SEPT. 30
PUBLIC WHITE
Central 19, Bartram 13
   Next Friday the search will be on for a football hero named Ford, Carter, Bush or Clinton. Last week we profiled a Nixon (George, of Olney) and the headliner from this one was a Kennedy (John, of Central). Nixon/Kennedy. What's this, 1960? Kennedy is a junior QB and, as Amauro, said in a recent report, he's quite similar to all of the Lancers' recent field generals. Feet, vision, ballhanding skills and a decent enough arm. He carried 13 times for 101 yards and TDs of 19 and 3 yards and his 19-yarder was a beauty. His fakes were so good, Bartram's d-backs were still running up to the line of scrimmage as Kennedy was entering the end zone. His passing stats were only 2-for-8, but there were several drops and also a mid-air bobble that led to an interception for sr. LB Kevin Pace. Kennedy last year played pound ball for the Mt. Airy Bantams and was much more of a running back than QB, so as he gets more comfortable and experienced, watch out! The other members of Central's backfield were srs. James Tyree (7-63), William Thomas (12-44) and Michael Lloyd (5-39). Bartram scored first after accepting a nicely wrapped gift: sr. Bradley Davis recovered a fumbled punt on the Lancers' 8. Jr. RB John "Fudgie" Pratt went eight yards, then sr. QB Andre Goddard squeezed in from the 1. When Central responded immediately with a five-play, 58-yard drive for Kennedy's first TD, I was thinking we'd be in for a high-scoring, back-and-forth tilt. Didn't happen, but the game was still quite entertaining. Central grabbed a 13-6 lead just before halftime as Lloyd ran seven yards. There were two big plays in this 10-play, 80-yard thrust: a 19-yard run by Lloyd and a 38-yard pass from Kennedy to sr. WR Greg Riley. Bartram's answer? A drive for a tie, which was capped midway through the third quarter. A spark was provided when Goddard hit Davis for 21 yards and then soph RB Michael "And He's Only a Soph!!" Alexander (some guy kept saying that -- ha ha) stepped off the bench to reel off consecutive-play gains of 28, 12, 4, 9 and 5 yards for a TD. He ran hard and with zip and the entire Bartram squad was excited. Later, the decision was made to go back with Pratt, who'd been dinged earlier in the game, and he just didn't have it. Looking back, I'm sure coach Damond "Smash" Warren wishes he would have made the decision to stick with Alexander. A long time ago, when I was coaching in the Sonny Hill College League, I tried to mix and match the players and get them all time. One of the guys was on a roll and when I went to remove him, the would-be replacement said he wouldn't mind resting longer because the other guy was doing so well, he deserved to be out there. If Alexander had remained on fire, I doubt Pratt would have minded cheering along with everyone else. Anyway . . . Central's go-ahead score came with 7:24 left on Kennedy's 3-yard surge up the middle. Earlier on the drive, he had runs for 10, 24 and 17 yards. Bartram responded with a solid drive and got as close as Central's 16, but Goddard's pass to the right corner was picked off by Riley at 2:50. After an unproductive Central possession, the Braves got one more chance. But on third down, Pratt lost a fumble (though he said he didn't and there was a whole lot of confusion; Warren spent a whole timeout preparing a fourth-down play though Central's offense was on the field) and the Lancers did kneel-downs to end it. Central has a d-back named Kahree Steplight. At one point I heard a Bartram player say to a teammate, "What's that guy's name?" The other kid said, "Steplight." The first kid said, "Man, I was gonna say, 'How can a dude be named Spotlight?' That's what I thought his jersey said, 'Spotlight.' " Warren was coached at Bartram by Frank Conway Sr., the father of Central's coach. Injured Central jr. RB-DB Greg Wright wants to be recognized for the great job he did on the chain crew (smile). Here's a picture you might find interesting.

SEPT. 29
PUBLIC AAA
Bok 28, Imhotep Charter 14
   Let's offer a couple of theories on why this game was competitive. No. 1, the Bok kids got caught in a comparative-score trap. Bok beat Upper Moreland, 10-0. Imhotep lost to UM, 47-8. No. 2, Imhotep is much better now than it was before school even opened way back on Labor Day weekend. This might sound crazy, but Imhotep could have won this game. The Panthers killed their chances with simple mistakes again and again and the major one was not having the correct number of players on the field. They were penalized often for having 12 instead of 11 and a few more times called quick timeouts to avoid being penalized. It got to be truly brutal. Next time out, coach Marc Wilson should assign one assistant to specifically count the players before and after every play. This was my first look at Bok and, like often, coach Tom DeFelice has a mixture of tiny kids and large kids with very few mediums thrown in. Like ALWAYS, though, the Wildcats hit for keeps and play fundamentally sound football. IC struck first as jr. LB Khalief Evans forced and recovered a fumble and his twin brother, jr. Khaleel, raced 44 yards on a right-end sweep two plays later. Immediately, Bok sr. RB Keith Williams uncorked a 56-yard gain on a run, down to the IC 4, and sr. QB James Jones snuck in from the 1 on third down. Bok's second score was a gift as IC soph P Andreas Roberts took a dribbled snap on his knee at the 9 and soph RB Luke Lassiter cruised 9 yards to the end zone. IC's answer? An emphatic, "We're coming right back at you!!" The Panthers exploded for 75 yards in three plays thanks to runs by Khaleel Evans for 30, and then jr. RB Gerald Bowman for 10 and 35, respectively. The conversion run by QB Clinton "Juice" Sharpe-Granger, listed as a junior but said to be only a soph by AD/basketball coach Andre "Cell Phone" Noble ('Dre was on the horn non-stop; I kidded him that he must have the million-minute plan), was impressive as he absolutely trucked some defenders, making it 14-14. Bok went ahead with only 0:34 left in the half as sr. QB James Jones lofted a perfectly thrown, 10-yard pass to jr. WR Maurice Goodwin in the right corner. Lassiter had the big play in the 50-yard drive (following a 12-yard punt), a 35-yard run. Imhotep had gotten big stops, both good for 2-yard losses, on first down from sr. DL Deeian Moore and jr. DE Tyreese Johnson (6-5, 240) and on second down from sr. LB Daniel Richardson and sr. DB Rashad Mims before the TD pass broke the Panthers' spirit. Except for an Imhotep punt that went minus-11 yards, in part due to the wind; and a vicious but clean hit by Bok DB John Monroe on Sharpe-Granger; and the annoying penalties, the second half was mostly uneventful. Bok's lone scoring drive needed to cover just 35 yards and the TD went to jr. RB Tony DuBose on a 9-yard run. Sr. FB Nick "Popeye" Perrone got things started with an 18-yard rumble. Perrone was the subject of my DN story. He suffered a severe leg/ankle injury last year but is as good as new. Four of his 12 tackles at LB went for losses and he broke up a pass, as well. Often, he cheated up to the line of scrimmage and did whatever he wanted. Jr. DB Michael Nelson posted a late interception. Jr. Anthony Bright, who figured to be IC's main rusher, is recovering from a broken bone in his upper left cheek. He's now serving as the ballboy. Noble told me that IC's enrollment is about 525 and that another 500 are on assorted waiting lists. Because it worked better for picture-taking purposes, I stayed on IC's sideline for both halves. I liked the coaches' approach to the players and that there was instruction along with reaming-out (HAS to be that, right? smile), and that there appeared to be significant togetherness. As the years go on, I'm expecting IC to become a major player in Pub lower-enrollment football.

SEPT. 25
CATHOLIC BLUE
Wood 21, Carroll 6
   Sunday football is a dying breed in the Catholic League and there's no doubt that the atmosphere for day games, with rare exceptions, pales in comparison with the atmosphere for night games. That doesn't mean the game itself can't be good, of course, but this opener between Blue Division toughies was not much better than medium. There were only a few plays to stir the juices and it had more of a November cold-day look than a September hot-day look. Hey, it happens. We persevere and move on (smile). My DN story focused on sr. RB Bryan McCartney, who suffered a high right-ankle sprain two weeks back and cramps in this one but nevertheless did his usual tough-guy carrying to the tune of 20-142-1. McCartney needs just 130 yards to reach 3,000 for his career, but this will be his last FB season as he's intending to play lacrosse in college. Maryland, Villanova and Lehigh are possibilities (not bad, eh?). Sr. QB Joe Kosich had some delivery problems, but did whip a pass that jr. WR Chris Lorditch turned into a 40-yard TD. Lorditch made the catch at the Carroll 24 (I know this because it happened to be one of the Special Photos) in the middle of the field, and then eased to the right and made a couple of nifty moves to get to the end zone. That score made it 14-6. Wood's first TD had come quite early. As jr. QB Matt Cantafio was looking to pass, jr. LB Pat McAfee dislodged the ball and sr. DE Sean Forsyth hustled 22 yards to paydirt. Carroll got close 1:56 before halftime on an 8-yard run by sr. RB Josh Halladay. The drive had to cover only 37 yards after a fumble recovery by sr. DB Mark Smith. An 18-yard pass from Cantafio to jr. RB Russell Johnson got the drive started. The PAT kick was deflected by sr. DL Mike Gallagher, keeping the score at 7-6. Wood's responding drive was vintage two-minute. Kosich ran for a 12-yard gain and hit jr. WR Pat Devlin for 20 yards to the Carroll 35. But a pair of incompletions were the bread for the meat of a 5-yard sack, so the TD by Lorditch came on 4th-and-15. Carroll had just three possessions in the second half and just one of its plays resulted in a gain of more than 10 yards (29-yard run for jr. RB Brent Christie). The Patriots sorely miss the blocking and running of sr. FB Jake "The Sniz-ake" Szulinski, who's trying to recover from a back injury. He made only a brief appearance (no carries; did see him as an intended target on a pass play) and hopes to return to full-fledged duty momentarily. Wood's line (all srs.) featured C Tim Colbridge, Gs Chris Smith and Matt Knox, Ts Gallagher and Brian Holly and TE Ryan Dolan. McAfee wound up with 11 tackles while soph LB Bob DeLucas (seven) and Devlin (five) helped out. Also, at SS, McCartney made seven stops and one went for a loss. For Carroll, sr. DT Dan Ferry registered two sacks and jr. DT Jordan Faust also made a few plays at or behind the line. The star of the day might have been McCartney's father, Brian, whose interception on a conversion enabled Wood to beat O'Hara, 7-6, for the CL title in '78. While driving to Tennent, he noticed the legendary Thomas "Hockey Puck" McKenna walking along the road and gave him a ride the rest of the way. Brian said with a laugh, "And he picked Carroll, don't forget. And I STILL gave him a ride." Bob Finley, Wood's coach from 1987-89, was part of the chain gang. His son, Andrew, is a Viking sophomore. When Wood faced 4th-and-3 on its own 27 early in the game, a sub blurted out "C'mon, go for it!" as Lorditch prepared to punt. An assistant turned to the kid and said with a smile, "Thank God you're not a coach."

SEPT. 24
CATHOLIC BLUE
Neumann-Goretti 28, Kennedy-Kenrick 19
   Well, the schools with hyphens produced a game worthy of an exclamation mark. As in, entertaining and weird! N-G ran 38 plays from scrimmage and only three yielded 10 yards or more. K-K ran 58 and 13 yielded gains of 10 yards or more. So, what happened? Mistakes. Seriously costly mistakes. After K-K impressively drove down the field with the opening kickoff and jumped ahead, 7-0, on a 6-yard run by sr. RB Troy Taylor (17-85), N-G soph Darrell Dulany zoomed 81 yards for a TD with the kickoff. The Saints rattled off three more TDs late in the second quarter on a 31-yard interception by sr. OLB Rich Allen at 2:10, an 11-yard run by sr. RB Hiram "H" Bowman at 0:54 and a 6-yard pass from jr. QB Mark Hatty to sr. TE Anthony Love at 0:27. Phew! What hit the Wolverines? N-G received some strong defensive plays after Allen's pick TD as sr. DB Dane Davis broke up a pass and soph DB Adam Malatino dropped sr. QB Gerry DiNolfi for a 9-yard loss. The punt snap then skipped to the side of sr. K-P Kevin Lawrence and, though I was far downfield, it appeared he thought a lot of guys would be in his face and thus rushed the action. He shanked the punt off to the side for a loss of 4 yards (it truly looked Pub-ish) and Bowman immediately posted six points on a left-end sweep that he changed by cutting it up the middle. On K-K's very next play, sr. DL Barry Canady dropped off the line and picked off a short pass, returning the ball 27 yards to the 6. Next, the officiating crew, headed by a guy who these things always seem to happen to (name not worthy of mention; I can't stand his arrogant ways and neither can any of my dot.com partners; we all cringe and mutter "oh, great!" when he walks -- no, struts -- into a stadium), was guilty of a major screwup. N-G ran an inside reverse and there was a fumble while Bowman was taking the handoff from a fellow back. An incomplete pass was called and the clock stopped at 0:34, allowing N-G to regroup. Yup, an incomplete pass on a botched handoff. Believe that? They made up some crap about the handoff being a forward pass. Ha, ha, ha, ha. Anyway, the TD pass to Love followed immedately. K-K began the second half the way it had the first, with an impressive scoring drive. This one was capped with a 4-yard flip from DiNolfi to sr. WR Zach Molyneaux. K-K had five more possessions. One resulted in another score, Taylor's 3-yard run, but three resulted in turnovers. In all, DiNolfi threw four picks (Bowman had two; Allen and Canady settled for one apiece) while fumble recoveries went to sr. DT John Gamble (6-7, 395) and jr. LB Vinny Burgese. The forces on those belonged to jr. DL Jimmy Niven and sr. DL Ryan Howlett (also two TFLs). The most impressive K-K player, by far, and this will surprise no one familar with his body of work, was sr. WR-OLB Jermaine Pierce (6-3, 230). A big-time prospect, he made seven catches for 124 yards, again breaking the school's one-game receiving yardage mark, and three times posted TFLs on which he basically threw guys to the ground. If I were the K-K staff, I'd be tempted to throw passes to this guy at least 25 times per game. Especially against short and/or skinny DBs (as N-G's were). The thing is, Molyneaux is also a quality receiver, with a bit of flair to his game as well, and he'd be the No. 1 pass-catching option on many CL teams. The play of soph LB Matt Ganley was also impressive. This tilt started a few minutes late because a semipro game on the same field (Garthwaite in Conshy) ran a shade long. There was a serious injury requiring an ambulance visit. K-K's squad chose to stand behind the rope at one end and watch the semipro game. N-G went outside the stadium to an adjacent park and worked out. Late in the semipro game, one of K-K's players yelled to a guy on the Pottstown squad, mindful that Conshohocken had a very large receiver, "They're coming to your side, No. 11! You can't stick him." This was during a timeout and No. 11's helmet was off. The K-K player, drawing laughter from his teammates, added, "And get a haircut!"

SEPT. 24
CATHOLIC BLUE
West Catholic 21, McDevitt 0
   No offense to West, which I've now seen three times and will likely see many times later this season, but I went to this one mostly to get a look at McDevitt and its yardage-gobbling rusher, sr. Manny Harrison. No one rolls up 645 yards in three games without having some ability -- and blocking, of course -- but Harrison was nothing like I expected. I figured he'd be a scatback who kills defenses on sweeps. Instead, he runs almost exclusively between the tackles! And though he's listed at 6-foot, 180, I'd be surprised if he's really that heavy. He's an impressive kid, although he did not have much room to operate. He effectively lowered his shoulder and banged guys at the end of his runs and routinely gained 5 yards instead of 3, 3 instead of 1, and so on. Unfortunately, he also suffered a dinged ankle and coach Pat Manzi opted not to take any chances. The hopefully-minor injury occurred at the end of Harrison's best run, a 28-yarder (probably only his second to the outside and finalizing his numbers at 19 carries, 109 yards) that moved the ball to West's 5 early in the third quarter. But hopes that McDevitt might score and make things competitive were squashed in convincing fashion. Sr. RB Brian Mitros ran to the right and was dropped for a 4-yard loss by sr. DB Harold Davis. Soph RB Kyle Epps, who suffered what was likely a broken collarbone, ran to the left and was dropped for a 6-yard loss by sr. DT Chris Farmer (6-5, 260). Mitros managed to gain back six of the yards and then a pass from jr. QB Frank Doyle (sr. Tom Maha is still not quite ready to go), intended for Mitros, sailed a shade beyond the left corner. McDevitt had not gotten too close beforehand, and would not again. West did all of its scoring before halftime as soph QB Eric Brennan went 14-for-21 for 166 yards and one TD apiece to sr. WB Chris "Not Huck" Palmer and sr. WR Parris Shannon. The Burrs often employed a no-huddle offense. It was not so much that they were hurrying. They merely did things without going into a huddle. Sr. WR John Maddox also had a big first half, without scoring, and finished with eight snags for 82 yards after making the only West reception of the second half. Brennan finished 15-24-183, though he did throw three picks. Mitros had two and the other went to sr. LB Barry Porter. The 41-yard TD play involving Shannon was the Burrs' best. The ball appeared to be overthrown down the left sideline, but Shannon used his long strides and a quick burst to make the catch in borderline-easy fashion. A fumble recovery by Maddox set up that score. The other TD was scored by jr. TB Dennis Shaw (20-126) on a 4-yard run. Aside from the interceptions, McDevitt's best defense came on first-and-goal at the 1 late in the third quarter. Sr. DL Mike Wojcik broke through to toss Shaw for a 1-yard loss and then, with the rugged sr. FB Wayne Donahue running, Wojcik again powered into position and forced a fumble. Two consecutive great plays with his team down by three TDs! Just before that, Shaw had run for a combined 85 yards on three plays. He went 45 for a would-be TD (wiped out by a penalty), then came back with gains of 10 and 30. The overall atmosphere was kinda drab, really. Especially in the second half. Didn't hear a funny remark the whole day. Not even from Huck. Now THAT'S unusual. Here are some tackle numbers, courtesy of Huck: Marc Holloway led West with eight; Donahue, jr. DE Anthony Rhoades and Farmer added five apiece. Jr. DB Joe Mitros, Brian's brother, had six for Mickey D. Porter had six with a half-sack.

SEPT. 23
NON-LEAGUE
Olney 12, Imhotep Charter 6
   Overall, this tilt was pug-ugly with 17 penalties and at least a half-dozen more that were declined. Also, as the game wound down, Olney opted for the QB wedge on six consecutive plays and that's surely not exciting. Two players were sent to the sidelines and there were three unsportsmanlike penalties and the emotions almost bubbled over to the dangerous stage. With all that being said, in the big news, Olney is 3-0 for the first time in 20 years! The Trojans' opponents? OK, so we're not talking SJ Prep, Frankford and Malvern as the first two wins this season were over Penn and Communications Tech. I doubt Olney's players and coaches and fans much care, though. These folks have endured all kinds of suffering and it was nice to see smiles and hear laughter and watch the Trojans run down the field after the postgame handshakes chanting, "Three and oh! Three and oh!" The game was decided with 7:40 left when sr. TE George Nixon caught a 22-yard TD pass from sr. QB Giovanni Romero. The play came on 4th-and-9 and when the Trojans broke the huddle, Nixon at first lined up incorrectly on the right side. He then scrambled over to the left side and ran a corner route to that same side and scored in the end zone closest to Front Street. After the conversion (a pass on the same pattern to him) was unsuccessful, Nixon was stopped during his trot to the sideline by two TV cameraman who needed to ask him his name. I'm sure the whole sequence was one he'll never forget. Olney was the beneficiary of an Imhotep messup on the first play of the fourth quarter. The snap dribbled back to soph P Andreas Roberts and he suffered a 13-yard loss to Imhotep's 35. An offsides penalty on fourth down helped the Trojans advance closer to the end zone. Imhotep -- or "IHOP" as one of the refs kept calling it; must be a pancake fan -- had two more possessions. The first one ended on a long pass to the back of the end zone. Jr. QB Clinton Sharpe-Granger, a big kid (6-2, 215) with serious arm strength, was trying to hit jr. WR Jerimiah Roach. Sr. DB Alando Brown deflected the pass in the end zone and then sr. RB Rashad Mims came close to catching it; pretty sure he was beyond the back line, though. Imhotep got one more chance, with 0:18 left. Sharpe-Granger's pass was picked off by Brown. In the very beginning, it appeared Olney would frolic as it ripped off gains of 35, 10 and 16 yards on three of its first four plays with its ever-present wingback sweeps/counters. Brown had the 35 and 10. Jr. Izahia Green had the 16. Sr. FB Isaiah Mills then bulled in from the 3. Forty-two seconds later, Mims zoomed 54 yards for an easy TD from scrimmage. The Panthers came close to another score as the half wound down, but a holding call wound up being a killer. As the half ended, I began walking across the field to Olney's side and one of Imhotep's backs asked me, "Ted, how many yards I got?" I told him not to worry about the yards, and to concentrate instead on winning the game (smile). Imhotep could have helped itself immensely as the third quarter began. Roberts' kickoff spun off to the side and a easy recovery was imminent. But instead of falling on the ball, sr. Kevin Burwell tried to pick it up and run with it and he fumbled it, allowing Olney's Emmanuel Denoise to recover. Imhotep has two very large DEs in sr. Terron Oates (6-4, 240) and jr. Tyreese Johnson (6-5, 240). They move well and should bear watching. Nixon and sr. DE Anthony Lomax had strong performances for Olney's defense and sr. DB Mike Reyes made an incredibly forceful hit. His body slammed right into Burwell's and both guys were completely upright. Phew! When a couple of early penalties were called on Imhotep, a parent yelled out, "We ain't got NO calls. But you're gonna help us in the end, right Mr. Ref?!" Like ALWAYS, a number of names are spelled incorrectly on Olney's roster. I asked five guys with unusual names to cross-check the listed spellings. Four were incorrect. Check this out: one guy's name was spelled correctly but then crossed out and changed to something incorrect. How hard is it? Really? Is it THAT hard to make sure the kids' names are spelled correctly? The athletic director and two assistants said they'll try to right this wrong. Actually, it's more than a wrong. It's a DISGRACE. We'll see. After years and years -- decades, really -- of routinely dealing with this at Olney (and other schools, for sure), I'm not hopeful.

SEPT. 22
NON-LEAGUE
Northeast 28, Roxborough 0
   When a team has better players and more of them, not to mention a size advantage, it should win in comfortable fashion. It took a while, but NE eventually coasted. My DN story focused on sr. RB Lamone Fox, a transfer from Southern who's one of the city's top rushers. He has put on some muscle (now 5-11, 200) since last year and has retained his speed. His running skills are one thing. Even nicer to see is that he has blended in completely with his new teammates, who have elected him a tri-captain. They reacted with passion along the sidelines to some of his better runs and he was consistent in thanking/encouraging his linemen. 'Mone finished with 147 yards and two TDs on 16 carries; his scores covered 11 and 8 yards. Also, at LB, he recorded a 6-yard sack. The Vikings look to have a prospect in sr. C Yaroslov Mukha. He goes 6-5, 275, and isn't fat in the least. It's hard to watch line play while keeping stats, but I did see this: When NE called time out a few times, the players went to the sideline. As they returned to the huddle, they did so on the run and Mukha looked very coordinated/fluid. I'm looking forward to seeing him again later. The other linemen: sr. G Seth Shapiro, jr. G Joshua McGarvey, sr. T Michael Freiling, sr. T Robert Lucini and jr. TE/WR Sean Evans (6-6, 200 . . . speaking of prospects!) The sr. WB, Ste'Shaun Johnson, also threw some important blocks on the corner, and even downfield. Sr. RB Harold Miller ran for a 19-yard score, but dropped a handoff on a play at the 1. The QB was jr. Michael Small, who was filling in for sr. Charles McGinn. Understandably, Small was a bit shaky in the beginning. He settled down nicely, however, and had every reason by day's end to feel good about his performance. The defensive leader was sr. E Jordan Strickland. He made six tackles in all, with three going for losses (one was a sack). Strickland was so reliable, he even got credit for a loss he didn't deserve (smile). When Fox registered his sack, a few NE subs hollered, "Yeah, go 'Strick!!" One then said, "Yo, that's not 'Strick. That's 'Mone." NE's first TD immediately followed a Roxborough messup. A high snap sailed over the head of sr. P Dionte Wade and Strickland made the all-too-easy tackle at the Rox 19. Miller immediately ran 19 yards for a score. Late in the second quarter, Wade mishandled a punt snap and again the loss went for 25 yards. Sr. DE Jesse Joseph made the hit and sr. LB Chris Zepp recovered on the Rox 24. Fox ran for his second TD with 0:25 showing just after Evans, showing good concentration, caught a tipped pass for a 15-yard gain. In the second half, soph LB John Bucher, namesake of a pretty good FB-baseball player for the Vikings back in the day, made a fumble recovery. Roxborough was held to six first downs. Highlights came on some passes from sr. Mark Ames to Wade and soph WR Stephen Tucker and a late, around-the-end keeper by backup sr. QB Timothy Pace. The most impressive defenders were sr. LB Aaron "A-Trane" Washington (six tackles, three for losses) and sr. DB Melvin Barnes (eight stops). Sr. CB Tavio DeShields uncorked a big-time pop to prevent a completion. Kwesi Solomon, a star lineman at Washington (and 'Nova) and later an assistant at Washington, is now on NE's staff. When I asked him why he'd left Washington, off the record, he smiled broadly and said, "Needed a change." I told him, "That sounds like an on-the-record response." He smiled again. And I didn't press him. There's no No. 23 listed on NE's roster, but a guy wearing that jersey was along the sidelines. Who was it? Principal Kelly Barton. Well, now, according to the roster, he's a co-principal. The "other" principal, Ed Monastra, was also along the sideline. He was wearing a suit. C'mon, give the new guy a jersey, too. How hard could it be? (smile)

SEPT. 17
NON-LEAGUE
Gilman (Md.) 22, SJ Prep 19 (OT)
   Wow! And wow again! Every person at Plymouth-Whitemarsh tonight will long remember bits and pieces of this one, in part because of what happened on the field, especially from the fourth quarter onward, and just as much, in all likelihood, because of what happened in the sky. Just as the second half was about to begin, the referees sent both teams back to their locker rooms as lightning became visible in the distance. Little by little, the lightning got closer and closer and it was eventually accompanied by rain (though not brutally hard rain) and the total delay wound up being 1 hour, 32 minutes. I'm not the greatest judge of this stuff, but I'd say maybe 20 percent of the spectators wound up leaving during the delay. Those who did not were truly rewarded with some of the greatest plays and performances they could ever hope to see. After looking shaky and at times downright inept on offense through three quarters, The Prep slapped together a pair of all-time drives in the fourth quarter to rally from a 16-0 deficit. On the first play of the fourth quarter, jr. DB Chris Whitney intercepted a pass and the Hawks took over on their 20. The drive required 11 plays and Whitney capped it with a 2-yard TD run. He also passed 4-for-4 during the thrust and three of the completions went to sr. WR Bill Edger, who was spectacular all night. The gains on those plays covered 11, 43 and 18 yards (no WAY he should have been able to hold onto the 18-yarder as he was powdered high and low). After the TD, Whitney went back and must have looked in 67 directions, under all kinds of pressure, before he executed a flip in the end zone to sr. TE Matt Leddy. That made it 8-8 with 7:10 left and Prep coach Gil Brooks, who would have gone with an onsides kick had the conversion failed, placed trust in his defense. A blow to the plan came almost immediately as Gilman's Sean Price (6-2, 208) ripped off a 28-yard gain on one of the most amazing runs you could ever hope to see. Price ran to his right and got close to The Prep's sideline when he was surrounded by four tacklers. Yes, four! He kept fighting and fending them off and then he did a slight spin and all four guys were on the ground, where Price's feet had been, and he was galloping downfield. Simply amazing! But five plays later, in a yes-he's-human development, Price fumbled and sr. Dave Mendez recovered for Prep at his own 24 with 3:36 left. The line of scrimmage quickly became the 19 as Prep was called for procedure. Two incompletions followed and it was third-and-15. Whitney hit Edger for seven yards. The next play HAD to be made, and it was. Whitney connected with Leddy for a 23-yard gain and Prep had the ball at its own 49. A second-down, Whitney-to-Edger hookup produced 13 yards. Next? Two incompletions. Again a big-time play was needed. Again Whitney delivered, this time with his legs. Three straight times, in fact. On a pair of flushouts sandwiching a designed, up-the-middle keeper, he gained nine, 11 and 13 yards and that placed the ball at the Gilman 5. The call? A pass to Leddy, right to left across the middle. Touchdown!! The go-for-the-tie call? A pass to Leddy, right to left across the middle. Conversion!! On the exact same play!! Forty seconds remained and the rest of regulation was uneventful. On to OT . . . Prep went first. Sr. RB John Shaw, basically held in check throughout (19-49), was dropped for a 1-yard loss. Whitney then flipped a TD pass to sr. WR Tom Elliott, but alas was 2 yards beyond the line of scrimmage when he did so. (It wasn't close, folks. He might have been 3 yards beyond). With the ball on the 14, Whitney suffered a 7-yard sack and that brought on soph Tim Edger, Bill's brother. Despite the pressure, he hammered a 38-yard field goal that made it by plenty. Gilman ball. On third down from the 11, sr. QB Marco Simmons tossed a short swing pass to Price. He steamed down the left side and was undercut by sr. LB Josh Howley just as he got to the left corner. His dive safely got him into the end zone, though, and that was it. The Greyhounds' subs dashed onto the field to celebrate with the offensive guys and the Hawks remained frozen in their spots. Some stood upright. Some bent over. Some knelt. It was the kind of scene you'd see after a championship game. When Brooks was asked later what he'd remember more, the tremendous comeback or the poor play that made it necessary, he responded, "Probably the latter. We did so many wrong things there for a while." B. Edger finished with 10 catches for 167 yards and this tape alone should get him a scholarship. He reminded me of the young Steve Quinn (now a frosh at Notre Dame), who was so fast and elastic and almost impossible to cover as a Prep soph. Whitney was also a big-timer. He went 16-for-30 for 213 yards while adding 45 yards on 15 carries. Those two fourth-quarter drives were vintage. Howley was involved in 15 tackles while jr. DL Ryan Haber also put on a strong performance. The game ended at 10:45. It's 1:19 a.m. as I finish this report and sleep will not come for a while. It was THAT kind of game. Chant of the night from the Prep's student rooters, after a referee's call: "We disagree! We disagree!" As that was dying out, one kid bellowed, "And strongly, I might add!"

SEPT. 17
NON-LEAGUE
Episcopal 33, Neumann-Goretti 13
   Campbell's or Lipton. Take your pick. But some company with a strong reputation for soup should be sponsoring this weekend's games. For three days now, players/coaches/witnesses have been dealing with unbelievable heat and humidity for this deep into September, and there's almost no wind, to boot. Don't stand too close to me because it's like I'm working for the Fish and Gamey Commission. Right Guard. Left Guard. Crossing Guard. Ain't NO deodorant holdin' up against this onslaught of sweat (ha ha). Phew! Anyway, I had hopes this would be competitive, but as the clock melted down even some N-G parents/coaches were apologizing for the fact the game wasn't closer. Actually, Episcopal did not frolic, but it did receive clutch plays at opportune moments and eventually wore down the smaller Saints. Sr. Tim Ivory put on a good show at QB, passing 5-for-10 for 104 yards and three TDs. His completions went to five different receivers and three posted TDs -- 9 yards to sr. WR Sean Cohen, 30 to soph WR Matt Byrne and 44 to soph FB Andrew Kissner (filling in his for his injured brother, sr. FB Ben Kissner). Ivory also posted 40 yards on nine carries and showed a knack for earning tough first downs. Soph RB Bobby FitzPatrick collected 74 yards and a TD on 21 carries. He did have a easy time of it, as twice he absorbed terrific shots and had to sit down briefly. Episcopal's line: sr. C Scott Ritrovato, sr. Gs Sam Daly and Matt Ebert, sr. T Zachary Morse and jr. T Tom "Takin' a" Mulligan, of website writing fame last basketball season. Tom also does the kicking and he made a PAT. And his sideline tackle prevented what could have been a TD on a kickoff. Go ahead, my man!! Smile. The defense set a quick tone as jr. LB Dan Gillespie (2 yards) and jr. DE Luke Miller (1 yard) made TFLs on N-G's first two plays. Then, A. Kissner broke up a pass. In all, 10 Saints plays lost yardage. FitzPatrick and sr. DB Rob McCallion made interceptions and sr. DB Charlie Barks would have had one if not for a penalty. N-G's offensive highlight came with 3:56 left in the first quarter as jr. QB Mark Hatty hit sr. RB Hiram Bowman in stride for a 44-yard TD. No. 19 (not listed on roster; maybe Anthony Love??; he was tall and Love is listed at 6-3) was in the vicinity and made a crucial block to help spring Bowman after the catch. Bowman's a little guy, but he needs more touches. His four produced 67 yards. The other guys' 25 produced 84. Gigundo sr. DL John Gamble (6-7, 395) was in on six tackles. The best thing was, two came late back to back when just his sheer bulk meant he had to be exhausted. One went for a 4-yard loss. Jr. DL Jimmy Niven made an impressive play on a screen, scraping down the line and keeping a gain to 5 yards. Sr. DL J. Mike Francesco posted a 4-yard loss on a pass play. Jr. DB Mark McPherson executed a strip on an option and sr. DL Barry Canady made the recovery. The PA announcer got a little carried away in support of the Churchmen. When M. Byrne made a catch at the 5 and then dragged a couple of tacklers into the end zone, the guy gushed, "How 'bout that second effort!!" Along the N-G sideline, a parent muttered, "Ah, shut the hell up."

SEPT. 16
NON-LEAGUE
O'Hara 14, West Catholic 12
   Life produces some amazing occurrences, of course, and so does the football version. A Thursday night game between two Pub teams, Southern and Imhotep Charter, included 14 turnovers and I kept thinking over and over, "Fourteen turnovers!? How does that happen!?" Well, guess what. It almost happened again in this one! The teams combined for 11 coughups through three quarters. Thankfully, No. 12 never came. Not officially, anyway. But there was certainly a mental/emotional glitch as the final seconds ticked away. On fourth-and-3 from O'Hara's 49, West soph QB Eric Brennan spiked the ball to stop the clock. Well, he did stop it, at 3.4 seconds. And O'Hara merely executed a kneel-down to end it. Only a major miracle would have enabled West to pull out what would have been its most noteworthy win in a VERY long time, and it would have been interesting to see what developed, but that chance didn't come. OK, let's return to the turnovers. For O'Hara, sr. DB Anthony Walters (three) and sr. LB Greg Smith (two) combined for five interceptions while sr. LB Scott Taylor (forced by sr. DT Ed Callahan) and Callahan (forced by Taylor) posted fumble recoveries. For West, a pick went to sr. DB John Maddox and recoveries went to jr. LB Marc Holloway and sr. DB Harold Davis (two). Hard to believe, right? Two strong teams combining for 11 turnovers. All the scoring took place before intermission. Walters got things rolling by intercepting a pass and racing 51 yards. At about the West 30, jr. DB Christopher Palmer approached from behind and had a chance to make an easy tackle. But he instead tried to swipe at the ball and it didn't work and Walters coasted home from there. West stormed right back, going 75 yards in only four plays: 14-yard run by sr. FB Wayne Donahue; incomplete pass; 25-yard run by Donahue; and 36-yard pass from Brennan to Palmer. "Not Huck" made a terrific, tumbling catch in the front left corner of the end zone. Actually, not sure what the TV replay showed, but it appeared he made the catch at the 1 and bounced into the end zone. Early in the second quarter, Walters hit sr. WR Chris Myers (of basketball fame; nice to see him out here! -- smile) for a 49-yard pickup to the West 4. As the play developed, a sub along O'Hara's sideline bellowed, "God, he's wide open!!!" Yes, he was. Sr. RB Joe "Juice" Juisti, who's only 5-5 but a rock-hard 180 pounds, bulled four yards for the score. Juisti finished with a whopping 27 carries for 124 yards and we'll get to why, in part, in a moment. West's second TD came with 4:04 showing in the second quarter and it was a weird one. On a play starting at O'Hara's 49, Donahue rumbled for 3 yards and then lost the ball. Everything pretty much stopped, but then Maddox could be spotted racing down the sideline. He went 46 yards with the fumble to bring West within 14-12. Coach Brian Fluck opted for a trick play on the conversion and it worked like a charm. Because Brennan WAS open. But the flip from sr. RB Erik Frazier was a shade too long. Walters finished the first half with three interceptions, but he only watched the second half. As he said afterward, he began coughing up blood after getting clocked by Donahue on a sack about midway through the second quarter. Here's hoping he's OK because everyone speaks of him in glowing terms and, of course, he's a tremendous player. His absence was the reason Juisti received so many rushing opportunities (17 in second half). The QB was 6-2, 195-pound frosh Tom Savage, brother of Haverford School all-timer Bryan Savage (Wisconsin). In the second half, the best scoring chance was O'Hara's. But sr. Tim Moore was barely wide with a 26-yard field goal attempt. The most important play of the second half was Juisti's 41-yard burst on the first play of the fourth quarter. It greatly changed the field position and thus the momentum. West began its final possession on the 29 with 1:17 left after jr. DE Anthony Rhoades made two strong tackles in a three-play sequence. The Burrs had no timeouts remaining, though, so they had to seriously scramble. Donahue provided hope with a 15-yard pickup to the 44. From there: incompletion; 3-yard pass to Maddox; 4-yard pickup by Brennan on an ad lib (tackle No. 14 for Taylor) and the ill-fated spike. This was the first game at Widener's refurbished Quick Stadium (artificial turf, lights). The place looks VERY nice. Oh, two funny things. In the press box, while hooking up to the internet, I removed a jack after being told that the TV people were done and that the wire had to be theirs. Um, it wasn't. When I pulled out the wire, it briefly took a radio station off the air! Oops, sorry. Then, around midnight, I briefly was locked inside the stadium. Luckily, as I came down the steps, two security guards were right there and they reopened the gates. Phew! That was close! They were just about to leave. I can't imagine sleeping in the stands would have been too enjoyable (ha ha).

SEPT. 15
NON-LEAGUE
University City 40, Penn 0
   As sometimes happens in the newspaper business, the person who "deserves" the attention, by performance, doesn't get it. That person on this day was sr. RB Sterling Johnson, a co-captain with sr. QB Steven Baxley. As the Jaguars rang up 40 points on "just" five TDs (they made all of their two-point conversions), Johnson had the golden touch out of the backfield. He turned five carries into 166 yards and three TDs, and his scores covered 67, 34 and 55 yards. He was barely touched. Johnson is considered a classic good soldier and here's hoping he gets some attention as the season continues. But today, the DN spotlight was cast upon three players who are here due to Hurricane Katrina. Sr. G-DE Rick Faison (two sacks) and sr. RB-LB Jamal Thompson (6-38, 20-yard TD run) were best buddies in New Orleans and they're living together with relatives. Jr. DB Christopher Smith, who forced a fumble on the opening kickoff, hails from Jackson, Miss., though he also has family in Philly and has lived here for about four of his 16 years. All three will help this squad and it's not impossible to think UC will make a bid for the lone playoff spot available out of the Blue Division. (Then again, Penn is quite weak, so it's tough to judge.) UC's offensive line starters: sr. C Tyrell Minter, sr. Gs Antonio Wynn and Faison, sr. Ts Brian Walker and Alfonso Glover and sr. TE Damy'on McGhee. They have size and are more than a little ornery (smile). The defense posted a score on a 57-yard interception return by soph DB Neville Hill-Brown. That came one play after sr. DB Aaron Stephens registered a 5-yard TFL. A week ago, Stephens, the basketball point guard new to FB, scored twice on returns to give UC a win over Penn Wood. The Jaguars had just 14 yards total offense in that one! Penn coach Manor Prewitt, who's getting almost no help, is again facing gigantic odds. He was short six players, as two were serving suspensions and four others were unavailable because they showed up to board the team bus without being able to prove they'd even been in school. Without having time to check, Prewitt didn't want to chance it. Then, in the second quarter, sr. RB-LB Braheem Clanton had to depart with a medical issue. I like soph QB David Allen. He took a pounding and hung in there and appeared to be rewarded in the fourth quarter, when he turned a left-side keeper into a 76-yard TD. But no! One of the officials made an absolutely horrendous block-in-the-back call and the score was wiped out. Every coach/fan along UC's sideline laughed at the call and head coach Lou Williams even said, "That was a clean block. If I was Penn's coach, I'd be raisin' hell." Allen finished with seven carries for 33 yards and passed 4-for-11 for 26 yards. One of his completions went to Jason Simpkins, a 6-5, 210-pound sr. TE. Simpkins also had a TFL. Jr. DL Gary Burgin recovered a fumble. During a sideline discussion, one of UC's assistants told a player who'd held on a play, "You owe me a six-pack . . . of iced teas." This game was played at 29th Street Stadium, with UC as the official home team. There were no yard markers, the scoreboard was not turned on and the press box was unavailable. Only in the You-Know-What. Why bother making upgrades if everyone using the field can't benefit? When I asked the field guy about the lack of yard markers, he said, "I don't have any here. Dobbins and Franklin bring their own."

SEPT. 10
NON-LEAGUE
Roman 25, Germantown Academy 13
   Ah, now you're talking. And you're saying nice things about Roman's football team. That wasn't the case last week after the Cahillites, as the coaches and players would admit, offered up a lackluster performance in a season-opening, 14-0 loss to West Catholic down in Wildwood. But tonight? Rather impressive. Especially on offense. Roman ch-chinged its way to 427 yards total offense against a team whose coach, Michael "Pup" Turner, feels line play is a strength. Though night games can be deceiving, especially those under bad lights like the ones at Garthwaite Field in Conshohocken, sr. RB Sean Woods looked very quick. On one run, I promise you he made at least one, two, three, four, five quick little zigs or zags and each one was as impressive as the last. On another, the play began as a sweep right. Woods saw some problems with that choice and cut back to the left at maybe a shade past the line. He picked up 24 yards and truly punished the eventual tackler by lowering his shoulder. Vintage, hard-guy football. A sidelight of the night for this Sean Woods was that another Sean Woods (no relation) was on hand and that the two got to meet and even pose for a quick pic along the sidelines. The other SW was a big-time performer for the website in his days at Bishop McDevitt. He now kicks journalistic butt for Saint Joseph's student paper, and is again going to make some contributions for the site. Anyway, the real SW (smile) finished with 216 yards and one TD, a 32-yarder. Also impressive was soph RB Aaron Duncan. Mostly on misdirection plays out of a wing spot, he sped for 108 yards and a TD on 11 chances. Near the end of his 20-yard scoring run, he delivered an effective straight-arm to a would-be tackler. OK, 427 yards. Think we should mention the linemen? Of course, and here they are: sr. C Jude Martin, rotating Gs Dan O'Connor, Rich Brandt (srs.) and John Mazzola (soph), sr. Ts Reginald Burton and Kevin Kenney and jr. TE Michael Penna. Penna made a nifty block on Woods' TD run. But the block of the night was made by sr. WR Dan Jordan on a short pass that yielded a 21-yard gain for Woods. It happened right along Roman's sideline and the subs understandably went berserk when they saw/heard it. The GA player was momentarily hurt and defensive coordinator Brian Conroy, among others, immediately ordered the guys to cool it because an injury had resulted. Class move. The standout defensive performance of the night was turned in by sr. OLB Rockeed McCarter (6-3, 205), the talented transfer from Northeast. "Rock" recorded three sacks worth 29 yards as he just zoomed across the line and had his way with QB Charlie Taft. On offense, on a fourth-and-goal from the 13, he made a tremendous catch along the left sideline, artfully making sure he had one foot inbounds. But he had to do so at the 1, and GA took over on downs. GA's headliner, as he'll surely be in every game this season, was RB Alex Holcombe. This kid is as solid as they come at 5-11, 205, and it's a challenge to tackle him -- multiple players required -- every single time. At one point I heard Conroy say to his group, "Like I told you all week, this guy is as good as any back we'll face all season." "The Incredible Holc" finished with 150 yards on 22 chances and his one TD came on a 51-yard run. He broke at least three tackles coming down the stretch. He did lose one fumble, though (strip by sr. DB Cory Jackson; recovery by sr. LB Ryan McAdams). As did Woods (strip by sr. DE Joe Traynor, who goes 6-6, 245, and recovery by DB Reed Marko). GA's second TD came in the waning moments on a 56-yard pass play, Taft to RB Derek Pediford. Roman had second-liners on defense. One of the night's best defensive plays for GA was a leaping, end-zone interception by sr. DB Mark Brown in the third quarter. At least I hope it was Mark Brown. He's a co-captain with Traynor, but there was also another No. 21 on the roster (Peter Haines). Sr. K Ben Paranzino drew a large reaction after adding Roman's last point on a PAT, following an 11-yard TD run by jr. Joe Hawn (5-6, 135). Rumor has it Ben is quite a character (smile). I noticed on Roman's roster the presence of a soph RB named Charles Peoples. Lincoln had an all-time RB by that name (though he preferred Charlie) in the late 1980s. Maybe father and son?

SEPT. 10
NON-LEAGUE
Wood 21, Penn Charter 14
   That this one wound up with a one-touchdown spread was not surprising, as it figured to be close. But HOW it unfolded, at least to me, bordered on shocking. As the first half wound down, Wood owned a 21-0 lead and PC was finally showing some life. But a 6-yard TD run by soph RB Eddie Bambino was nullified by a holding call and sr. Brendan McNally was tackled at the 1 with 0:07 left after a 9-yard gain on fourth-and-goal. The three Wood men involved were sr. LB Ryan Dolan, sr. DL Mike Gallagher and sr. DB Pat Avallon. Anyway, with the half ending like that, more than a few spectators had to feel PC would be seriously deflated and Wood would perhaps even frolic after intermission. Didn't happen, obviously. In fact, the Vikings' first three possessions of the second half resulted in three-and-outs. After PC moved within 21-14 with 3:30 left in the game, Wood needed to again show some offensive spunk, and did so. Jr. RB Matt Little ran 15 yards for a first down on third-and-10 and sr. QB Joe Kosich completed a 28-yard pass to jr. WR Pat Devlin on third-and-18. It was a seriously clutch play and it clinched the win. Kosich had a big first half, finishing 8-for-11 for 136 yards and one TD apiece to Little and Devlin (a perfectly thrown catch-and-run covering 85 yards along the left sideline). The 28-yarder to Devlin was only his fourth throw beyond intermission. Sr. RB Bryan McCartney finished with 89 yards on 20 carries. Star jr. WR Chris Lorditch had two early snags for 31 yards, but was banged up a little returning a punt early in the second quarter. He did reappear, thankfully, and he was the one who made a late deflection on pass that could have given PC a TD midway through the third quarter (he'd also posted a first-quarter pick). Despite that disappointment, PC showed great resiliency and had chances to rally largely due to the play of sr. LB Michael Weick. In the second half alone, the feisty Weick, who leads by example and volume (smile), made three TFLs and another at the line of scrimmage. He also had two TFLs in the first half. Sr. DB Sean Dressel also made some big plays in the second half, collecting a sack and two TFLs. Sr. QB Brendan McNally (6-3, 195) was impressive in terms of poise and delivery. He finished 15-for-19 for 217 yards while distributing the rock to seven different receivers. His best throw came in the get-close drive, when he hit Bambino (3-90) in stride for a 50-yard gain to the 1. As Bambino blew down the right sideline, the defender hollered, "Oh, bleep!" Though "bleep" was not exactly the word he used. The moment got a good laugh from everyone along the PC sideline. McNally then scored from the 1 at 3:30, and that was when Wood followed with its lead-protecting drive. PC is getting used to life without perhaps its two best athletes, who have decided to concentrate on other sports. Also missing, for maybe a month (shoulder injury) is sr. TE-DE Brian Teuber. PC has a promising lineman in jr. Richard White (6-5, 295). Not a finished product, mind you, but a kid with potential. After the game, McCartney presented the game ball to Wood's new principal, Mary Harkins. As I was driving out, Mary (formerly boss at Dougherty) was walking to her car, cradling the ball. I told her she should work on becoming the backup QB. She cracked, "If they get down to me, they're in DEEP trouble."

SEPT. 9
NON-LEAGUE
Southern 14, West Phila. 12
   Now that the Southern Rams are without their franchise player from '04, they sometimes are going to have to win games by being as sly as a Fox. (Lamone Fox is starring for Northeast). This was one of those times and, man, did they get help. Ultimately, coach Bill Edger's club got the win due to a reverse on a conversion. Before and after, they received lots of help from West's players and even an assistant coach (defensive coordinator). This one had all kinds of "Only in the Pub" moments. The worst? You won't believe it. Early in the third quarter, before a play was to start, the back judge blew his whistle and West was penalized 5 yards for having 12 defenders on the field. OK, next play. No one came off the field, so AGAIN the back judge blew his whistle and AGAIN West was penalized for having 12 men on the field. A timeout was called and the defensive coordinator went out to try get things organized. As the next play was about to start, someone noticed that only 10 defenders were on the field. Just as Southern sr. C Anthony Bouie snapped the ball, a defensive back ran out. He was a safety, and of course he didn't have time to get to his position and of course that meant no one was back deep. Sr. RB Steven Burroughs took the handoff and went right up the middle for a 51-yard TD. Unbelievable. Twelve guys, twelve guys, then 10 guys. If that had happened in a pro or college game, it would have been national news and someone would have been fired. Oh, baby! Also in this one, players FOUR times were penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct for slamming the ball to the ground in celebration or anger. Later in the third quarter, with the score 6-6, Southern sr. WR Jason Sabb thought he'd made an 18-yard TD catch. The refs said he was out of bounds, though, and Sabb slammed the ball. So hard, in fact, that it bounced over the fence out onto Locust street. Fifteen yards. Back to the West 33. All starch out of scoring chance. Late in the third quarter, a man came up to me on the sideline and said his name was Vincent Bashir and that he just wanted to say and introduce himself and point out that his son, Jahmel, was playing for Southern. Vincent walked away and the action resumed and Southern jr. QB Kareem Williams hit a receiver for a 36-yard gain to the 4. Who was it? None other than Jahmel Bashir, a jr. Amazing! On fourth-and-goal, on the second play of the fourth quarter, hard-running soph Tyrell Cooper (12-70) breezed 3 yards for the TD on a sweep left and jr. slotback Eric Whitaker added the conversion run on the aforementioned reverse. Fourteen-six, Southern. West responded on its subsequent possession. Sr. QB Jamal Washington hit feisty jr. WR Duwine Shaird for a 31-yard gain and then again several plays later for a 25-yard TD. Shaird made an outstanding leaping catch and then got a little carried way, spiking the ball and costing his team 15 yards on the conversion. From the 18, Washington's pass went incomplete. West had two more possessions. Both resulted in interceptions by sr. DB Kerry Dunbar, who is brand new to FB. The second came on the game's final play. My DN story focused on Southern sr. T-DE Demetrius Tillman (6-3, 275), the nephew of West Philly basketball all-timer Clarence "Eggy" Tillman. What glorious times the Speedboys were having then in hoops. Eggy graduated in '78, when West went 33-1. They were 25-0, 24-2 and 30-0 in the previous three seasons, known as the Gene Banks Era. Gene starred at Duke and played in the NBA. Early, it appeared West would dominate this one. The Speedboys took the opening kickoff and kept the ball for all but 37.8 seconds of the quarter. They used 14 plays to cover 71 yards and finally scored on a 2-yard run by jr. QB-RB Brandon Johnson. West has two gigantic linemen in sr. C Lawrence "Juice" Brown (6-2, 340) and sr. T Darren Watson (6-5, 325). They also play defensive line. Another big'un, Darius Knight (6-3, 328), is only a freshman, according to the roster. Phew! When a good West gain was nullified by a clip, the referees could not provide a number for the offender. Grumbled a West assistant, "That's because they're lying." West head coach John R. Lay recently had surgery, so he limited his duties to taping the game from the stands. First assistant Pat O'Hara was in charge on the field.

SEPT. 8
NON-LEAGUE
Franklin 22, Roxborough 12
   Considering the challenging weather conditions (hot with almost no wind) and the fact that early-season games are often not cohesive, this one provided some entertaining moments. But then, just when it had a chance to perhaps get really good, the life was sucked right out of it. With 10:46 left and the score at 22-12, and with Roxborough hoping for a defensive stop and followup get-closer TD, two of its better players suffered injuries on the same play. While trying to stop Franklin horse Maurice Dantzler (more on him later), jr. LB Calden Pierce injured his right ankle and sr. CB Tavio DeShields injured his right knee. Each appeared to be in severe pain and DeShields, especially, was highly frustrated. He was in tears and kept yelling, "(Stuff) ain't never go right!" And variations thereof. You had to feel badly for the two of them and, basically, the game could have ended right there. Franklin maintained possession for the next eight minutes and even began to sprinkle in subs. OK, now for some Dantzler stuff: The sr. RB was up to the challenge throughout. Behind a veteran line with good size, he ran hard and with vision (more than once, he cut sweeps upfield at just the right time) and finished with 149 yards and a TD on 23 carries. He posted six totes of more than 10 yards, with a long of 28. This kid is sculpted beyond belief. He was walking around with his shirt off well before the game and I thought a Mr. Universe contest was going to take place (smile). Dantzler's mom was even in top form when it came to providing entertainment. At one point, she was standing along the sideline and yelled, "I ain't gonna tell nobody, but Maurice went to sleep with his helmet on last night!" Ha, ha. Good stuff. And of course everyone heard it, so she WAS telling everybody. In his own way, on nowhere near as many touches, sr. WR-DB Rodreen "Chief" Howell was just as impressive. Out of a wingback-slotback spot, he zoomed 62 yards for a TD that was wiped out by a holding call. Soon thereafter, he was covering 54 yards (and making all KINDS of moves) for a TD that stood. And two minutes later, he was intercepting a pass and and zig-zagging 41 yards to the Roxborough 6. Dantzler carried 5 yards to the 1 and sr. QB Frank Anderson went over from there and Franklin owned a 14-6 lead with 3:11 left in the half. The Electrons' last TD came midway through the third quarter, on a nice cut-it-up run by Dantzler. By then, Franklin's linemen were mostly having their way. The group: sr. C Steven Parr, sr. G Terrell Harris, jr. G Adam Edwards, sr. Ts Joshua Elder and Walter Glover and jr. TE Brian Lilly. Sr. MLB Anthony Wright keyed the defense (though he did drop an interception and I'm sure his teammates will be bustin' on him -- smile). Sr. DT Jeffrey Boanes posted two TFLs. He also made the recovery when Roxborough began the game with an onside kick by Richard "Microwave" Williams. For Roxborough, sr. Mark Ames was mostly respectable at QB despite some shaky protection. Soph WR Stephen Tucker made three nice catches early (of four total) and one produced the game's first score, on a 30-yarder. Wright blocked the PAT. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Ames again collected a TD pass but did not have to do much work. He sent a flip to Pierce and he ran hard the rest of the way, dragging a couple of tacklers. The Indians' best defender -- and I think there's a pattern here (smile) -- was sr. LB Aaron "A-Trane" Washington (personal touch on the spelling of the nickname, as opposed to "A-Train." That's according to Mom.) He has a terrific sense of where to be, plus he rattles teeth. He recorded an early TFL (4 yards) on Dantzler and was still gettin' after it late with a sack and another TFL. The umpire, a big guy with a booming voice, talks non-stop throughout the game and is constantly yelling at the end of plays, "Get off my pile!! . . . Get off my ball!!" I'm used to him and try to tune him out. A kid along Franklin's sideline was having a tough time doing likewise. "He's annoying," the kid said. "He makes you not even want to play football."

SEPT. 3
NON-LEAGUE
Neumann-Goretti 19, North Catholic 0
   As this one was winding down, I remarked to a long-time friend, "A pretty forgettable day of football, eh?" And he responded, "Like being in a dentist's chair." OK, so neither game in Wildwood was very good. But I'm taking a strong guess that the N-G Saints didn't much care. The 2004 season, their first after the merger, was mostly difficult and sometimes embarrassing and this crew needed to make a first-game statement. Making it possible was one of the smallest Saints, sr. RB-KR Hiram Bowman (the roster says he's 5-10, 165, and he says he's more like 5-6/5-7, 150). One of football's old sayings goes, "They don't ask for your dimensions in the end zone." Bowman got there twice. His first score came with 5:55 left in the second quarter on a 46-yard counter criss-cross. It also came on 1st-and-20 after a holding penalty. Hiram was drawing more high fives in the early portion of the fourth quarter, when he fielded a punt at the NC 43 and zoomed for six more points. The score came rather easily, honestly, though he did have to uncork a fake-one-way, go-the-other move around the 10-yard line. N-G posted its third score with 6:00 left on a 1-yard burst by jr. RB Anthony Davis (21-98). The TD came three plays after a fumble recovery on the NC 36. (I was on the opposite side of the field and couldn't tell who got the ball, then forgot to ask the N-G folks later on. Sorry. Note to ALL recovery guys: Stand and hold up the ball before giving it to the ref, so all your family members and friends and, yes, even reporters can note your achievement. Ha ha ha.) Jr. LB Vinny Burgese did have an earlier fumble recovery for N-G. North was held to 13 plays and one first down in the first half, and was only slightly better in the second half. The Falcons are young and, hate to say this, are going to experience season-long difficulties especially with the return to the Red Division. I like the coaches' passion and attention to detail, though, so here's hoping the pain and disappointment is minimal. Sr. Matt Seybold (first half) and frosh Dennis Logue (second half) split the QB duties. Late in the third quarter, Logue experienced the ecstasy of notching his first career TD pass . . . and then the agony of seeing it erased by a penalty. The play covered 21 yards and slotback Michael Diamond made the catch. Diamond lined up along the line of scrimmage, instead of in the backfield, so he was considered an ineligible receiver. Bad break. Sr. LB Tom Murrin had two fumble recoveries in the third quarter. North's most impressive defensive plays were turned in by soph OLB Pete Sellecchia and sr. DE Anthony Viscuse. Sellecchia goes 6-1, 185, and does not appear to be especially strong. He packs a wallop, though. He had three eye-popping hits in the first quarter alone, and added a few more later. Viscuse several times showed strong pursuit along with an ability to shed blockers and make plays. North's chief weapon, jr. WR Daryl Robinson, settled for two catches for 15 yards. He added an interception. Sr. DB Charles Klink also popped some pads.

SEPT. 3
NON-LEAGUE
West Catholic 14, Roman 0
   Not the most entertaining game ever. Nor the easiest to watch. It was hard on the eye in person and must have been hard to digest on TV, as well. This was the game debut for WMCN-TV and, even with little happening, the persistent, 2-minute TV timeouts caused the game to last almost exactly 2 1/2 hours. In games where there's lots of scoring, you're looking at three hours. Oh, baby! At one point, during a TV timeout, a frustrated fan bellowed, "It's not your show! It's the kids' show!" Being on the sideline in Wildwood, N.J., I of course did not get a chance to see the telecast. There was undoubtedly lots of hype for West Catholic sr. WR-DB John Maddox, a top-notch recruit who is down to five major programs (West Virginia, Syracuse, North Carolina, Purdue and Michigan State). He did almost nothing for most of the game (it often wasn't his fault, as West's QBs had throwing problems). But when soph QB Eric Brennan uncorked a perfect bomb down the middle of the field, and Maddox was wide open because he'd gotten a couple steps behind star jr. DB Dominique Joseph, what did John do? Flat-out dropped it. And you know he was feeling embarrassed, especially since he had to be figuring, "The TV viewers must think I stink." Ten-plus minutes still remained, though, and Maddox redeemed himself, big time. With 1:41 left, Brennan tossed a fade toward the right corner. Maddox was covered by Joseph and the two went skyward. Joseph caught it. At first. But Maddox snatched it away and fell groundward with TD-producing possession. It was the kind of play D-I prospects are supposed to make. In the waning moments, meanwhile, Maddox also made a leaping interception. The star of the game, for TV purposes, was sr. RB-LB Daniel Chavis, a transfer from Neumann-Goretti. Chavis made six tackles, forced a fumble and picked off a pass He also made strong contributions on the drive that sealed the game, twice reeling off 11-yard pickups for first downs. And then, after Maddox' TD catch, Chavis caught a swing pass from Brennan to lift the score to 14-0. Brennan, the starter last year as a freshman, and sr. Steven Powers, who's had persistent injury problems, are sharing the QB spot. Jr. Dennis Shaw, the would-be top rusher, was sidelined for a team-oriented transgression. He's expected back next week. Among the forces on defense for West were sr. LB Wayne Donahue and jr. DE Anthony Rhoades. Donahue is still a rock-'em, sock-'em hitter and Rhodes blends strength and relentless pursuit, even when few plays are run in his direction. Check this: I found out recently that Anthony's mother and my wife are cousins. So while the game was going on, any time Rhodes made a nice play, Huck yelled over to me, "Ted, that's your blood." Not quite, but cool anyway. Anthony said when Huck told him earlier about the relationship, he said kiddingly, "I tried to deny it." At least I hope he was kidding (smile). Rhoades had one sack and two other TFL. Jr. LB Marc Holloway recovered two fumbles. Roman's best chance to score occurred as the first half wound down. Joseph stepped in front of Maddox on Roman's 2, made an interception and took off down the right sideline. It appeared he should have been pushed out at least three times, but he zoomed all the way to West's 10 before a lineman -- yes, a lineman -- finally brought him to a halt. The tackler was sr. DE Marty Blithe. Roman's one play yielded an incomplete pass. Roman had first downs in the first half, but none in the second. The Cahillites had one good play, a 28-yard pass from Joseph to sr. WR Dan Jordan, and it moved the ball to West's 40. But Joseph immediately bobbled the snap and Holloway recovered. West's first TD came with 10:54 left in the game as Brennan fired a 19-yard pass to sr. slotback Christopher "Not Huck" Palmer. That drive had to cover only 36 yards after a Roman quick kick on third down. Sr. DL Chris Farmer (6-5, 260; a late-bloomer to REALLY keep an eye on) and jr. DE Isiah Edmond made a sack and TFL, respectively, to bring about the quick kick. The Wife watched the game with Anthony's mom, Joanne. Only four times did she ask what inning it was (ha ha). The Wife sat in the press box while I wrote this report, then "watched" the North/N-G game from the car, which was parked along Park Blvd. Actually, if I know her, she never once looked toward the field and instead read books/magazines (smile). After that we headed to Cape May for dinner in a restaurant overlooking the ocean. When the check came, my arms got short. She paid! Gotta love that, right? I did pay for the ice cream cones we got a short time later. Damage to her funds: $40. Damage to mine: $6. To make up for that disparity this week, how many times, per hour, will I have to empty the trash cans and control the mess in my work area? I shudder to think.