On the Trail With Ted
Football 2006

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 Observations, notes, etc., on games I've seen during the 2006 season . . .

Photo by The Wife

September reports
October reports

DEC. 2
CATHOLIC BLUE FINAL
West Catholic 20, Wood 12
   West is best!! Raise your hand if you thought you might never see those words again, especially if your school-aged years are long gone. The Burrs had not won a football title since 1965 . . . and had not won a boys' title of any kind since 1979 (baseball) . . . and had dropped Blue finals for four consecutive years . . . But after the game on the field, with friends and loved ones crowding around and flashes popping non-stop, there were the Burrs, packed tightly against each other and belting out, "We Are the Champions." Not a bad rendition, either, though I doubt a recording contract is in the offing (smile). How'd this happen? In strange fashion, honestly. Through three quarters, the Burrs owned just four first downs and were giving up gobs and gobs of passing yardage. Ah, but they also were proving to be quite opportunistic on both sides of the ball and that trait wound up making the difference. On a bitterly cold night at Northeast, West's players and fans had their hearts warmed quite early -- on the game's fifth play, in fact -- as soph RB Raymond "Syrup" Maples zoomed 55 yards for a TD on a sweep right. Star sr. LB Pat McAfee chased Maples all the way and even scraped him with a late dive, but that effort was not enough to prevent the TD. Wood responded with 3:31 left in the first stanza as soph QB Sean McCartney whipped a 21-yarder to sr. WR Chris Lorditch in the right corner. The PAT was blocked and, moments later along West's sideline, sr. DE Anthony Rhoades and sr. LB Marc Holloway both claimed they'd gotten a piece of the ball. Any moment, I expected Huck to say HE'D been in on the block, as well. Or maybe even Puck from the press box (smile). There was a gigantic, difference-making sequence midway through the second quarter. Wood opted for a slow-developing, left-side screen to sr. FB Shane Barrett. Jr. OLB Marquese Sanders made the sniff and snag and put West in business at Wood's 44. First play. Soph QB Curtis Drake fakes a reverse to sr. RB Dennis Shaw and then explodes down the left sideline for a rather easy TD. Like I said. Gigantic sequence. Wood rebounded nicely and drove hard as the half wound down, with McCartney leading the way. But on second-and-9, he tried an out to the right corner and Shaw, at CB, was in perfect position to make the pick. He caught the ball a yard deep in the end zone and a length-of-the-field return for a TD would not have surprised. He tripped, however, and was held to a 6-yard return. Not that any of the Burrs minded a WHOLE lot. Wood opened the third quarter with a quick, productive drive. McCartney hit sr. TE Brian Hall for 18 yards to the West 45, and then a McCartney-to-sr. WR Pat Devlin hookup zoomed the ball 29 yards to the 16. An interference call moved it another 8 yards and McCartney hit Lorditch for an 8-yard TD. By now you might be thinking, "Hmmm. McCartney's racking up some decent yardage. What'd he finish with?" A bundle, folks! In all, he went 19-for-36 for 285 yards with lots of help from Devlin (9-133) and Lorditch (6-99, two TDs, raising his career total to 27). But he was intercepted three times as soph DB Haleem "P-Nut" Hayward made the pick aside from the two mentioned earlier. Hayward's pilfer came on the next-to-last play of the third quarter. Wood had also come up empty on its previous series as Lorditch, so marvelous in MANY roles throughout his career, was wide right with a 32-yard field goal attempt. A success would have provided a 15-14 lead. On its second series of the fourth quarter, West actually slapped together a drive. It began with a big play, a 26-yard run by Shaw (20-86), and Drake later added a 21-yarder thanks to a strong block on the right corner by jr. WR Rodney Blango. Most the gains were drips and drabs, though, and that was NO problem because the Burrs enjoyed wasting clock. Finally, with 2:56 showing, Drake lofted just his third pass, a left-corner fade to Blango. Sr. DB Kevin Lynn was right there. He was victimized by the fact the ball was a shade underthrown, allowing Blango to reach back slightly and benefit from the fact Lynn was a shade late in locating it -- and was not able to stop his forward momentum in time. Devlin blocked the PAT in heroic fashion, keeping things to a one-possession game. Would Wood not only drive down the field and get a TD, but also a two-point conversion to tie it? Neither. The Vikings took over at their 24. McCartney completed passes for 6 yards to Devlin, 12 to sr. WR Kevin Harrigan and 24 to Devlin, down to West's 34. A decent gain could have followed on an over-the-middle pass. The ball glanced off Hall's hands. Lorditch was directly behind him and appeared to be open. McCartney then hit Devlin for 7 yards, with sr. ILB Marc Holloway and jr. OLB Marquese Sanders making the stop. McCartney tried to locate Lorditch at the goal line. Breakup by Shaw. McCartney then tried to hit an underneath receiver along the left sideline. A shade too long. Ballgame!!! Well, after a run by Shaw and a couple of kneeldowns. Sr. DL Isiah Edmond made seven stops for the Burrs, with a sack and two other TFLs among them. Holloway had six tackles and a sack. Maples and sr. OLB Chris Booker halved a dozen thumps while Rhoades had five. McAfee, not surprisingly, led Wood with 12. So, two CL titles decided, two dynasties derailed. Prep in Red, Wood in Blue. Good for the league in general, and great for those schools that managed the "upsets" (even though West had beaten Wood in the regular season).
Hope you enjoyed it even half as much as the dot.com family. Thanks for paying attention.  

DEC. 2
PIAA CLASS AAAA STATE QUARTERFINAL
Bethlehem Liberty 35, Frankford 15
   There are two ways to look at this one. Yes, the Pioneers mostly got spanked. But after the mercy rule went into effect early in the fourth quarter and Liberty put its second units onto the field, at least Frankford had enough pride to keep working and find a way to make the score respectable. Frankford had only one solid moment through the first three quarters. It came at the end of the first half, with the deficit already at 28-0, as the Pioneers covered 36 yards down to the 14 with the help of a 14-yard keeper by sr. QB Andreas Hudson and a pass interference (with sr. WR J.C. Montgomery the intended receiver) that placed the ball at the 14. Two incompletions followed, then sr. RB Calvin Spires was dropped for a 2-yard loss and Hudson incurred a fourth-down sack for 7 yards. Not sure why he didn't whip the ball into the end zone and pray, but it didn't happen and the chance at least a hint of momentum heading into the locker room was lost. Liberty scored its first two TDs on its own merit, then got the next two in part due to gifts as Hudson lost fumbles at the 10 and 28. OK, let's assume you'd much prefer to learn how Frankford saved some face. There were two fourth quarter drives -- 80 yards in seven plays and 75 in eight. The first one featured big gains from Spires (17 yards) and sr. FB Nate Johnson (11) on runs and from Hudson thanks to completions of 15 yards to jr. WB Ervin Goodson and 16 for the score to a wide-open Montgomery in the left corner. The big play of the next drive was a 37-yard pass to Goodson, which carried to the Liberty 38. Spires later reeled off back-to-back bursts for 15 yards and Goodson made a leaping catch in the middle of the field to within a whisker of the goal line. The PA man said the ball was on the 2 1/4-inch yard line. Might have been closer (smile). Johnson then burrowed in for the TD and Goodson, the kicker, ran for two to the left corner after catching a direct snap. Just 1:01 remained. Soph DT Terrell Lewis and sr. DE-OLB Steven Oretga recovered fumbles for Frankford while forces went to jr. LB Christopher Spence and sr. DT Tyree Dudley. Dudley had a strong performance and several Liberty assistants went out of their way to say nice things to him afterward. He made nine tackles, with two going for losses, and was a game-long presence. Jr. LB Josh Burnett made 10 stops. In case you're wondering, this game was well attended! By Liberty people. They filled the visiting stands, with some overflow. Liberty's band includes 230 members. Frankford did NOT have that many fans. Brutal.

NOV. 24
CATHOLIC RED FINAL
La Salle 14, SJ Prep 7
   Not to sound trite, troops, but there’s a reason they actually bother to go ahead and play these games, even when one team is considered a solid to overwhelming favorite. As many wonderful accomplishments as the Prep has racked up during the last seven seasons, primary among them bringing national attention to CL football, it has now suffered upsets in three of the championship games. And this one was quite the doozy. How does a team outgain its opponent by more than two to one, 390-175, and fail to come away with a win? The “T” word. Turnovers. Here’s a strong guess that La Salle is one of the few teams in football history to win a title with NO yards rushing -- on nine carries; only a 4-yard gain on a backward pass that went onto the stat sheet as a rushing play prevented a negative number. Here’s another strong guess: It’s one of the few to force four turnovers at, or even beyond, the goal line. Beyond amazing. The victim all four times was sr. QB Chris Whitney, the Red MVP and a guy, despite the miscues, who impressed everyone in this gigantic, day-after-Thanksgiving crowd at Northeast. (On Prep’s side, the stands were about 90 percent filled. On La Salle’s there wasn’t close to enough seating, so many stood two-three deep along the fence surrounding the track.) No lie, Whitney avoided sacks close to 10 different times by using his quick feet and deceptive strength and those eyes he must have in the back, and even on the side, of his head. At one point, a La Salle defender could be heard muttering as the group came off the field, “Why can’t we bring that guy DOWN?!” Join the club, fellas. Players on every Prep opponent said the same thing all year. Ah, but there were the turnovers. We’ll run through them now. Prep’s first series, second of the game overall. Runs of 10 and 13 yards by jr. TB Jamir Livingston put the ball on the 14. Sr. FB Neil Doogan was stopped for no gain by sr. SS/OLB Sean Saverio and jr. CB Matt Day, then Doogan dropped a TD pass in the end zone. Whitney then angled to his left on a keeper and was close to the goal line when the ball came out and sr. CB Rob Saraceni recovered at the 1. Next series. Livingston again was effective, though not sensational, and pickups of 4 and 2 yards created third and goal from the 3. Again Whitney eased to his left. This time, he was within whiskers of the goal line when sr. FS Jack Forster began to tackle him and try to dislodge the ball in all-in-one-motion fashion. Pow! Sr. CB Rob Saraceni added a wicked hit and there the football went flying. Also in the area was sr. OLB Greg Frantz. All he did – yawn – was pick up the ball on the 4 and run ALL the WAY for a 96-yard TD!!! Phew!!! That's the city's postseason record for a scoring fumble return, breaking the 83-yarder by Frankford's Ervin Hook in a 2002 Pub quarterfinal vs. Mastbaum. The time left in the first quarter was 1:54 and La Salle had a 7-0 lead on the scoreboard and a 2-0 lead in turnovers forced. Turnover No. 3 occurred on the final series of the first half. The Hawks took over on their own 25 and had to overcome the sting of a second-play, offensive-interference call. They did so nicely, though, using completions (sr. WR Brian Brinkmann had two for 41 yards) and three spikes to get the ball to the La Salle 23 with 5.1 seconds left. Last play. Whitney passed. Soph CB Mike Donohoe intercepted on the goal line. Turnover No. 4 occurred on the Hawks’ next-to-last series of the game. What a sequence this was! Twice Whitney collected first downs with that QB delay play – not truly a draw; he just takes one step back then veers ahead on an angle – that lately had proven to be quite effective. But after Saverio recorded a sack for 5 yards, the situation was fourth and 9 at the Prep 41. Whitney went back and unloaded pretty much straight down the field to jr. WR Brett Tiagwad, who was double covered by Saraceni and Frantz. All three guys tumbled onto the turf and . . . and . . . and . . . catch by Tiagwad!! Pickup of 43 yards!!! Tremendous concentration and flat-out will to come up with the ball!!! That put the ball on the 16. Livingston went 3 yards, then 2, then Whitney attempted a pass. If you have followed La Salle this season, and I tell you the pass was intercepted, you probably won’t have to tax your brain to guess who did the honors. Mr. Forster. One yard deep in the end zone. So, let’s review. Two fumbles at the 1. Picks at the goal line and 1 yard deep. What are the odds on that? Astronomical doesn’t begin to describe it. The Hawks got one more possession and this “turnover” came on downs. The most notable play in La Salle’s subsequent series was the 4-yard, backward-pass pickup by Forster that extricated got the Explorers from the negative-rushing hole. But on the play, he had the wind knocked out and had to leave the field. Sr. RB Chris Ashley was stopped for no gain and that necessitated a punt. Would Forster be OK to handle those duties? Yup, here he comes back out. With the help of a good roll, the ball went 45 yards to the Prep 43 with 1:27 remaining. And here we go for the stretch. Pass to jr. WR Tim Edger for 14 yards. Run for no gain by Livingston (tackle by Saverio). Pass to Edger for 12 yards. Pickup of 1 by Whitney after a scramble. Incomplete by Whitney after a scramble (ball skidded low along the left sideline). Incomplete by Whitney into the right corner, looking for Tiagwad, with Day in coverage. Fourth and nine from the 30. This time there would be no scrambling. No chance for heroics. Campanella and sr. DL John McBurnie dropped Whitney to the turf right in the pocket with 27.5 showing and only one kneeldown was needed to end it. It’s possible a La Salle kid or two hopped the fence and ran onto the field (smile). Or maybe hundreds! I got bumped and my reading glasses fell to the turf. Oh, well. Nice knowing you. But, no! Somehow, they didn’t get trampled. There they are! In one piece! Can’t say the same for my pencil, which also went flying. But that’s why they invented pockets. Where three more pencils can be placed, awaiting the call for emergency duty. Meanwhile, the understated heroes for this one were La Salle’s offensive linemen. The Prep’s are bigger and stronger and far more heralded, but La Salle’s got the job done. OK, so run-blocking is not their strength (smile). They saw to it, however, that jr. QB John Harrison (17-for-29, 175 yards) was sacked just once. The C was sr. Bill Castelberg. The Gs were sr. Dan Connors (brother of John, star lineman for Prep in 2000 and ’01 and grandson of ex-La Salle coach Tex Flannery), Dan Smart (lost to injury) and Andrew Galbally. The Ts were sr. Chris Cabrey, sr. Max Luce and jr. Pat Morrow. (Thanks for the help in getting things straight.) La Salle’s one scoring drive was a thing of beauty. The Explorers marched 78 yards in eight plays, all passes, to tally midway through the second quarter. The big early gainers were a 26-yarder to Ashley and a 21-yarder to Forster. Later, on third and 10 from the 18, with the Prep in man coverage, jr. WR Joe Migliarese (6-5, 205) was lined up against jr. CB Greg Castillo (5-11, 155). Migs ran to the left corner and won a jump-ball contest, even overcoming a slight bobble to maintain possession. Early in the fourth quarter, Migs turned a slant into a 36-yard pickup all the way to the 2. Harrison rolled right on the next play and made a bad decision. Instead of throwing the ball out of bounds, he went the try-to-force-it-in-there route and Castillo intercepted in the end zone. Not sure any receiver was even in the immediate area. Oh, well. A misstep that proved not to be devastating. One sideline observer said La Salle should have immediately kicked a field goal, even on first down, just to make it a two-possession game. Interesting opinion. There was a big omen before the game began. As La Salle warmed up, a position group including Forster was close to the Prep’s sideline. Students were grouped against the fence at the front of the stands and they scorched Jack’s ears with persistent taunts. Later, yes, even before the kickoff, the Prep kids chanted, “It’s all over! It’s all over!” It was 2000 all over again. The Prep kids did the same thing that year to Kevin Jones (Detroit Lions) and he engineered the upset. The student sections were spirited throughout. La Salle’s won the contest with “Your coach hates you! Your coach hates you!” That was a reference to what happened earlier this fall, when Gil Brooks called 700 of the Prep’s 900 students “geeks” in an Inquirer story. Brooks later had a school administrator read a statement over the PA system, but said it was not an apology because none was needed. The Prep did some very un-Preplike things. Aside from the turnovers, there were some curious red-zone play-calls, there was a return of a kickoff from the goal line when the ball was about to roll into the end zone, and there was a punt against a slight wind as the third quarter ended when waiting 2 more seconds would have put the wind at Edger’s back. One of the biggest differences between the teams’ first meeting and this one was La Salle’s defensive approach. Coordinator John Steinmetz ordered his linebackers to stay home to keep Livingston (30-145) from running wild via cutbacks a shade beyond the line. His TD covered 18 yards, but that was his longest run. The ILBs, Campanella (13) and Andrew Wood (15), combined for 28 tackles! Saverio added 11. The Prep ran 72 plays to La Salle’s 38. This is the second time in three years that a first-year coach has won a title. Drew Gordon joins Wood's Joe Powel (Blue in '04). Ryan's Glen Galeone also won as a rookie, in 1990, and reeled off three more in a row . . . As I finish this report, it’s 10:45 Saturday morning. I’m at one end of the couch/sofa (which word do you prefer?) and The Wife is at the other. A few times she has said, “Geez, how long IS that report? Think anyone will even get to the end?” That’s the hope.

NOV. 23
THANKSGIVING RIVALRY
North Catholic 23, Frankford 14
   This is truly an amazing phenomenon. In the entire country, how many teams have lost Thanksgiving encounters in years when they’ve also won championships? North and Frankford have been banging heads for 79 years now – for 77 on Turkey Day – and 15 times the Pioneers have lost despite being, or about to be, the Public League kingpin. The ’05 season produced one of the all-time quirks because the Falcons were winless going in. That one might have deserved an asterisk, however, because Frankford had won the crown five days earlier and just two days later would be competing in the state playoffs. That insanity has been rectified: The state playoffs won’t begin until next Saturday. But this has been no poor season for the Falcons, witness the garnering of a postseason victory for the first time since 1956 (over Judge), and it was not surprising at all to see them win this tussle. What was surprising was how it happened. In the first half, star sr. RB-WR-KR-CB Daryl Robinson managed just five carries for 14 yards and one had to wonder whether he’d get the 41 more yards he needed to hit 3,000 in rushing-receiving for his career. But when the first half ended, coach Chalie Szydlik and his assistants spent a long time on the field before heading into the locker room and instead of trying to come up with trick plays to get things rollin’, they were promising to be as simplistic as possible. The plan, as detailed post-game by Szydlik? “Give the ball to Daryl. Block the person in front of you.” North ran 23 offensive plays in the second half. The 5-10, 170-pound Robinson enjoyed direct involvement in 21. He ran 20 times for 140 yards and two more touchdowns (he had a 9-yarder just 2:30 into the game after Frankford botched a punt return), along with his second conversion, and started the third quarter with a scintillating, 60-yard jaunt that was noteworthy for two reasons. First, when jr. Mickey Majzik added the PAT, it put North ahead for good, at 15-14. Second, it enabled Robinson to crack the 3,000-yard career barrier for rushing and receiving (final total 3,099). His overall rushing totals today were 25 carries for 154 yards. He had no catches, but made sure the Pioneers would stay nine points behind with a fourth quarter interception. North did get a little too cute one time in the third quarter and the cost was steep – a touchdown. On just second and goal from a shade outside the 1, a short fade was called. I neglected to write down the number of the intended receiver, but we got a note from someone who said it was jr. TE Shahid Paulhill. Anyway, the ball did not have enough lift or distance and jr. DB Markel Jefferson intercepted. That score would have been classified as a semi-gift because North took over on the 32 after soph P Eddie Ferrell dropped the snap and was dumped by sr. Chris Schindle. Later, TD No. 3 for Robinson was even more of an early Christmas present because the Falcons got possession at the 18 after Ferrell was called for taking a snap on one knee. Honestly, his knee appeared NOT to hit the turf, though it did come mighty close. Robinson carried on all six plays with gains of 5, 3, 2, 4, 3 and 1. The field was a mess from heavy rain the night before and a stinging rain fell again for roughly the last 18 minutes, and with sr. WR J.C. Montgomery, the best receiver, nursing a slight ankle injury suffered earlier, the chances for late-game heroics were severely reduced. To zero, actually. North's grunts were jr. C Bobby Mullen, jr. G Terelle Paskel, sr. G Pat McCullough (no relation), sr. T Anthony DeLuca, jr. T Eric French and Schindle. Jr. FB Ricky Williams also did some serious poundin' and his coaches did not even reward him with one carry! (smile). Both Frankford scores capped long drives. In the first quarter, it took 15 plays to go 52 yards and sr. QB Andreas Hudson scored on a 1-yard sneak. A key play was a 16-yard run by sr. HB Calvin Spires to the 12, with a half-the-distance facemask thrown in. Sr. LB Tom Hannan and R. McCullough combined to drop sr. FB Nate Johnson for a 2-yard loss, but Spires restored the momentum with a tough run to the 1. Hudson went over from there. The Pioneers’ next possession also was productive – 70 yards, seven plays. Back-to-back snaps yielded a 24-yard run for Spires and 34-yard catch for Montgomery and Spires tallied on fourth and goal from the 1. Frankford suffered losses on eight plays thereafter as North’s defenders started bringin’ it. The losses: Page on Spires for 5 yards; Hannan on Hudson for 8; Schindle on Ferrell for the aforementioned 4; jr. LB Chris James on Spires for 5; Page on Johnson for 5; James on Spires for 3; jr. DB Terrell "The Good T.O." Oglesby on Hudson for 12; and Oglesby and Hannan on Hudson for 5. This was a great restore-some-pride season for the Falcons and it was fun to deal with everyone connected with it. The coaches and players carried themselves in classy fashion. Well done! At halftime, a plaque was presented to Carmen Masciantonio, who is retiring as Frankford’s field man. Ex-coach Tom "Mr. Sunshine" Mullineaux, now the AD, handled the PA system. As Carmen was walking off the field, basking in the warm applause from everyone on both sides, Mullineaux laughingly implored him to hustle up to the press box because the controls for the scoreboard weren’t working properly and needed to be fixed. Carmen did as requested and the scoreboard was perfect again in no time. Give that man another plaque! Meanwhile . . . my DN story focused on how recruiters from schools with much higher FB profiles keep contacting Robinson, trying to get him to switch gears and nix his oral commitment to Temple. It could get very interesting.

NOV. 22
THANSGIVING EVE RIVALRY
Chester 44, Gratz 8
   If we ever doubted that the football gods can be sum'-bitches, those doubts were erased tonight. Warren Mays, who collected 1,875 for Frankford in 1969, is still the Pub's one-season leader in terms of passing yardage. And the No. 2 spot still belongs to Spencer Whetts, who totaled 1,644 for Germantown in 1994. The No. 3 guy is who it was going INTO this game and, yes, if you've been paying attention, that means his stats were rather paltry. Thanks to the horrible-weather trifecta of cold, wind and rain; along with the revisiting of an ankle injury that caused him to miss two series; and a hard-to-fathom coaching decision to run the ball 29 times (not counting sacks/rushing attempts by QBs); and the third quarter ejection of the second-best receiver; and the fact that the mercy rule kicked in with 10:51 remaining after the score soared to 44-8, sr. QB Jerrick Jenkins finished 4-for-9 for 24 yards. That leaves him at 1,643, one measly yard behind Whetts. Hay-zoooooooooos, as I like to say in reaction to circumstances that disgust, amaze or amuse. The final play of Jenkins' high school career was an all-timer and, down the line, hopefully he'll be able to laugh about it. I doubt he can now, though. With the clock running and running and running after Chester turned over the ball on downs, Gratz got the ball for one last possession at the Chester 47. The Bulldogs barely got off the play -- Jenkins took the snap at 0:02 -- and two receivers went out to the right side. Sr. WR Bradley Martin went somewhat long along the right sideline and sr. TE Nisia Dunaway stayed short to medium underneath. NO ONE was nearby. But the ball was very slippery, of course, and as it headed toward Dunaway, it looked like a small, chubby helicopter. No lie. The ball had side-to-side spin and plopped to the turf maybe 18 inches away from Dunaway's feet. Not sure why he didn't reach for the ball, but he didn't and that was that. Game over. Jenkins had re-hurt his ankle early in the third quarter. While back to punt, he mishandled a snap and decided to run. He was brought down in impressive fashion and came off with a serious hobble. Martin switched to QB for the next two series and bobbled the snap on almost every single play. Not a lot, but enough to create misadventures. Finally, Jenkins was able to talk the coaches into letting him return, but all he did was hand off on the next-to-last possession. What a major disappointment this evening was. To make things worse, I arrived at 4:45 for a game that didn't start until 7:20. Chester's buses were late in general and one of the two was extra late. Hay-zooooooooooos. Amauro had me beat. He arrived at 4:30. Can someone please give him back the 5 hours? smile. Bright spots? A few. Martin made an interception for the sixth consecutive game and finished the season with seven. With jr. RB Hal Chambliss out due to injury, Dominic Marrow got the chance to run 20 times. He had 55 yards. The Bulldogs' TD was a thing of beauty as Jenkins went 7 yards on a bootleg keeper to the left. Dunaway and Lawrenso Evans (I've learned to trust the spellings of NO names on Gratz' roster, so if that's wrong, Mr. Evans, please send in a correction) recovered fumbles and sr. DL Terrance Frazier made two TFLs. Gratz' dance team and cheerleaders were impressive, despite the brutal conditions. Oh, wait, there was a double Leak sighting!! Gotta love that. "Famous" Amos (Dobbins '05) and Michael "The Legend" (Mastbaum '06) are home from college for the holiday weekend and they braved the elements to stay until the bitter end. Very impressive, fellas!!

NOV. 18
CATHOLIC RED SEMIFINAL
La Salle 28, Roman 7
   Three-game losing streak? What three-game losing streak? Yes, the Explorers fell in succession to SJ Prep (mild surprise, as to the one-sided nature), Ryan (big surprise) and Roman (tossup, hey it went two OTs) as the regular season wound down, but the ills have now been cured. Maybe the football lords provide long-term rewards to those that show cubes. A week ago, lest we forget, La Salle went for two in the bottom half of OT and jr. QB John Harrison hit jr. WR Joe Migliarese for a conversion that provided a 39-38 win over O'Hara. The Lions were underachievers this season and La Salle "should have" won comfortably. Roman? The Cahillites had been looking quite competent of late and this game at Germantown's field "should have" been a close-all-the-way memory-maker. Not even a little bit. Roman had to pull a severe rabbit out of its hat just to get on the board one time as La Salle's defense again and again made impressive plays. The Explorers overpowered the Roman O-line to the tune of seven sacks for 53 yards. Whoa! In order, jr. QB Chris Johnson was dropped for 6 yards by sr. DLs Scott Waters and John McBurnie; for 7 by sr. LBs JB Campanella and Sean Saverio; for 2 by McBurnie and Saverio; for 8 by sr. DL Dom Baker; for 8 again by Saverio, for 9 by Campanella; and for 13 by Campanella and Waters. Jr. RB Balial Lewis (11-39) was also dumped for a loss, of 2 yards by sr. DL Zach Gilbert. Since Roman did very little overall and its best play was quite the treasure, we'll go into detail of the whole sequence right now. Late in the first half, a 15-yard run by sr. TB Chris Ashley moved the ball to Roman's 47 and offensive coordinator Brett Gordon figured he'd be aggressive. "Bad coaching," he said later. "I messed that up, big-time. Should have taken a knee." As Harrison tried to relay some info to his receivers, the ball was inexplicably snapped and sailed far behind the line, with sr. LB Chuck Cohen recovering at the 33 with 8.3 ticks left. Against double coverage, sr. WR Dom Joseph made a spectacular leaping catch at the 4 with 2.1 to go. The Cahillites quickly lined up and Johnson whipped down a spike at 1.2. Tremendous clock management and execution! Next, Johnson rolled to his right and here came Gilbert in hot pursuit. Close to the sideline, Gilbert grabbed Johnson and began to take him down. No matter! Johnson used sheer strength to resist just enough to get away a pass. Touchdown!!! Sr. TE Matt Marcinek, much more famous for high-quality linebacking (smile -- this was his first catch of the season), made the snag almost standing semi-alone in the end zone maybe 12 yards in from the right sideline. Truly, it was one of the best plays of this or any other season. There's no way Johnson saw it, though, because he was tasting turf by that point. The Cahillites swept to their locker room with all kinds of momentum, and then, and then, and then . . . didn't sustain it. They posted just one first down on their next three possessions as La Salle expanded the lead to 28-7. Hard to figure. This makes Roman 0-3 in playoffs over the last three seasons. The first two setbacks came in first-round games. This year it had a first-round bye. Harrison finished 13-for-25 for 189 yards and TDs Nos. 26 through 29 of the season. Two went to sr. WR Jack Forster; one apiece to Migliarese and jr. TE Ryan Warrender. Forster had a game for the ages. There were the seven catches for 118 yards and the two scores. And a 22-yard, trick-play completion to Ashley in the game's first (scoring) drive. And punts of 49 and 52 yards en route to an average of 36.2. And a 17-yard dash for a first down out of punt formation (his second TD followed three plays later, raising the lead to 21-7). And two fair catches of punts, which helped with field position. And the display of unselfishness/headiness late in the second quarter, when he batted down a fourth-down pass deep in La Salle territory when he EASILY could have notched an interception. Geez, what do we have to do now? Change his name to Jack "Truly of More Trades Than Are Humanly Possible" Forster? (smile) Major lacrosse star or not (Penn State, on scholarship, he's considered the nation's No. 2 prospect), it's hard to believe this guy will play only one more football game in his life. When will that be? Good question. La Salle and Prep are Thanksgiving rivals, of course. But the CL wants its money. One La Salle person said he hopes the title game can be scheduled for two days after Thanksgiving, if not TG itself. "That way," he said, "it would still be the holiday weekend and all the kids that are home from college will be able to come." Makes perfect sense. We'll see how this plays out . . .

NOV. 18
PUBLIC LEAGUE FINAL
Frankford 15, Washington 14
   Well, coach Mike Capriotti and his tri-colored ballclub certainly have shown the ability to win championships by one-point margins after brassy decisions that not everyone would have made. A year ago, when the Pioneers edged Northeast, 14-13, "Cap" opted to go for  two with 6:42 left after first sending his kicker onto the field (and then receiving forget-the-kick advice from his father/part-time assistant, Ray Sr., like Mike a former Frankford star). This time? Well, the situation was much more pressure-packed. Frankford faced fourth-and-goal from a foot with 46.8 seconds left after sr. QB Andreas Hudson was held to a 1-yard gain by about 47 tacklers on a third-and-2. The Pioneers called time and Cap said later he gave brief thought to another sneak. But then he said to himself, "They've had three chances from the 5 to get it in, and haven't. Erv's been a good kicker all year. We're going with him." Before jr. Ervin Goodson could get a chance from 18 yards, Washington coach Ron Cohen called one, then another timeout, his third of the half. Finally, Sean Henderson snapped and Josh Burnett held and . . . pow! Goodson hammered the ball up and straight through and the 14-12 deficit was impressively erased with 39.5 remaining. The Frankford people went berserk, of course, and the early celebration did prove to be justified because Washington was unable to post any even-later heroics. The second part of the fourth quarter was not well-played, but did it ever entertain so we'll keep our focus here for a while. The teams lost one fumble apiece and Washington might as well have lost another because the effect was just as devastating. Washington sr. RB Fateen Brown (21-82, TD) lost the ball on his 27 with 6:53 left as Burnett, a jr. LB, delivered the blow and jr. DB Dwayne Lewis made the recovery. One fourth and 1 from the 18, Hudson bobbled the snap backward and it appeared the outcome would be disastrous. But sr. RB Calvin Spires picked up the loose ball and ran forward to the 9, providing a first down! Next, Spires dropped a handoff and lost 4 yards. He then was crunched by sr. OLB Oliver Wallace and fumbled as he neared the turf. Well, at least that was what the refs ruled. If Frankford had lost, this would have been discussed and argued for many moons because it's possible the turf caused the fumble. Anyway, sr. DE Scott Marano recovered and again Washington had a chance to salt away what would have been an upset win. The sequence: sr. FB Jeff "Milky" Jones gained 4 yards (tackle by jr. Lamont Fitzgerald and sr. DB Eugene Thomas); Brown gained 2 yards (sr. DT Brandon Allen); and Brown was dropped for a 5-yard loss as jr. LB Chris Spence rocketed through the line. That made the line of scrimmage the 16 and the Pioneers loaded up. The snap went to Marano. And off his hands. Marano regrouped to get possession, but sr. Steven Ortega, a special teams whiz all season, combined with soph DT Terrell Lewis (Dwayne's first cousin) to dump him for an 11-yard loss and the Pioneers took over at the 5 with 2:18 left. You already know what happened thereafter . . . Now, we'll go through the earlier moments. A botched snap on Frankford's very first play produced a recovery for Jones on the going-in 38. Swoosh. Brown ran for 2 and 15 yards, then sr. FB Jay "He's Not" Sloh ran 21 yards to the right corner for a TD. Phew, that didn't take long. The score came at 10:39. Frankford answered in fine fashion, mostly thanks to passing. Hudson went 3-for-3 on the 72-yard drive, hitting sr. WR J.C. Montgomery for 36 yards and Spires for 6 and then the 5-6, 140-pound Goodson, who last year at this time was the ballboy, for a 19-yard score. Erv did miss the PAT, however. In the second quarter, the teams again managed TDs on consecutive possessions. Washington again went first, as Brown's 12-yard run capped a nine-play, 60-yard thrust. Goodson was major on the answer-back, snagging a 34-yard pass to get the ball to the 20. Then, it was Spires for 10 and 6 and sr. FB Nate Johnson for the final 4. The Pioneers went for two, but jr. DB Devon Wallace, Oliver's brother, broke up a pass intended for sr. TE Warren Tinsley. Washington did very little on offense post-intermission. Its defense received deep interceptions from sr. DBs Rich McPhail and Anthony Bright. Unlike last year, Frankford won't have to play two games in three days this coming week. It'll be North Catholic on Thanksgiving and then a state playoff nine days later. Amauro, Bill, Terrance and Joe McFadden also were in attendance for this game, so we'll see what other reports might flow in. There was definitely much to write about (smile).

NOV. 17
CATHOLIC RED SEMIFINAL
SJ Prep 36, N. Catholic 0
   Numbers sometimes DO tell the story, so we’ll throw a couple out here right away. Zero and zero. The first one represents how many points the resurgent Falcons scored this season against Prep in two meetings. The second one represents the number of interceptions. In their 10 other games, the Falcons stormed to 256 points and 24 picks. Is the gap THAT big between these two squads? Well, since they won’t be meeting a third time, the answer has to be yes. I know I have idiotic thoughts/hunches on occasion (smile), but I doubt I was alone in thinking North could hang with Prep to at least some degree thanks to its perceived advantage in team speed, especially since Temple-bound sr. RB Daryl Robinson has been used more recently in his original high school role, as a receiver. One problem: even a guy on a souped-up motorcycle would have needed some holes to zoom through and, folks, they were mostly non-existent. The Prep’s linemen were just too physical, not to mention well-positioned, and North did little until the outcome was way past the in-doubt stage. The ink went to sr. ILB Neil Doogan (6-4, 225), a former weak-side DE who is being eyed by Navy, Air Force, Delaware and James Madison, among others. He had seven stops and that’s a decent number considering that North ran just 35 plays and 10 were incomplete (or an intercepted) passes. The main four guys along the D-line were jr. Es Gary Williams and Ryan McGinn and sr. Ts Jeff Battipaglia and Ryan Haber. They flat-out kicked butt, holding North’s rushers to zero yards on 15 tries. Robinson had to settle for two on five attempts and jr. Terrell Oglesby (6-6) was only slightly better.The Falcons did not post a first down until early in the third quarter, when Robinson broke down the middle and made a one-handed snag of a pass from soph Dennis Logue for a 33-yard gain. It certainly appeared that Daryl was guilty of offensive interference, and Prep trainer Jackie Onks yelled along the sideline, “He pushed off! That was so obvious, I even saw it!” (Jackie said the Prep players just recently introduced her to the lunacy of this website – smile. Had to give her some kind of shoutout). That drive did reach the 17, but Logue passed incomplete, then was dumped for 10 yards by Williams and had a fourth-down pass broken up by jr. DB Greg Castillo. Prep was methodical on offense most of the night. The feeling is, coach Gil Brooks wanted to keep the ball away from the potentially explosive Falcons as much as possible. Sr. QB Chris Whitney threw just once on a 16-play, 86-yard drive that began the game. Finally, on third-and-goal from the 4, he looked right, then took off left and scored in way-too-easy fashion. Two NC possessions later, Whitney intercepted a Logue pass and the offense came onto the field. The orders: yo, Brian, go long. Go very long. Sr. WR Brian “The Gigantic Lion” Brinkmann caught Whitney’s bomb in stride and posted a 61-yard TD. Prep scored once more before halftime – with 29.2 showing, in fact – on Whitney’s 15-yard pass to sr. TE Steve Schell. Double S ran an underneath left-to-right pattern and was beyond wide open as he made the catch at the 10. Second half? Perfunctory. Prep had two possessions. Tallied on both. Five-yard pass to Schell (again in his own zip code, pretty much) and a 5-yard run by jr. TB Jamir Livingston (28-158). ‘Mir mir-ly carried on all 10 plays of the last drive. By the way, North had a full house on the visiting side of the stands at Northeast. People started to leave before the third quarter was completed (ouch). A couple injured Hawks agreed with my assessment that the Prep’s crowd was likely its worst of the season. For North, sr. OLB Ryan McCullough had seven of his nine tackles in the first quarter. Sr. ILB Chris James finished with 10 total.

NOV. 11
CATHOLIC RED FIRST ROUND PLAYOFF
North Catholic 30, Judge 27
   Soon after the game ended, North coach Chalie Szydlik gathered his players and told them how special an occasion this was, in that the win was the Falcons' first in a playoff since 1956. Well, depending on your definition of "playoff," one could say that this was North's first PLAYOFF win since 1937 and it's definitely the school's first CL postseason win since '37. How so? Well, look at things this way. When North won CL titles in '34, '35, '36, '37, '49, '50, '52 and '56, a playoff tournament did not exist and there were championship games only if two teams were tied for first after the regular season. North last had to go that route in '37, when it bested SJ Prep, 13-0, in a showdown for the title. The City Title Series, which matched the CL and PL champions, did not begin until '38. The '56 win was over Lincoln for the City Title, 12-0. The Falcons did lose six times thereafter in playoff tournaments, so to speak, but the sting/stigma was removed tonight, baby! Before a very large, spirited crowd at Northeast, they traded game-long punches with their arch-rival Crusaders and lived to see another playoff day. The next round will feature a matchup with mighty SJ Prep and it would be unrealistic to expect a win. A dogfight? Yeah, we could see that because the Falcons do have a decent amount of playmakers and tough nuts and it will likely come down to overall line play. Ah, but that's next week . . . The headliners in this one were Daryl I and Daryl II, a k a Terrell Oglesby. Daryl Robinson, you know about, because he has been terrific all season and next year he'll be taking his act to Temple (reportedly at cornerback, but man oh man is he capable of rushing/receiving/returning fireworks). Tonight he carried 15 times for 154 yards and TDs of 74 and 4 yards and he also tallied on a 54-yard pass from soph QB Dennis Logue. He had one other catch for 1 yard, so that computes to 209 from scrimmage. He also tacked on 55 yards on his two returns of interceptions and 1 yard on a punt return so now we're at 265. But wait. There could have been 84 more for 349!! As the first half concluded, Judge had to punt and for some strange reason the ball went straight to "Daryowl." Not a good idea. He exploded for an 84-yard TD. Two problems. North had 12 men on the field (one tried to sneak off during the return -- smile) and there was also a block in the back 7 yards upfield from where Robinson caught the ball. So Judge accepted the 12-men penalty and got to run one more play. Sr. DB Rich Cruz intercepted. What a wild and goofy sequence. As for North's T.O., Oglesby, he raced for 195 yards and a 79-yard TD on just 12 rushes (16-plus per pop) and also ripped off gains of 21, 30 and 21 yards, all in scoring drives. He caught no passes, but did add 16 yards on returns and make a lunging interception. So, let's retrace our steps. Between them, Robinson and Oglesby totaled 349 rushing yards, 55 receiving yards and 72 return yards (476 in all) along with all four TDs and three interceptions. Not a bad day at the office. North's O-line featured jr. C Bobby Mullen, jr. G Terelle Paskel, sr. G Pat McCullough, jr. T Eric French and sr. T Anthony DeLuca. Among the TEs was jr. Shahid Paulhill and he made a perfect seal-off block on Robinson's 4-yard TD run with 11 seconds left in the third quarter. This game's momentum built slowly. In fact, it was only 3-0 North early in the second quarter when I mentioned to Amauro that I'd expected more of an up-and-down game. He expressed the ame thought and then, literally moments later, Robinson sped 73 yards for his first score and the track meet was on. Judge shortly received a 39-yard run from sr. TB Joe Thompson and that drive wound up yielding Thompson's 1-yard burst for a score 3:16 before halftime. Robinson took North's next play for 57 yards to the 10, but Judge stiffened and jr. Michael Majzik missed a 22-yarder (he'd hit from 23 for the game's first points). Robinson's erased 84-yard punt return and Cruz' pick ended the half. Third quarter: jr. Andrew McHale scored for Judge on a 65-yard punt return, showing his own brand of speed and fancy footwork, and North came right back to respond on Robinson's 4-yard score (Oglesby contributed bursts of 21 and 30 yards). Fourth quarter? Glad you asked. And you were downright thrilled if you saw it in person, no matter your allegiance. Judge scored at 8:48 on a 28-yard right-corner fade from jr. QB Paul Volpe to sr. WR Tom Hayes. Cruz had the play covered, but neglected to look for the ball. Back to North. First play. Robinson for 79 yards. Back to Judge. Nothing and then a punt. Oglesby for 21 yards, followed immediately by the 54-yard TD pass to Robinson. Back to Judge. Twenty-three yard pass to soph WR Mark Ryan on the second play, getting the ball to the North 38. Two plays later a 32-yard scoring pass to McHale. Wow! Those four TDs were scored in a period of 4:23! With the spread only three points, the final 4:25 was of course filled with tension. But North had to punt twice, with sr. Ryan Nally doing the honors (jr. WR-DB Pete Sellecchia suffered an earlier knee injury), and Judge could not provide any late dramatics thanks to picks by Oglesby and sr. Ryan McCullough (nine tackles, two sacks). Sr. LB Chris James made 14 stops. Soph DB Mike Scott had two sacks. Two personnel notes about Judge -- jr. LB Chris Dowling was unavailable due to a previous injury and sr. DE Ryan Kreider departed late in the third quarter. Both kids are difference-makers. While leaving the parking lot a good 10 minutes after game's end, I had to drive around and through a bunch of kids pounding each other along Summerdale Ave. As did others. Other kids were running to that location, some serious haymakers were being landed and I think, just maybe, I heard a curse word or 700. North and Judge. Such friendly rivals . . . Finally, you won't believe this one. The roster listed for Judge in the program had not one familiar name. Out of curiosity, I did a Google search for some of the more unusual names and check this out: The roster is for the 2002 team from Las Vegas (Nev.) HS. How in the world did this happen? Goes to prove, buying a program can be a gamble.       

NOV. 11
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Penn Charter 21, Gtn. Academy 10
   It's always nice to win a championship, but especially so when the preseason circumstances would not have exactly called for it in shout-from-the-rooftops fashion. The Inter-Ac this season expanded from five to six teams for football and two -- Malvern Prep and newcomer Chestnut Hill Academy -- were thought to be 1 and 1-A in the early September pecking order. However, even in so-called off years, PC is never far from the top and, lo and behold, it was the Quakers who managed to march unscathed through the minefield. This one? In many ways, it was a matter of outHolcombe-ing the Patriots. Sr. TB Alex Holcombe has been a major, major, major force all season and last week broke the city record for carries in a game with 53. He figured to again get the rock innumerable times and again create damage, but PC came to realize -- hey, two can play this game. If the Patriots don't have the ball, Holcombe can't run it. Who would have thought? Playing his role for PC was sr. TB Sean McNally (nee Dressel). Like Alex, Sean posted no run-away-and-hides. His longest carry went for "only" 15 yards and just four times did he collect as many as 10. Ah, but his total was 27 for 132 and he scored two TDs and because he also did yeoman work at linebacker, as always, he received the Geis Memorial Trophy that goes to the MVP. McNally, with help from his linemen and fellow skills guys, helped to set a tone right out of the box. The Quakers drove 80 yards in 16 plays -- no penalties; great discipline -- and used 9 1/2 minutes to get onto the board on McNally's 2-yard run. As important as McNally was, perhaps the biggest TD belonged to jr. WR Ed Bambino. And I say that for many behind-the-scenes reasons. Bambino began the season as the QB starter and was efficient as a runner/ballhandler. PC never was unable to utilize its receivers too much and the decision was eventually made to go with soph John Ryan. Bambino moved to WR and, by all accounts, accepted the partial demotion in splendid fashion. He was beyond energetic while running patterns, etc., and just as feisty after making catches and he was a large part of this squad's total success. Oh, and he was the guy who snagged a 75-yard TD pass from Ryan 2:05 before halftime, lifting PC's lead to 14-7. There was a gigantic play -- maybe -- right before that. I say "maybe" because it appeared that a punt by Holcombe might have brushed against a PC player. But the Patriots were slow in reacting and PC sr. LB Sam Biddle pounced on the ball, just to be safe. I never did get a straight answer from the refs on whether they have ruled in GA's favor if a Patriot had made the recovery. The ball would have been at PC's 25, of course. The Quakers'  top lineman was sr. Drew Fullen, who lines up at C and DE. Coach Brian McCloskey was happy to see Drew get some attention and said, "He's very likely the best D-end I've coached." The other OL members were sr. G Richard "Biggins" White, jr. G Mike McInerney, soph T Justin Renfrow and sr. T Rob McInerney and two other guys who mixed in at T -- jr. Ryan McGarvey and soph Joe Volgraf. The TE was jr. Blaise Fullen, Drew's brother. The McInerneys are brothers, also. Holcombe finished with 25 rushes for 83 yards and just one of his carries went for more than 8. That was a 25-yarder that produced a TD, and on which he made a brilliant sidestepping move to evade a defender at the 14. He did nothing wrong this day. Not at all. The only thing not in Alex's favor was that fact that PC had deeper lines and a shade more overall quality. As the game wound down, Alex kept raising his hands to helmet in anguish and he was sobbing, sometimes very hard, long after the game was over. What a warrior this kid is. He had the weight of two worlds on his shoulders all season and just kept producing, producing, producing . . . At 21-10, GA was still hanging around in the fourth quarter when jr. Dan Lipschutz (earlier 36-yarder came on for a 34-yard FG. The thinking, of course, was that it was a still a two-score game. As the Patriots lined up, I thought immediately, "This might not work," because the ball was only 6 yards behind the line of scrimmage instead of the accepted-everywhere 7. Sure enough, the kick was blocked by B. Fullen. McNally recovered the ball. Jr. QB Charlie Taft came through in respectable fashion when GA entered have-to-pass mode and jr. WR Billy Vernon made some tough snags (along with an interception on PC's only second half play that wasn't a McNally run). But there were no other end zone visits and PC finished 5-0.

NOV. 10
CATHOLIC BLUE FIRST ROUND
Neumann-Goretti 13, Carroll 12
   There’s no way this one-point affair in Blue at Germantown’s field could have provided as many thrills and chills as the Red one-pointer (La Salle 39, O’Hara 38, in OT) at Northeast. This was hardly a snoozer, though, and there was still drama until the waning moments, so we’ll consider ourselves lucky, as well. THE key play occurred with 5:28 left after sr. QB Matt Cantafio, who had a strong performance mostly via rushing (on quick-hitting draws right off center-guard blocks, following excellent fakes), bulldozed 1 yard to move Carroll within 13-12. As the Patriots lined up for an apparent kick, N-G lined up in the neutral zone and offsides was called, moving the ball to the 1 ½ yard line. Cantafio was the holder. He took the snap, stood up and began racing toward the right corner. Bam! And bam! As he advanced within inches of the goal line (or maybe he even got across; someone nearby me thought so and it happened right in front of us), Cantafio was clobbered by sr. S Anthony Sample and jr. CB Darrell Dulany. He did a spin-flip over the line and the ball came flying out. Maybe 4-5 yards into the end zone, the ball was recovered in a wild scramble by jr. LB Adam Malatino (12 tackles) and that meant, of course, that the conversion failed. I later asked a Carroll assistant whether the fake was planned even before the penalty. He said, “Yes, we were going for the win.” Made sense, especially since Carroll has experienced kicking problems all season (and there was a missed PAT in this one). However, in this situation, once the penalty took place and moved the ball halfway closer to the goal line, I would have lined up in regular, go-for-two mode. I wonder what the statistics would reveal about those situations. Are teams more successful when they use a straight-up approach? Or when they try to succeed off a fake? Doubt anyone has ever researched that one. Anyway, N-G churned out two first downs and, of course, used up clock on its ensuing possession and advanced the ball as far as Carroll’s 29 before fourth-and-1 resulted in a 2-yard loss (tackle by sr. DE-LB Tom Ciccoli). Carroll ran three plays. Sr. DL Drew Byrne dropped Cantafio for a 7-yard loss, Cantafio completed an 18-yard pass to tricky sr. WR Wiley Flowers and then tried another pass Flowers’ way. Dulany raced in front and made the interception and only a kneeldown was needed to end it. See, told you this game had some decent drama (smile). The ink went to Malatino, whose family experienced a rough week. Adam’s grandfather has been hospitalized after suffering a heart attack and Adam, as you might imagine, has been dedicating his performances. He did score a TD last Saturday night in the regular season finale and came oh-so-close tonight to repeating the feat about five minutes into the game. On a wingback counter, and was his ONLY carry of the game, he burst upfield for a 79-yard gain to the 1 before jr. DB Ellis Rogers was able to execute a catch and drag-down. Sample scored from the 1 two players later and George Hatton’s PAT turned out to be VERY important. Other TDs: Sr. RB Russell Johnson ran 8 yards for Carroll 2:12 before halftime, two plays after Cantafio exploded for a 61-yard gain, and sr. FB Mark McPherson (15-87) went 45 yards for N-G on the third play of the second half. Carroll followed that score with a little-by-little thrust that moved the ball to the 5. On fourth and seven, the call was a speed sweep for sr. Shane McMahon. Exploding across the line for a wicked POP! was jr. OLB Preandre Watson, a prospect to watch at 6-3, 225. McMahon was dropped for a 5-yard loss. Watson had several crunchers while adding four catches for 72 yards on passes from sr. QB Mark Hatty. N-G’s offensive line did a much better job in the second half. The guys provided more space at the line of scrimmage for the skills guys to do their thing and got better pushes downfield. The members: sr. C Kenyade Peterson, jr. G Chris Palmer (6-4, 290), sr. G Jimmy “The Way Niv Lives” Niven, soph T Kadeem Custis and sr. T Louis Mobley. One of N-G’s, ahem, non-youthful assistants (I know what that club’s all about – smile) had a good line as the game wound down. “I know I’m going to need something to drink after this one. Might be Geritol, but I WILL have something to drink.” Mr. Versatility, a k a Tommy Howlett, handled the PA system in the second half after no one announced in the first half. The 2006 grad is already the head coach of the Saints' freshman team. Phew, in just a few years, he might be a head coach in the NFL and the voice of NFL Films! (smile)

NOV. 10
NON-LEAGUE
Gratz 32, Mastbaum 8
   Well, folks, we almost saw some SERIOUS history today. Sr. QB Jerrick Jenkins came oh-so-close to breaking the city's game records for passing yardage and TD tosses in what, believe it or not, was the Bulldogs' first win of the season after nine losses and that goofy 16-16, three-OT tie with Germantown. The yardage mark was set by Central's Mike Roche at 409 on Thanksgiving 1986 vs. Northeast. And the Lancers tried and tried and kept passing all game that day because of some bad blood over something previous. Jenkins finished 13-for-23 for 358. A few guys have notched six TD passes. Jenkins managed five and would have had two more if not for holding penalties that wiped out scores of 23 yards in the second quarter for jr. RB Hal Chambliss, who began this season playing for Mastbaum, and 33 in the third for jr. WR Malik Palmer. Gratz coach Erik Zipay knew of Jenkins' yardage total at halftime (274) and at first said, "Nothing else to shoot for, right?" But later he mostly got conservative while saying, "It wouldn't be fair to keep throwing." By the way, if you add the 56 yards lost on the would-be TDs to 358, that total of course is 414. Record time! And in case you're wondering, Jenkins had no more passing yards on those two possessions, so it was not as if he could have received double credit, so to speak. I've told a few people that Jenkins is one of the purest Pub passers in 31 years of covering this league. Kevin Ingram (Dobbins, class of '80) was the best and Marc Baxter (Mastbaum, '91) were terrific and Kevin made the CFL and NFL. There were probably one or two others (I'll have to give that more thought at a less busy time), but man, does this kid have the goods. Someone was scouting for a college along the Mastbaum sideline in the first half and admitted he was there, in part, to see Jenkins. We spoke briefly about Jerrick and then, boom, he immediately threw an interception and the guy departed! Believe that? Wherever he coaches, I hope Jerrick someday torches his d-backs (smile). Here are the totals for the four guys who caught passes: sr. WR Bradley Martin (6-86, two TDs); sr. RB-WR Nisia Dunaway (3-80), Palmer (2-108, both TDs) and Chambliss (2-84, TD). In most of Gratz' games, against better Red Division competition, Jenkins often had to run for his life and found himself being victimized by drops. He was sacked just twice in this one and the drops were minimal (two for sure, maybe a third). His grunts were sr. C Terrance Frazier, jr. G Earl Watford, sr. G Khalif Solomon, sr. T Julius Kane and freshman T Antoine Bland. Great job, guys! When the Bulldogs used a TE, it was jr. Dominic Marrow. Jenkins can throw any kind of ball and his long ones are particularly well placed. They drop in perfectly to the right area. He was limping for part of this game -- nothing serious -- so I'm guessing his few misfires resulted from an inability to properly set his feet and follow through. Chambliss, meanwhile, rushed 10 times for 63 yards. For Mastbaum, soph Rasheen Tookes turned 17 totes in 58 yards and a score. Truthfully, he was about the only productive Panther. Jr. DE Muhammad Dudley registered four tackles for losses while sr. Rasheed Bulknight delivered a bevy of good pops. Chambliss and soph DB Demetrius Clark recovered fumbles while Martin had an interception. Lord only knows why Mastbaum did not go the play-it-safe route as the half wound down, but a long pass was called and the incompletion stopped the clock at 0:15. Jenkins launched a perfect pass to a streaking Palmer along the left sideline and a 66-yard TD resulted. Actually, this one could have been wiped out, too, because Palmer looked back and held out the ball to the chasing defender while very much still in the field of play. But the back judge allowed the TD to stand and called a dead-ball infraction. Jr. LB Hason Franklin and soph DB Robert Fitzhugh posted Mastbaum's picks. Sr. LB Richard Stratton and soph LB Steven Mont recovered fumbles. At least seven times, five times in the first half and twice in the second, referees kept the clock going on plays where the tackle was made out of bounds. And sometimes WAY out of bounds. Nothing hisses me off more than refs who can't wait to get out of the stadium. I WILL be making a call to the District 12 chairman, Robert Coleman. This crap happens way too often.

NOV. 9
NON-LEAGUE
Germantown 37, Univ. City 24
   This one could have lasted another couple hours and you would have heard no complaints from this precinct. Stats=where it's at. At some point in the first half, I heard someone along G-town's sideline say, "The weather's too nice to play defense." Amen to that, baby! Ha, ha. Nah, there were some good pops and the defenders at times appeared to be motivated, at least a little. But with the temperature about 70 degrees (has this been a crazy weather fall, or WHAT?!), there was much more of a let's-play-offense atmosphere. G-town often got pounded through its first nine games of a very difficult schedule, so a two-game winning streak has to feel great, especially in anticipation of the Thanksgiving match vs. King. The offensive linemen paved the way to a whopping 426 yards on only 39 plays (over a first down per pop). The grunts were sr. C Alan Steele, jr. Gs Kalif Jones and Jarett Travis and sr. Ts Chris Oliver and Antoine Kemp-Smith while the TE was jr. TE Darryl "D.J." McBride. The ink went to jr. TB Tramelle McKie, who finished with 188 yards and one TD on 16 carries. He would have opened the game with a first-play, 72-yard score, but somehow stepped out of bounds at the 10 even though the trailing defender was not especially close. McBride then caught a fourth-down, 10-yard TD pass from sr. QB Russell Rollins. Sr. FB Eric "Neckbone" Williams (6-38, two TDs) and Tyree Clemons (8-90) also rushed well while jr. QB Kyle Payne, a 6-3 junior, whipped pair of scoring passes to jr. WR Thorn Cerdan. Not small ones, either. The distances covered were 41 and 45 yards. Before today, the Bears' QBs had completed just 16 of 120 passes (13.3 percent). Holy off target and/or drops! This was only one game and who knows what'll happen down the road. But Payne threw some nice balls in warmups and appears to have potential. Maybe he just needs a shade more confidence? UC's co-headliners were sr. QB Kenny Moore (6-6, 210) and jr. WR Khayri Young (5-10, 180). Moore has worlds of possibilities because of his size and arm and wiry strength, but he's also quite decent in hoops (his grandpop, Tom Hoover, played in the NBA) and the jury's still out on which sport he intends to pursue. Mostly on rollouts because UC's line was slightly porous, Moore passed 15-for-25 for 248 yards and Young made five snags for 161 yards and TDs of 59 and 49. Soph Neville Hill-Brown (5-45) and sr. Damy'on McGhee (3-30) also had good days. Honestly, I thought UC spent too much time trying to run because the results were mostly worthless. If I (or Huck, I'm sure) had been calling the plays, Kenny would have thrown Moore and Moore and Moore (smile). UC squandered two decent chances. As the first half ended, a 16-yard hookup to Young put the ball at the 3. But Williams stormed through the line for a 13-yard sack and Moore's last-gasp pass was deflected by jr. LB Lemar "Twin" Harris. As the third quarter wound down, a 23-yard pass to McGhee put the rock at the 13. Travis tackled Hill-Brown for no gain, then jr. DB Raymond "Hey, Enjoy the" Holiday and jr. DB Khalil Lainey assured sr. RB Malik Randoph would also post a no-gain. Oliver followed with a 10-yard sack. So long, good threat. Germantown's cheerleaders made a nice gesture maybe 10 minutes after the game. Bears' coach Mike Hawkins was still talking to his team, so UC was first to leave the field. As the Jaguars walked past, the gals chanted, "We are proud of you, say, we are proud of you!" One of the approaching UC players said, with sincerity, "Mmm, this makes it a LOT better."

NOV. 4
PUBLIC LEAGUE QUARTERFINAL
Dobbins 28, Central 19
   One of the things people like about football, aside from the physicality, is the fact it's the ultimate team sport. But there are also times when individuals dominate (with help from their friends, of course) and this was very much one of those times on the artificial surface at Gratz. The final score in the Time-to-Man-Up Showdown was Darrell "Butta" Brown 26, John Kennedy 18. What a treat! It wasn't until quite late last night (I'm writing this Sunday morning) that I learned from Brad Wilson, a writer for a group of suburban papers, that Germantown Academy had rallied from a 14-0 deficit to stun Chestnut Hill, 28-21, and that franchise tailback Alex Holcombe had carried an astounding 51 times, thus breaking a city record belonging to Judge's Mike Elentrio (49) since 1983. (The Other Paper That Shares Our Building had him for 53 carries; guess we're looking at some cross-checking.) Elentrio was strictly an offensive player. Holcombe also stars at LB and serves on multiple special teams as well. Anyway, I took some pictures through the first half of that game and then departed for this one. Know what? Brown came close to shattering a city record, as well! The one-game mark for TD receptions is four and has been achieved seven times. Brown, a 6-2, 180-pound wideout/slotback, came within seven yards of five! Overall, he caught six passes for 135 yards and TDs of 44, 32 and 1. The first one was a fly pattern and the d-back was only remotely in the area. The second was a short pass over the middle and Brown did the rest with jukes and such. The third was a 1-yarder and he caught the ball at the back edge of the end zone, basically standing alone. His first could have come on the game's first series, but on fourth and goal from the 28 (there'd been holding and a sack), he caught a medium-length flip and was pushed out of bounds at the 3 by jr. CB Ray Harris. Would-be No. 5 occurred with about 1:30 left. On fourth and goal from the 17, Brown caught a pass at maybe the 2 1/2. Harris was right nearby and had him pinned against the right sideline. Thinking the best way to break free would be to spin and head toward the middle, Brown did so. But he was tackled at the 4 and that was that. Oh, almost forgot. Brown did have four total TDs. The other one came on a 79-yard kickoff return, which was posted in electrifying fashion. What a night for Brown. Not a bad way to Butta the bread, eh? The QB of course deserves a lot of credit and that was sr. Wesley "Jelly" Brown (10-for-15, 197 yards; no relation). The grunts: sr. C Byron Blount, sr. G Sharif Eaddy, soph G Derek Clark, jr. T Randolph Latimore, sr. T Bryant Bentley. The TE is sr. Randall Wilson (6-4, 240). Now for Kennedy. The sr. is one of the best possible option QBs you could ever hope to see because of his quick feet and Longines-like timing and flat-out bursts when he thinks he sees open field. Kennedy went for 123 yards on 21 carries and TDs of 40, 1 and 18 yards and of course was prominent in the pitchouts/handoffs on options that helped sr. Daniel Barrett pick up 108 yards on 22 rushes. His one Achilles heel? Passing. Kennedy completed just one of 11 attempts and it came very late and wound up being meaningless. Sr. LB Dennis Gaskins, sr. DL Malaquan Butler, sr. DB Marcellus Willoughby (pick to set up a TD) and sr. LB Chris Roberson (two fumble recoveries) were the Mustangs' prime defenders. Also, sr. DB Terron Martin recovered a carpet-bouncer. Central's most active defender was soph NG Michael Anhalt. Judging by some POW nominations, last week was his first start and it certainly appears he plans to hold the job for a while (smile). He made four tackles behind the line for 26 total yards (two sacks, two of RBs) and blocked a PAT. His dad, Michael, was a first team All-City defensive lineman for Frankford in '77. Terron Martin's family members kept holding up a large blanket with his likeness in uniform. Very cool. Click here to see a pic.

NOV. 3
PUBLIC LEAGUE QUARTERFINAL
Northeast 9, Bok 0
   If not for some little things, this game could still be scoreless deep into a second day of playing. Northeast has struggled all season on offense, especially against decent opposition, and Bok found the going much more difficult in this one than it had all season against the squads that populate the AAA division, etc. I’m expecting other guys will chime in on this one and I have to run out soon for a 3-game day (well, one full and parts of two others), so we’ll stick to major moments. NE’s one TD came on a 9-yard fumble return by sr. DE/OLB Sean Evans, who got the ink. The play began so close to Bok’s goal line because Bok soph DB Brahkim Poole moments earlier had made a poor choice while pass defending. Not sure if he lost track of the down or where he was on the field, but Poole definitely should have knocked down the ball on his 3, on fourth down. But he instead intercepted – this kid has had many big moments this season; don’t be hard on him – and Bok had to take over right there. Another major Wildcat, jr. RB Luke Lassiter, lost possession of the ball on a hit by sr. DB Darryl Dawson and Evans made the scoop at the 9. He claimed it took him only two steps to reach the end zone. He IS 6-6, but that sounds a little outrageous, right? (smile) Another dagger for Bok was delivered on the ensuing possession. With Lassiter uncorking runs of 17 and 22 yards, the Wildcats moved from their 38 to the NE 12. Sr. FB Melvin James bulled hard up the middle and was within inches of the goal line – some thought be broke the plane first; I was up near the 20 yard line (bad angle) – when he fumbled. Sr. DL Kennard Martin recovered in the end zone. Game of inches. Literally. The third quarter was played in the middle of the field. Early in the fourth, Bok sr. Maurice “Rookie” Goodwin uncorked a 27-yard punt return and only a shoestring tackle by soph P Tim Freiling prevented a TD. NE held, as pass breakups by sr. DB Michael Small and Evans were prominent, and then took over at its 27. Evans posted a 23-yard pickup on a slant pass from frosh QB Malik Stokes and later made a GREAT catch along the sideline. Unfortunately for Sean, pass interference was called on Bok and that gain was slightly longer, so NE took the penalty. Sr. RB Andrew Vu then vu-roomed his way to a 26-yard pickup and NE was in business at the 2. Hard to believe, folks, but the Vikings twice were flagged for delays and a screen pass to the left was flat-out dropped. On came Freiling for a 31-yard FG attempt. The kick was short, but Bok was called for offsides. Oh, baby. Freiling tried again from 26 and rocketed the ball through the uprights. Only 3:34 remained. Bok had two more possessions. On the second, sr. QB Mike Nelson had to leave with an injury (sack by soph LB Nathan Johnson) and on came jr. Darnell Goddard. At 6.5, NE was hit with an interference call so an interception by Small was wiped out. Goddard passed again. Small again made a pick, 5 yards deep in the end zone, and went ALL the way. What would have been a spectacular game-ending TD did not stand, though. The refs threw three flags on this one. Hay-zooooooooos. NE had to run one more play, a kneeldown.

NOV. 3
PUBLIC LEAGUE QUARTERFINAL
Frankford 58, Olney 12
   Here’s hoping Olney’s second playoff visit goes better than the first. The Trojans have created a stir while earning a shot at postseason action for the first time in the program’s 75-year Pub history, and are to be commended. But this one was a mismatch early and often and overall we should not be surprised. Frankford has loads of quality players. Olney does not. Since Olney’s highlights were few, we’ll start there and, yes, they were goodies. Jr. Mike Reyes is primarily the QB and he shows lots of feisty traits. He scored twice in this one, first on an 83-yard kickoff return and later on a 31-yard special teams fumble return. The KO return was one of the top plays of the year. Reyes went straight up the middle and kept absorbing contact, spinning away, absorbing, spinning, absorbing, spinning . . . I’m guessing he was hit five different times. Wonderful effort! The other TD came when punt returner Eddie Ferrell, a soph, made a nice catch coming forward but then dropped the rock. Reyes made the gather-in and took off to the end zone. Olney had great difficulty moving the ball from scrimmage, so these plays were very important to the Trojans’ overall mind-set coming out of the evening. Yes, they got pounded. But they broke through and hit the scoreboard not once, but twice. We’ll see what happens as the week unfolds, but this evening could have been costly to the Pioneers’ future. Sr. RB Calvin Spires (12-139, two TDs) suffered a shoulder injury and there appeared to be LOTS of concern along the sideline. The coaches were speaking in hushed tones whenever any members of your good, ol’ TS.com contingent (SIX of us were there; great dedication, troops!) were nearby and one reported seeing some tears in assorted eyes. We all hope Calvin is OK because he’s been a solid player and person throughout these last two seasons and it would really stink (resisted the temptation to use that stronger “s” word; the one that rhymes with “duck” – this is a family website) to see him sidelined as the Pioneers try to repeat. The other primary RB, sr. FB Nate Johnson, also had to depart with an injury, but his boo-boo was described as an ankle tweak and it’s expected he’ll be OK for the semis vs. the Central-Dobbins winner. The story went to jr. RB-DB-KR-K Ervin Goodson, who last year served the Pioneers as a ballboy while doing his playing for the Frankford Chargers organization. Like many Pioneers, the 5-6, 140-pound Goodson can motor. He scored on a 20-yard counter and a 63-yard punt return in addition to hitting four of five PATs. His miss followed the PR score, so maybe he was winded. Other nice moments: a blocked punt by sr. DE Steven Ortega; a 76-yard kickoff return TD by jr. LB Christopher Spence (and his commonplace series of HARD hits); a 17-yard TD pass from sr. QB Andreas “Dre” Hudson to sr. WR J.C. “Yes, Sir” Montgomery; a late TD run by Ferrell and a tacked-on conversion pass from jr. Jonathan DeRivera to soph Akeem Whipple. Jonathan was distressed to learn that conversion plays don’t count in the stats. Sorry, buddy. Ortega and jr. DL William Mount shared a sack. Ortega recorded a TFL. Sr. DL Tyree Dudley enveloped Reyes on a 13-yard sack. Former coach Al Angelo was in attendance. The current boss, Mike “Cap” Capriotti, was one of his star players.

NOV. 2
NON-LEAGUE
Penn 26, King 22
   There’s a science to picking which of these non-league games to cover every November and sometimes the test tube explodes in your face. But this was one of those rare occasions when no mistake could be made. No matter the outcome, I was going to have decent material for the DN story. King has a wonderful scatback in sr. Kendell Coleman (5-6, 150) and he has been performing in admirable fashion all season for a team that just can’t find a way to git er done – or however Larry the Cable Guy spells his signature phrase. So, if King had won, Coleman would have finally enjoyed the spotlight. But a victory by Penn was a good story, too, because the Lions now own a 2-game winning streak for the first time since 1980!! Yes, 1980!! (Folks who follow the Pub are now saying, “Hey, wait a minute. That’s misleading.” How true! Ha, ha.) Here’s the story: In ’80, Penn went 6-2 overall and actually earned a playoff spot as the wild card team (best second place finisher) in what were then only four-team playoffs. However, the Lions were spanked in a semi  by Frankford, 51-0, and the program subsequently went off the deep end. The team was disbanded after the ’84 season and varsity action did not resume until ’04. So, really, this is the Lions’ first 2-game winning streak in seven seasons. Still amazing, right? How’d it happen? Tough to decipher. King comfortably won the yardage battle, 301-172, and even got a clutch, 22-yard field goal from frosh Darrell Archer to provide a 22-20 lead. But often this season, the Cougars have just flat-out screwed up in royally frustrating fashion at exactly the wrong times and, yes, that happened again. The story went to jr. QB David Allen, who started at QB last season, and performed in respectable fashion, yet found himself at CB when this campaign started. Two other guys proved not to be the answer and Allen regained his job three games ago. Mr. Pass You to Death? Not exactly. In fact, when Allen hit sr. WR Christopher “I’ve Been Open All SEASON” Rowe for a 38-yard gain late in the third quarter, it was the first time in five games a Penn QB had completed a pass for positive yardage. The kid has solid ballhandling skills and the ability to thrive on bootleg keepers and he fared well on that play more than once. He went 25 yards for a score and 20 yards to set up another score and received more than enough support from sr. RB Jerome Buckner, who went 18-73 and also scored twice. Penn twice had short fields to work with. Jr. LB Dewayne Daughty intercepted a juggled screen pass and returned the ball 16 yards to the 13 and shortly thereafter uncorked a 19-yard punt return, putting the ball at the 50. (Well, that’s not a short field. Let’s call it a medium field – smile.) The Lions got a gigantic break on what would have been the field play of the half. Allen was dumped by jr. DT Richard Dixon (lots of potential; it takes non-stop hard work, young man!) and the ball rolled free. Sr. LB Christopher Mitchell made the scoop-and-dash and went 42 yards for an easy TD. Uh, oh. A flag is down. A fellow lineman made a block in the back well behind the play and the TD was erased. Sr. QB Aleem Marshall then threw a last-gasp pass and soph Emmanuel Pittman pilfered. The other ginormous King gaffe came in the final 90 seconds. On fourth and 2, Coleman produced a 14-yard run that took the ball to the 3. Flag. Again. Holding. Back to the 27. Uggggggh. Marshall’s pass to sr. WR David McClenic was off the field of play to the right and the Lions, who also received strong defensive performances from jr. DL Kevin Minnick (11 tackles) and jr. DB James Rainey, soon were rejoicing. You had to have nothing but major respect for Coleman. All he did was produce 303 total yards and three TDs. His ground efforts showed 27 carries for 166 yards and two scores; he caught two passes for 60 yards and another TD (on a 47-yard screen pass; he snagged the ball on the right and scored in the left corner; terrific play!); and he logged 77 yards on four returns. This was a fun game to watch. However, one guy from each team was ejected for fighting in a quick flare-up during King’s last possession. Not sure why it happened. The refs moved quickly to prevent mushrooming. King coach John Sheroda at one point instructed an assistant to talk to a defensive lineman about getting blown off the ball because he’s “too perpendicular.” He added as an aside, “He’s too up and down, I think that’s what ‘perpendicular’ means, right?” It was not until the second quarter that one of the refs, good guy George Geiss, learned King’s opponent was Penn. “This is Penn? I thought this was Imhotep. Don’t they wear black, too?” In George’s defense, refs often are told what field to go to, but not necessarily which teams the game will involve. Penn’s jerseys are as bland as it gets – black with white numbers and, of course, no school name. In the fourth quarter, some Germantown players stood in the stands and playfully heckled the Cougars (before leaving for their night game at Gratz). Messing around, I asked the King guys whether it was OK to take pics of the Gtn guys. The answer was a resounding “Noooooooooo.” Not unexpected.