SEPT. 30
CATHOLIC RED
La Salle 35, Judge 14
   Everybody went to Northeast HS to watch a football game and instead were treated to a passing clinic. Especially in the first half, La Salle jr. QB John Harrison turned in one of those good-as-it-gets performances. After his first pass was overthrown, he quickly regrouped and hit 11 in a row. (The streak would have been 12, but one was a backward pass and that counts officially as a running play.) The 5-10, 165-pound Harrison looks like a kid who should be delivering your Daily News, not cutting out defenders' hearts, but there's a fierce competitor in there somewhere. Early, he wasn't facing much pressure. But Judge then began to send extra pass-rushers on blitzes and it mattered very little as Harrison used his surprisingly quick feet to evade the bodies and keep picking apart, picking apart, picking apart . . . He never did get sacked. Plus, he got just enough rushing help from sr. RB Chris Ashley, mostly on delays/draws, some of which were run on angles as opposed to straight ahead. The Explorers scored on four of their first five possessions and TD No. 4 was preceded by some trickery. After a 17-yard TD pass from Harrison to sr. WR Jack "Of All Trades" Forster was wiped out by a holding call, sr. Ryan Cain eventually set up for a 41-yard field goal. The snap went to sr. holder Andrew Dean (like it's supposed to, right? -- smile), but Dean stood up in a hurry and completed a 19-yard sideline pass to sr. Greg Frantz. With the ball now on the 5, Harrison returned and sent a fade to the right corner. The matchup was 6-5 jr. WR Joe Migliarese against 5-6 jr. DB Tyree Quiah. No contest. Not this time, anyway. This TD made it 28-0 just 33.2 seconds prior to halftime and, yes, it removed much starch from the proceedings. Harrison finished 21-for-33 for 270 yards and three TDs; the others went to Forster (6-113) and Ashley (3-49). Migliarese posted seven snags for 53 yards. Ashley's rushing numbers weren't eye-popping (15-47), but he did score two TDs via that route so that gave him three for the evening. How'd the second half begin? With more Explorer fireworks. However, an 84-yard TD kickoff return by soph Tyler Houchins was lost to a penalty. Judge finished with 161 yards total offense, but just 15 came on the ground and almost one-third of the passing yards came against a defense mixing subs with starters. Jr. QB Paul Volpe went 9-for-13 for 146 yards and a TD to sr. WR Tom Hayes (6-122). He was sacked three times, once apiece by sr. LB J.B. Campanella and sr. DTs Scott Waters and John McBurnie. The final downer for Judge came late in the game when La Salle was in downshift mode offensively. On fourth-and-16, the Crusaders didn't bother to rush Forster on a punt. So, Jack stood there and stood there and, finally, when it became obvious that no one from Judge was going to challenge him, he took off toward the right sideline and ripped off a 23-yard gain for a first down. At one point in the second half, I kiddingly told Cain that if the coaches were going to cost him three points with a fake field goal, at least they could let HIM throw the ball. He shot back with a smile, "I've been waiting three years for a direct snap."

SEPT. 30
CATHOLIC RED
North Catholic 13, O'Hara 12
   Remember that moral victory claimed last week by the Falcons in a close game against La Salle? Well, today brought a REAL one and the feelings don't come close to comparing. When Temple-bound sr. CB Daryl "Daryowl" Robinson ended the game with an interception, the Falcons momentarily went berserko and then were quickly reminded by coach Chalie Szydlik to sustain the euphoria only over the weekend and be prepared to get back to work come Monday. Oh, and to behave, too. Except for Thanksgiving triumphs  over Frankford, it's hard to imagine North has posted this big of a win since Hockey Puck did not appear to be with child (ha ha). I'm writing this in a locker room at Northeast, where Judge will meet La Salle tonight. Puck is already here also, but he thought I was lying when I informed him of North's victory. When he finally believed me, he said, "Were they bustin' on me?" That's a yes, buddy. Of course he then added, "I KNEW North was gonna win. I shoulda had more (cubes) to take 'em." North had many heroes in this one, but the no-doubt-about-it headliner was the 5-10, 170-pound Robinson, who has been clocked at 4.39 seconds for 40 yards. His assignment for most of the day was to cover 6-7, 225-pound jr. TE-WR Mark Wedderburn. Wedderburn did have to sit for part of the second half with a minor injury, but he was out there at the end and Robinson made sure he caused no damage. Overall, Wedderburn made two catches for 46 yards and one came on a spectacular jump-ball play where his height advantage was barely enough to help him get the job done. On offense, meanwhile, Robinson turned quick slants from soph QB Dennis Logue into TDs of 51 and 47 yards. And I mean he MOTORED down the field after making the snags just a few yards beyond the line of scrimmage. The first one came in the first quarter, but a missed PAT left the score at 6-0. O'Hara earned a tie on a 32-yard fade from soph QB Tom Savage to jr. WR Chris Smith in the second quarter, but jr. Pete Sellecchia broke through to smother the kick. Also in the second quarter, O'Hara did a repeat for a 40-yard score to Smith, but the play was nullified by a lineman-downfield penalty. The Lions forged ahead with 8:07 left in the third quarter as sr. RB John Dempsey (30-90), back from a first-game ankle injury, followed Wedderburn's 16-yard catch with a 3-yard run. This time coach Danny Algeo opted to go for two points and Savage was dumped by sr. DB Ryan McCullough. That, of course, left North in great shape for come-from-behind heroics. The winning score occurred with 10:14 left on a left-to-middle slant. On came soph Freddy DiMascia, whose dad, Al, was a feisty little QB for the Falcons. DiMascia no doubt had to be nervous, but he hammered home the PAT and the noise from North's fans could have been heard AT North. O'Hara had three more possessions. First one: On third-and-3 from the 14, McCullough and jr. LB Ricky Williams combined to toss Dempsey for a 1-yard loss. Savage bobbled the snap on fourth down and that messup killed the play's timing. His swing pass to sr. WR T.J. Long was a shade off-kilter and Long had to make a sliding catch that left him short of first-down yardage. Second one: A 14-yard pass to Long created first-and-goal at the 1, but a procedure call backed up the Lions, then McCullough dropped Savage (13-for-33, 192) for a 2-yard loss. Ultimately, jr. Tom DuBois was wide right with a 20-yard field goal attempt. Third one: Smith's fair catch of Sellecchia's punt put O'Hara in business at the North 42 with 0:45 showing. On second down, Savage hit sr. Jack Breznicky for a fade-pattern gain inside the 10. Uh, oh. But Breznicky was called for offensive interference, pushing the ball back across midfield and McCullough -- phew, how many clutch plays did HE make? -- held Breznicky to a 6-yard gain on the next play. With time expiring, Savage went to Wedderburn and Robinson made the pick. Sr. LB Tom Hannan (rockin' people) and sr. DB Rich Cruz (defendin' 'em) also had strong outings for the Falcons. Hannan notched three TFLs and a sack. Jr. DE Billy McMonigle most caught my eye among O'Hara's defenders, thanks to four TFLs. It will be very interesting to see where both teams go from here. SJ Prep is the obvious class of the Red, but the No. 2 spot appears to be a wide-open deal. La Salle? North? O'Hara (in time, as Dempsey makes more and more of an impact)? Judge? Roman? Ryan? Who knows? And no one can pretend to know for sure what order to put them in. VERRRRRRY interesting.

SEPT. 29
PUBLIC RED
Dobbins 28, Gratz 6
   I figured this one had a chance to be loads of fun because Dobbins sr. Wesley Brown and Gratz sr. Jerrick Jenkins are two of the Pub’s best passers. As an added bonus, the enjoyable viewing included major brass from Dobbins coach Lou Zambino in terms of how he runs his offense. The Pub has almost always been a rush-first, rush-second, rush-third, rush-fourth, etc. league, and passing has usually taken place out of traditional sets in standard ways. But Zambino formerly assisted at Archbishop Carroll and he was there in 2000 when his son, Derek, was the QB for a squad that obliterated the city record for points in a season with 584. Those Patriots showed off-the-charts variety and “Louie Z” is trying it here. It helps a great deal that Brown is a savvy kid with great poise and focus and is able to make things run smoothly. Dobbins used trips formations, empty-backfield formations, a double reverse, a pass off a speed sweep, a halfback pass, a conversion run out of a muddle-huddle . . . gotta love it!! Wesley, who threw for two TDs, is not the only talented Brown. He is joined by sr. WR-SB Darrell “Butta” Brown and jr. WR-SB Kevin “Peanut” Brown. (No relations). Butta caught two TD flips from Wesley, a k a “Jelly” (at least to me – ha ha), and showed impressive arm strength when, on a speed sweep, he stopped short and whipped a 58-yard scoring pass to Peanut. The Mustangs’ other score came when Peanut raced 88 yards for a kickoff-return TD. That TD came midway through the third quarter after jr. RB Hal Chambliss (hey, didn’t he start this season playing for Mastbaum? Yes!!) ran 1 yard to draw the Bulldogs within 7-6. Peanut’s heroics made it 13-6, then Gratz failed to cover the kickoff in proper fashion and jr. Michael Washington made the recovery on the 37. Butta bolted for 25 yards and Jelly passed to Butta for a 12-yard score. Dobbins has no true franchise back this season, so it’s important for the line to give W. Brown enough protection. Mostly, that happened. The crew: sr. C Byron Blount, sr.  Sharif Eaddy, soph G Derek Clark, jr. T Randolph Latimore, sr. T Bryant Bentley and sr. TE Randall Wilson (a prospect at 6-4, 240). Gratz’ most impressive player is Jenkins, a true total-package thrower. He can gun or guide the ball to people and it’s a shame his receivers don’t always have his back. Like many good athletes, Jenkins displays mixed dominance as he throws righthanded but does the Bulldogs’ kicking with his left foot. Weird, right? Jenkins finished 13-for-27 for 174 yards and his top receiver was sr. Bradley Martin (7-103). Martin has average speed, but showed an ability to ease between 2-3 defenders for catches. Chambliss totaled only 24 yards on 13 carries. Honestly, he looked a shade tentative, but we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt since his head’s probably spinning with the change in schools. He can become a headlining back in time. Dobbins’ one interception went to Eric Wiley, thanks to pressure from sr. DE Malik Marrow (6-5, 230), while Wilson and sr. LB Chris Williams made early, tone-setting TFLs. Jenkins and DT Earl Watford had interceptions for Gratz while DE Elijah Akbar forced and recovered a fumble on the same play. Jr. DB Muhammad Dudley also recovered a fumble. Sr. LB Julius Kane also had some good moments. A nice, spirited crowd was on hand. Very cool to see. Dobbins has always done things right in just about every area you can think of. It’s a special place and its graduates always seem to hold it in high regard.

SEPT. 28
PUBLIC AAA
Franklin 24, Freire Charter 6
   Not much to stir the juices, troops. Can't say that was surprising, but I did have hopes Freire would put up a better battle. Freire last year went 0-12 and even had to forfeit one game because of low numbers and a former Dragon recently noted that as few as five guys sometimes showed up for practice. A new coach, former Pitt player Nelson Walker, is in charge and he's trying to get it rolling against long odds. Some players still don't have helmets, at least one did not have a jersey (two others had to step aside when their shirts got ripped) and one guy was sent to the sideline because he did not have a mouthpiece. Assistant Antowine Graham, formerly a quality QB for Dobbins, said the Dragons have enough cleats for everyone only due to the generosity of ex-Dobbins star Raheem Brock, now with the Indianapolis Colts. Plus, the one true star, RB-OLB Antoine "Blueberry" Singleton, suffered a back injury late in the first half and was unable to return. Franklin scored on two of its first three possessions and all 16 points went to sr. RB-FB Cashmier Fields. "Cash" was the subject of my DN story and certainly appears to be someone to pull for. He spent some time in discipline schools, but was able to transfer to a "regular school" because of how he performed last year in both the classrooms and hallways. He and jr. RB Versean Dawkins make for a nice combination because each matches decent speed with a dead-end-kid approach. Also, they seem to really enjoy blocking for each other and the importance of such camaraderie cannot be understated. Franklin's first drive lasted 11 plays and covered 60 yards. The third lasted 12 for 74. The Electrons' third score came just 9.9 seconds before halftime as Dawkins sprinted to the 3 and jr. QB Tajidin McGough took the rock the rest of the way. Well, after dropping it. But he made a nice recovery after bobbling the snap and made it to the left corner. Coach Ken Geiser put his second team offense onto the field even as the third quarter commenced and though no scores resulted, jr. Chris Sturgis did post 133 yards on 10 carries. The backup QB, sr. Rhaim Dawkins, had major difficulty with snaps and eventually was replaced by the third-stringer, jr. Romar Green. Romar goes only 5-2, 115. When he went to the line of scrimmage the first time, one of Franklin's subs said, "Damn, he's short!" Green then bent over to take the snap and the guy yelped, "Where'd he go?" (He truly did come close to disappearing -- smile). But Green was flawless while in control and his teammates were loving it. Also, after Freire finally scored with 47.2 left, it was none other than Green who made the tackle on the conversion! Very cool! Singleton ran seven times for 36 yards and made nine tackles. The starting QB, sr. Eli Taylor, eventually moved to WR and did some damage with four catches for 69 yards. Kendell Patterson also fared well with three snags for 50 yards. Much of that was accomplished against backups, but at least those two and Aaron Leedie (8-for-16, 153) got to have some fun. Tajh Hartsfield was also a force on defense and lineman Antonio Burrell recovered a fumble.

SEPT. 24
CATHOLIC BLUE
West Catholic 33, McDevitt 14
   WC finished the preseason at 0-3 -- against a tough schedule, admittedly -- and was not knocking off anyone's socks by halftime of this one. So an observer had to wonder, Is this team anything special this year or truly not a strong contender for Blue honors? No answer yet, oh loyal website visitors, but the Burrs did play better and with increased intensity after intermission and won this tilt going away. They were probably helped by the fact the weather was quite sticky -- it POURED big-time shortly after game's end -- and McDevitt appeared to wear down. The ink went to sr. LB-DE-DT-TE-P Anthony Rhoades, who's being pursued by a number of D-I schools. He's not merely a jock, either, as he's president of the student council and something of a whiz as an artist. (Had to trust him on that. It wasn't like he was lugging around a portfolio -- smile.) Rhoades notched nine solos among 12 solos, five of his stops went for losses (a half-sack, four other TFLs) and he also forced a fumble. He was overpowering at times while also showing finesse and in college he could figure as a rush end or outside linebacker. Who knows? Maybe even an inside LB. Maryland, Michigan, West Virginia, Syracuse, Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Temple are among those in steady contact. Not a bad assortment. Rhoades' pressure helped the Burrs notch three interceptions, with jr. DB Herman Hinton getting two and the other going to jr. DB Carl Beaty. The Burrs also recovered three fumbles as soph DB Raymond Maples (two) and sr. DE Isiah Edmond did the honors. The offense was led by sr. TB Dennis Shaw (22-140, three TDs) while jr. QB Eric Brennan passed 7-for-12 for 84 yards. After the first play of the fourth quarter, on which he posted a 12-yard gain, Shaw went to the sideline and behind me one Burr sub said to another, "Why's he going out?" Another responded, "To get a rest." The first shot back, "Who're we gonna get to run the big plays?" At that very instant, Maples took a handoff and zoomed 59 yards for a score. He later added a 10-yard run and a 37-yard scamper for another TD. Not bad. Three carries, 106 yards. It was before the third rush that Huck predicted a TD. Afterward, he laughed and said, "Usually, when I say something, it happens." The Huckster (not be confused with the Puckster) had a few other good lines. His best came when McDevitt punter Frank Doyle, a sr. and also the QB, had the misfortune of shanking a punt toward the stands at Penn Wood's stadium. As the ball sailed out of bounds, Huck said, "That ball's on its way to get some refreshments." He then added, "I know that's going to make the report!!" Ha, ha. Doyle finished 9-for-20 for 134 yards and a TD to blossoming jr. Jason Golderer (3-56). The rushing was handled by jr. Kyle Epps (26-103) and sr. Dante Oliver (9-53). McDevitt has some surprisingly big kids on the line (I'd been led to believe such was NOT the case) and got some decent pushes. On defense, sr. DB Joe Mitros made six stops and blocked a PAT and Golderer made seven tackles. Also impressive was sr. DE-OLB Branden Williams, who's listed at 6-2, 220, and has one of those great-for-a-FB-player frames. He can run more than a little and deliver physicality, too. Afterward, West coach Brian Fluck gathered the Burrs and presented one of the game balls to outgoing West athletic director Joe Hasson. Joe was greeted with hugs from players and cheerleaders alike and I'm guessing the entire scene meant the world to him. Joe's a good guy and has everyone's best wishes.

SEPT. 23
CATHOLIC RED
SJ Prep 40, Roman 0
   Um, about the fact the Hawks went 1-2 in non-league action . . . You're advised to forget it happened while still remembering that two of the foes (Don Bosco, of New Jersey, and Hilliard Davidson, of Ohio) are national powers. This was the Red opener and Prep now owns 42 consecutive wins in regular season division play. This one was claimed in emphatic fashion as the first team offense plundered and pillaged Roman's defense to the tune of 352 yards in just three quarters. But despite the big-time frolicking from scrimmage, the onslaught began with a big-boy play from a little guy. Every year, it seems, coach Gil Brooks, himself a shorter man, finds a way to make a non-tall player an important cog. This year the honor goes to 5-8, 162-pound sr. Brian Brinkmann, better known as "Baby Lion" to his teammates. Also a wideout, all he did tonight was return the opening kickoff 91 yards for a score. Brinkmann caught the kickoff in roughly the middle, eased slightly right, darted back to the middle while faking out the kicker and scored toward the left corner. Wonderful effort! The Hawks scored on their next two possessions, raising their lead to 19-0, and that caused some of Roman's student rooters to chant, "Still might cover! Still might cover!" (Yes, as in beat the spread -- smile.) They added, "We'll beat you in basketball! We'll beat you in basketball!" As you might expect, the headliners were jr. RB Jamir Livingston (25-181, four TDs) and sr. QB Chris Whitney (8-for-12, 141, 40-yard TD pass to jr. Brett Tiagwad, of budding baseball fame). Livingston's scoring runs covered 11, 10, 1 and 70 yards and he did some serious motoring on that last one. The Prep's line: sr. C Joe D'Orazio, sr. Gs John Gazzola and Adam Kasprzak, sr. T Pat McCarthy, sr. shared-time Ts Jeff Battipaglia and Joe McKendry and primary TE sr. Steve Schell. (I've seen the center's name spelled with a small "o" after the apostrophe. If he wants to let us know for sure, we'll made the adjustment. Thanks!) All night, only two Prep plays lost yardage. Despite the early shock, Roman did rebound nicely as jr. QB Chris Johnson completed a 48-yard bomb to sr. WR-DB Dom Joseph, who's back from a Week One high ankle sprain. But on first down, Battipaglia tackled jr. RB Balial Lewis for a 1-yard loss and on third down jr. DB Jim McGoldrick dumped Johnson for a 6-yard setback. There was an incompletion in between and the drive lost all of its promise. Roman wound up running 36 plays. Few were productive. Late in the half, Roman did post a 25-yard keeper by Johnson and a 15-yard pass to sr. WR Troy Richardson, advancing the ball to the Prep 35. Didn't matter. Jr. DB Greg Castillo ended the threat with an interception. Second half? Not much to stir the senses, honestly, except for Livingston's 70-yard TD dash on which he had to outrun Joseph along the left sideline. If Dom had been completely healthy, I wonder what would have happened? So do they, probably (smile).

SEPT. 22
NON-LEAGUE
Chestnut Hill Academy 15, Washington 7
   Sometimes, it’s necessary to watch a guy for only one play to make the judgment, “Yup, he’s a player.” The play involving jr. RB-DB-KR Rashad Campbell was the first. The 5-8, 170-pound Campbell, who won’t turn 16 until Monday, caught the opening kickoff and zipped for a gain of 74 yards, all the way to GW’s 15. Man, oh, man, what a run. He uncorked at least three pick-up-your-jock moves and when the run was over, I immediately thought of Curtis “Boonah” Brinkley. While playing for Roxborough in 2000, before he gained fame at West Catholic, Brinkley had a similar return against Germantown. He’s now a soph at Syracuse making contributions as a returner/rusher. Amazing. But you know what? Campbell perhaps showed even more by what he did in the rest of this one. When a guy is small and fast with excellent footwork and hip action, you expect him to seek the outside route non-stop and shy away from contact. Not “Shaddy” (rhymes with shoddy) as his teammates call him. Not in this one. Again and again, he squared his shoulders early in runs that maybe could have been more productive as full-blown sweeps and instead “cut it up inside,” as they say. It takes heart to do that, especially against a team as physical and ornery as Washington. And maybe Campbell was following orders because the Eagles definitely arranged their defense to guard the wings. Often, all 11 defenders were within 3-4 yards of the line of scrimmage and no safety was stationed even remotely downfield in the middle. Campbell finished with a whopping 30 carries for 115 yards. Just three times did he gain 10 or more, but he mostly kept the chains moving. Plus, if the Blue Devils/Hillers had been able to block sr. LB Aaron “Tackle After Tackle” Hampton, he might have been able to run for 315. Hampton was in on 16 stops and almost every one was close to the line of scrimmage. Anyway, Campbell ran 4 yards for a score on the game’s fourth scrimmage play and the early statement had the CHA fans doing the cha-cha. The squad is stepping up this season to rejoin the Inter-Ac for the first time since 1972 and upgrade the overall schedule, and a road game against the traditional Pub toughie could have proven to be a tough nut to crack. The other big moments came late in the second quarter, when a 24-yard pass from jr. QB to Mike Mattei (his only completion) to jr. Mike Lonergan and a 25-yard run by sr. FB Tyler Ahrenhold (not the classic FB; definitely gritty) helped set up a 27-yard field goal by jr. Alex Logue. That made it 9-7. The clinching TD came with 3 minutes left in the third quarter as soph Julian Brown blocked a punt and sr. Dan Vass recovered in the end zone. I heard the plans for the block attempt on CHA’s sidelines and they were perfectly carried out. Washington caused no stirs throughout the second half and failed to even gain a first down. In fact, all five of its first downs came in the second quarter, as did the score (a 2-yard sneak by revolving jr QB Marquis Murray, just after he’d hit jr. RB Brian Carter for a 39-yard gain. CHA’s offensive line included sr. C Don Houck, sr. G Wayne “I Know the Science of Blocking” Crawford (he’s being recruited by BC, W. Va., Rutgers, etc.), jr. G Alex Scott and jr. Ts Sean Goldstein and Juan Gaskins. Jr. Tim Gramlich was part of the starting quintet, but early on suffered what was feared to be a broken foot. No one racked up impressive defensive numbers for CHA because Washington did not run enough plays. I did like Ahrenhold’s work on the corners, though. He enjoyed several hit-for-keeps moments. For Washington, sr. OLB Oliver Wallace and frosh DT Sharrif Floyd (two TFLs) joined Hampton in the play-making department. I loved the game-long energy showed by coach Rick Knox and his assistants. John McArdle would be loud and boisterous reading the Bible in church and Ed Aversa makes the Energizer Bunny look comatose (smile). Great stuff, guys.

SEPT. 21
PUBLIC BLUE
Univ. City 25, Southern 20
   OK, so how many times do you think THIS has happened in city history? One team scores 25 points in one quarter (UC, over an 8 minute, 35 second span in the second) and the other team scores 20 points in another (Southern, over a 10 minute, 28 second span in the fourth). And neither scores at any other time in the game. Crazy, right? You should have seen it in person. Southern looked mostly hiss-poor in the first half and the Jaguars learned a valuable lesson, as trite as it is: No game is over until the scoreboard says it is. Wait, the scoreboard isn't working these days at 11th and Bigler, but you know what I mean (smile). Here's the wild sequence that UC explode for four TDs in short order. Sr. QB Kenny Moore (6-6, 210) hit paydirt on a 3-yard keeper 9:00 before halftime. Sr. DB Brian Miley made an interception, then soph RB Neville Hill-Brown had a 47-yard TD run wiped out by a penalty. Three plays later, Moore hit sr. RB-WB Malik Randolph on a right-to-middle slant and he posted a 24-yard TD. Just two plays later, UC was on the board again as sr. DE Derrick Boggs made extremely quick penetration on what was going to be a sweep. The RB bobbled the pitchout, Boggs took the ball out of his hands and dashed 29 yards for a score. It happened AGAIN, with slight variations, a couple minutes later. This time, a pitchout was dropped and the ball bounced off the ground right into Boggs' hands. He would have posted a 68-yard score on this one, but freshman QB Shaquille Gaskins (MUCH to like about this kid) gave spirited chase and tackled Boggs on the 2. Moore then followed immediately with a TD pass to jr. WR Khayri Young. Phew! What a blitz of points! In the third quarter, Southern actually got rolling thanks to the rushing of soph Dante Winn (12-92) and jr. Mike Russo and the passing of Monroe (7-for-13, 159). A 29-yard catch by sr. TE prospect Jahmel Bashir particularly fueled a drive, and then Bashir capped it with a tumbling 6-yard TD catch. The Rams' fun then continued, and intensified. Sr. DB Phil Montgomery intercepted. (Offense sputtered.) Sr. DB Eric Whitaker also pilfered. (Offense failed on a lost fumble.) Russo forced a fumble and sr. DB Kareem Williams recovered. This time, soph Chero "The Hero/Cheerio" Weaver made a leaping catch to produce a 32-yard gain and the Rams followed through by getting a 1-yard TD run from Russo. Just 1:10 remained. Russo dribbled an onsides kick and . . . recovery by Winn!! First play? Another TD!! This time, Gaskins hit Weaver for a 49-yarder. Hay-zoooooooooooos! Down by only five points with 0:55 left, the Rams were poised to notch one of the all-time, come-from-behind wins. Russo again delivered an onsides kick. But this one was a shade too hard and it bounced in favorable fashion -- for the Jaguars, that is -- and four guys converged to consume the rock and make sure Southern would not recover. OK, ride out the clock, right? No!! Inexplicably, UC ordered a pass and Young gained 15 yards. OK, ride out the clock now, right? No!! Even more inexplicably, another pass was ordered and it fell incomplete. Following a procedure penalty, two runs were called and UC, finally, ran out the clock. Boggs, who got the ink, had one sack and an interception-causing hurry in addition to his two fumble returns. Hill-Brown and jr. Telmez "Muscle" Irons were also defensive stalwarts while sr. Damy'on McGhee logged TFLs on back-to-back plays in the third quarter. Sr. Jamar Byers and jr. John Spuriel had some good moments along Southern's line and sr. Taleek Ross would be highly disappointed if I didn't mention his sack worth 13 yards (smile). Southern soph Nolan Davis gets the credit for thinking up a new chant uttered by the Rams' subs during defensive series: "Sack that quarterback! Eat that running back! Oooh, aaah!" Little goofy, but I've heard worse (ha ha). Any week now, expect frosh WR Bill Edger, son of Southern coach Bill Edger, to start making an impact for Holy Cross. He had eight catches for 153 yards in a recent JV game. Randolph is quite perceptive. After Southern ran a sweep and lined up again, he yelled, "Same play! To the other side!" Exactly right.

SEPT. 16
NON-LEAGUE
Judge 35, Neumann-Goretti 14
   Andrew McHale hurt Judge and helped Judge. But at least he did the helping AFTER he did the hurting and that's what it's all about, right? Atonement. The feisty junior could have let his chin touch his shoestrings, but that's not how he rolls (pretty hip phrase for an old man, eh? -- ha ha) and he fully deserved what he eventually claimed: hero status. McHale's first boo-boo came in the first quarter when he went to field a punt and noticed that fellow return man Tyree Quiah was in the way, right in front as he scooted forward. McHale gave Quiah a shove and the ball hit the unaware Quiah flush, allowing N-G's Chris Ficchi, a sr. LB, to recover. That mistake did not hurt. In the second quarter, McHale played perfect cover defense on a pass to the left corner from sr. Mark Hatty to sr. WR Joe Gionfriddo. One problem: He never looked back to find the ball and Gionfriddo made the catch for a 22-yard TD. That play moved N-G within 7-6. McHale went back for the kickoff and caught the ball on the 15. With lots of help from a well-conceived wall, McHale got a great early start right up the middle, then eventually broke to the right and down the sideline. Though he was caught and tackled by jr. DB Hakeem Johnson, his momentum carried him across the goal line for an 85-yard TD. By halftime, McHale would add an interception. So, you see, he really did make up for his transgressions. Judge finished with 316 yards of total offense as again the linemen did a marvelous job. Jr. QB Paul Volpe impressed for the second week in a row and got the chance to do so because his linemen kept him well protected. In two games, I've yet to see him get sacked. Volpe is one of those rare QBs with the combination of strong arm/soft touch/decisive delivery. There's much to like about him overall and he should have a fun two seasons. He went 8-for-11 for 141 yards and three TDs, two to soph WR Tom Ryan (4-62) and another to sr. WR Tom Hayes (3-71). Hayes' TD snag was a beaut as he had to adjust from left shoulder to right shoulder when the ball was almost on top of him. Sr. TB Jim Lavelle posted 115 yards and one TD on 22 carries. The linemen: jr. C Anthony Marascio, sr. Gs Eric Flannagan and Brendan Kwisz, sr. T Fran McMenamin, jr. T Dave Smith and jr. TE Dan Keenan. While Hatty finished 10-for-23 for 216 yards, the "running" game, counting sacks and other TFLs, netted minus-2 yards. Here are the sacks/TFLs, in order: Quiah, 10 yards; sr. LB Ryan Boyle, eight yards; sr. DE Ryan Kreider, two yards; sr. LB Chris Dowling, seven and three yards; Boyle again, six yards; jr. Josh Carfagno, 15 yards; Kreider again, six yards; and soph DL Josh Jaskowiak, six yards. Phew! N-G's main receivers were sr. Richie DiGregorio (4-124) and Gionfriddo (4-66, both TDs). Hatty was victimized by several drops and found himself under constant pressure. He made very few free-and-easy deliveries. Sr. DB Mike DiGiacomo had a pick to set up one of N-G's scores. N-G was missing some very important players due to an in-school issue that should be resolved in short order. Strange Play Dept.: As N-G's Adam Malatino ran up to catch a punt, he flat-out let the ball go through his hands. Unfortunately, the back judge either didn't see the play or just assumed a fair-catch had been made and blew his whistle even though the ball was rolling on the turf. Judge recovered, but there was a do-over thanks to what was ruled an inadvertent whistle. Oh, forgot to mention: After McHale's KO return TD, the Saints failed to cover a short kickoff and soph Tim Ott recovered the ball on the 38. Lavelle ripped off gains of 13, 15 and 10 yards for a quick TD and a 21-6 lead. In the waning moments, Judge jr. RB Rob Harris gained 29 yards on five consecutive carries, easing the ball to the N-G 5. Roughly a minute remained. Rather than roll up the score, Judge coach Tommy Coyle opted for class and ordered back-to-back kneeldowns for soph backup QB Steve Harris, thus ending the game. The Wonderful Puck was in attendance. He loved that Roman beat Valley Forge, but winced hard when I made a call and found out that Chestnut Hill had edged Lawrenceville, of N.J., 21-19. That clinched a weekly tie with Huck. "Oh, well, I lost," Puck moaned. "You know he gonna beat me on that closest-score thing. He always do. 'Cause I don't even know how he figure it out. No way to challenge him on it."

SEPT. 16
NON-LEAGUE
Episcopal 41, Overbrook 6
   The morning began with three impressive moments. First, Overbrook coach Ken Sturm allowed the three Panthers who recently saved a woman from a house fire -- headliner Yusuf Bangura, helpers Calem Bridgette and Markeyse Carter -- to serve as honorary captains. Second, Episcopal coach Bill Gallagher had all of his players walk to the midfield area and raise their helmets in salute to the 'Brook heroes. Third, EA soph John Gormley returned the opening kickoff 77 yards for an easy-as-pie touchdown. The Churchmen were just getting started in this mismatch. After forcing 'Brook into back-to-back three-and-outs, they added two more TDs and, honestly, removed much of the game's juice. Jr. RB Bobby FitzPatrick finished with 16 carries for 143 yards and two TDs and sat down after his team's first series of the third quarter. Junior QB Dan Hilferty scored one TD of his own and threw to a wide-open Matt Byrne, a jr. WR, for another. There was little dropoff when the backups came onto the scene. Jr. RB Jim Finegan was afforded just three carries, but responded with 6, 10 and 22 yards for a TD. At the start of most plays, Overbrook's defenders were nowhere to be found and that was a strange site. Episcopal's starting line featured sr. Tom Mulligan (of website writing fame; also 5-for-6 on PAT -- yeah, baby!), jr. Greg Nealis (6-4, 235), sr. Mike Nealis (6-9, 225), sr. Luke Miller (though he suffered an injury), sr. Matt "Real Nickname May Not be Revealed Under Penalty of Law" Sheehan and jr. Elliott Faust (6-6, 230). There guys are a mixture of bulk and/or height and should prove to be more than competitive against the Inter-Ac's other lines. The TE is jr. Sean Cohen. Overbrook's offense showed very little and the early reason was sr. Dan Gillespie, who was in on numerous tackles. Overall, he made two TFLs and a sack. Overbrook had only two enjoyable moments on offense, and they occurred three plays apart. First, jr. QB Eric Kemp, who shared duties with West Philly transfer Brandon "B.J." Johnson, a sr., whipped a long pass and soph WR John Melvin made the snag for a 57-yard gain. Two plays later, jr. RB Darius Johnson turned a sweep left into a 5-yard TD, even somersaulting into the end zone to cap things off. As often, the Panthers' defensive rock was sr. LB Allen Hamilton. Episcopal punter Will McFee, a junior, is a transfer student from Australia. Using his best accent, Gallagher said McFee wanted to know when he came out for the team whether spearing was legal in football. He also said McFee has tremendous leaping abilty and twice made alley-oop catches in last week's JV game. In making the point to a return man that he had looked VERY tentative, an Overbrook assistant roared to the kid, "I could hear your heart beating like Sasquatch's feet."

SEPT. 15
NON-LEAGUE
Imhotep 13, King 12 (OT)
   Dark clouds loomed overhead as this one began, mixed in with some drizzle, and they certainly proved to be a bad omen. It’s doubtful the members of King’s 2006 varsity will forget the game-playing start of their season because it produced a gruesome occurrence. While covering the kickoff, jr. L Rommanus Miles suffered a broken leg – in the upper part, no less; the quite-thick femur bone – and there was a 26-minute delay. There’s no way Romanus can be “all right” for the moment, not when something that bad happens. But we know he’ll receive strong support from his family, friends and teammates and we hope the agony part of this doesn’t last too long. Though there was soon a highlight in the form of a 64-yard punt return for a touchdown by King soph Christopher Carrington, the game was mostly a stinker until the stretch run of the fourth quarter. In this vein, it was not unlike most NBA games. You know what I mean: dragging, dragging, dragging and then, boom, tremendous. So, with your permission, we’ll zip ahead to the circumstances that created such an enjoyable finish. With 4:11 left, Imhotep took over on its 20 and jr. QB Gerald Bowman, a lefty, whipped about a 20-yard pass to sr. FB Khalief Evans. Though Evans was surrounded by three defenders and a fourth was nearby (check out the pic in Special Photos – smile), he not only made the catch but posted a gain of 65 yards. He wasn’t done. Evans picked up 10 more yards on a sweep left and then barreled straight up the middle for a 5-yard score. On the conversion, Imhotep for some reason went for two and Bowman was stopped by LB Michael Dortch. On the fourth play of King’s possession, sr. QB Aleem Mitchell was picked off by sr. DB Jamaal Stone. Imhotep got to the 50 for fourth down and Bowman threw a long pass down the middle. King sr. Kendell Coleman, one of the brassiest kids you’ll ever found at maybe 5-6, 145, had a brain cramp. Rather than knock the ball down, he made an interception and cost his team 27 yards in field position. He compounded that mistake by dropping a handoff on the very next play and sr. DT Kelly Reveil – a feisty force all day on both sides – recovered at the 19 with 24.1 seconds left. Sr. RB Khaleel Evans, Khalief’s twin, gained two yards and Bowman followed with a keeper to the left. He made a leaping attempt for the end zone, but was ruled out of bounds at the 3. The Panthers were out of timeouts, so when DT Tyre Taylor broke through the line and dropped Khalief Evans for a 1-yard loss and there was no chance to run another play. Let’s go to OT, baby, and let’s walk to the other end of the field to get it rollin’ (where the locker rooms are). King went first. Coleman (26-87) scored on his third carry, a 5-yard run. The PAT by Darrell Archer was too low and was smothered. Bowman posted a 2-yard gain, then Khaleel went for five. He suffered a hard knock to his knee and had to leave the game, much to his disappointment. On the next play, Bowman rolled to his left, received a teeth-rattling block from Khalief and scored the tying TD. This time, the choice was kick and jr. Andreas Roberts, a left-footer, was perfect. Hard and high, straight through the uprights. The Panthers stormed the field to celebrate and the win was especially important for the twins and Bowman because all three formerly attended King. Imhotep finished with 232 yards total offense, that number was quite deceiving as 118 came in the last 4:11 of regulation, plus the OT. Its only decent play before that was a 49-yard run by Khalief. Nine plays lost yardage. Meanwhile, Coleman four times was dumped for losses and broke free for decent gains (12, 14) just twice. Both teams are scrambling along the lines due to injury/inexperience. Imhotep’s Ahmad Rasheed, a D-I prospect, is out with a broken left hand, though he could be back as early as next week. King wound up using No. 25, Terrence Jones, at tackle while No. 51, Kadeem Brown, played some tight end. Weird. Either the refs didn’t notice or King coach John Sheroda received special permission to break those rules. Like happened two years ago, when he was an assistant to Mike Stanley, now at Roxborough, Sheroda had words with head ref Tommy McClain, of “Invincible” fame. (Actually, he was famous in these parts long beforehand.) McClain wanted to cut halftime from 15 to 10 minutes, mindful that Mastbaum and Communications Tech were scheduled to start at 6 o’clock on the same field. Sheroda did not want to hear that. Though Sheroda’s assistants apparently talked him into relenting, McClain by this time had his dander up and told clock operator Steve Kupsov, in no uncertain terms, to put 15:00 on the clock. McClain tossed Sheroda from that game two years ago for complaining too vociferously about a call. After King DB David McClenic made a vintage pop, he gushed, “I did it for that purple and gold! I left Delaware to come back for this!” Let’s assume he meant the state and not the university (smile).

SEPT. 14
NON-LEAGUE
Roxborough 12, Franklin 0
   Don't look now, but the Indians are 3-0. OK, so their schedule has not included anything remotely close to a bigwig, but there are some things to like about this squad and coach Mike Stanley has to feel good about his team's camaraderie in addition to its production. I spent the second half on Roxborough's sideline and there was good juice. The subs were supportive and interested and keeping the lesser lights on board is often far from an easy task. The ink went to sr. RB-LB Calden Pierce, a rock-hard specimen who plays for proverbial keeps. He has endured some rough moments in his life, and has gotten through them in deserving-of-praise fashion, and appears to have many supporters. Pierce finished with nine tackles, with three of them going for 11 yards total in losses. His best sequence came in the second quarter after jr. DB Tajidin McGough made his second interception and set up Franklin on Roxy's 27. Pierce made tackles on first and third down, limiting ballcarriers to short gains, and then defended a fourth-down pass. On offense, he had to settle for 42 yards on nine carries, but his blocking helped sr. RB Ramon Odom pick up 89 yards on 19 rushes. Roxborough's two scores were noteworthy. The first came with 41.3 seconds left in the third quarter on an 81-yard interception by jr. CB Amir Boler. This was an all-timer. Boler made the pick along the Franklin sideline and ran on an angle roughly toward the opposite corner. McGough, to his credit, did not sulk after throwing the pilfer and ran and ran and ran in pursuit. At roughly the 20, Boler saw he was going to be caught and, unless my eyes deceived me, stopped dead in surrender mode. But somehow, the tackle wasn't made and Boler used a second wind to start anew and get to the end zone, with a fancy-footwork move or two thrown in. Legendary!! Ha, ha. The second score, a 1-yard sneak (more like 2 inches, really) by jr. QB Stephen Tucker with 8:50 showing in the fourth quarter, came moments after THE play of the game. On a play from the 2, Tucker surged ahead and was struggling for extra yardage. Jim Casey, the head linesman and by far the guy with the better of the two side angles, did not blow his whistle because he could see the play "still had merit," so to speak. But from the other side, just AFTER McGough stole the ball and took off for what certainly, barring a cramp, would have been a 98-yard TD, a screened-out ref blew his whistle and negated everything. Bad!! But, hey, it happens. Early, linemen mostly set the defensive tone for 'Borough. Sr. NG Nafis Briggs (6-2, 350; be nice to him) and sr. DE Allen Johnson made TFLs on Franklin's first possession, then sr. DT Markel Wright posted another the next time the Electrons got the ball. McGough had an interesting afternoon, throwing two interceptions yet also making two of his own. Aside from his TD, Boler impressed with a leaping, in-traffic catch that produced a 28-yard gain. Roxborough's second TD was set up by a bad punt snap, with sr. DE Chris Koons recovering on the 11. Kevin Edwards, a Franklin soph, was a member of the chain gang. He was a true nut (smile) and engaged in game-long chirping with Roxborough's players and fans. Near the end, as you can imagine, he was getting busted on, but good. After a Franklin ballcarrier was dumped for a loss, one Roxy rooter yelled toward Edwards, "Put some cheerleaders on the line!" Three dot.com staff members were in attendance. Bill Wettstein, a k a "Mr. Thorough," you're familiar with. The other was newcomer Terrance McNeil, a former Central player and current Temple student. Terrance went the hard-guy route (no smile, head cocked in defiance)  when I took the picture that'll run with his reports, but don't let that fool you. He's a personable kid and has quickly grasped the concept of stat-keeping, and he'll be a great addition to the site.

SEPT. 9
NON-LEAGUE
Judge 27, Northeast 7
   When Judge plays Lincoln every Thanksgiving, you're assured that the winner will come from the east side of Roosevelt Blvd. This tilt involved East vs. West, but the winner still came from the east side. And that was after the Crusaders spotted Northeast a 3-0 lead that quickly became a 7-0 lead. Huh? A field goal and two safeties? No, a field goal that was erased and then, in rapid order, replaced. Judge
formulated a nice drive as the game began as jr. QB Paul Volpe turned three passes into first downs. But on a short pass, soph WR Tom Ryan fumbled -- actually, I thought he was more than down -- and jr. DB Nafis Muhammad uncorked a nifty, 69-yard return to the Judge 8, where Volpe made the tackle. Ultimately, soph lefty Tim Freiling, of budding baseball fame, hammered a 25-yard field goal, but he was roughed on the play and NE opted to remove the points from the board. Two plays later, soph RB James Rousseau burrowed in from the 3. Volpe completed three more passes on Judge's ensuing drive and the third one produced a TD to a wide-open Ryan. The game-deciding play occurred shortly into the second quarter as sr. DB Joe Thompson picked off a pass on the Crusaders' 29 and returned it 56 yards to the 15. No idea how he got that far because he should have been tackled long before that, or at least pushed out of bounds. It was a wonderful return by the four-year starter and jr. FB Chris Dowling went in from the 1 on the fifth play. Judge added one more before the half on another 1-yard run by Dowling. This drive covered 77 yards and began with three gigantic plays: a 21-yard scramble by Volpe, a 31-yard burst by Dowling and Volpe's flare pass to jr. Andrew McHale, which went for 37 yards. Volpe finished 10-for-15 for 182 yards after completing his first nine tosses. Sr. RB Jim Lavelle managed 54 yards and a score on 19 rushes. Dowling posted 73 yards on eight lugs. NE's defense visibly sagged after sr. LB Brennan Shapiro went out with an injury to his right ankle. He said he didn't hear/feel anything crack, but would have X-rays. Hope he's OK because he showed serious flow-to-the-ball ability in the little time I got to watch him. Plus, he delivered stinging hits. Judge's primary trench boys were jr. C Anthony Marascio, sr.Gs Eric Flannagan and Brendan Kwisz, soph T Matt Schule and sr. T Chris Mulherrin. Sr. DE Ryan Kreider had another strong game on the defense. Perhaps NE's most impressive moment went for naught early in the third quarter when Small evaded serious pressure and wound up dashing for what could have been a 43-yard TD. One problem: There was a holding call. At about the Judge 10, Small received a knock-a-guy-on-his-butt block from soph WB Raheem Groce. Great hustle, young man! A decent crowd was on hand, with some players from Dobbins (wearing jerseys) and Frankford (street clothes) among them. When I walked out of the stadium and reached the parking lot, the players were yelling at each other in a playful (I hope -- smile) manner. Freiling, meanwhile, has a powerful leg. His punts and kicks make The Sound and he will prove to be quite a weapon for the Vikings over these next three seasons.

SEPT. 9
NON-LEAGUE
Wood 35, Penn Charter 14
   A Penn Charter assistant noted at halftime, speaking of Wood, "Hey, they don't win championships because they don't know how to coach." He meant that in a praise-giving way, but just happened to go the two-negatives-make-a-positive-route (smile). Of course, the Vikings have won three consecutive CL Blue titles under first Art Barrett (one year) and then Joe Powel and there's something else they can do aside from coach: play. It's one thing to be put in the right spots. It's often another to carry out assignments. The Vikes get it done in both areas. Most of the decisive moments occurred in the first half and Wood got the better of them. Early, however, PC sr. Brian Teuber blocked a punt by Wood sr. standout Chris Lorditch and made his own recovery on the 10. But when jr. QB Ed Bambino was unable to handle the first-play snap, sr. LB Eddie Schwartz was able to recover in dodge-a-bullet fashion. Wood kept possession and received a TD on a 55-yard pass from soph QB Sean McCartney (brother of '06 grad Bryan, a rusher extraordinaire) to go up by 7-0. PC responded with a nice drive of its own, capped by Bambino's 16-yard scoring pass to Teuber, but it wasn't long before Wood was making the kind of plays it always makes and, baby, when it happens SO often, it ain't luck. On second-and-11 from its 14, PC went with a screen left. Jr. LB Bob DeLucas made a perfect read, stepped in front of sr. FB Joe Rauchut and notched an interception that became an easy 6-yard TD. Before the half ended, Wood had two more scores on receptions of 37 yards by sr. Pat Ddevlin and 19 yards by Lorditch. The first was a fade, the latter a slant on which Lorditch made the catch at about the 7 and fought his way into the end zone. McCartney finished the half 8-for-10 for 166 yards and misfired on his only three flips after intermission; it didn't matter. Sr. RB Matt Little posted 97 yards on 17 carries and went six yards for a late TD. Wood's line: jr. C Robert Kenney, sr. G Andrew Kajko, jr. G Joe Makoid and soph Ts Adam Citko (6-5, 260) and Matt O'Connell. Notice that only one is a senior. Scary. Citko made a fumble recovery in the first half to prevent what could have been a problem. Hmmm.Wait a minute. I'm thinking about something here. North Catholic had a basketball player by that name back in the day. Must be his son, right? Very cool! Wood's defensive leaders were the LBs, srs. Pat McAfee, Pat Devlin and Schwartz, and DeLucas, a jr. All are wallop-packers. Aside from recovering the fumble, Schwartz also notched a sack. PC's best player, by far, was sr. RB-LB Sean McNally, who recently changed his surname from Dressel. Aside from turning 16 carries into 97 yards and a TD, he was dominant in the tackling department, with 13. He also had one sack and one TFL. The wacko guy who attends many PC sporting events was in attendance. He was singing at the top of his lungs long before the game began and among his selections was Notre Dame's fight song. You know the line that goes, "We sober up on wood alcohol?" Well, I guess because he was on a private school campus and didn't want to offend anybody, he changed it to, "We've never lost that we can recall." Ha, ha, ha. After PC sr. Eric Muller hammered a PAT back to the fence, PA man John Burkhart noted dryly, "Eric Muller kicks the PAT. Ball still on the property."

SEPT. 8
NON-LEAGUE
Franklin 20, Mastbaum 6
   So, I was checking with Franklin's best running back, a junior by the last name of Dawkins, whether he spells his name as all one word, Versean, or VerSean with a capital S in the middle. He said his birth certificate has Versean, but that his mother often uses the capital S when she writes his name. A guy was standing nearby and he heard us talking and he chimed in with a laugh, "Just make the S a dollar sign!!" Hmmm. Might not be a bad idea because Ver$ean Dawkins, a 5-8, 160-pound junior, certainly appears to be a money player. In this one, he rushed 20 times for 160 yards and two TDs and he provided right-away momentum with a 65-yard burst on the game's second play. Meanwhile, many kudos to jr. LB Hason Franklin, who stayed with the play and ran down Dawkins at the 5. Versean scored on the next play. His other TD came on a 24-yard run. Though the temptation is to say Franklin's line did an excellent job, that would not be fully accurate as Dawkins five times was tackled for losses. But, what the heck, I'm in a generous mood, so we'll mention the grunts (smile): jr. C Marvin Watson, frosh G Aaron Edwards and his brother, sr. G Adam Edwards, jr. T Antwion Strickland and soph T Lydell Boanes. The rest of the offense was unproductive, honestly, though jr. RB Cashmier Fields uncorked an 18-yard run and sr. TE Brian Lilly made an OUTSTANDING fingertip catch for a gain of 15 yards. Both made big contributions in other areas. Fields notched one of the Electrons' four interceptions and also stole the ball while making a tackle. And after soph RB Rasheen Tookes ran 77 yards for a TD with 3:59 left, edging Mastbaum within 14-6, Lilly caught a bouncing squib kick, to the left of midfield, on his own 43 and ran 57 yards to the right corner behind a well-conceived wall. All suspense was removed, just like that. My DN story focused on sr. DE Stephen Brantley, who made two of his nine tackles behind the line and batted down a pass. He also exerted game-long pressure while helping to assure the Electrons would notch four picks. Jr. Tajidin McGough (also the QB) made two of them and sr. LB Harold Scott had the other (in addition to Fields'). Gotta make mention of soph punter Jamel "Redz" Haggins. He punted three times, all in the fourth quarter, and averaged 47.3 yards. Phew! And there was very little wind to help, if any. Tookes' long burst enabled him to finish with nine carries for 124 yards. I was surprised that sr. QB Richard Stratton threw so many picks because he appears to have a pretty good arm and presence. Maybe later he'll realize his talent. Aside from running down Dawkins, Franklin registered four tackles for losses. He's listed at only 5-5, 176, but he was bringin' it. Tookes and soph DL Andrew King made two tackles apiece for losses. Well, we're getting closer to normal for Franklin games at 29th Street Stadium. This time at least the lights on the scoreboard were on. But the time was kept on the field.

SEPT. 7
NON-LEAGUE
Bok 38, Southern 0
   This one was one-sided and then some, troops. Bok's ever-classy coach, Tom DeFelice, used his first-team offense for only one series in the third quarter, and the subs rode it out from there. I knew attending this game would be risky because Southern was roasted last week by Mastbaum and I can't believe Mastbaum has suddenly become a powerhouse after experiencing major problems last season. Oh, well. If nothing else, it was cool seeing what might be the last game (or one of the final games, anyway) on the long-in-use field at 12th and Bigler. The property will become a Super Site and the original plan was to play no games there this season. But work has not yet begun and the field is still in tact, so . . . Let there be football!! The ink went to jr. RB Luke Lassiter, who turned just 11 carries into 147 yards and three TDs. His best was a 50-yarder, on a scissors trap, and he unfurled serious inside moves on several defenders before breaking to the outside and racing down the right sideline. Bok's first drive produced a TD (3-yarder by Lassiter) on the 13th play. Lassiter and FB Melvin James (Bok did not have a roster; we'll catch up on guys' years some other time) did almost all of the work. The prettiest play was a 31-yard TD pass from QB Mike Nelson to WR Maurice "Rookie" Goodwin. The Rook made the snag near the left corner and easily cruised into the end zone. Bok's line included C Anthony Brickle, Gs Jamar Chase and Jeffrey Smith, Ts Ryan Murray and Leland Sledge and Es Akeem Clarke and Kyle Butts. The latter made a key block to spring Lassiter for his 35-yard score. Southern could bring no juice offensively. The Rams ran just 23 plays all game and did not collect a first down (two total) until the first play of the fourth quarter, and it took some trickery. Soph RB Dante Winn threw a pass to impressive sr. TE Jahmel Bashir (6-4, 235), who gained 19 yards on the play. Bashir is being eyed by Delaware State and is working hard to make sure his academics/test scores are in order, and I hope he gets a chance to show his skills to a larger degree as the season progresses. Sr. QB Kareem Williams, given more time, could be effective. The game's weirdest play occurred when Clarke inadvertently hammered a kickoff off one of Southern's up men. Bok's Kendall Johnson recovered; he also ran for a late TD. The scoreboard is not working at this field and, according to a trusty aide, the refs were not aware that Bok's lead was larger than 35 points in the waning moments. Thus, at least for a while, the clock did not run non-stop. The game ended with an interception by Bok's Donald Whitfield. It was nice to see all kinds of former players along both sides. One of them, ex-Bok RB star Alan Joynes, is serving as a mentor for Lassiter, and Luke appreciates the help he's getting. Hanging out with me, and learning the ins and outs of stat-keeping, was Temple junior Terrance McNeil, a former FB player at Central. He's into writing and plans to file reports for the website. Welcome aboard, young man! And what's a report without a mention of one of The Wife's distant cousins? ha ha. I finally got to meet Roman frosh Mark Donato, a budding baseball star. (If the name sounds familiar, he was also mentioned last weekend.) Roger Durbano, the all-time Bok fan, brought Mark over to say hello during a stop in the action. Mark's pic can be found in Special Photos. Print it out and get his autograph now in case he becomes famous (smile).

SEPT. 3
NON-LEAGUE
Roman 22, West Catholic 7
   No matter how long you watch sports, you never run out of sights/circumstances that cause a scratch of the head. You know, the ol' "how did THAT happen?" Entering this cloud-covered, day-late battle in Wildwood, N.J., Roman owned a 10-quarter scoreless streak against West. The skid hit 11 quarters and then ended in dramatic fashion with back-to-back TDs. Weird, huh? I'm writing this story in the nearby McDonald's while wolfing down a quarter-pounder with cheese, no onions. When I asked The Wife -- she makes the annual journey, thus fulfilling her football obligation for the year -- about Roman's "outburst," she shrugged and said, after yawning, "The football gods were with them." Hey, can you get that brand of female football insight on any other website? (smile) Anyway, the first score came on the final play (fourth and 11) of the first half as jr. QB Chris Johnson (6-2, 205) tossed a 23-yarder to jr. RB Nick Moody. The ball was deflected by a West defender and Moody showed nice concentration on an end-zone leap, hauling it in. The PAT by jr. Chris Fioravanti made it 7-7. The entire drive was impressive, covering 86 yards in 11 plays. Biggies came in the form of runs for 20 and 16 yards by jr. scatback Balial Lewis, the brother of former Roman QB star Andre Sloan-El, and a 14-yard keeper by Johnson. The possession began after an interception by Virginia-bound sr. DB Dom Joseph, who slightly hurt his left leg (side of the ankle, it looked like) and made no more appearances. Outstanding pressure on the play came from jr. DT/beast Jewhan Edwards (6-1, 310), who banged into jr. QB Eric Brennan and caused the ball to be underthrown. OK, on to the third quarter. Roman received and jr. Andrew Regan managed an 11-yard return to the 39. Zoom! Lewis took a handoff and eased to his right. He hit the ever-popular second gear just beyond the line, shook off a couple ineffective attempts at tackles and roared to the end zone for the 61-yarder. You want more? So did the Cahillites, who must have been thinking, "Hey, what was so hard about scoring TDs all this time?" After a strong defensive set and a 36-yard punt by sr. TE-LB Anthony Rhoades, Roman needed to cover only 41 yards. On play No. 6, Johnson perfectly executed a left-to-middle slant to sr. WR Troy Richardson and a 24-yard score resulted. Fioravanti capped the scoring just 2:41 before the conclusion, hitting a 34-yard field goal. Through most of the first half, the filled-with-juice Lewis was Roman's only effective offensive player and he did even better in the second half. His final numbers showed 20 carries for 198 yards. Hard to believe, but Johnson's TD tosses were his only completions, in 10 attempts. Thanks to assistant Len DeMalto for making sure I got the right names for Roman's linemen: sr. C Mike Long, sr. Gs Chuck Cohen and Nick Milburn, sr. T Victor Jaramillo, jr. T John Mazzola and sr. TE Mike Penna. Sr. LB Nick Marcinek led the defense with a half-sack among seven total tackles. He was usually in tee-off mode, causing Huck to comment, "I'd love to be a football player if I could do what he does -- just go in and blast people with no one blocking me." After watching the game's first series, no one would have predicted the final result. West fired off the ball like crazy and rolled 53 yards in seven plays for a score. Sr. RB Dennis Shaw picked up 23 yards on the second play and later scored from 15. Thereafter, the Burrs lost their way and posted just six more first downs (one on a penalty). Shaw finished with only 56 yards on 16 totes (we say "only" because of his fast start) while Brennan went 8-for-25 for 94 yards and was sacked three times. Admittedly, his receivers dropped some passes, but the lefty was not very sharp and did not show the commanding presence you like to see out of a QB, especially one who's in his third year of starting. The offense has to be HIS and he has KNOW he's going to get it into the end zone. That aura is something that should ooze from every QB, even if somewhat subtly. Oh, well, it was only the opener. Lots of time for that to change. Rhodes, the former DE who has been offered by numerous Division I schools, logged a half-sack among his 11 tackles. Fellow sr. LB Marc Holloway had 10 stops. The Wife is a distant cousin of Rhodes' and she spent some time chatting with Anthony's mom, Joanne, who was decked out in her white No. 44 West jersey. TW also saw another cousin, Walt Grady, whose grandson, Mark Donato, is said to be an impressive baseball prospect. He's just about to begin his freshman year at Roman (Penn Charter was also a possibility) and already has posted an impressive summer in the semi-pro Pen-Del League, competing against college players and even former minor leaguers. Not sure about this, but he's probably 14 years old. No more than 15, for sure. One of Roman's linemen was late reporting for the huddle on a fourth-down. After finding out that the kid had been talking with his friends, assistant Brian Conroy roared at him, "What could you have been talking to them about that was more important than being on the field for that punt? Were you curing cancer? Ending world hunger? Balancing the budget?" Roman's long-time PA announcer, Dan Hoban, said he will miss next week's game at Milton Hershey in favor of Penn State-Notre Dame. "Not a bad reason, right? I haven't missed a Roman football game since I was a student." Dan's uncle, John Hoban, is Roman's most dedicated fan.

SEPT. 2
NON-LEAGUE
Overbrook 12, Haverford School 10
   Thirty-eight was an important number in this twice-delayed, waterlogged affair that lasted 2 hours, 35 minutes and featured 19 penalties for 131 yards (ouch . . . and ouch again). Thirty-eight represented the yards covered by 'Brook on its two TDs, as well as its final tally for total offense. Soph WR Yusuf Bangura caught a 10-yard scoring pass from jr. QB Eric Kemp late in the first quarter and jr. WB Darius Johnson, with help from a solid block from jr. G Leon Isaacs, turned a sweep into a 28-yard TD with exactly 6:00 left. Overbrook's other 36 plays yielded exactly zero yards and the Panthers were outgained from scrimmage, 142-38. Phew! So, how did 'Brook capture this victory? Some skill and good fortune. The Fords had major problems on special teams and jr. P Mike Rufo three times suffered losses (for 34 yards). Two of the misplays led directly to Ovb's scores. Sr. LB Allen Hamilton dropped Rufo for an 11-yard loss back to HS' 31 and the TD hookup from Kemp to Bangura came seven plays later. In the fourth quarter, Rufo dropped a snap and decided to run and there was Hamilton again, right in his face. Another 11-yard loss resulted and Johnson took the next play for his 28-yard TD. That one made it 12-8, but there was plenty of drama to come. A 45-yard connection from jr. QB Ryan Kearney to sr. WR Chris Ryan moved the ball to Ovb's 9 with 2:38 remaining. However, Kearney was slammed to the turf while releasing the ball and had to depart in favor of Rufo. A half-the-distance penalty preceded the next snap, so the Fords had to gain just four yards on four downs. But the first three plays resulted in a 1-yard loss and coach Michael Murphy opted for a fourth-down pass. Sr. TE Josh Eife broke free into the end zone straight upfield and was all by his lonesome. The pass was a shade high and Eife was unable to turn a leaping attempt into what would have been a dramatic catch with 56.4 seconds left. There was still more drama. HS had two timeouts remaining and Ovb coach Ken Sturm opted for an intentional fourth-down safety after three consecutive kneeldowns. The safety came at 0:12 and the Fords, after a fair-catch kickoff, had one more play. The QB this time was soph Danny Judge and jr. DB Leonard Mitchell made a win-preserving interception. Aside from Hamilton, Overbrook's defensive headliner was soph LB Brandon Pouncey. I first met Pouncey last spring when he played for Overbrook's baseball team. He came off as a quiet, unassuming kid and it was quite amazing to see him doling out game-long punishment (smile). His performance was highlighted by 4.5 sacks worth 16 yards. HS' top defenders were sr. LB Ryan Dayton and soph DL Shomari Watts. Dayton made a series of far-ranging tackles while Watts (5-11, 210) made 1.5 sacks and another TFL. Counting a quick stop at the office on the way home, this was a 5-hour experience. Head ref Tom Young, who came VERY close to saying the turf field was unplayable, moved back the starting time to 1:15 and then to 1:30 with the hope volunteers would be able to squeegee large, far-ranging puddles off the field. The rain during the game itself was not TOO heavy, but it was mostly persistent and definitely affected play. One of Overbrook's adult fans, standing on the sideline, had a good line after a Panther returner went up the middle on a kickoff and was stopped for little yardage: "Get out here where the money is!" As he always does, Ovb assistant David Carter, the top-notch defensive coordinator, checked to see which hat I was hearing. Today's choice was Virginia Tech. He won't be happy until he sees me in a West Virginia lid; that's where he enjoyed a fine career after starring at Ben Franklin.