OCT. 30
TEDBIT
  Are you like me? Did you miss the days when Catholic League teams played a healthy amount of league games? Well, they've been back these last two seasons and, finally, we again have a regular season champ with at least seven wins. Conwell-Egan earned that mark in Catholic Blue play and 7-0 had not been achieved since 2007 (by West Catholic, also in Blue). Going back to the very beginning, 61 teams have won at least seven games while achieving perfection. Fourteen have won eight. The chronological breakdown is below on the left. The school breakdown is on the right. SJ Prep leads that pack with nine.

OCT. 29
TEDBIT
  Kickers need love, too. And over the last three seasons, Penn Charter's guys have certainly earned it. Adam Kuper, Ryan Bradby, Terence Thompson and Ryan "Pooch" Holmes have combined for 149 points, thanks to 107 kicks and 14 field goals. Now for the really impressive fact: Their percentage on kicks is 97.3. Wait, there's more. Kuper's first kick of the 2016 season was blocked by Lansdale Catholic, so since then the guys are 107-for-109 (98.2). Wait, there's even more. When Thompson missed his lone attempt in the 2017 game vs. Malvern, he was filling in for Bradby, primarily a soccer player. ("TT" did hammer a field goal in that game, so that was cool.). Take away that miss and the "regular guys" are 107-for-108 (99.1) since Kuper's kick vs. LC was blocked. The miss was by Bradby in the 2017 opener vs. LC. Since Thompson's miss last year, the guys have nailed 49 consecutive PAT. Holmes, also a basketball star, has hit nine of those while thrice filling in for the busy-with-soccer Bradby. In '16, Bradby kicked the last PAT vs. Academy of the New Church. On the kicks, Gavin Zavorski does the snapping and Aaron Maione handles the holding. Thanks to assistant Fran Costello for that info.
  UPDATE: 2018 game/season breakdown has been adjusted for Bradby/Holmes. Totals/percentages still the same. My apologies.
  UPDATE: The 2018 season has been finalized. One of the conversion attempts vs. Episcopal was a two-pointer. Against GA, Bradby missed the fourth of his six kicks so the streak ended at 55. 

OCT. 28
TEDBIT
  As this season began, La Salle sr. Sean Daly was what I like to call a handyman. He notched 13 touches on rushes/catches in the Explorers' first two games, but then moved to quarterback after an injury sidelined junior Jack Machita. How have things gone? In seven games, Daly has racked up 1,234 yards of rushing/passing along with 14 TDs. Oh, and he also posted a receiving TD on a trick play. The yardage breakdown is 650 through the air and 584 on the ground and that kind of balanced performance for a La Salle QB is highly unusual. The school's QBs have often passed non-stop in this century and few have minded because lots of success has resulted. Now to the reason for this nugget: Daly rushed for three TDs in Friday night's 26-14 win over Roman and no La Salle QB had done that since Gabe Marabella in 2000 vs. Judge. He finished that season with 10 rushing scores and nine through the air. Sean's current breakdown is eight/six. From 2001 to now, just two other primary La Salle QBs have rushed for more three TDs in a season. Drew Loughery had eight in 2009 and Mike Lynch had six in 2003. Drew had two vs. Ridley and one apiece vs. six opponents. Mike also went the six-all-spread-out route. In 2010, with Matt Magarity unavailable, receiver Kevin Forster made four QB starts. He rushed for one TD vs. Bonner and two vs. Judge. In Friday night's game, La Salle's O-line starters were C Declan Tuffy, Gs Ronnie Ross and Kenny O'Kane, and Ts Ryan Wills and Leland Mersky. The TE was Grant Hughes. Thanks to offensive coordinator Joe Wade for those names. Joe also added these tidbits. Wills will be a D1 kid. Vs. Judge, Brian O'Grady subbed for Tuffy at center and Jake De Luca played center last week vs. Wood. Matt Zoglio also gets some playing time. Main fullback was Liam Tatlonghari. Receivers Luke Hardy and Kahlil Diarrah have blocked excellent on perimeter.

OCT. 27
TEDBIT
  With 48 points last night in a win over Ryan, SJ Prep finalized its Catholic Red regular season points-per-game average at 52.6 and that's the No. 2 total for CL teams in this century. West Catholic's "Enjoy the Show" 2008 team averaged more than a TD more per game at 59.8. The list below shows all teams that have averaged at least 40 points. The division setups have varied through the years, of course, and the teams have played from three to seven games.

OCT. 26
SOUTH JERSEY FOOTBALL
Kingsway 34, Eastern 21
  Though a few plays succeeded in easy-peasy fashion, this was largely a LWRN for the Vikings. And those initials stand for Little Went Right Night. The offensive line has largely been terrific this season, allowing the ballcarriers to consistently rack up decent chunks of yardage and while also providing sr. QB Drew Heck with adequate time to pick apart defenses and absorb very few hits. But tonight, the rushing game was limited to 35 yards on 25 carries and the passing game mostly had to settle for dinks and dunks, witness that Heck averaged roughly six yards per attempt (215 on 35). There was one legendary moment and for now I'll have to offer unofficial yardage numbers. Late in the first half, Eastern had the ball on Kingsway's 23 after a pass and tacked-on penalty. Heck whipped a left-side pass to sr. WR Chase Stafford and then Jermaine Donaldson was being mobbed in the end zone. Wait. Isn't Donaldosn the left tackle? Indeed. Doesn't he weigh 325 pounds? Indeed. (Well, that's one of his listed weights.) But he's also reasonably athletic, witness that he played basketball as a soph at Eastern and might do so again this season before heading to Temple and, yes, that was HIM on the back end of a classic, hook-and-lateral play. For now we'll list the breakdown as four yards for Chase and 19 for Jermaine (numbers have been confirmed). By rule, Jermaine receives credit for a receiving TD and, who knows, perhaps he's the heaviest Viking, ever, to score a TD? Or at least the heaviest to score a TD while not just flopping on a ball in an end zone. Very, very cool. (A few days after this game, Jermaine said his weight was down to 309). Eastern's other scores also came on pass plays -- an 18-yarder to sr. WR Dante Kiett and a 54-yarder to that very same guy. On the 18-yarder, 'Te came back for a catch toward the right sideline and then did a crafty spin to leave behind a defender. The 54-yarder was a right-side streak and he was wiiiiiiide open. That TD was posted with nine minutes remaining in the third quarter (at 8:52 p.m.) and the kick by sr. John Fulleylove created a tie at 21-21. It was very necessary, too, because Kingsway had gone ahead on just the third play of the third quarter after pouncing on a fumbled kickoff. Though you would have thought the good vibrations would have lasted . . . they didn't. Eastern did not gain at least 10 yards on any play thereafter while the Dragons got a 30-yard keeper from jr. QB Alex Odom to set up his own 8-yard TD and a 58-yard burst up the middle -- with a sweet, left-to-right cut mixed in -- by sr. handyman Semaj Bosket. The loss left Eastern at 6-2 at the end of the regular season with sandiwhc setbacks to start and finish. Playoff pairings will be announced later this weekend. Because of the gloom-and-doom weather forecast, I decided to keep stats and take pics of this tilt from the press box. The Kingsway folks were very nice and competent. There was no rain as the game began -- in case you're wondering, the school's in Mullica Hill, Gloucester County -- then drizzle appeared and gave way to medium and then somewhat hard down the stretch. The wind was a partial factor, but never outrageous. Kingsway honored MANY seniors before the game -- band, cheerleaders, players. The ceremony took days. Seemed like it, anyway (smile). For Eastern's defense, sr. LBs TJ Franden and Umar Davis did some nice dirty work and jr. Teddy Osei-Kyei had some impactful moments along the line.

OCT. 26
TEDBIT
   Their schools are roughly 10 minutes apart and their accomplishments are neighbors, too. Say hello to senior quarterbacks Jahlil Sanders (Ryan) and Shane Dooley (Judge) and, while you're at it, please offer sincere congrats. In two seasons as Ryan's starter, Sanders has contributed more than 3,000 yards of rushing/passing along with 32 touchdowns. Counting some brief, scattered appearances as a soph, Dooley has racked up 3,169 passing yards to break the school record of '88 grad Chris Fagan (3,045). The 80 passing yards from 2016 aren't even necessary, actually, because Dooley owns 3,089 in '17 and '18 combined. And then there's this: With just 146 more yards of rushing-passing, Dooley will reach 4,000 for his career. Both guys started out elsewhere. Sanders played as a soph at West Catholic, turning two carries into seven yards and one TD. He threw no passes, but did kick eight extra points. Dooley's first school was Wood and he lost seven yards on three total totes. He threw no passes. This season, Dooley has run or passed on 69.4 percent of Judge's plays while averaging 6.3 yards. That's up from 54.4 and 5.4.

OCT. 24
TEDBIT
  Conwell-Egan (nee Bishop Egan) no longer has a chance to claim  a Catholic League record . . . Not that it wanted to. When th Eagles last Saturday beat McDevitt, they clinched the Catholic Blue championship with one game remaining and ended a title drought going back to 1970. Believe it or not, three schools went even longer without earning a crown -- Neumann-Goretti (and predecessors), 60 years; North Catholic, 53 years (it closed in June 2010 with the streak still alive) and Roman Catholic, 52 years. The list below includes the 14 schools that are still around and the three that closed in '10. Kenrick/K-K never won a title in 43 CL seasons (not in CL from 1989-92) and Lansdale Catholic is still waiting after 11 seasons.

OCT. 23
TEDBIT
  What are the chances? After nine weeks, the top number for TD passes among Catholic/Inter-Ac guys is 17 . . . and four guys have reached it. That's double of the number of at-least-17ers in 2017. There were six and five, respectively, in 2016 and 2015. Check out Anthony Russo's total in 2015. And he hit that in just 12 games. No wonder he's now starting at Temple.

OCT. 22
TEDBIT (Fueled by Huck)
  Any time you hear a team has scored 69 points, the mind races. Oh, man. How many scrimmage yards did they rack up? SJ Prep dropped 69 points on Judge in a Catholic Red game Saturday night and, though decent, the scrimmage yardage total was hardly outrageous. As tabulated by Ed "Huck" Palmer, who watched the game film, the Hawks gained 381 yards on 41 scrimmage plays -- 266 on the ground, 115 through the air. That breakdown can be found here on the TEAM PAGE. Meanwhile, they collected 315 yards (and two of the 10 TDs) on just eight returns. That breakdown can be found right below. Right before halftime, Zach Bouggess made an interception at the Prep's 19 and gained four yards before taking a knee. Huck said he was pretty sure Bouggess, who apparently was under orders since the Hawks had already scored 56 points, could have uncorked a very lengthy return. Maybe even an 81-yarder for what would have been a third consecutive return TD. . . Oh, almost forgot. Through four Red games, as noticed by Huck, the Prep has not punted.

OCT. 21
TEDBIT
  Membership in a specific Penn Charter club is very small. In fact, Kyle Jones just doubled the number. In yesterday's 41-14 win over visiting Haverford School, Jones became just the second PC QB in 40 seasons (1979-2018) to have a hand/feet in five touchdowns. He ran for two and passed for three. He passed 8-for-12 for 138 yards and three scores and turned eight carries into 89 yards and two. Those numbers come courtesy of the legendary Thomas "Hockey Puck" McKenna, who now keeps stats at the Quakers' tilts. According to The Puckster, the scores happened in this order: 6-yard run, 7-yard pass to Aaron Maione, 55-yard pass to Maione, 9-yard run and 7-yard pass to Brendan Thomas. Mike "Neeko" Hnatkowsky, now starring at Muhlenberg, accomplished the feat three times and even went it one better, with six, in a 2015 game vs. Episcopal. Through seven games, Jones has produced 14 TDs -- eight via runs and six through the air. Chris Rahill, PC's offensive coordinator, had a four-TD performance in '98 vs. Haverford School, passing for one (his lone completion in just four attempts) and running for three (7-96). . . . Meanwhile, earlier this season, sr. RB Edward Saydee scored four TDs in three consecutive games. It's possible he was the FIRST Quaker to do so, and the program goes back to 1887. That feat only COULD have been accomplished in 1888 and/or 1891. Scoring breakdowns for all games in those years were not reported.
  UPDATE: In this century for sure (and likely going way back), no other PC QB has rushed for as many as eight TDs.

OCT. 20
TEDBIT
  Since the mid-1990s, people tend to think of La Salle as an offense-first program. But going back, any success experienced by the Explorers was primarily traceable to stingy defense, Last night, La Salle yielded 31 points in a loss to Wood. This was the fourth time this season they'd given up at least 30. Since 1950, that has happened just four times -- also in 2016, 2014 and 1951. That '51 squad was scorched for at least 30 seven times.

OCT. 19
SOUTH JERSEY FOOTBALL
Eastern Regional 13, Hammonton 12
  Sometimes, one team loses more than the other team wins. That was basically what happened tonight as the Vikings posted a hairy road victory on Hammonton's Homecoming/Senior Night. Within the last 2:19, the Blue Devils were unable to convert a PAT when going for a tie (like many others, I expected them to try to seize the lead right there as a tribute to Doug "Brassy" Pederson) and a field goal when going for an almost-last-second win. The field goal attempt was pounded from 37 yards with 15.7 seconds remaining. The ball was low and never had a chance. A clock-stopping spike took place immediately beforehand and that followed a clutch TFL for six yards by sr. LB Umar Davis. The ballcarrier was impressive soph Jaiden Abrams. That last possession began at Eastern's 33. Hammonton ran six plays, not counting the spike, before facing fourth-and-12 from the 21. The most productive was a fourth down connection from jr. QB Ryan Barts to jr. handyman Caleb Nartey. That netted 11 yards and placed the ball at the 19. Abrams gained four, then lost six before the spike and missed FG. Compared with Eastern's other games, this one came off as a snoozefest. Back in the day, though, it would have been viewed as normal and even entertaining. But when just 25 total points are scored after thousands (slight exaggeration) have been racked up, well, it's just not the same. Or, as a female Eastern fan yelled at high volume early in the fourth quarter, "Look at the scoreboard! You gotta be kidding me!" On synthetic surfaces, Eastern's offense had been turfrific. But Hammonton's field is grass and dirt and the usual zing was absent. Eastern's TDs came on old-school plays -- a 63-yard dash straight up the middle by sr. FB (for rhat play) T.J. Franden (8-91) and a 2-yard pass from sr. QB Drew Heck to jr. TE Michael Wall. Repeat: TDs by a fullback and tight end. Bet you never thought you'd see that this season. The play that produced Wall's TD did have some new-school freshness, however, because at least three receivers eased over to the right side. Heck could have thrown to others, but Wall was also open at about the right hash mark. The pass for two points did not come close to working and Eastern was up, 13-6, with 7:16 left. The teams then traded interceptions and the latter was made by sr. DB Christian Weissman off a deflection by Martey. The BDs drove 63 yards in 10 plays and Abrams did a heels-over-head spin into the end zone after getting tumbled on just a 1-yard run. That was the play that occurred with 2:19 left. The rest has been detailed. Heck finished 20-for-30 for 169 yards and just three completions netted more than 15 yards. Just that kind of night. Jr. RB Mike Suarez turned 18 carries into 67 yards. Sr. WR Chase Stafford had three snags for 48 yards with a long of 27 on a quick-hitting floater. Sr. Dominic Harris, back from a groin injury, blocked the PAT after Hammonton's first TD. Jr. DL Teddy Osei-Kyei, who missed some time with a shoulder ding, made some important defensive stops. Big-'un OT Jermaine Donaldson, a Temple commit, saw extended duty at DT. After Franden's TD, one of the Vikings yelled again and again, "We're doing what we do, man!" During a stretch when the offense was not moving too well, an assistant noted with the proper sarcasm, "We're doing a great job of blocking the safety . . . and the linebackers are making all the tackles." Very nice crowd on Hammonton's side. The prize in the 50-50 drawing was $236. Meanwhile, the drive down Route 30 was depressing. So many businesses no longer exist. Party venues, diners, supermarkets, ice cream stores, gas stations, farmer's markets, etc., etc., etc. Phew. The street between the school and Hammonton's football field is named "Road to Excellence." Gotta love it.

OCT. 19
TEDBIT
  As previously mentioned, from 1999 through 2013, La Salle and Wood were located in different divisions and somehow never bothered to meet. Luckily, they decided to connect in '14 and '15 and they've been in the same division (Red) these last three seasons. The games in '14 and '15 were terrific and maybe tonight's -- set for 7 o'clock at Upper Dublin -- will also fill the entertainment bill. In 2014, La Salle overcame a 31-14 deficit to win, 35-31, as Kyle Shurmur (19-for-31, 274), now starring at Vanderbilt, and wideout Jimmy Herron (8-132), now a minor league outfielder, connected for four TDs. It was the Explorers' 13th consecutive win in the series. In 2015, Wood was the winner, 27-24, as Anthony Russo, now Temple's starter, passed for 248 yards. La Salle leads the series, 21-16-1. The tie, which occurred in '84, produced a 0-0 score. Wood's best run (8-1) took place from 1974-82. Four performances from last year's game, won by Wood, 31-17, can be found on the list below. The Vikings offered three of 'em.
  Bob Long Sports will offer a live video broadcast of the game. Click here.