On the Trail With Ted, Football '12

SEPT. 29
CATHOLIC AA
Carroll 41, Conwell-Egan 0
Do you believe in omens? This one began with a bad one for C-E and things only got much, much worse. Cheerleader Renee Eastburn, standing on the track with her teammates, was ready to croon the National Anthem, but the hand-held microphone wouldn't work. Finally, C-E's players, at VERY low volume, did the singing, and then the game began. In short, it was a disaster. Everything that could possibly go wrong DID go wrong and it was almost as if some evil force was on the premises at Truman. C-E had much more size and roughly twice as many players (Carroll dressed 28), but man oh man did it experience major trouble. For instance . . . Carroll scored twice in the last 11 seconds of the second quarter. Here we go: While trying to punt, sr. FB Dan McLaughlin got wrapped up at roughly the goal line and barely was able to get off a pass. Sr. lineman Jallah Joe caught it and the resulting loss-of-down penalty placed the ball at the 4. C-E did rally for a pair of sacks -- by McLaughlin, then soph LB Joe Ruggiero -- but sr. QB Sal Bello then hit sr. FB Evan Harvey for a 15-yard score on a left-side swing pass. C-E bobbled the bouncing kickoff and soph Joey Rodden recovered at the 17 with 3.9 ticks left. Bello threw to the left corner. The ball was tipped, but fell right into the hands of sr. WR Jake Keczik for a TD! That gave the Patriots four scores in the quarter. The first two were a 1-yard run by soph RB Shawn Springs on the first play and a 16-yard INT return by sr. WR Dan Bier 1:43 before halftime. It's not too often you see a team score three TDs in 1:43, right? (Though Prep Charter scored three in 0:33 last week against Roxborough. Phew!) Two more examples (of many) that it was THAT kind of night for C-E: In the last couple minutes, as the Eagles were just hoping to avoid a shutout, McLaughlin made a hard burst up the middle for what he hoped would be a 23-yard TD. Instead, the ball came loose and Carroll sr. LB Ben Lerario recovered. After a three-and-out and a 13-yard punt, plus a 10-yard return to the 9, C-E had 49 seconds to avoid the 'egg. Incomplete pass to the right corner. Five-yard rush for sr. Chaz Cason. But then, sr. QB Kyle Techtmann was co-sacked by LBs Tyler Rongione (sr.) and Sean McMorran (soph) on what turned out to be the final play. Bier scored twice for Carroll on returns -- 16 yards with the aforementioned pick and 57 yards with a fourth quarter punt (two nifty moves). Bello finished 6-for-10 for 89 yards and the two scores while sr. RB Ryan Boornazian (8-57), freshly removed from lineman status, and Springs (14-62) went for one TD apiece. Carroll's grunts: jr. C Matt DeSipio, soph G Joey DeSanto, sr. G Colin Mitchell (a recent addition), sr. T Joe Paradise and sr. T Shawn Collins. DeSipio, DeSanto and Mitchell were spotted on the D-line, along with Boornazian. Carroll's new offensive coordinator is Mike McKay, most recently of Northeast's staff. He quarterbacked Judge to the '75 CL and City crowns and is well respected in Philly phootball.

SEPT. 29
NON-LEAGUE
Judge 25, Bonner-Prendergast 24
Wow and wow some more! If this game, especially the stretch run, had occurred at the NFL or major college level, the highlights would be playing on every station and discussions would dominate every water-cooler gathering at assorted workplaces come Monday. There were three TDs in the last seven minutes, with two coming in the last 1:49 . . . and there was almost one on the very last play. B-P "won" and then Judge "won" and then Judge preserved its win with a last-play interception by sr. S Dennis Boice off a tipped jump-ball in the left corner of the end zone. And then the craziness began. Boice made the snag as the cleanup guy, running hard toward the play from the middle of the field. From Judge's 29, on the right hash mark, sr. QB Jim Haley tossed it high and deep to sr. WR Christian Summers, a basketball player who just recently decided to join the football squad. Summers and two defenders soared, a hand deflected the ball and Boice wound up with it. While rejoicing, he then made a left turn, came out of the end zone and soon just dropped the ball at the 9 yard line. It sat there for what seemed like an eternity before B-P sr. TE Angelo Masorli, responding to the orders of coaches/teammates, picked it up and trotted unchallenged into the end zone. Unbelievable. Had the Friars just won this game? They certainly thought so. The referees were unsure. Animated B-P coach Greg "Bubba" Bernhardt pressed hard for an explanation and a confab took place behind the end zone. In time, Judge coach Tommy Coyle came walking down to that area, understandably concerned that maybe the Crusaders were going to wind up on the wrong end of the controversy. Ultimately, the play stood as the back judge called it. Shortly after the pick, he'd waved his arms -- as in "that's it" -- while adding the touchback signal. (The ref nearest the play, the head linesman, made no signal. Someone who watched the game tape told me Boice came very close to stepping on the sideline while still in the end zone, and MIGHT have done so, perhaps even twice. What effect would that have had on everything? Not sure. And the refs were not talking.). Anyway, this game was a sweetheart . . . ultimately. Early, there were some interesting plays and consistent scoring, but the atmosphere was somewhat drab. The spectators just watched and rarely got involved. During down time, on the field, you could literally hear chatter-chatter-chatter throughout the stands. Things changed, amazingly, at pretty much the exact instant gamelong cloud cover gave way to brilliant sunshine (though the gray skies did return). That occurred with 3 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter. B-P was stationed at Judge's 14 and all of a sudden the 'Saders subs began to make noise and really get into the proceedings. Judge held and great juice was present from then on. Early in the fourth, after a 56-yard quick kick by Haley (Judge sr. QB Ryan Mackiewicz earlier had QK'd a 44-yarder), Judge drove 79 yards in seven plays to take a 19-18 lead. The TD was a 52-yard pass to sr. TE Albi Arapaj and his step-this-way, juke-that-way, shake-off-tacklers effort on this one was spectacular. The conversion pass was dropped. B-P three-and-outed, but quickly regained possession on a deep-ball interception by sr. DB Michael Roman. Haley ran or passed on every single play of an 88-yard scoring drive; the highlights were a 24-yard scramble by Haley and a way-up-there leaping catch for 19 yards for Summers. Haley scored on a 1-yard sneak at 1:49 and the pass failed, leaving the door open at 24-19. Mackiewicz was the Magic Man on Judge's response drive. On three of the drive's six plays, he scampered to his left for important gains. Nine yards, then 13, then 26 into the end zone. Special stuff! That score occurred with 0:39 left. Summers returned the kickoff 24 yards to B-P's 34. Haley was then flagged for intentional grounding and the loss/penalty placed the ball at the 25. Haley hit Summers for 25 yards to midfield. Then for 10 more. Next came an 11-yard connection to Roman and the clock read 0:03. You know what happened next . . . Mackiewicz and Haley were nothing short of sensational, combining for 643 yards of rushing/passing! Mackiewicz rushed 14-76 for one TD and passed 10-for-15 for 216 and the one score to Arapaj. Haley, a star shortstop who committed in recent days to Penn State, rushed 16-198 for two short TDs and passed 10-for-19 for 153 (no scores of that variety). Summers, whose uncle, Dan Summers, was a first team All-City DE for Bonner, posted seven catches for 117 yards. He showed serious hops and landed almost completely on his back after one of his fall-back catches. Judge sr. WR Max Pascavitch also posted a snag that required a soar job (and sure hands). Summers had a 33-yarder to set up the Friars' first score, Haley's 3-yarder on the game's first possession. Arabaj's 54-yarder made possible Judge's response TD, scored by Boice on a 2-yard run. Bonner came right back to make it 12-6 on a 4-yard run by sr. FB Mike Shanahan, freshly converted from lineman status. And, yes, the Crusaders scored on their next possession, too, as Boice rolled in from the 3; the big play was a 25-yard completion to soph RB Samir Bullock. Jr. Connor Foley made the kick for a 13-12 lead. B-P responded shortly before halftime on a three-play, 60-yard drive. Haley's 48-yard gallop right up the middle placed the ball on the 10 and sr. RB Vince Brooks scored from there. Jr. RB Joe DePhillipo had departed shortly beforehand with an injury. He did not return. Meanwhile, think about this. How often have you seen a 25-24 score? It's almost impossible, especially with no field goals mixed in, because that means the teams were successful on just one of eight conversions. In the Pub, maybe, but not in the Cath, right? In all, Judge amassed 371 yards total offense. B-P was even better with 445. Total for both teams: 816. The QBs accounted for 78.8 percent. Bonner's grunts included (hopefully, some number changes were not reported) soph C Christian DiGalbo, sr. G Joe Smith, rotating Gs TJ McCoy (sr.) and Mike Palmer (jr.), jr. T John Durkin and sr. T Devin Young. I neglected to write down the numbers for Judge's O-line. Sorry! If somebody sends them, I'll list their names also. Here they are, courtesy of assistant Ryan Nase: jr. C Tom Bayer, jr. G Jim Galasso, soph G Dan Sipps and sr. Ts Vince LoStracco and Shane Murphy. Arapaj was at TE and sr. Brandon Spatz helped as the H-back. As for the defensive guys . . . maybe another time (smile).

SEPT. 28
PUBLIC AAAA GOLD
Washington 20, Central 16
Against a tough suburban team in an early-season game? Definitely. Against someone/anyone in the City Title, or on Thanksgiving against Ryan? Sure. But in a Pub regular season game against an opponent not named Frankford or Northeast, did you think you'd ever see Washington's defense spend 27 of 30 plays on the field? No way, right? This took a little research, and thanks to Ed Barkowitz at the office for plowing through envelopes at my desk for Washington results going back a few decades, but it has been TWENTY-FIVE years since the Eagles lost a Pub regular season game to an opponent aside from Frankford or Northeast. In 1987, Lincoln did the honors, 39-0. We alllllmost saw a gigantic upset today and I'm guessing coach Ron Cohen and assistants will be doling out major punishment work in practice next week. Washington led, 20-8, midway through the third quarter when Central embarked on a 16-play, 74-yard drive that was capped from the 1 by a sneak from jr. QB Jon Henderson. The defense posted a three-and-out (incomplete pass, stops by jr. DT Sam Reid and sr. LB Joseph Shepherd) and Central got the ball back with a chance to win it. It needed to cover 72 yards and early help came from a personal foul. Soon, on fourth and five, jr. handyman Walter Pegues was lining up as the wildcat snap-taker and uncorking a 13-yard pickup. Just two plays were needed for the next first down and, oh my goodness, was this really going to happen? Honestly, I wasn't getting the vibration. Somehow, I figured Washington would find a way to win, though I'm guessing the Eagles' coaches (even some players?) would probably semi-agree they didn't deserve the W. On third and 10, sr. RB Jesse Gillis began a sweep right and it appeared, slightly, he was going to throw a pass. Instead, sr. CB Shaquon Allen and sr. E Justin Moody, who boasts a national profile, combined to swarm Gillis for an 8-yard loss. (Coach Rich Drayton said after the game that the play was scheduled to be a run all the way. He wanted to create the illusion of a halfback pass, however, with the hope of backing up the defense.) On a keeper that was play No. 11 of this drive, with soph LB Shawn Henderson making the stop, Jon Henderson was limited to a 5-yard gain. Washington then ended it with kneeldowns. Phew! DN/SportsWeek ink went to sr. LB Melvin "Macho" Gonzalez, who bagged eight stops and one interception and is in his third season of calling the defensive signals for the Eagles. He also spends some time as an extra fullback, for blocking purposes, and even lines up outside the tight end when the situation calls for it. Maybe they'll throw him a pass at some point! (smile) Another FB, sr. Alex Rivera, was tossed a one-carry bone and it resulted in a 10-yard scoring run. Srs. Marquis Edwards (11-74) and Donald Smith (13-51) ran for one score apiece. Central experienced almost no up-the-middle rushing success thanks to Washington's Front Four of ends Moody and jr. Tyrone McNeil and tackles Brandon Brown (soph) and Zak Hanna (jr.). However, Henderson sometimes toyed with the defense, merely taking the snap and rolling around the end for respectable yardage (16-73). The Lancers' best moment came on the second half kickoff as Pegues took a short lateral from sr. Andy Augustine -- both were back there together in close proximity -- and raced 97 yards for a TD. He now owns seven career scores on returns! Sr. LB Dominique Jones logged a 16-yard sack and the play ended with sr. QB Dave Gavrilov underhanding the ball to nobody, thus drawing a flag for intentional grounding. In that same series, a poor snap on a would-be field goal attempt resulted in a 9-yard loss thanks to Reid. Among the spectators was long-time Central track guru Arnie Shiffrin, who's very hopeful (positive, even) that Pegues and Reid will enjoy awesome track seasons in the triple jump and shot put, respectively. I spoke with Arnie for a while during halftime, then headed back to the other side. From there . . . say what? . . . Arnie was spotted doing a little dance for the cheerleaders!! Dude can bust a move!! (Received a weekend email from Central grad Terrance McNeil, who has done some wonderful football reports for this website through the years. He said Arnie's dance routine is famous at Central and is known as The Shiffrin Shuffle. Ha, ha, ha.) Also, there was a strange development involving a college assistant, but I'll save that for the Tuesday notes.

SEPT. 27
PRESS RELEASE FROM O'HARA'S MICHAEL BRADLEY . . .
On Friday evening, September 28, 2012 at 7:00 PM, Cardinal O�Hara High School will host the FIRST ever night football game in a stadium played on a High School campus in the HISTORY of the Philadelphia Catholic League! Cardinal O�Hara will host 2011 AAA PA State Champion Archbishop Wood in what promises to be a classic contest as both schools look forward to postseason again.   Wood is currently ranked # 3 in PA with O�Hara close behind at # 9 in the state of Pennsylvania.
The Philadelphia Catholic League which started in 1920 is in its 93rd year, and one of the premier football leagues in the State of Pennsylvania and the United States. Cardinal O�Hara High School was also the first Catholic League High School to host a home football game on a High School campus stadium when they hosted Saints John Neumann and Maria Goretti Catholic High School in 2010.
Attendees will also include officials of Cardinal O�Hara High School and former O�Hara football players will be announced at halftime of teams from 1963 -2012.   Next year Cardinal O�Hara will celebrate their 50th year, and celebrations will be announced at a later date.
This historical event would not be possible without the generosity of many people, in particular John Dougherty Business Manager of IBEW Electricians Local 98 and Ray King VP of Carr & Duff Electrical Contractors.
In 1975, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia closed St. Thomas More High School, formerly in West Philadelphia due to declining enrollment.   In 2011 Cardinal O�Hara dedicated a room for the Alumni of St. Thomas More High School. The Saint Thomas More Room at Cardinal O�Hara provides a home for the many pieces of St. Thomas More memorabilia including the original charter signed by Cardinal Dennis Dougherty, and their many championship trophies. It's fitting that the chairs and tables in the room were obtained from Cardinal Dougherty High School after its closing in June of 2010.   This is a story of working together with closed Catholic High Schools and partnering them with vibrant, growing, existing Catholic High Schools. Rather than focusing on the closing of schools and the negativity, we have put together successful team, and it is a win, win, for Cardinal O�Hara High School and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

SEPT. 22
NON-LEAGUE
Roman 21, Bonner-Prendergast 14
(Suspended in Second Quarter After Lengthy Lightning Delay)
All day the weather folks kept saying wicked thunderstorms would arrive by evening. I wanted not to believe them, but while driving to Northeast I had to stop every so often, of course, at red lights or stop signs. At corners with decent amounts of trees, the chirping by birds was off the charts. THEY knew what was coming. In the second quarter, and thereafter, the play-by-play notations became weather related. Light rain . . . heavy rain . . . wow! lightning at 7:41; game halted; everyone running for cover . . . rain reduced to drizzle at 8:24 . . . harder again at 8:28 . . . 8:55, a few Roman players run down to the field to gather belongings and one, No. 66 (soph L Joey Herrin), heads back upstairs with a bunch of filled water bottles . . . 9:08, though far away, lightning again lights up the sky . . . 9:20, same thing! . . . 9:23, the head ref comes to the press box with the news that this baby is NOT going to continue and PA announcer Dan Hoban informs the spectators . . . Total delay: 1 hour, 42 minutes. Ugh! For result purposes, the game does not exist. It's possible it will be completed at some point in mid-November. Unless, of course, either squad (or both) makes a lengthy run in the playoffs. As for the on-field action . . . We started with a quick surprise as B-P sr. DB Michael Roman picked up a fumble on Roman's 21 and raced to the end zone. Yes, Roman scorched Roman! (smile) The Cahillites then rolled 65 yards downfield in 11 plays and jr. FB Patrick McCourt burrowed in from the 1. Roman sr. DB William Fuller (Notre Dame) followed with a spectacular, leaping interception three plays later and, well, he wasn't finished with his visit to Snagsville. He caught a 5-yarder from sr. QB Michael Keir and followed with a 44-yard TD on a deep fade to the right corner. B-P�s next series was unproductive -- jr. DEs Hezekiah Trahan and Phil Forrence combined for a 4-yard sack -- and soph RB Dimetri Kelly zipped for a 48-yard score. B-P refused to let the game slip away. Jr. RB Joe DePhillipo ripped off 49-yard gain with the kickoff and the TD came on play No. 8 as sr. QB Jim Haley hit soph WR James Doubet for a 19-yarder. The sky lit up three plays later. When/if play ever resumes, Roman will face third and 10 on its 34 with 7:30 to go to halftime. Though I�ll add the stats to the respective TEAM PAGES, they won�t be figured in to the totals. During the wait, the press box was alive with chatter from the likes of Puck, Puck, Puck, Puck and Puck. Oh, my goodness, was he babbling!! (smile) Also involved were Hoban, clock operator Bob Dillon, film guy Dave Shipton, big CL fan Jerry Greenberg (brother of Chip, all-time hoopster at La Salle) and yours truly. Dave (North) and Jerry (Wood) played football and enjoyed exchanging stories. Dan was checking weather radar on his phone. Deep into the delay, the lightning was nowhere close (no thunder noise), but as long as it�s visible the refs� hands are tied. PIAA rules say the game cannot resume until 30 minutes after the last hint of lightning is spotted. Meanwhile, as everyone began to head out, there was another big light-up. This one appeared closer and kind of all-enveloping, and drew gasps from ladies/kids. Outta here!

SEPT. 22
NON-LEAGUE
La Salle 38, Malvern 6
You know how it's common to look for THE turning point IN every game? Well, this one's turning point occurred BEFOREHAND and it caused all kinds of consternation for Malvern coach Kevin Pellegrini. He told his captains to make sure the Friars would NOT start off the game kicking into a pretty stuff wind, but . . . somehow the message wasn't processed correctly and that was exactly what happened. Though the Friars did keep La Salle off the board on series No. 1, the next three produced scores and La Salle owned a 17-0 edge just four plays into the second quarter. Plus, the Friars thrice went three and out and when they finally notched a first down 8:11 prior to halftime, the students let out with a hint of a Bronx cheer. (After the first series, one of 'em had yelled, "OK, so we only got six yards on the first series! It's a start!") La Salle opened with a 33-yard field goal off the instep of sr. K-P Ryan Winslow (Pitt), then added a pair of 1-yard surge-aheads by sr. QB Chris Kane. There was one big play apiece on each possession -- a 24-yard pass to sr. WR/whirlwind Sean Coleman, a 24-yard run by sr. RB Jared Herrmann and a 29-yard completion to Coleman. La Salle added two more scores with less than 3 minutes left in the half and both came off turnovers. After the ball was dropped on a would-be double reverse and sr. DB Andrew Eidenshink recovered on the 16, three plays later Kane rolled right and lofted an easy-as-pie, 4-yard scoring pass to sr. TE Jon Naji. Two scrimmage plays later, sr. DL Patrick Hoffman performed a strip and the loose ball was picked up by sr. DB Chris Rocco, who sped 30 yards to payturf. The offense showed its versatility for TD No. 5, as notched with 1:52 showing in the third quarter. Soph Jimmy Herron, who has already proven to be quite the football/overall athlete, lined up in a wild'splorer look. So far this season, that has meant "take snap and forge ahead" almost exclusively. But this time, out of trips left, he tossed a flare pass to that side and, thanks to good blocks from the other nearby receivers, Herrmann zipped his way to a 42-yard pickup. Kane hit jr. WR Levi Hardy for a 13-yard TD three plays hence. Meanwhile, how ineffective was Malvern's offense? With the regulars on the field, the longest gain was a 21-yard run by sr. Joe Carlini off a fake punt. Pellegrini said the play wasn't completely planned, "but it was OK for (Joe) to do that if he saw (an opportunity)." Finally, with backups on the field, soph DB Trevon Morris recovered a fumble and sr. QB Billy "Moose" Ford went up top for a 77-yard TD to jr. handyman Troy Gallen. Sr. LB Trent Simmons was especially active for La Salle while positionmates Mike Eife (sr.) and Zaire Franklin (jr.) also enjoyed will-imposing moments. Winslow's kicking day went tremendously well. His best moment came when he sent a kickoff six yards deep into the end zone AGAINST the wind. Before the game, I had a brief chat with Gamp Pellegrini, Malvern's former coach and currently an assistant to Kevin, his son. Some rap songs were playing over the sound system and I kiddingly asked Gamp, "Are you the music director? Did you pick these songs?" He smiled and shot back, "I'm waiting for the Frank Sinatra records." The 38 points were the most allowed by Malvern since the next-to-last game of 2005 (40 to Valley Forge).

SEPT. 21
PUBLIC GOLD AAAA
Frankford 27, Northeast 6
With roughly 2 minutes left in the second quarter, after he threw incomplete and was absolutely crunched by Northeast sr. OLB David Pulliam, Frankford sr. QB Tim DiGiorgio was given this piece of advice from a bellowing fan. "Hey, Tim, you better step up in the pocket! You ain't gonna survive too many of THOSE!" Indeed, DiGiorgio was popped hard numerous times during this division opener, both before he could throw and while/just after. But he also experienced success and now he can tell friends he's just the third QB in Pub history to amass 3,000 career yards. And since he's only a second-year varsity player, and since this is only Week Four of his senior campaign, it took him just 15 games. Pretty amazing. The lefty went 13-for-23 for 227 yards and one TD, a 5-yarder to jr. TE Wydell "Woo Woo" Compton, the brother of sr. twins Renz "Rodeo" (WR) and Lorenz "Bubbles" (C). He needed 110 yards to reach 3,000 and a 10-yarder to sr. Denzel Turbeville (up to 119) enabled him to achieve the milestone 0:18 before halftime. On his knees, Turbeville made the snag at Frankford's 45 maybe 10 feet from the Pioneers' sideline. They were headed north and Turbeville followed with an excellent catch (for 51 yards) off a deflection. The Pioneers had no timeouts and with 0:06 showing, the situation called for a spike. Somehow, that didn't happen and DiGiorgio was dumped for a 10-yard loss as the half ended (by you know who). Pulliam was a noteworthy defender all game; well, until he suffered an injury while recording his fourth sack late in the third quarter. He also had two TFLs. Mostly, he waited until a second after the snap, then tried to run through whatever hole presented itself. He FLEW to the ball and did so with attitude. I hope someone sends out the tape to numerous colleges. W. Compton posted four catches for 38 yards. Turbeville was the major playah with five for 133. Though there was nothing sensational, jr. RB Damion Samuels was respectable on the ground while managing 58 yards and three TDs on 13 carries. The linemen aside from Bubbles were sr. G Will Robinson, jr. G Carlos Saldano (got outside nicely several times on sweeps), sr. T Kelvin Coit and jr. T Unique Davis. Except for a 75-yard TD, on which sr. WR Devon Dillard made a nice catch between two defenders at maybe the 50 and motored the rest of the way, Northeast had major difficulty moving the rock. It totaled just 35 yards on its other 33 plays. Ouch! The capper came when sr. QB Daquan Bohannan suffered losses on his final four plays. In on two of those for Frankford was jr. DT Kadar Jones. In the second quarter, Jones also had one TFL and shared a sack with jr. DE Ronald Barco. Turbeville had a sack in the third stanza. Before the game, there was a moving ceremony to honor the memory of ex-Frankford player Brian Lorenzo (class of '82), a Philadelphia highway patrolman who died in an accident while on the way home from work. Brian wore No. 47 and a Frankford jersey was presented to his widow, Linda. She also flipped the pregame coin. A glitch or three caused the ceremony to be delayed until 3:24 and the game did not begin until 3:35. In the north end zone, Brian's name and badge number, 5591, were stenciled into the grass and the Pioneers' previous coach, Mike Capriotti, read a nice tribute over the PA system. RIP, Brian . . . When time permits, I might try to find out of any previous city QB had reached 3,000 yards in just 15 games. Can't be many, if any.

SEPT. 20
PUBLIC AAA
Bok 40, Boys' Latin 0
This was one of the difference games for Pucklehead and Big Willie and the latter was pretty confident of gaining the jump for the weekend. Not far beforehand, BW sent a text to ask whether BL had a chance. My one-word response was "yes." . . . So much for that. The Warriors do have a quality RB in sr. Ben Coulibaly (being eyed by Villanova), and a respectable passer in sr. Eric Lark (also a basketball player) and a group of talented receivers, as well. So, what the heck happened? Well, over time, BL got beat up on the line of scrimmage and ONE play, literally, made the difference. Sounds weird, but for my money that was definitely the case. In methodical fashion, BL opened the game by marching downfield from its own 32 to Bok's 6. Lark completed five passes during the drive and some help was received from a personal foul. On third and goal, the Warriors lined up with a trips formation to the right. Instead, the pass went toward the left corner. Not sure if it was supposed to be a fade. If so, it wasn't. As the ball zipped toward the receiver at maybe chest level, sr. CB Antoine Whitney cut in FRONT at the last instant -- perfect route-jumping, folks -- and made the interception on the 3. He then motored 84 yards to BL's 13 and Bok needed just three plays to score -- runs of 1 yard and 10 by sr. TB Larry Pelzer; 2-yard sneak by jr. QB Michael Riley. So, there you had it. Thirteen plays produced nothing, then three yielded six points. BL looked rocked and never recovered. Lark, in particular, struggled the rest of the way while finishing 12-for-33 for 97 yards and four interceptions. Whitney made another while Riley and soph DB David McFarlin, a sub, made another in the waning moments. That, too, was a killer because it came in the end zone just when the Warriors were thinking, "Well, this day has been horrible, but at least we'll avoid the shutout." On the previous play, jr. RB Emmanuel Sloan had hot-footed 53 yards to the 15. Whitney, as is becoming routine, turned in quite the performance and a Bok loyalist described him afterward as "poetry in motion." Agreed! His second touch was a 45-yard reception, so that gave him 129 yards on just two! Then he made another pick to set up score No. 3 and, late in the third quarter, his back-to-back snags -- a 22-yarder, then another for 20 -- produced TD No. 5. Oh, and there was one last goodie -- a 41-yard punt return on which he came within 1 yard of scoring. Jr. Naim Dykes, the backup FB, then bulled into the end zone. Pelzer ran 15 times for 111 scores and one TD. Riley was perfect at 4-for-4 for 99 and one score apiece to Pelzer and Whitney. The linemen were jr. C Tahree Snead, jr. Gs Mark "Spider" Webb and Dimonte Powell, jr. T Nafis Davis, sr. T Marcus Owens and sr. TE Dylan Edmonds-Carty. Did you notice? Four of those six guys are juniors, meaning Bok's line will be even better in '13. The defense was paced by tough-guy sr. LB Marquez "Kwez" Walker (10 stops, four solos, three hurries) with big help from Owens (eight/four) and DE Vittorio "Vito" Goggins (six/three). Sr. LB David Peterson topped BL with an eight/four performance and jr. DL Mark Bowser contributed eight/three numbers. Thanks to The Frogster for those digits! Since I'd already written Bok stories on Whitney and Pelzer this season and we were only in Week Four, this one would have received the ink only if BL had won. Instead, the newspaper attention switched to Del-Val vs. Comm Tech. D-V won that one, 12-0, and Frog will handle the report.

SEPT. 15
NON-LEAGUE
Washington 35, Glen Mills 7
Ah, there's nothing like trying to tabulate stats with Puck standing right nearby, babbling and babbling and babbling some more. This happened at halftime as Amauro (10 percent) and Puck (90 percent) talked about basketball goings-ons. Finally, as Washington's players came back onto the field, Puck said he was leaving Northeast to go watch college games on TV. "What I need to watch da second half foh? Dis ovah." The score was 28-0, but we reminded him that Bonner, just hours earlier, had owned a 24-0 intermission lead over West Catholic . . . only to fall, 42-24! It didn't phase him. Off he strolled and, well, he didn't miss too much. Washington scored again within 3 minutes on a 4-yard run by sr. RB Donald Smith and the mercy rule took effect. Glen Mills did manage to get on the board, thanks to a lengthy pass play, but there was nothing close to drama, so The Puckster again showed his vast amount of wisdom (smile). The Eagles got after it early, seizing a 15-0 lead in the first 7-plus minutes. The fun began when sr. S Shaquon Allen unleashed a powerful hit to force a fumble; recovery to sr. DL Justin Moody. Sr. RB Ken Everage, who's Allen's twin when it comes to feistiness, ran for five yards, then 39, and sr. K-P Jake Wright added the PAT. Everage was hit at about the 18 and "should" have been pushed out of bounds. Instead, he stood tall and maneuvered his way to the end zone. The next score was a weird one. A punt came helicoptering, in low fashion, off the foot of GM's punter and Allen caught it at GM's 30. One problem: The line of scrimmage had been the 31. Allen had no trouble racing to the end zone with the minus-one job and this conversion featured a pass from jr. holder John Santos to sr. RB Marquis Edwards, formerly of Northeast. After a three-and-out, Wright was roughed while nailing a 38-yard FG and the coaches decided to take the points off the board. The drive sputtered and he wound up hitting a 23-yarder on the first play of the second quarter. Next score? Coming right up! On a third-and-two play, soph DL Dawayne Young (6-2, 275) snatched the ball and rumbled 33 yards for six. He then, bang!, spiked the ball and earned an unsportsmanlike penalty. Luckily, he was IN the end zone, so the TD wasn't wiped out. GM's next third down also presented a problem -- a pick by sr. S Al Augustine. Wright ended this drive with a 41-yard FG. Washington's line features Moody at G and sr. Deya Mhiesen (6-8, 285) right next to him at T. In tough games, assuming there are any, ya think the crucial plays will be run behind that duo? Tonight's QB starter was sr. Dave Gavrilov, as had been the case in Week One. The Week Two starter was Augustine. In this one, Augustine took over for the second half, but he didn't get to play long before the backups trotted onto the field. Word is, no definitive decision has been reached on how the situation will be resolved going forward. Last season, those guys usually played one half apiece. Stay tuned . . .

SEPT. 15
NON-LEAGUE
La Salle 38, O'Hara 6
Looking back -- it's almost 11 p.m. as I begin to write this report -- it's hard to believe O'Hara actually owned a lead in the early moments. The Lions played tough defense and La Salle had to settle for a 30-yard field goal by sr. K-P Ryan Winslow (Pitt). Then, O'Hara posted a 36-yard gain on a pass from jr. QB Dashawn "Day-Day" Darden to sr. RB Tarron Dunbar and soon thereafter jr. RB Lamont Veal was showing lots of grit on a 9-yard run and even more on a 27-yard TD. Lots more, in fact. However, that'd be about it. The game was not too competitive thereafter and La Salle wound up making a large Homecoming crowd quite happy. Two great highlights -- no surprise here -- were provided by sr. WR-DB-KR Sean Coleman. The first was an 80-yard punt return for a score and the second was a 25-yard TD off a flip from sr. QB Chris Kane. On the punt return, Coleman gathered in the ball a shade beyond the right hash mark and circled allllll the way around the would-be defenders to tally in the left corner of the end zone. Niiiiice! On the pass play, he caught a short one reasonably close to the right sideline and then unfurled a series of shoulder fakes, mixed with footwork, to make it look easy. Jr. DE Ryan "Pride of Oreland" Coonahan, who'd made two effective stops to set up La Salle's first score, tallied the last TD by motoring 36 yards with a stolen ball. I was interested to see how the Explorers would handle their offensive approach with the return of Brett Gordon to his former post as offensive coordinator. Kane took the majority of snaps at QB and had a productive afternoon, going 11-for-19 for 174 yards and two TDs. However, soph Jimmy Herron, who oozes possibilities, was used every so often out of a wildcat formation and he managed 48 yards on six carries. At least for now, there is no franchise back so the offense is a mix of many elements. When not wildcatting, Herron played receiver and his contributions there included three snags for 64 yards and a 32-yard score. It was a short pass and he made it happen from there. Sr. RB Jared Herrmann totaled 86 yards of rushing/receiving. The line included sr. C Conor Resch, sr. Gs Tom Spiteri and David Losier, sr. Ts Luke Persichetti and Patrick Hoffman and sr. TE Andrew Halton. There was a well-rounded defensive effort as guys flew to the ball and mostly made combo tackles. Sr. LB Mike Eife joined Coonahan in setting the early tone while sr. LB Trent Simmons did some ear-catching poppin'. Herron hustled for a fourth quarter interception. About a dozen members of La Salle's 1957 City Champs were on hand and received a warm response when introduced at halftime. Friday night, they'd been among the first inductees to the school's new sports Hall of Fame. The individuals were all-timers Tom Gola (basketball, track, NBA) and Jack Stanczak (football, baseball). This one began at 3 and took just a shade over two hours, so there was no trouble getting to Northeast for Glen Mills-Washington at 6. I'd pictured a real rush job.

SEPT. 14
PUBLIC AAA
Bartram 28, King 12
The first game on Germantown's artificial turf was played on Sept. 15, 2005, and ever since King has also used that facility for its home games. Thinking the Cougars would benefit from returning home games to the campus -- the field is right behind the school -- coach John Sheroda and school officials have scheduled two for this season. The first one did not go well, folks. King is small and inexperienced and 14 of the 32 guys on the roster are freshmen or sophomores. Plus, major immaturity was shown at times today and there were constant problems with 10 guys out there for this play, then 12 for that play. It was downright messy and Bartram could (should) have won by a lot more. DN ink went to sr. TB Elijah Clark, who goes 5-10, 230 and is pretty darn nimble. He powered for 177 yards on one TD on 21 carries and came within one yard of a second score near the very end of the game. Alas, he did a somersault while completing a 26-yard gallop and the refs ruled he left his feet at the 1. The TD thus was negated and the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty pushed the ball back to the 16. If he'd carried out his gymnastics routine IN the end zone, the TD would have stood and the flag would have been considered a dead-ball foul, as explained by referee Ernie Gallagher. Just as he hoped he would, Clark showed good versatility. On the very last play of the half, he turned a trick job into a 63-yard, in-stride TD pass to sr. Rondell Calloway and later showed nifty footwork on a screen pass, though much of the gain was wiped out by a holding call. Sr. TB Davon Crawford, who sometimes spelled Clark, added 57 yards and one TD on 11 rushes and jr. QB Braheem Edwards hit sr. WR Monte Green with a 27-yard scoring strike. Bartram's line featured sr. C Jeremiah Lynch, sr. Gs Paul Melton-Johnson and Dajuan Crawford (Davon's fraternal twin), sr. T Sherreff Parker (6-2, 300-pound senior; major possibilities!), soph T Quenzel Members (6-3, 270-pound soph, likewise!) and sr. TE Thomas Powell. Honestly, they pretty much had their way with the outmanned Cougars. Soph DB Kifee Ryant and soph LB Khadafi Yallah posted fumble recoveries while sr. DB Jovanni Mitchell notched an interception. The best play, however, was likely made by Members, who lined up along the D-line and hustled 40 yards downfield to make a tackle along the sideline. Yes, at 270 pounds! He was one of the gigantic kids who played baseball for Bartram last spring, but was NOT part of a pic with lots of guys wearing ridiculously high numbers. King's only player of note was sr. QB Khaleel Stewart, who took a serious beating while being directly involved in 22 of his team's 25 offensive plays (88 percent!!). He passed just 2-for-10 for 13 yards while rushing 12 times for 68 yards and two scores. His second TD, a 20-yarder, was a thing of beauty. He rolled out to his right and reached the sideline (or very close to it, at least), then eased back toward the middle and put on several CRAFTY moves to reach paydirt. A fumble recovery by soph DE Derrick Morton set up that score. Sr. LB James Johnson had posted a 4-yard TFL two plays earlier. Among the observers was Damond "Smash" Warren, now an administrator at Future but formerly the coach at King AND Bartram, his alma mater. Smash spent some time talking with Cheyney assistant Chris Roulhac, who was the Wolves' head man for a spell in the '90s and led the programs at Gratz (1977-81) and Washington (1982-84) beforehand. There were no more than 50-60 spectators on hand, but I counted 10 peeps in blue (School District & regular police). What was the deal with THAT!?

SEPT. 13
CLASS AAA
Bok 28, West Phila. 6
Though Bok had an obvious advantage in line play, this one could have been quite entertaining if not for one scary moment early in the second quarter. West has a frisky sr. QB in Ricardo Streams and he can hurt you with arm and feet. But early in the second quarter, right after completing an 18-yard pass to jr. WR Tyquan Bardlavens, "Ricky" rolled to his right and was emphatically sacked by sr. LB Marquez Walker. As he stood up and walked away from the play, oh my goodness, his left arm looked freaky. No wonder. He'd suffered a dislocated elbow. As in, yes, it had popped out of place. If there was a positive aspect, it was this: he throws righthanded and the injury occurred to his left elbow. Soon, Streams was walking out to Spruce Street and stepping inside a rescue vehicle for a trip to the hospital. Best of luck, young man, and we hope you can make it back soon! The replacement was a small freshman (listed at 5-6, 135) who had the face of a sixth-grader, Tybir Williams. He got roughed up more than once, but showed brass and is to be commended for how he handled being thrown into such a difficult spot. Once Streams departed, you just knew this would wind up not being much of a contest. DN ink went to sr. RB Larry Pelzer, who carried 31 times for 168 yards and two TDs. His dad, Larry, played center for Bok in 1987 and was listed at 5-9, 170. This Larry goes 5-8, 129. Yes, 129. But he sees himself as a power back and, dang it, he did run tough in traffic. His primary blocker was sr. T Marcus Owens (6-2, 335) and jr. Mark "Spider" Webb, who usually lines up on the right side, sometimes flip-flopped to the left so Bok could run unbalanced power plays for consistent yardage. Jr. QB Michael Riley threw just four passes, but hit on three for 43 yards (all to sr. RB-WR Antoine Whitney). Whitney and sr. DB Demetrius Robinson notched interceptions while jr. LB Dimonte Powell and jr. DE Terrell Miles logged fumble recoveries (one was forced by jr. DB Rashun Collins). Like last week vs. Overbrook, Walker showed great passion for tackling. After his first two passes were picked, Williams regrouped and had a couple decent moments. His TD pass, a 48-yarder to sr. WR Kyre Coppage, came on quick stop-whip-and-hope to his left. Coppage made the snag in stride down the left sideline and scored easily in the Spruce Street end zone. That score occurred with 9:31 left, but an unsuccessful conversion meant Bok still had a two-score edge, at 16-6. The Wildcats had two more possessions; each was successful. Honestly, as a goodwill gesture, I thought Bok should have taken a knee in the last half-minute rather than post that last score on a 1-yard run by Whitney. Yes, there'd been some chippy behavior, but the coaches are good friends. West coach Paul Noon and Bok assistant Kyle Benzio formerly coached Bok's JV team and Kyle was the best man in Paul's wedding just last Saturday in Scranton. Bok coach Frank "Roscoe" Natale and his predecessor, Tom DeFelice (also on hand today), even made the trek upstate. Jr. LB Davon "Megatron" Key was a major force for West's defense -- both inside and getting to the edge (13 stops) -- while another LB, sr. Lamar Pleasant, was also productive (two TFLs). Bok had much better fan support, even though this game was played on the road. Part of West's problem, as explained to me, is that school doesn't let out until 4 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Don't forget, the school is no longer catty-corner to the field. It's a few blocks away on the site of West Catholic's ol' boys school. I guess too many kids figured it wasn't worthwhile to scramble down to the field and see, maybe, little more than a quarter. Frog Carfagno and Keith Hines, stat keepers for the DN, were among the witnesses. Keith is a Bok grad and an assistant basketball coach at Frankford. Happy birthday to my wife!! And since I prefer to remain alive, I won't reveal her age (smile). We had lunch at a diner before I headed to West and I asked her to predict the score. She went with Bok 24, West 6. Whoa! Pretty close! We might have to let her take Big Willie's place in the Pickin' Parade!!

SEPT. 8
NON-LEAGUE
North Penn 24, Wood 10
Since when do the rules of football require teams to switch uniforms at halftime? They don't? Coulda fooled everyone in attendance at Tennent High, as well as those checking out the action via Comcast. Offensively, the Vikings completely dominated the first 24 minutes, running 38 plays to NP's eight and racking up a 207-3 advantage in yardage. There was one big problem, however, and its effect on the outcome was gigantic. Right after sr. K Nick Visco nailed a 38-yard field goal to provide a 10-0 lead, Wood got a big break when the ball popped loose and upward during a kickoff return and soph LB Nafeez Carter-Brown made a midair recovery tight to the home sideline just 26 yards from the end zone. Oh, baby. What an opportunity! Instead, glee quickly turned to distress. On play No. 4, FB Josh Messina lost the handle on a play that began at the 8 and NP's Steve Gozur dashed all . . the . . way for a 94-yard TD. Obviously, we were looking at 17-0 and then, bingo, it was 10-7. The Knights opened the third quarter with an 11-play, 65-yard drive that was capped by a field goal. On the kickoff, sr. RB-KR LaQuille "Dice" Nesbitt, a transfer from Northeast, lost his bearings and decided to catch the ball at the 5. No doubt it would have skipped into the end zone or out of bounds. Nesbitt lost possession two plays later and Kyle Mayfield needed to cover just 13 yards on a first-play sweep left to make it 17-10. Wood got only as far as its 43 on its next possession and NP took over 71 yards from the end zone. Bits-and-pieces advancement set up fourth-and-1 at Wood's 40. Instead of an up-the-gut thrust, NP went with an outside play and Mayfield easily skirted around right end for another score. There'd be no late-game heroics for Wood. NP finished with 162 yards. This game was played in pretty-much-steady rain, and often it was coming down in sheets. Tennent's field is turf, so mud wasn't a problem, but dropped pigskins were everywhere. Wood's best performance likely was turned in by cheerleader Caitlin Caldwell. How? Well, she sang the national anthem and did so in a packed press box. Can you imagine the pressure? People were standing within a foot of her in front, behind and to the sides and somehow she remained calm and cool and delivered a perfect rendition. Outstanding! Once the game began, the press box was a zoo. Comcast at one end with five-six people, depending. WNPV radio at the other with the same amount. The ever-entertaining Jake Schwartz, who does Internet broadcasts. The PA announcer and his spotter. Four members of Wood's staff. The clock operator. Three-four reporters. Wetness on the outside of the windows, making it tough to see. Luckily, the windows were partially open from time to time. But even that was a problem in one of the "open" spaces because the spotter was a large man and when he leaned forward to check things out through binoculars, we were now dealing with a "closed" space (smile). The loss snapped a 15-game winning streak and it'll be interesting to see how the Vikings respond. Next up is Frankford and its pass-happy offense, featuring QB Tim DiGiorgio. Down in Wildwood last weekend, Tim and Dice were hanging out together to watch Roman-Malvern.

SEPT. 8
NON-LEAGUE
Penn Charter 30. Fels 0
What's a tremendous wideout to do on a football squad that boasts two quality rushers and doesn't throw many passes? Hey, there's always the chance to snag passes while playing defensive back and sr. Daryl Worley (West Virginia commit) seized that opportunity this morning/early afternoon at PC. On offense, he caught three passes as the Quakers rolled to an easy victory. However, one was launched backward so it went into the books as a lateral and, thus, as a rushing play (11 yards). His other receptions came right before halftime after a strong pop by jr. DB Corey Kelley dislodged the ball and sr. LB Eric Berger (also the FB) recovered on the 39. Sr. QB Kevin Murphy immediately went up top to Worley and the result was a 33-yard gain. As PC set itself for the next play, Worley stationed himself in the left slot and, lo and behold, no one was even nearby. Murphy took the snap and sent a knuckleball that Worley snagged for a TD. I'm guessing the play was a quick audible. OK, no we go to the other side of the ball . . . where Worley made THREE interceptions. Two came in the second quarter and the last -- a true leap job in the left corner of the end zone -- was posted in the third. Also, Worley made a TD-saving tackle at the 13 early in the third quarter (three plays before his pick). Quite an afternoon, eh? I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this tilt. Thanks primarily to Worley, two-way grunt/stud Mike McGlinchey (Notre Dame) and sr. TB-LB Eric Neefe, PC is expected to fare well in the Inter-Ac. Fels is hardly a Pub power, but can be dangerous because of its run-and-shoot offense. On this occasion, Fels had trouble handling PC's size and technique and offensive clicks were pretty much non-existent after the first series. That one came within inches of producing a TD as sr. QB Isaiah Brinkley, a lefty, hit sr. handyman Jamiel Hines over the middle for a 17-yard gain. Alas, Hines tried to twist/turn/stretch himself into the end zone and the ball was popped loose by a combination of Worley (there's that name again) and sr. DB Kyle Drayton. Soph LB Frank "Brother of" McGlinchey recovered on the 3 and PC marched downfield in 11 plays for the score. The TD went to Neefe (16-84) on an 18-yard run. Neefe's other TD was also an 18-yarder while the one posted by Berger (19-97) was a 4-yarder. Sr. Tyler Gottlieb hit four PAT and lost a 22-yard field goal to a procedure penalty. His followup from 27 yards was smothered by sr. DL Dez White. PC's starting grunts were sr. C Mark Opaliski, Gs F. McGlinchey and Patrick McInerney, and Ts M. McGlinchey and jr. Anthony Campanile. After Opaliski suffered an early ding to his right knee, F. McGlinchey moved to center and frosh Sean Foley moved in at guard. Mike McGlinchey was his usually manchildish self along the DL and his highlight was a deep sack that caused a fumble (recovery to jr. DB Freddie Perri). He added three other stops at or behind the line. Kelley also had a pilfer while McInerney added some clutch plays. Fels' TFLs went to sr. LB Hakeem Johnson-Stokes, sr. DL Juantay Tucker, sr. LB Rodney Drayton and soph LB Kordell Robinson. I also have a TFL for No. 11, but there's no listing on the roster so perhaps I got that wrong? If so, sorry! While warming up, PC's players performed the "fire hydrant" drill. Down on all fours, the Quakers lift one leg at a time and it looks like . . . yes, a bunch of dogs peeing on fire hydrants (smile). Also, PA announcer John Burkhart told the spectators PC's coaches were wearing khaki shorts to commemorate the retirement of assistant Chuck McCloskey (he was there to see it). Late, when backup QB Patrick McCain was swamped for a 5-yard loss, Burkhart noted McCain "tried to make lemonade out of lemons, but . . . " Fels' bright light was the fact that Hines managed to chalk up 64 yards on five carries. I'm writing this report in an office at PC before heading up to Tennent for Wood-North Penn. Time for picture cropping, folks . . .

SEPT. 7
PUBLIC AAA
Bok 22, Overbrook 14 (OT)
Bok has won 54 of its last 56 Public League regular season games, with the only two setbacks having come in 2010 (to Imhotep and Comm Tech). It would be going too far to say a loss was expected today, but things were definitely not looking good deep into the contest. Bok trailed, 14-6, relatively deep into the fourth quarter and stirring moments had been scarce. But with 3:05 left in (what turned out to be) regulation, sr. WR Antoine Whitney turned a left-side streak from jr. QB Michael Riley into a 53-yard touchdown (he was double covered, and there was even an interference flag) and, even though the conversion failed, emotion again was evident along the sideline and in the stands. In OT, Bok went first and scored on Riley's 1-yard burrow one play after a dump pass to sr. TE Dylan Edmonds-Carty worked like a charm to the tune of an 11-yard gain. Earlier, the Panthers had interfered with Whitney, allowing Bok to rebound from a second-and-goal-from-the-20 situation. On its possession, 'Brook earned third-and-goal from the 2. A handoff was bobbled, however, as Bok's front line burst forward and Riley, eventually, came running out of a mad scramble with the ball. The story for SportsWeek, focusing on Whitney, turned out to be VERY deep and I welcome you to read it here. The fact that Antoine was wearing No. 35 with "Jackson" on the back at first appeared to be something that would lead us into a fun story. It wasn't. Best of luck, young man, as you continue to rebound from a devastating moment . . . Whitney had four catches for 98 yards and two returns for 68, so he was dynamic all afternoon. Bok is without the franchise back it's so accustomed to having, so his output was crucial. The Wildcats settled for 60 yards on 31 carries (ouch) and ran just 11 plays in the first half (double ouch). There was much to like about Overbrook's defense. Sr. Naquan McIntosh was terrific at end (a true force!) and his three linemates -- jr. E Anthony Marcus, sr. T Christopher Wilson and jr. T Malcolm Spencer -- also enjoyed good moments. In the backfield, jr. Ronald Riddick played with a reckless abandon rarely seen from someone so small (5-8, 150) and you've gotta love a guy who wears a towel that reads, "In #7 We Trust." Yes, Riddick IS No. 7. Ha, ha, ha. Bok's defensive leaders were sr. DE Vittorio "Vito" Goggins (check out the pic of Vito and his pop), jr. DL Mark "Spider" Webb -- not really his nickname, but I figured we'll throw it out there and see if it sticks (smile) -- and sr. LB Marquez Walker. "Kwez" had the hardest hit and posted an interception, as well. Also, most of his best stops were very timely and that quality is always highly desirable. The Panthers scored on a 51-yard fumble return by sr. LB Marice Tillman and a 51-yard pass (yes, same distance) from sr. QB Yvon "Buddy/Lefty" Dessus to Riddick. Dessus began his high school days at Bok, so no doubt this game was quite important to him. Overbrook is down in numbers, but it's part of coach Rendell Ivory's master plan. He said he dismissed some guys who were causing headaches and finds that things are much easier when everyone is dedicated. Tom DeFelice, Bok's former coach, was along the sidelines in part because his son, Chris, is an assistant to Frank "Roscoe" Natale. The other part? He can't stay away from the Wildcats (smile).

SEPT. 6
PUBLIC AA
Imhotep 28, Comm Tech 0
How weird is this? On the night he surpassed 3,000 rushing yards for his career, sr. RB David Williams turned in a performance "worse" than any he'd managed last season while a junior at West Catholic. His low there was 38 yards in Week Three vs. La Salle. Tonight at South Philly he settled for 36 yards on 15 carries (and no TDs) while lifting his career numbers to 427/3,019/38 TDs. Twice in the early going, Williams stepped out of bounds along CT's sideline rather than set himself up for a wicked collision and you know the Phoenix pholks were lovin' that. When Williams soon thereafter lined at WR, the defender right in front of David kept asking, "You scared? You scared?" I couldn't hear David's response, but I doubt it was, "Oh, definitely! Shakin' in my cleats!" After all, he's leaving for an official visit to Arizona State Friday and the other schools in his Final Six are Tennessee, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Ohio State. Honestly, Williams, at least for my money, too often lets himself be brought down by solo tacklers, and that just shouldn't happen when he's bigger and/or stronger than the defender. But he's still a heckuva talent and we won't hold this lukewarm performance against him because there were two big variables. No. 1, the impending visit to ASU. No. 2, last week's crush job (68-13 . . . yes, 68-13!) over Strath Haven. In the story, we had a little bit of fun with the fact that Williams ran for North Catholic in '09, but never posted a yard. Hmmmm, you say? Well, he had just one carry and the result was no gain. He transferred to West after North closed and he's now at 'Hotep, he said, because it's much closer to his house (21st near Cheltenham) and also is free; West's tuition was becoming an issue. Coach Albie Crosby, a former West assistant (he only pushed for the Imhotep job because it was almost certain West would close), is now using Williams at wideout, on occasion. He's a great decoy, if nothing else, and major space is created for another dangerous rusher, sr. Eerin "E.Y!!" Young. Wait, there IS something else. Williams can catch the ball and did so thrice for 31 yards. In two West seasons (all in '11, in fact), he made six snags for 72 yards. Overall, tonight's three most impressive players were CT defenders. LBs Bernard Godwin and Abdur Saaba and E Diqaun Gilbert (he drew major raves on the combine trail) were strong and aggressive and appeared to be in on almost every tackle. Staying motivated wasn't easy, either, because CT's offense was a mess. Sr. QB Zaki Jamison was out with a knee issue and his replacement, soph Kevin Caldwell, rarely had time to breathe, let alone make plays. CT's line was flat-out overmatched. The Phoenix finished with 10 yards total -- cough, cough -- "offense" and 15 plays lost yardage. Sr. LB Brandon Chatmon and jr. LB Randell Hunter were in on three TFLs apiece. Jr. SS DeAndre Scott posted two behind-the-liners and added what was likely the game's most impressive play. In the late going, he caught a punt tight to the right sideline and then scored in the left corner (36 yards). Niiiiice. CT's cause was also hurt when sr. L-DL Tommy Godwin, Bernard's twin, hurt his knee on the very first scrimmage play. Nothing earth shattering, but a respectable crowd was on hand, especially when you consider that South Philly is not exactly around the corner from Imhotep (short walk from La Salle University). Got to see four of our DN/website stat men for the first time this season. Puck and Andy Miller (now handling clock operator duties for Pub chairman Ken Geiser) were at 29th Street Stadium for West Philly-Dobbins. Frog and Armand Vanore were in da house at Imhotep-CT. Great seeing you, guys! After interviewing Williams, I got him to hold up three fingers to signify 3,000 yards. Not exactly a classic pic -- he wasn't given the game ball, at least not to that juncture -- but I figured it would be mildly legendary since his jersey also had two 3's. Yes, he wears No. 33. Oh, at 29th Street, Andy couldn't run the clock because someone cut off the plug. Ugh! Imhotep, meanwhile, has three underclassmen among its four captains -- Jr. lineman Gordon Thomas, Scott and soph QB Andre Dreuitt (VAST improvement since last season; finished with 118 yards and one TD apiece to sr. TE Brandon Smith and Young). The lone senior, Chatmon, is a transfer from O'Hara. "The kids voted for the captains," Crosby said. "These guys, they feel, have the best leadership qualities."

SEPT. 1
NON-LEAGUE
Neumann-Goretti 33, Furness 32
Before the players could exchange the ever-popular exchanges of "good game . . . good game . . . good game" in the handshake line, Furness coach Anthony Pastore walked up to his counterpart, N-G's CJ Szydlik, and said, "Ooooh! That was fun, wasn't it?!" And his team LOST. A game this entertaining was a nice surprise on the heels of Roman-Malvern. It wouldn't have been fair to expect another sweetheart after that one ended 28-27 and featured a late Cahillites rally from a two-TD deficit. As this one began, not too many spectators were on hand. The Furness side, in fact, was almost barren. People straggled in little by little, though, and N-G wound up with a respectable rooting section. The best sequence in the last five minutes of the third quarter. N-G jr. RB Sihmare Morgan rolled into the end zone for a 4-yard TD and soph QB Ray Lenhart hit jr. WR Jamal Custis (6-6, 205) for a conversion catch in the right corner. Custis was double covered, but it mattered not in the least. He soared WAY up there over two much smaller defenders and N-G had a 27-20 lead. Then, Furness scored twice in the last 13.3 seconds! After Lenhart dropped a snap, jr. DL Kevin Sams recovered on the 20. Jr. QB Kevin Shuler rolled to his right and, zoom!, made it all the way to the end zone for an 80-yard score! On the very next play, a rush, the ball popped loose (Sams did the stripping) and was caught in mid-air sr. LB Mike Wilson on the 25. No one was in front of him. Touchdown! The conversions after both scores failed so the Falcons' lead was 32-27. How would N-G respond? Handsomely. Frosh Tyliek Raynor returned the kickoff 33 yards to the 47. Morgan scampered for 16 yards, then 11. The next play was mere-mortal material -- just a 10-yard completion to sr. WR Eric Holt -- and then followed what I'll call a hitch-and-ditch to Custis. Jamal stepped just a few yards off the line of scrimmage, gathered in the pass from Lenhart, then unfurled good moves to ditch two would-be tacklers. He raced to the left corner (north end of the field) and it didn't even matter when the conversion run failed. Furness collected two first downs on its final possession. Holt, Raynor and a Morgan-Custis combo (slightly short of midfield) made the tackles on Furness' final three plays. Morgan carried 19 times for 181 yards and showed great consistency. Ten of his totes produced at least 10 yards and he had a 7, 8 and 9 as well. Custis turned four catches into 118 yards and, honestly, he probably could have totaled 15 catches for, say, 300. Furness didn't double him and the nearest defender was always a little guy. I got the sense Szydlik wanted to develop his overall offense, though, which was why he refrained from force-feeding Custis. N-G's line has good size and decent agility, so things could get interesting. The guys were: sr. C Robert D'Emilio, sr. Gs Michael Schiela and Christian Oakes, soph T Joe D'Emilio and sr. T Jose Rodriguez. For Furness, Shuler added a 5-yard score to his 80-yarder and his good feet/frisky ways make him dangerous. Soph RB Kharee Ruley added 68 yards on 17 rushes while sr. FB Kyle Goldsmith managed 12-63. Shuler whipped just two passes, but one produced a 28-yard TD (on a fade) to sr. WR Daiquan Means. Ruley dashed for an 86-yard TD with the kickoff to start the third quarter, but a penalty wiped it out. Midway through the second quarter, meanwhile, N-G soph K Mike DiFrancesco might have set a city record. A goofy one, of course. He was trying a squib/onside kick, but his foot hit the grass a shade too early and, thus, he made minimal contact with the ball. How far did it go? ONE yard. Yup, to only the 41 yard line. Everyone was looking around, unsure what to do. Finally, DiFrancesco picked up the ball and gave it to the nearest referee. As legendary as this was, it might be only the second coolest moment in Neumann/N-G history. Check out this one from 2005 . . .
Successful PAT kick with something other than a football: Dan Juliano, Neumann-Goretti, 2005
As Juliano swung his leg to kick a PAT vs. Bartram, his right cleat flew off. He barely made contact with the ball, which dribbled toward the line of scrimmage. The cleat soared into the air and perfectly split the uprights.
One last thing: N-G has a freshman WR-DB named Bryan Gabriel. He's listed at 5-2, 120, but you know I had to ask. Bryan said, "I'm 5-foot and about 100 pounds." At that size, he has major brass to even get near a football field. Congrats, kid.

SEPT. 1
NON-LEAGUE
Roman 28, Malvern 27
When teams combine for 742 scrimmage yards -- Malvern won THAT battle, 412-330 -- all kinds of big things obviously happen. Ultimately, though, this game was won by some (supposed) little things. Jr. K Phil Isaac went 4-for-4 on PAT and hammered all of his kickoffs either into the end zone, or close to it. His best sequence came in the fourth quarter after a 27-yard TD run by soph RB Dimetri Kelly enabled Roman to storm within 27-20. Kicking at the north end of Wildwood's Maxwell Field, with a wind going across the field from bay to ocean, Isaac sent his kick so far out of the stadium, the ball smacked against a car parked across the street! Then, his kickoff landed at the very back end of the end zone! Impressive! Since Malvern finished with 27 points, something obviously did not go well on one of the conversion attempts. It was a PAT by jr. K Jonathan Dollfus and, pow!, soph Kabir Basil exploded right up the middle to block it. See? It's the "little" things, folks. That snuffout followed a 50-yard TD pass from sr. QB Billy "Moose" Ford (also a star catcher; son of former Friars baseball coach Bill Ford) to sr. TE Ryan Ammerman on the third play of the fourth quarter. Though the Cahillies were disheartened to give up such a long TD and fall behind by two scores, Basil's block created some juice and soon, there was momentum. On second-and-5, sr. QB Michael Keir completed a 34-yard pass to jr. FB/SB Patrick McCourt, brother of coach Joe McCourt. Kelly dashed for his score three plays later and that run was also uplifting because he "should" have been tackled at about the 20. Instead, he powered right through the defender and tallied with ease. Roman's defense then managed its only three-and-out of the game and took over on its 40. Kelly managed a 4-yard gain. Keir passed incomplete. Zoooom! Kelly zipped 56 yards for a score. Along the way he got a great, sustained block from sr. WR Chris Cruz toward the right sideline and was patient enough to let things play out before switching to second gear. Malvern's final drive commenced with a 21-yard strike to Ammerman, but the next three plays were unproductive thanks to a tackle by Basil, a regular incompletion and a breakup that came courtesy of jr. DE Jake Illingworth. That would be it, folks. Kelly, the brother of 2011's star rusher, Marcus Kelly, turned 16 rushes into 159 yards and three TDs. Keir went 9-for-18 for 139 yards. His primary target, Notre Dame commit William Fuller, a sr. WR, managed five snags for 59 yards. He was derailed by some cramping issues and four of his catches were packed into the first two possessions. Also, Malvern, for a while, played him in football's version of a box-and-one as soph DB Trevon Morris came right up to the line of scrimmage; another guy was always right nearby. Cruz and sr. LB Guy Campanella made two stops apiece behind the line. In the second quarter, on fourth down, Roman's coaches said again and again before the play, "Just knock it down!" Instead, Illingworth made a pick at Roman's 3. Oh, baby. The move at first appeared to be a smart one because his return had a hint of all-the-way potential. Instead, he fumbled (hit by sr. RB Eric Purnell) and sr. lineman Jordan Andrews recovered at the 35. Roman's other TD, meanwhile, opened the third quarter, and it was an 86-yard kickoff return by jr. Malik Jones. As Jones began his journey, after at first dropping the ball with a zig, assistant Jim Murphy cried out, "Great move!" Shortly, after a crafty zag, he added, "Another great move!" Indeed. Jones made a pair of gems. Ford passed 11-for-22 for 194 yards and the one TD to Ammerman (5-142, great outing, also a cramping moment). Two rushers topped 100 yards -- Purnell (11-118, two TDs) and jr. Troy Gallen (5-108) while sr. FB Connor Bohs also notched a TD. Malvern's O-line featured a big-time oddity. Unless I missed something along the way, every grunt wore a number in the 50s. No 60s and no 70s. What's with that? Ha, ha. In the second quarter, the quintet included sr. C Mike Panichelli, sr. Gs Joe Barrett and Dan Riordan, and sr. Ts Matt Barrett and Jordan Andrews. (Hopefully, I broke that down correctly.) Later, Riordan suffered an injury and his replacement was yet another guy in the 50s, soph Mike McCarthy. (In case you're curious, Malvern's roster lists only two guys apiece in the 60s and 70s.) I'm thinking this 50s thing might be a city record (smile). If someone wants to confirm the names listed here and that no 60s or 70s were part of today's alignment at any juncture, I'll add the guys to the off-the-wall city records list! This was appearance No. 1 for an Inter-Ac team in a seashore game. Malvern hooked up with Roman during the time period when it appeared West Catholic would close. Malvern's parents/alums set up a tent outside the fence at the south end of the field for pregame socializing purposes and Wildwood's finest made them take it down. Booooo! Meanwhile . . . I was sweating like a pig!! Man, what was today's humidity number? In the 90s??!! Sure felt like it.

AUG. 31
PUBLIC AAA
Gratz Charter 43, King 0
A Facebook friend named Marc Ross, former star pitcher at George Washington High, figured the first "Only in the Pub" moment of this football season would happen in Week Two. Innnnncorrect! It happened in the first half of Game One (smile). Right before halftime, as Gratz was preparing to run a play, coach Erik Zipay could be heard saying, "They've got a pregnant lady lined up at linebacker!!" Say what? The lady, as I found out later, was Mary Keller, and she was serving as King's trainer (and went from there to U. City-Olney; ditto for me). Thinking that King sr. DE Darnel Moore was looking a little groggy, she hustled out onto the field. One problem: She didn't alert the refs or ask anyone to call time and, somehow, no one seemed to notice her. Bingo! There she was, on the defensive side of the ball. Luckily, time was finally called and Mary, who's six months preggers, escorted Moore off the field. Mary wasn't carrying a trainer's bag and wasn't wearing anything that would ID her as a medical staffer, so all the Gratz people thought she was some overzealous mom protecting her son. Anyway, that was the first of MANY Only in the Pubs to come this season (smile) . . . There was another goofy development. The first half ended with Gratz up, 41-0, and required 1 hour, 27 minutes. Second half? Thirty-one minutes! And King ran just four of the 19 plays. Part of the mercy rule, it turns out, is this: If both coaches agree, the clock can run non-stop even during timeouts and injury delays! King coach John Sheroda requested a racing clock and Zipay agreed. If I'd ever seen that before, it didn't last in the memory bank. Gratz frolicked, honestly. SportsWeek ink went to sr. QB Davone "Fresh" Cornish, whose brother, Ravone, starred at Central (class of 2011) and now plays at Shippensburg. Davone passed 4-for-7 for 113 yards and one TD apiece to sr. handymen Joe Williams and Cornelius Middleton (2-88). Middleton scored twice more on runs and finished with 148 yards on just six touches. The defense accounted for 14 points. Jr. DB Anthony Troy-Brown recovered a botched punt return in the end zone (a Cougar tried to return the bouncing ball from the 3; not a good idea) and jr. DB Nydair Rouse made an end-zone recovery after sr. DE Mir Bostic blocked a punt. The safety came on the game's final play as soph DE Joseph Giddings and sr. LB Brenton Oakley broke through to dump sr. QB Khaleel Stewart. Jr. Daqwan "Mellow" Freeman was impressive on his PAT, hitting five of six. Can't imagine too many Gratz kickers have EVER converted five PAT in one game. On King's first possession, sr. DE Saeed Sheard set a solid tone with one tackle at the line and a sack worth 10 yards. Bostic later notched a 7-yard sack and frosh LB Shawn Jenkins had a 3-yard TFL. Interceptions went to Rouse (two), soph DB Calvin Payne and sr. LB Devin Edwards. Take a moment to blink. That's how long, usually, Stewart had to throw. Soph WR Kyree Smith seems to have good potential. He ran nice patterns and fought for the ball, but Stewart couldn't quite connect with him (except for once) because there was never a comfort level. On defense, Stewart made several hard tackles along the sideline and sr. LB James Johnson was impressive in the late going, making two stops up close (one produced a 2-yard loss) and then another 20 yards downfield to prevent a certain TD. Zipay had another good line early in the game. When Freeman missed an assignment on a play, Zipay hollered out toward him, "Mellow, use your melon!!"