T-Time . . . FB 2010

NOV. 5
PUBLIC AAAA SEMIFINAL
FRANKFORD 37, CENTRAL 12
How great is it to be back???? Man, I missed this!
Anyway, great way to come back to the Alma Mater in the playoffs and riding high after DEMOLISHING Northeast (OK, so they won 28-20) to reach the semis. And Frankford was designed to be Central 2.0 but never lived up to the hype (HA!) so I was alright with this matchup.
Game started and Frankford embarked on a 10-play drive capped by sr. RB Mike Brown scooting in from 6 yards out on a misdirection play. Sr. K Eric Salguero, who was perfect on all PATs on the day, nailed the extra point to put Frankford up, 7-0.
The kickoff went to dangerous all-purpose threat so. Walt Pegues and he juked his way to an 18-yard return to give his team field position at their own 34. Two stops by sr. DE Kashiem Poland (who played out of his mind!) and a sack by sr. DE Kashif Townsend forced Central to punt. Snap sailed over the head of sr. QB Ryan Dydak and into the end zone. Dydak wisely swatted the ball out of the end zone to avoid further damage and FKD went up 9-0.
The next kick return was a beauty. Sr. K Serg “Words With Friends” Chegodayev (do you see these letters?) kicked off. Jr. DT Devon Moore, who had himself a ballgame on defense, fielded the ball on his own 45 yard line. The not-so-big fella (listed at 5’10”, 206) went rumbling down the field, throwing a vicious stiff arm along the way to a 39-yard return.
That return set up jr. QB Tim DiGiorgio to continue his aerial assault this season. This kid has the goods folks. Here, he tossed a 16-yarder to jr. WR Renz “Rodeo” Compton to put Frankford up 16-0 after Salguero’s kick.
Personally, I thought it was an incomplete pass. Compton and a Central defender arrived at the same time. Contact occurred and the ball was soon on the turf. But officials ruled it a grab, so the TD stood.
After four scoreless possessions, Frankford got back to work. DiGiorgio spread found sr. WR Marquan Scott leaping over a would-be defender and racing to paydirt with a 65-yard score with 8:17 left in the half.
That put the Pioneers up 23-0 and Central would go into the half trailing by the same score. On the third possession after halftime, Dydak burrowed in from a yard out to put Central on the board. Sr. WR Richard “Tre” Drayton lined up in a jumbo backfield but the play wasn’t well executed and sr. DE Eric Anderson erased any hope of the conversion succeeding.
Central coach Rich Drayton elected to stick to the Ground and Pound approach on this drive with heavy doses of jr. RB Hakeem Ellis (3 carries, 16 yards) and jr. RB Jesse Gillis (8 carries, 40 yards) on the 16-play scoring voyage.
Chegodayev then executed an onside kick that hit a Frankford lineman directly in the chest. The Lancers recovered and had momentum on their side. After a first down pickup by Eliis, the drive stalled four plays later (on 4th and 1, no less) and it didn’t take long for Frankford to capitalize.
Four plays, four runs, touchdown. Sr. RB Kelly Johnson sandwiched runs of six and 23 around Brown’s 7 yard first down pick-up before frolicking into the end zone from 34 yards out. Salguero made it 30-6.
Dydak would scramble in from 15 yards out on the next possession to cut the deficit to 18, 30-12. Johnson then fumbled the handoff and Central recovered, giving them life at their own 47 yard line. They went four-and-out and DiGiorgio put the game on ice three plays later, with a 12-yard scoring strike to impressive sr. TE Aaron Allison.
GAME BALL- Feels so good to give one of these out again! DiGiorgio and Scott did their thing, but I’m a defensive guy. And after a LONG layoff, you can’t really think I’m gonna give this to an offensive player, could you? This one is going to Poland. Kid had 2.5 sacks, amongst his FIFTEEN (15) tackles. He had batted down two screen passes. Flat out, he was a MONSTER. Reminded me of former uber-talented DE Deion Barnes (now with the Penn State Nittany Lyings)
I NOTICED- DiGiorgio is the real deal. This is his first year of ball after playing pound ball with the Frankford Chargers (who else? Former Pioneers Ervin Goodson and Chris “Waterboy” Spence (RIP) played for them as well) and man, this kid is impressive. Cool as a fan with a live arm. Dude gets it done. And all of this with an ailment that could seriously hinder him (come on, I’m not telling here *wink*)….A FKD assistant thought DiGiorgio had broken the school’s record for passing yardage, but he’s four yards short. What better place to break a record than the championship game vs. hated rival GW and that TERRIBLE “Tango” chant (I’m hating I know)… Johnson absolutely MANGLED Pegues on a floating pass from Dydak. Credit to Pegues for holding on and completing the catch…In what could be deemed as retaliation for the hit on his teammate (or just a fit of aggression), Drayton had a TERRIFYING crack back block on sr. DT James Bailey. (Somewhere former Central WR Jordan Anderson is smiling.) WHEW! Bailey’s eyes were Harlem Shaking on the way to the sideline. KEEP YA HEAD ON A SWIVEL, YOUNG MAN!!!... I stayed to watch the Germantown-Washington game with Ted and Amauro. I also got to meet the legendary Joe Santoloquito. Fun times…That Will Parks (Pitt commit) from G’Town is legit, folks. Heard and read all the hype and he’s as advertised. And he can HIT!!! Made a WICKED hit on GW star jr. DE Justin Moody. Moody was seen with his jacket on and pads off not too long after the hit…His partner in crime sr. WR Myles Brooker is good, too. Showed some serious wheels…I really like G’Town soph QB Cedric Wright but didn’t like his pass protection. Kid has a cannon of an arm…Props to GW jr. DE DeAndre Dunkley. Kid played his tail off…GW jr. DB Kendale Truitt has a chance to be special. He’s got the size and speed (hawked Parks down from behind to prevent a late game score) to go D-1…The best player I saw on Saturday was sr. RB Hakeem Sillman. This kid can GO! He went for 161 and 3 scores and made some defenders look helpless along the way. And he lined up plenty at DB. He should see lots of time on D in the championship as FKD may air it out…Great to see former Central players coaching (Darryl Ray, Mike Yeiter, John Kennedy for CHS; Ed Dunn for G’Town) and in the stands (Jamil Styles, Kyle George, Will Thomas).