he apparently had been guilty of some drops this season. The pic is in Special Photos so he can print it out and save it for the rest of his life (smile). Mastbaum tallied twice on passes from Bennett (10-for-23, 112) to sr. WR Maurice Sullivan (5-55). Sr. WR Sean O'Reilly also had a nice performance with four catches for 45 yards and a run for 16. Bartram's line starters were jr. C Tristen Thornton (congrats on the monthly Play It Smart award, young man!), jr. Gs Tristen Lockridge and Ian Garnett, sr. T Brandon Woody (subject of my DN story, a I-A or I-AA prospect!) and jr. T Maurice Jessup. Bennett was dropped for losses six times. Thorton, Woody and soph Troy Griffith had solo sacks. The ever-legendary Michael Leak had a 20-yard kickoff return for 'Baum and, he claimed, six tackles. There was a very minor flareup in the parking lot after the game as the teams/cheerleaders were waiting for their buses. Bartram's kids went over to the south end of the lot, near the school building. As the teams were warming up, Bartram assistant Rich "Moose" Carfagno glanced at Mastbaum lineman James "Eyes" Dowden (5-10, 215) and said, "He looks like he should be playing on Sundays." At one point of the second half, two injured Bartram players were talking about the photos on the website. One of them said, "Them jaunts poppin'!" I'm awaiting the translation, but I'm suspecting the kid was saying they're not too bad (ha ha).