October reports
September reports

DEC. 23
GLEN GALEONE SITUATION
  On Dec. 20, we published a story concerning the firing of Glen Galeone, Ryan's FB coach for 19 seasons. At the time we had no concrete information on how to contact Ryan president Mike McArdle, who fired Galeone, so the story had to run without his comments (information was received in late afternoon, shortly before I had to leave to cover a basketball game). McArdle was contacted early Dec. 22 at Ryan and was asked to explain the firing. "We think the program needs to go in a new direction," he said, "and that that requires new leadership." McArdle said he has no personal problem with Galeone, who's the school's disciplinarian, and praised his overall work for the school. McArdle confirmed that Galeone had asked to remain as Ryan's coach for one more season, so, as Glen put it, he wouldn't have to go out on such a sour note (0-10). "I felt we needed to make the move now," McArdle said. "To serve the best interests of the program." The original story appears below. If Glen feels a need to comment further on the situation, he is welcome to do so here, as we have told him. Thank you.

DEC. 13
CLASS AA FINAL
Wilmington 35, West Catholic 34 (2 OTs)
  In Class AA football in Pennsylvania in 2008, West is not best and that's very hard to believe. The Burrs had frolicked all season against teams in their classification, as their only previous loss had come to AAAA La Salle. How did this happen? How did the Burrs go down to a crushing defeat, one that caused pretty much every senior player -- and some underclassmen, too -- to experience crying sessions that in many cases were rather lengthy? Turnovers were a big reason. An acknowledged coaching shortcoming played a role. And in the end, literally, a brassy move just flat-out did not pay off. When this one was getting ready to start, I was thinking about how three other very good QBs had been snakebitten in final games of the season -- La Salle's Drew Loughery, Washington's Aaron Wilmer and Wood's Sean McCartney. Somehow, West sr. Curtis Drake suffered the same fate and no one could have predicted that after watching him all season. But struggle he did. Mightily. We'll backtrack to that issue and others, but deal for now with the brassy move. In double OT, Wilmington scored first and converted its kick for a 35-28 lead. West responded in rather easy fashion, honestly, as sr. TB Raymond "Syrup" Maples went straight up the middle for 8 yards, and then a 2-yard score. An appearance by jr. K Tim Carroll would NOT be next. Coach Brian Fluck called time and decided to go for the win. Maybe Fluck figured it would be unfair to keep asking Carroll to hit pressurized kicks. After all, he'd had to boot almost NONE of those all year and Wilmington, thanks to good, up-the-middle pressure, was coming closer and closer to blocking one. People kept saying along the sideline, "How'd THAT one get through?" The play call was for Drake to execute a left-side keeper. A classic decision: Put the ball in the hands of your best player. I agreed with it completely. Drake ran left and appeared to have a shot to get to the corner. He instead cut it up, thinking he saw an opening. He at first was ankle-tackled and that sent him slightly airborne. Another Wilmington player met his body and pushed it downward. Though Drake did get into the end zone, there was no doubt even to the naked eye (and TV replays confirmed this) that he bounced in. Unbelievable. Season over. Just like that. Title dreams gone poof! Fluck said later the decision to got for two was purely his. It says here the game never should have reached the extra sessions, and I know all Burrs (players, coaches, fans) would agree. There was a big messup just before the half and Fluck even used the word "bungled" when describing how he'd handled the situation. West took over on its 20 with 1:29 left, then did a beautiful job in zooming downfield in true "Enjoy the Show" fashion. The big plays were a 34-yard keeper by Drake, a 13-yard run by Maples and a 21-yard pass to soph WR Quran Kent, putting the ball on the 10. Sr. TB Rob Hollomon ran 5 yards to the 5. Offside was called against the Greyhounds and the ball was placed at the 3. But the clock was started after the ball was placed and West, though it had one timeout remaining, did NOT use it. On the last play before time expired, Drake bumped into Hollomon and was tackled at the 2. Halftime. Ugh. A TD would have enabled West to surge ahead by 21-0. No way -- OK, very doubtful -- that Wilmington would have regrouped from that. Drake threw two interceptions and lost a fumble. The coughup occurred on the game's very first scrimmage play, after he was hit on a keeper that followed a fake double reverse. That miscue did not hurt in the literal sense, and West even grabbed a 7-0 lead on its next series as Maples roared 28 yards. On the next-to-last play of the session, however, Drake again dropped the pigskin. This time he was bailed out by jr. C Jake Zuzek. Look at the numbers and it's hard to understand how West lost, especially since only one of the turnovers led to a score. The yardage battle was no contest. West won it going away, 460-268, and all three primary rushers topped 100 yards. Maples was best at 19-177 with three TDs. Drake (16-122) and Hollomon (14-102) also eclipsed the century mark and ran for one TD apiece; Rob's gave him 36 via rushes for the season and enabled him to break the city's one-season mark of 35 (by SJ Prep's Pat Kaiser in 2002). After Wilmington forged a 21-21 tie with 6:03 left in the fourth quarter, West traveled all the way to the 7. Drake made a perfect delivery to sr. WR Eric Young for a 41-yard gain and Hollomon followed immediately with a 23-yard pickup. Wilmington was called for offsides, placing the ball at the 3. No way West won't go in and win it. Way. Drake was stopped for no gain. Sr. FB Juan Rozier was dropped for a 1-yard loss. Maples powered ahead to the 1. Decision time. In his career, Carroll has NEVER tried a field goal. The Burrs needed just ONE yard. They went for it. Drake took the snap and angled left on a sneak. Two guys met him and stopped him just short of the goal line at 1:19. Phewwwwwwwwww. Wilmington exhausted regulation by playing it safe. Maples' 5-yard, third-down run gave West the first TD of OT. On the first two plays of Wilmington's possession, jr. DB Ray Manuel recorded a 4-yard loss and then jr. DT John Ruppert and sr. LB Artis Carroll combined for a 2-yard loss. The third-down pass was caught out of bounds. Fourth down, 16 to go. West is gonna win this game! Oh nooooo. What followed was one of the best plays you could ever see. Sr. Shane Wagner had to pass, right? Well, he rolled to his left, looked and looked, and decided he'd better run. At this point, he was close to the numbers painted on the field. When he got to maybe the 10 by going straight ahead, he saw possible tacklers and began angling back across toward Wilmington's sideline. Though NUMEROUS guys had a chance to knock him down, it just didn't happen. Wagner bobbed and weaved and scored in the right corner. It was truly a senSAAAAAAtional play. Somehow or another, it'll probably wind up on YouTube. The Greyhounds, of course, went first in the second OT and scored again on third down. That set up the aforementioned sequence that resulted in incredible disappointment for the Burrs. Tackle numbers, as provided by Huck: sr. DE Chris "King" Williams (eight); Manuel (with five solos), Ruppert and jr. LB Dante Dickens, seven apiece; Maples and sr. DL Covisia Wilson, six apiece. Manuel also broke up three passes while sr. Haleem "P-Nut" Hayward had an interception (to set up a TD). Afterward, the coaches did a great job consoling assorted Burrs and even reigning in a couple guys who let their emotions momentarily get the best of them.
Here are some final career numbers for big-time Burrs . . .
Drake passing: 172-for-321 -- 3,287 yards -- 41 TDs.
Drake rushing: 252 carries -- 2,491 yards -- 36 TDs.
Drake total: 5,778 yards -- 77 TDs.
Hollomon rushing: 312 carries -- 3,159 yards -- 46 TDs.
Hollomon receiving: 35 catches -- 536 yards -- 9 TDs.
Hollomon total: 3,695 yards -- 55 TDs.
Maples rushing: 351 carries -- 2,738 yards -- 43 TDs.
  Drake fell just short of the acknowledged state record for yards-per-carry in a season. Lewistown's Fred Stoicheff went 64-929-14.5 in 1957. Drake finished 115-1,639-14.3. (One question: How can a dude average 14.5 and get only 64 carries for a season? Who coached that team? Puck?)

DEC. 12
CLASS AAA STATE FINAL
Thomas Jefferson 34, Wood 7
  This was one of those do-unto-others reversals. Know how Wood all season overpowered opponents at the line of scrimmage and forced just-at-the-right-time turnovers, which were often converted into TDs? Well, TJ did that tonight in bitter weather (VERY cold plus windy) at HersheyPark Stadium and the end result was a 5-1, semi-blowout in terms of TDs scored. With a full moon sitting over the east side of the stadium, Wood dropped the opening kickoff and TJ recovered at the 27. Two plays later it was 7-0. Ouch. This was District 12’s first appearance in a state football final and I couldn’t help but think of its first outing in any kind of state basketball playoff. That occurred in the 2004-05 school year and involved Bok. The VERY first field goal in that game was scored when a Bok kid, trying for a defensive rebound, inadvertently knocked the ball into the basket, thus giving Phoenixville two points. And here was Wood, basically giving TJ a free seven. For a brief moment, Only in the Pub became Only in the Cath. Anyway, TJ has now won two consecutive state titles and three in five years, so it was not as if the Vikings fell to some kind of lucky squad with an inferior talent level. These dudes are good. They exhibited not only size, but athletic size, and took advantage of matchup advantages whenever possible. Also, they paid great attention to detail. In one pic taken from in the second half from the press box – it was just too cold to return to the field for the second half; mostly for my hands; sorry – every single Jaguar has a body on a Wood player during an offensive play. Even a decent distance downfield. With all of that being said, Wood did have a chance in this one. Early in the second quarter, sr. QB Sean McCartney hit sr. SB Anthony Narisi for a 26-yard score, reducing the deficit to 14-7. Just two plays later, the ball wound up on the turf and a Wood recovery would have occurred inside the 20. Notice we said “would have.” TJ instead made the recovery and then proceeded to march downfield for another score. Wood went three and out. TJ’s response? Yet another TD. Uh, oh. Wood had the wind at its back in the third quarter and did cause the Jaguars at least a little concern. The Vikings failed to score at all, though, and McCartney, so wonderful all season (and even at times tonight) as not just a leader but a wonderfully productive leader, threw his third pick of the night. When one of your franchise players struggles and the other (sr. RB Sean Cunningham) gets no room to run (12 carries for 34 yards), there’s no way you’re beating any quality team, especially a true powerhouse. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with these two guys. Both are also lacrosse standouts and might never play football again. What tremendous seasons and careers they had for the Vikings! Meanwhile, one Vike will be playing college football at a new destination. Tackle Adam Citko has altered his commitment from Temple to Delaware. All the best, guys! Some good moments for Wood: Narisi finished with three catches for 54 yards and blocked a PAT; sr. Mike Maxwell, hobbled lately by injury, also made three receptions (for 29 yards); sr. Nick Devine made some impressive plays on defense and dropped the QB for a 5-yard loss; sr. LB Andy Hutchinson registered a 9-yard sack; jr. DB Scott Adkins caused a fumble (recovery by Devine). As for 2009, well, it wouldn’t be fair to expect similar success from the Vikings. Nor anything close, really. Just three starters will return – Adkins, DB Jerry Rahill and C Dan Grimes. If I know coach Steve Devlin and his assistants, the rebuilding program will begin tomorrow. If not sooner (smile).

DEC. 5
CLASS AA SEMIFINAL
West Catholic 37, Lancaster Catholic 14
  “Enjoy the (Occasional) Show.” No one, as far as we could tell, whipped out a Magic Marker to insert the extra word onto the T-shirts now being worn by West Catholic’s fans. But that would have been apropos. Well, at least a little. Hey, what’d you expect? This was a state semifinal. The opponent was quality, with some physical people up front and savvy guys on the edges. Did you think the Burrs were going to score and score and score and score some more? Yes, they’d averaged 57.7 over their last nine games. So, perhaps it was a little surprising not to see them ch-ching their way to the 60s, 50s or even the 40s. Heck, some of us were even stunned not to see them score on their first or second play from 50-plus yards. The first TD necessitated SIX plays. Geez, what’s this world coming to? (smile) West drove 75 yards and sr. QB Curtis Drake uncorked two of the biggies, a 28-yarder on play No. 4 and a 20-yarder for the TD on a right-side keeper. As Curt came to the sideline, he roared, “That’s what we do!” Nah, what West usually does came much later. We move to the early part of the fourth quarter. West is up, 30-14. LC is driving again, thanks to jr. lefty QB Kyle Smith, who entered the game with 3,010 yards and 41 TD passes this SEASON. The ball’s on the 9. Smith rolls left under pressure. He guns the ball back toward the middle and the guy making the catch is wearing the wrong jersey. It’s blue. Not white. It’s sr. DB Haleem “P-Nut” Hayward, who manages a 6-yard return to the 8. All aboard! A LONG trek to the other end zone coming right up! Drake faked a handoff to sr. RB Rob Hollomon, then embarked on a left-side keeper. Somehow, a Crusader actually made contact way downfield, but the result was what you’d expect, a 92-yard TD. THAT’S what they do! The TD was Drake’s third and the Penn State recruit (for wideout; hey, we all make mistakes; yo, Nittany Lions, put the ball in this kid’s hands non-stop!) finished the night with 186 yards on nine rushes. His season total stands at 1,527 and that gives him the city record for season rushing yards by a QB. Episcopal’s Brian FitzPatrick, now a wideout at Cornell, posted 1,512 in 2004. (If it seems as if the Burrs break a new mark every time out, you are correct, sir. Sometimes they tie 'em, too. Hollomon’s 11-yard, third-quarter scoring run raised his season total to 35; Pat Kaiser had that same amount for SJ Prep in ’02). On paper, this game figured to wind up in the 50s for both sides. Know what, though? Both teams showed a hint of caution and seemed intent on keeping the ball out of each other’s hands. It was weird. LC opted for many more runs (23, not counting QB flush-outs/sacks) than I would have expected, and two of the Crusaders’ first three plays with the score at 37-14 were runs. Huh? Though sacks were an issue, Smith (16-for-24, 178) pretty much had his aerial way all night. And with 8:45 left, I was surprised when LC decided to punt from its own 47. The deficit was 23. It was impossible at that point not to think that the Crusaders were more intent on avoiding the mercy rule than winning the game. Meanwhile, West coach Brian Fluck had shown major brass late in the first half. With the Burrs up, 14-6, they faced fourth-and-2 on their own 31. LC’s TD had been set up by a partially deflected punt. Fluck opted to go for it. The give was to sr. Raymond “Syrup” Maples straight up the middle. For an instant he faced heavy traffic. But he then exploded through a slight opening for a 4-yard gain and the momentum intensified. The next four plays: 9 yards for Maples, 19 for Drake, 7 for soph WR Quran Kent on a pass from Drake, then 30 for Hollomon on a shovel pass from Drake. That netted six points and two more were coming right up. Soph Lamont Davis, in his first game at holder, took a somewhat shaky snap, stood up, rumbled right under pressure and flipped a completion to sr. Ed Colon. The sequence enabled West to head to the locker room up by 16, at 22-6. Hugely important! Maples’ numbers were 8-112. Hollomon checked in with 11-79. The sacks belonged to sr. E Artis Carroll (6 yards), sr. T Covisia Wilson (11), sr. E Chris “King” Williams (12), jr. T Jake Zuzek (10) and sr. T Dwayne Shaw (10). Despite those drops, Smith showed a tremendous presence and it was easy to see why he’d been so productive all season. Huck provided these tackling stats: jr. OLB Dante Dickens (eight, six solos), Hayward (six solos), Shaw and Maples (five apiece) and Zuzek (four). Also, the two punts by Colon were only his 11th and 12th of the season! And get this: They were only his fifth and sixth in the last 10 games! Quite an illustration of this team’s offensive dominance. At halftime, I received a text message from someone telling me that Wood owned a 13-7 halftime lead over Selinsgrove in the Class AAA semi. I figured, “Well, I’ll send you back the halftime score of this game. Only fair, right?” Know what? I had no idea how to text numbers! Ha, ha, ha. So I typed out, “West by sixteen.” Only in the Ted. Well, now it’s on to Hershey. West plays Saturday at 1 o’clock vs. Wilmington of District 10 (wherever that is – smile). Wood kicks off Friday night at 7 against Thomas Jefferson. What a legendary weekend THAT one has the potential to be! Congrats to both schools!

NOV. 29
CLASS AAAA STATE QUARTERFINAL
Liberty 30, Washington 13
  Overall, this one was quite the downer. A week after being so energized and having most of the developments go their way against La Salle in the City Title, the Eagles could never quite fly vs. the Bethlehem-based squad. Most that could go wrong did go wrong and, especially in the first half, there was the side issue of what Washington's coaches kept insisting was Liberty's dirty play. By halftime, assistants Keita Crespina and Kwesi Solomon were ready to explode because some of Liberty's linemen, they alleged, were chop-blocking and damaging knees/ankles of Washington's guys. By now, I think I can tell when coaches are complaining only because they think they can work the refs and gain an advantage. These guys, and other members of the staff, were HOT. And an onsite trainer even noted later that HE was suspicious of Liberty's tactics and that the referees should have done something about it. (My thoughts? Honestly, while keeping stats and taking photos, I don't watch line play that often. But when I heard the complaining intensify, I checked out the line on one play and there it was . . . One Liberty guy "engaging" a Washington DL high and another dropping low to power right into his right knee. Phew! More thoughts: In the entire history of football, I'd venture to say every game has included one team accusing the other of shenanigans, and vice versa. Especially punches in piles. I wasn't on Liberty's sideline at all, so I don't know whether their coaches were hot over something/anything. But in the second half, chopping did not surface as an issue at all. And that was good.) OK, back to the game itself and we'd better go straight to the final minutes because those were the only good ones. Liberty inserted its second-stringers with the score at 30-0 and the backup QB, a freshman, immediately dropped a snap. Soph Brandon Chudnoff picked up the ball on the 3 and tumbled into the end zone, breaking the game-long curse. Sr. K-P Will McFillin then nailed his 100th career PAT for Washington (he also kicked as a frosh at Ryan) and then moved back upfield to attempt an onside kick. Success! The kick took the perfect high bounce, just as Washington's guys were arriving, and sr. Elijah Douglas came close to making a leaping, midair recovery. Though he did not hang on, sr. Jariff Days had his back and the Eagles took over at Liberty's 43. Sequence: 8-yard pass to jr. TE James Fowler; 13-yard loss for jr. QB Aaron Wilmer (he slipped while scrambling); 5-yard pass to Fowler; 37-yard strike to soph Joe Clayborne; 2-yard TD for sr. RB Omar Hunter on a left-side swing pass. The Eagles went for two this time, but Fowler could not handle Wilmer's pass. Onside time again. Success again! McFillin's dribbler again was first-touched by Douglas. He could not hold on, but sr. James Ross flopped on the ball at Liberty's 40. Time left: 26.1 seconds. Jr. Chea Sloh picked up eight yards. But as Wilmer scrambled to his left, he was hit and lost a fumble and Liberty followed with a game-ending kneeldown. This was the Pub's fifth foray into a AAAA state playoff against a team from outside the area -- three for Washington ('04, '07, '08) and two for Frankford ('05, '06). Our guys have been outscored by 166-56. In the last four years, all 46 Pub points have been scored AFTER the opponent was finished lighting up the scoreboard, and almost exclusively against second-teamers. In the '04 game, Washington owned a 10-9 lead over Easton before falling, 15-10. Why has this happened over the last four years? The opponents have flat-out been MUCH better and stronger, especially along the line of scrimmage. Liberty had one dude, for instance, who looked like an 8-year NFL vet (smile). His calves were the size of a Nerf football. Washington might have been able to hang, but Wilmer, so great so often this season, seemed jinxed from the very beginning. He threw three picks -- I'm pretty sure he'd only tossed maybe five-six all season -- and lost two fumbles. Plus, he was dropped for a safety. Next fall, it's going to be oh-so-much-fun watching him put this experience FAR in his rearview mirror. Good moments: Sr. DE Waverly Harris and jr. DE Martin Haynes recovered fumbles (aside from Chudnoff, of course). Sr. DT Bryant Davis and Haynes notched sacks. Washington incurred 68 yards in penalties. All things considered, the Eagles left the stadium in a rather upbeat mood. They mingled with fans/family members en route to the bus and to a man, from what I saw, kept heads held high. Much to be said for that. EVERYthing, actually.

NOV. 27
THANKSGIVING RIVALRY
Frankford 14, N. Catholic 6
  Many times through the years, Frankford lost this game to average (or much worse) North teams in seasons where it won the Pub title. Now, for the second year in a row, Frankford has captured a win over a decent North team in a year when it did not even get to play for the chip or ship or whatever kids are calling it this week (smile). Though the first half was rather forgettable, the game eventually improved and, though not a classic, proved worth of everyone’s time. One disturbing trend, as you’ll notice if you check out the pictures. Frankford’s crowd dwindles more and more each year. Sad to see and I’m not sure what can be done it. Not as many grads still live in the immediate area and I guess they just don’t feel as much of a connection with the school as they used to. North, meanwhile, had its usually terrific turnout – standing room only. DN ink went to sr. Hakeem Watson, a sr. WB and OLB who lives in Germantown but grew up in Frankford. He made THE play of the game early in the fourth quarter, with his team up by 7-0. Sr. Kalif Walker, back at QB for the finale after yielding briefly to soph Mike McGroarty, threw a pass toward the right sideline. The defender was jr. Julian Huggins. This play was a classic. It appeared that Watson had it, then Huggins had it, then Watson had it again. As the guys tumbled to the ground, it appeared that they were maintaining equal possession. Know how in baseball that a tie goes to the runner? Well, in football, a tie goes to the receiver and the 29-yard pickup put the ball at the 1. Jr. Tyrell Martin was dropped for a 5-yard loss, but a facemask flag was thrown and that placed the ball the 3. Watson then embarked on a right-to-left speed sweep and had no trouble scoring in the left corner. Sr. Eddie Ferrell, who punts and kicks off left-footed but does his PATs right-footed (huh??? – smile), added the 14th point. Frankford’s hopes of riding out the win were dashed midway through the quarter when jr. Taron Mills lost a fumble and sr. DL Kyle Fellenbaum recovered. Finally showing zest, and getting an early boost from an interference call, North easily rolled downfield and scored at 3:47 on a 19-yard pass from sr. QB Dennis Logue (12-for-20, 125) to jr. WR Dave Sherman, who caught the ball at maybe the 10 and then negotiated his way toward the right corner, even stretching out the ball to make sure it got in. There was a dead-ball foul and sr. Freddy DiMascia had to kick the PAT from 35 yards. Couldn’t quite do it. To start the second half, DiMascia had dribbled a perfect onside kick, with Huggins making the recovery. The Falcons were offside, though. This onsider was recovered by Allen, but North had a strong defensive effort and Ferrell had to punt. North took over at its 32. Allen dropped Logue for a 3-yard loss. Logue hit sr. Yusuf Lingham for 16 yards. Allen again dumped Logue, this time for 15 yards. Logue then sought out Huggins. The pass was high, and bounced upward off his hands. Walker, lurking behind, made a diving interception and there were only kneeldowns from there. Mills and Martin (leaping snag in the end zone; Huggins was the intended receiver) also had Pioneer picks. Sr. FB Akeem Whipple scored the game’s first TD on a 1-yard run in the second quarter. Ferrell made a big play in the midst of that drive, recovering a fumble by sr. RB Nate Johnson. Johnson, meanwhile, roared to a 53-yard gain to start the series that produced Watson’s score. DiMascia was the guy who ran him down and we’re guessing he’ll receive major props from his schoolmates when classes resume Monday. One of the late-game sights was Logue, walking along North’s sideline, helmet off, with tears in his eyes. He was not the first guy to finish his career by throwing an interception, and not the first to be bothered by it. As I’ve mentioned often through the years, the tears were good to see. It’s the only SURE way to know someone cares. Dennis was a four-year QB starter, and has many great memories to take with him. He finished his career 305-for-646 for 4,105 yards and 34 TDs.

NOV. 26
THANKSGIVING EVE RIVALRY
Bonner 21, Carroll 7
  I've got four words for you: Break up the Friars!! These guys are awesome, baby!! (smile) After taking numerous lumps for what seemed like forever, Bonner enjoyed a hint of a resurgence this fall under second-year coach Tom Oropeza and it was capped tonight in cold (but not fully brutal) temperatures at Radnor. The Friars have won three in a row. Read that again. Yes, three in a row. OK, so the first two victims were winless Ryan and fellow have-not Neumann-Goretti, but you have to start somewhere and Bonner's seniors, especially, the guys who have been through SOOOOOOO much, care not in the least that the opposition was suspect. Recent Friar squads lost to anyone and everyone. Victim No. 3 was a team, though it was short on seniors (only 10), that came into the season with high hopes. How about this crazy fact, especially in light of how each school's season went: in a scrimmage way back when, Carroll toasted La Salle by something like seven TDs to three. La Salle regrouped, of course, and captured the AAAA title. Carroll did advance to the AA final, where it was spanked by West Catholic (no shame in that), but the last two games yielded lackluster losses to Radnor and Bonner and a large damper has no doubt been placed on the season. Before I started this report, I checked back-back-back on the Bonner TEAM PAGES and did not hit the answer until 2001. The question: When was the last time the Friars had two rushers surpass 100 yards in the same game? Jr. TB Eric Petransky (20-112, TD) and sr. FB Tim Ferry (14-116, TD) did that tonight! In '01, a season in which the Friars advanced to the Red final, Paul Kollhoff (105) and Jason Smith (129) experienced rushing joy in a semifinal triumph over Judge. It was the third straight game in which each guy topped 100. The tone was set as early as possible when the game's first play, following a procedure penalty, produced a 43-yard pickup for Petransky. He later reeled off a 24-yarder while Ferry posted ch-chings of 26, 30 and 31 (right near the end, as a fumble kept bouncing/rolling forward before it was recovered on the 5; Bonner declined to try for a one-last-slap TD). The grunts: jr. C Michael Murphy, sr. G Robert Borman, sr. G Matthew Spellman, jr. T James Colivas, sr. T Edward Brady. Great job, guys, especially when you consider that Carroll's D-line features some large, talented guys in sr. Chris Kennedy, sr. Jack Lowney and jr. Chris King. The QB, soph Sean Quarterman, wasn't asked to do too much except hand off. He did go 3-for-4, though, and sent a perfect fade delivery to the left corner for a TD to sr. WR John Wichmann. He threw one TD apiece in each of the last three games. Sensational stuff? Hardly. Just something to feel good about heading into the offseason. The defense came up with three picks, thanks to one apiece by sr. Brendan Gutierrez, soph Jamie Juisti and Wichmann. Sr. LB Larry DelViscio and sr. DL Mike McCreight were defensive terrors/animals/manchildren; pick your description. I almost had to look up another fact (when was the last time Bonner posted two straight shutouts?), but Carroll jr. Tom Murrin blocked a punt with 3 minutes left and sr. John Wynne had to cover only 6 yards on first down to get into the end zone and erase the zero. By the way, Bonner last managed to record two consecutive shutouts in 2000 (33-0 over Judge, 26-0 over Ryan). Those were the days, my friend. For Carroll, sr. QB Luke Wischnowski finished 9-for-20 for 130 yards. There were some drops, some off-the-hands-to-others-for-picks, some misfirings . . . Just not a pretty picture. He finished his career 138-for-283 for 2,193 yards and 17 TDs. Meanwhile, Carroll's seniors were introduced beforehand with their parents. The moms received . . . nothing. Nothing? Don't think I've ever seen that before. Yo, give them roses. A box of chocolates. A soft pretzel. Something! (smile) **Later, I'm told, the moms did receive corsages from injured sr. Sean Crossan.** One treat of the night was watching the girls from Carroll and Prendie battle beforehand and again at halftime in a game of Powder Puff football. Carroll won, 12-0. Carroll's coaches were Jim Corkery, a former Bonner QB (a good one, too), and Linda Heffernan. They're assistant principals. One last tidbit: a rushing TD by Bonner's Anthony Jackson was negated by a hold. At what yard line? The 1!! Yup, holding was called at the 1. Geeeez. I kidded the line judge, George Marketec (not sure of that spelling) that he was the first ref in city history to call holding at the 1!! Ha, ha, ha.

NOV. 22
CLASS AAAA CITY TITLE
Washington 23, La Salle 14
  The onfield celebration had barely begun when someone tapped my shoulder. "Ted, I have a headline for your story . . . Only in the Pub!" The speaker was Kelly Barton, former Northeast principal and now the interim director of Public League sports/physical education. He knows how I usually use that phrase -- to poke fun at all of the Pub's goofy developments, or to express my disgust when someone/anyone does not do right by the kids. In this situation, I knew what Kelly meant: a Pub squad had just done what no one thought was possible, capturing the (AAAA) crown in the first City Title game played since 1979 and dealing a stunning blow to what's perceived as the high and mighty Catholic League. By the way, the Pub has now won two of the last three CT meetings, counting Frankford's mud-covered win over Wood and its wishbone in 1978 at long-gone Kennedy Stadium. That hasn't happened since the Pub won three times in a row from 1944-46! (The series began in 1938.) So, how did this happen? As La Salle coach Drew Gordon put it afterward, "They were better and tougher. All credit to Washington." With the benefit of hindsight, which is always easy, of course, you could say La Salle's "problems" began at the very beginning when the Explorers elected to receive the ball and Washington, obviously, chose to kick with a strong, west-to-east wind at Northeast's Charlie Martin Memorial Stadium. Gordon said the Explorers, upon winning tosses, always elect to take the ball first. The offense usually has no trouble moving at least a little, if not a lot, but this time disaster struck pretty much right away. On a right-side pass, sr. S Jamal Williams jumped the route and posted an interception and even ripped off a 20-yard return to the 25. Jr. RB Kessan Christopher (he finally spoke up about one of the many misspellings on Washington's roster, where he's listed as "Kesson"), carried for three yards, then sr. RB Kyle Glenn, with help from a quality block from sr. RB Omar Hunter, steamed 22 yards to the end zone. Oh, baby! We'll see what happens from here, but this is certainly an interesting development. La Salle's next series produced one first down, but a 4-yard TFL for star jr. DL Sharrif Floyd provided momentum and sr. FB-LB-P Mike Donohoe could launch a punt for only 22 yards into the stiff wind. On second down, jr. QB Aaron Wilmer hit Hunter for a 48-yard TD. Oh, double baby! Already, the Eagles had begun yelping every so often, "Shock the world!!" or the longer version, "We're gonna shock the world!!" Now the yells were coming much more frequently and at much higher volume. La Salle made a spectacular counter-punch, taking only 78 seconds to get on the board. Jr. QB Drew Loughery made what was probably his best throw of the day -- remember, into the wind -- as he went long to jr. WR Connor Hoffman for a 48-yard gain to the 3. A TD toss to Donohoe followed immediately. A lot happened in the first quarter, folks, and we're not finished yet. Soph DB Kevin Forster broke up a fourth-down pass and La Salle took over at its 37. Loughery tried a short, right-side flip and . . . another pick! This one was by frosh OLB Nate Smith and he also managed a significant return -- 19 yards to the 20. TD No. 3 coming right up. On the second play of the second quarter, on a third-and-10 reverse, Hunter picked up 11 yards to the 9. Glenn then barreled ahead over the left side and rolled all the way into the end zone. Oh, triple baby! Not only was Washington proving it belonged on the field with the favored Explorers, it was damn near frolicking. The game wasn't over, of course, and there would be nervousness the rest of the way for anyone affiliated with Washington and the Pub in general, but the Eagles really did own this one. They handily won the line-of-scrimmage battle, on both sides, and the front-back guys on defense worked in perfect harmony. There was non-stop pressure and solid, break-to-the-ball coverage. Though Loughery finished with 248 yards, that was a misleading number. He threw three picks (sr. CB Lorenzo Adams had the last one in the waning moments) and went just 12-for-33 total. Also, he was dumped six times for 36 yards in losses and incurred teeth-rattling hits on many other occasions. I haven't seen all of La Salle's games, obviously, but I can't imagine he was harassed to such a degree all fall. Floyd also notched two sacks in addition to his aforementioned TFL and he made THE play of the game with 3:16 left. Back to punt, Donohoe double-clutched (I can only assume he sensed there'd be no rush -- often there hadn't been -- and wanted to make extra sure he'd get off a good one) and the 6-4, 300-pound Floyd came roaring up the middle. He smacked the ball from three yards away, at the 17, and it rocketed/bounced backward over the goal line for a safety. On face value alone, the play was huge. But it was especially gigantic because it created a two-score lead, at 23-14. Jr. Mike Bennett tried an onside kick toward the visiting sideline, where La Salle was located. He hit the ball quite hard and the Eagles avoided it, allowing it to leave the field of play. Washington's fruitless possession was capped with a funny moment as sr. Will McFillin's punt hit sr. L James Luckey directly on the top of his helmet. A Luckey strike, of course (smile). With Loughery, anything was still possible. He moved his squad to GW's 29, but jr. DE Martin Haynes dropped Loughery for a 7-yard loss and, following a procedure penalty, Adams made his leaping pick to clinch the win. In all, La Salle suffered losses 11 times. Haynes' two losses totaled 16 yards. Jr. LB James Fowler also recorded two losses. La Salle's other score came with 1:22 left in the third quarter on an 81-yard pass from Loughery to jr. WR Sam Feleccia. Hunter got a little discombobulated on that play, but otherwise did an excellent job against the Explorers' most dangerous receiver. When you think about it, it was probably inevitable that La Salle would enter the game a shade (very?) overconfident, considering that Bok and Dobbins had been crushed in AA and AAA City Title games. Comparative scores should have softened that stance. Northeast had beaten Judge. Judge had split with La Salle. Washington had swept two meetings with Northeast. On assorted message boards, there had been, ahem, spirited discussion all fall about whether the CL would make a huge AAAA statewide impact in its first chance in the PIAA playoffs. Some thought yes. Some thought no. Now, here we are on Nov. 22 and the Pub representative is the one going forward (to play Liberty Saturday, noon, at Northeast). Shock the world? Wouldn't go that far. Shock Philly? Without a doubt. Only in the Pub (smile).

NOV. 21
CLASS A FIRST ROUND STATE PLAYOFF
Schuylkill Haven 43, Communications Tech 0
   How many times do you get to see the nation’s BEST at something? The answer tonight at the South Philly Super Site was 29 times. At least from scrimmage. On official carries. SH’s Zach Barket, a 5-10, 205-pound senior, entered this contest reportedly owning the nation’s top totals for rushing yards (3,543) and rushing TDs (56, and 57 total). He finished with 29 carries for 257 yards and four TDs, so he still needs 46 yards to break the state one-season mark set in 2002 by Parkland's Austin Scott (later at Penn State). Barket did lose three fumbles and another cough-up prevented a fifth score. Jr. L Zack Faust received credit by pouncing on the ball in the end zone; Barket hadn't broken the plane on a play beginning at CT's 9. Barket also notched a conversion run and 20 yards on a punt return. Barket’s highlight was a 74-yard scoring burst and guess who made it happen? Huck! The supreme statman had not seen a Public League squad all year and he happened to be in the area. So he made a quick appearance outside the fence on the 10th Street side of the stadium and, zoom, Barket immediately gave him a thrill, posting the 74-yarder. What were the chances? Pretty high, actually, considering West Catholic’s guys have been giving Huck numbers galore all season (smile). All night, the box looked like the Schuylkill Expressway at rush hour. CT put nine, even 10 guys, in there and challenged the Hurricanes to do their usual thing. It took a while for Barket to get rolling, but 257 is 257 so the guy is legit. Though he’s not FAST fast, he was speedy enough to outrun a pair of persistent pursuers on the 74-yarder and he showed fancy footwork and tremendous vision on a later 34-yard TD. SH threw no passes and just three runs were logged by others through three quarters. With the score at 36-0 and the clock already rollin’ ron-stop due to the mercy rule, I was a little surprised Barket was still on the field as the fourth quarter began. He logged just three carries on a 10-play drive, though, and he departed after a 7-yarder that took the ball to the 5. If the coaches had wanted to rub it in, and/or ch-ching his TD total one last time, they could have left him out there for the inevitable last score. CT’s rough night began last Monday, in all honesty, when sr. DE-K-P Ackeeno Jolly fell a little short on his report card. Our policy has always been to not mention academic victims by name, but I had a talk with Ackeeno, whom I’ve known for several years now due to his tremendous support of the basketball squad, and he OK’d the use of his name in the context of how his absence had so profoundly affected the game. Sr. RB-QB-LB Stacey Hill had to assume the punting duties and he was lost for the night 4:13 before halftime while absorbing a roughing penalty. Playing on a tender right ankle as it was, Hill took a wicked shot to his left knee. CT’s big problem tonight was line play. The Phoenix was basically manhandled. Sixteen plays lost yardage and the skill guys often were being swarmed before they had a chance to do ANYthing. The net was 26 yards. With Hill gone, frosh Rolando Ransom, usually the second or even third banana, had to assume the TB/shotgun QB spot. His 18 carries produced zero yards. CT did enjoy some good moments on defense. Sr. DE Terrick “Teddy” Carson registered four TFLs while jr. DL Lawrence Jackson, sr. LB Adefumi Garrett and frosh DB Khalil Ali recovered fumbles. Sr. LB Kyle Tubbs, Ransom and Carson had the hits to force ‘em. From all appearances, the entire town of Schuylkill Haven emptied out for this one. There was a large fan base and the school had 45-odd players in uniform to CT’s 25 or so. They also had a band. CT coach Rob DiMedio chose to place his squad on the visiting sideline. CT’s final game will come Wednesday, at 2:30, against Furness at the same site. The Phoenix will be looking to earn its 10th win of the season.

NOV. 20
SPECIAL BLURB
(This note was sent to me by Mike Madera, who was a website writing star during his time at
Wood earlier this decade. He attended a basketball game at Villanova and ran into a legend!!)
  ***Will Call tickets become available at 6, and I got to the Pavilion at about 5:50. There were five people in line in front of me: two well dressed, middle aged couples and Puck! I considered saying something to the legend, but I don't think I ever formally met him. They distribute the tickets not at a window, but at a desk they set up. So Puck walks up, and into, the desk, knocking it back a bit. The girl working the booth asks him for ID for his ticket, and he goes frantically furrowing through the bag but can't find anything with his name on it. After a minute or two, he finally finds something and gets his ticket. I walk up to the girl and she is still stifling laughter about the situation and she says "Sorry about that, he is a character. I think his name is Luck, or Huck, or something." At this point the ticket manager chimes in "Its Puck". Apparently his reputation preceded him!***

NOV. 15
CATHOLIC AAAA FINAL
La Salle 28, Judge 20
  There are two ways to go here. We can just look at the small picture -- this game itself -- or also take a gander at the big picture. As in, are we witnessing a shift in the CL balance of power? This makes two titles in three years for coach Drew Gordon's Explorers and since underclassmen are dominant on this squad, especially on offense, you can already pencil in La Salle as the '09 favorite. It'll be interesting to see how the 17th and Girard crew tries to bounce back next season, though it will again face the situation of having to replace its QB, top rusher and top receiver as Mark Giubilato, Mike Yeager and Anthony Johnson are seniors. But enough of that. Let's get back to the "small" picture, which was actually gigantic for all involved. This game was not quite a classic to rival last week's three-OT Pub AAAA final, in which Washington outlasted Northeast, 41-34, but there were MANY special moments and all pulse rates were elevated. Well before the game started, there was heavy rain and had to wonder how the pass-happy Explorers would fare. By gametime, though, all was dry and the rain that did hit again beyond intermission did not seem to have much of an effect on anything. In fact, jr. QB Drew Loughery was more effective down the stretch. Each team was hit with an early disaster, and La Salle's went MUCH worse. Judge jr. TB Curt Wortham fumbled on the 3, with sr. DB Kevin Farrington making the recovery. On second down, Loughery attempted a simple right-side flip pass to sr. FB Mike Donohoe. Oops! The throw was short and soph DB Conner Thompson easily "jumped" it at the 10, then frolicked into the end zone for a quick lead! Uh, oh. During the regular season, Judge had forced Loughery into his worst performance (13-for-33). Would this disaster give him flashbacks and bring about a repeat? Not even hardly. Loughery finished 12-for-19 for 114 -- OK, not eye-popping yardage, but the percentage is fine -- and completed seven of his last eight. Later in the first quarter, an underthrown pass (by Judge soph Tony Smith) wound up being picked off by leaping soph DB Kevin Forster. The Explorers then drove 55 yards in seven plays and jr. WR Sam Feleccia got the score on a left-corner fade of 20 yards. The other score before halftime was La Salle's, on a 39-yard FG by jr. Mike Bennett. It followed a short punt and the possession began at 0:41. Just like last week vs. Prep, the offense was efficient in limited time. Sr. WR Jimmy Catalino made his first catch of the year, good for 5 yards. Donohoe gained 4 yards, then 2. Loughery spiked, then threw incomplete to Feleccia. Bennett's kick was truly hammered. Might have been good from the high 40s, even 50. So, it was 10-7 La Salle at the half. The first possession of the third quarter netted two first downs for Judge, but there had to be a punt after jr. DE Steve Sinnott notched a 2-yard TFL on first down and batted away a pass two downs later. Big problem next for the 'Saders. The snap sailed over the head of sr. P Tim McCaffrey and jr. Ryan Saraceni was immediately right there to hound him. Saraceni first delivered a shot to keep McCaffrey from limiting the damage and then made the recovery 35 yards behind the line of scrimmage at the 9! Saraceni suffered a bloody nose, but we doubt he minded (smile). Judge did a nice job stiffening, and Bennett had to kick an 18-yard field goal. The rain then arrived, but I can't remember that one play was truly affected by slipping/sliding, etc. Soon, sr. TE Ryan Langdon was making a TREMENDOUS catch with a full-out dive and sr. K Pat Schultz was unable to convert a 38-yard field goal (right after sr. LB John Kerrigan dropped a "sure" interception). Three plays later, La Salle's slight feeling of comfort disappeared in a flash as soph RB Jamal Abdur-Rahman fumbled and sr. LB Adam Nowak returned the ball for a 23-yard TD! Schultz' kick made it 14-13, Judge. Here we go!!!! Memorable stretch run, coming right up!!!! Feleccia shifted the momentum back to La Salle with a 43-yard KO return to the La Salle 48. (Could be a rough week in school for Sammy Boy, though. Schultz, the kicker, brought him down by grabbing his shirt -- smile). From there: 5-yard pass to Donohoe. Twenty-three yard run by Abdur-Rahman. Runs of 11 and 3 by Donohoe. Loughery then ran a play to the left. Jr. WR Connor Hoffman went "deep" -- as deep as someone can go on a play that starts at the 12 -- and Donohoe trotted to a spot underneath. The score came rather easily. Then . . .ah, trickery! Gotta love it! Donohoe did the throwing and Loughery did the catching. "Lock" was open by a zip code and La Salle was up, 21-14. BIG development, as we'll see momentarily. Judge ROARED downfield, with a 25-yard KO return by sr. Ryan Fenningham providing the spark. Smith hit Nowak down the middle for 34 yards. After Wortham ran for 3, Smith sent a right-side fade to sr. WR Tom Ryan and a 28-yard TD resulted. Then, at the same end of the field (west) where Prep's Tim Edger last year missed the kick that enabled Roman to win the Red title, Schultz sent a low liner to the right of the right upright. That left La Salle with a 21-20 edge. Offensive coordinator Brett Gordon responded with a little-of-this, little-of-that drive. Just enough running to waste clock, but also just enough passing to assure there'd be no punt. The score came on a left-corner pass to Donohoe at 1:42. Bennett's kick made it 28-20. One last gasp for Judge. Here's that sequence: 15-yard KO return by Tim Donohoe (Mike's cousin) to the 26; 15-yard pass to Ryan; 4-yard sack of Smith by sr. DE Ryan Eidenshink and sr. DT Bob Siess; incomplete pass by Smith (Eidenshink tackled him as he threw and an injury caused him to leave, with Nowak moving to QB); Nowak passed incomplete (deflected by Felecccia); pass to Ryan for 15 yards; scramble left by Nowak for 7 yards; run by Wortham for zero (tackle by Eidenshink); spike by Nowak (BUT, he did it out of the shotgun and that's a penalty; ball pushed back to midfield); fourth-down incompletion at 20.2 (broken up by Donohoe). That'll do it, folks. This was the third straight year in which the big-school titlist reversed a regular season defeat. (I'll add some more later. Couple other duties to handle, for the moment. Thanks for your patience.) . . . OK, back for more. The La Salle guys, players and coaches included, were asking for Huck after the game. He picked against them, of course. Everything was done in a friendly manner. I heard no anger or foul language, which was nice. I reminded the Explorers that their boy Puck HAD picked them and was available a photo op. They came running over!! Well, two of them came walking over. Thanks to Eidenshink and jr. DL Steve Szostak for being good sports. Meanwhile, Puck declined to visit Judge's locker room before the game. He and coach Tommy Coyle are tight, but you know how the Puckster is. "Yo, I ain't gone over dere. Tommy know I pick 'gainst him. He mad, pwobly." When I told Tommy that Pukc was scared to face him, he shot back, "He oughta be." (smile) During the game Puck kept track of the tackling leaders. Here are his numbers: Kerrigan had 10, jr. DB Shane Brady and Forster had five apiece; Sinnott and sr. LB Joe Radaszewski had four apiece. For Judge, the leaders were Nowak (eight), McCaffrey (six) and these four guys with five -- Langdon, sr. LB Joe Swallow, Ryan and Thompson. The fan turnout was great despite the weather. The La Salle-Washington City Title game is set for SATURDAY, noon, at Northeast and it'll be televised on Channel 6. The first two CTs this year have been brutally one-sided with West Catholic and Wood the victor. One has to think Washington will provide a decent test. Then again, the Eagles have never faced a passing attack to rival La Salle's. (Yes, Northeast's is decent, but it's NOT La Salle's. No team's is. At least in these parts.)       

NOV. 15
CLASS A SUBREGIONAL FINAL
Communications Tech 22, Jenkintown 10
  Why limit the fun to one, right? After last week becoming the first Pub team to win a state playoff, the Phoenix lived to fly another day. Coach Rob DiMedio's team now owns playoff victory and, eventually, it came in somewhat comfortable fashion despite the Drakes' best efforts. There was a VERY strange (and sad) sight in the very beginning. The visiting stands were not available for use, so the Jenkintown fans sat on the home side and took up position right in the middle. The CT fans sat toward Bigler Street. Well, eventually they did. As the game began, there could not have been more than 10 CT supporters in the house (and that estimate might be high). Later the total was no higher than 40. Phew. Yes, CT is a small school -- by definition, every Class A school is tiny -- but this was rough. CT ignored the lack of early support to take a 7-3 lead in the first quarter as sr. RB Stacey Hill, two plays after a Jenkintown FG, zipped 47 yards along the left sideline for a TD. He did a great tackler shakeoff at about the 15. Jenkintown then slapped together a quality, little-by-little drive to again go ahead on the first play of the second quarter. CT responded with 13 plays that advanced to the 14, but no closer to payturf. Time for quality defense, folks. Sr. DE Terrick "Teddy" Carson registered a TFL for 4 yards. And then on fourth down, soph DL Dante Glover broke through to make sure the punter, who'd dropped a snap, would be dumped for an 8-yard loss. With only 19 yards to negotiate, the go-ahead TD came in quick order as frosh Rolando Ransom ran 9 yards on the second play, and then 10 for a TD on the next. The Pub guys never looked back. The last TD came with 1:18 left in the third quarter on a 3-yard run by Ransom. Hill added his second conversion run. CT forced three turnovers in that stanza as Ransom picked off a pair of passes and jr. DL Lawrence Jackson recovered a fumble (hit by Glover). In the first 5 minutes of the fourth quarter, facing a strong south-to-north wind, Jenkintown twice decided to nix punts on fourth down. Both plays were unsuccessful. Lining up as a regular tailback and a shotgun QB, Hill carved out 141 yards on 25 carries. Ransom added 77 on 18. Tubbs settled for 22 on eight. The passing game? Did you have to ask? Hill and the starting QB, sr. Adefumi Garrett, combined to go 0-for-5. The grunts: jr. Solomon Lewis, jr. William Bates, sr. Shariff Spencer, sr. Denzel Henderson and Glover. Hill set the defensive tone at LB while the line stars were Glover and energetic sr. E Ackeeno Jolly. Fourteen Jenkintown plays resulted in losses. Jolly had two sacks for 10 and two other TFLs for 2. Glover had one for eight and two for 11. Carson's two TFLs netted eight yards. CT's next opponent will be Schuylkill Haven. Details TBA. CT had exactly ONE plastic water bottle. "We're on a strict budget," DiMedio said, smiling. "We just got our THIRD football this week." As the game wound down, DiMedio rushed over to one of the water jugs to make sure the contents would not wind up on HIM. Glover's first name is spelled as "Donte" on the roster. He said "Dante" is correct, then added, "That's the sexy spelling." Ha, ha, ha. From here I zipped up 95 to see the very last play of Dobbins-Wood. The entire second half was mercy-rule territory.

NOV. 14
NON-LEAGUE
Bartram 24, Central 12
  Considering the crappy weather and the deep-down lack of motivation, this one featured lots of spirit and more than enough quality plays. Well, Central did have motivation because it's still trying to break into the win column and Bartram had some because it's still trying to prove that its early-season run was not a mirage and that it deserves to be mentioned in the same breath with the Pub's upper-echelon squads. As I arrived for this one, I had one sinking feeling. The head ref was the guy who's very savvy when it comes to knowing the rules, but takes forever to make his calls and untangle situations and, for whatever reason, stuff almost always seems to "happen" when he's on the premises. Know what came within a whisker of happening today? Almost total darkness! Dreary conditions and no lights are a bad combo and in another five minutes, as I wrote for the DN, this game would have been a rumor. When I finished interviewing sr. RB-WR-OLB Ira Sample, it was WAY dark. Only one thing prevented disaster: an injury to Central jr. QB Devonne Boler on the final play of the half. Boler AND Overbrook sr. WR-DB Yusuf "The Fireman" Bangura suffered suspected concussions after Boler picked off a pass and a violent collision ensued. With no true backup available, coach Frank Conway Jr. had to move star jr. RB Tyquan Jainlett to QB and have him take direct snaps out of a shotgun. Ty tried his best, but the offense was not in sync. With Boler at the controls, there would have been more passing and more success and the clock would have stopped more often and, bingo, at one point the refs would have been forced to make a decision concerning the players' safety. Anyway, Sample is a transfer from Neumann-Goretti. He caught a 10-yard TD pass from sr. QB Laquan Williams and uncorked quality runs on scoring drives capped with runs by sr. RB Tyron Cheeseboro. (Cheese also had two conversion runs while Bangura caught a 2-point pass.) Central failed on conversions after a pass from Boler to Jainlett and a short run by Boler, thus the 24-12 final. Very uncommon, by the way. Can't remember that score popping up too many times through the years, if at all. Here are Bartram's O-linemen: soph Kamal Bloodshaw, jr. Darrell Lane, sr. Dion Francis, jr. Malcolm McNair, soph Markel Hall, jr. Raymond Fearon and the sr. TEs, Dontae Downes and Nakeem Smith. Bangura had a diving interception. Central soph LB Zaim Tahiraj recovered a fumble while sr. DL Sam Weinstock rocked the QB for a sack/fumble (recovery by jr. DL Shaune Marshall). The game ended at 4:51. Bartram will host Southern in a makeup game next Thursday (postponed the day of the Phillies' parade) while its Thanksgiving game with Penn Wood is off. Coach Damond "Smash" Warren didn't know that, but PW has scheduled Del-Val Charter. Central of course visits Northeast. The Lancers almost certainly will go winless for the first time since 1940 (0-8). Interestingly, the coaches of that team were fathers of guys who were long-time Pub coaches -- Bill Clausen Sr. (0-2 on interim basis) and Stan Peffle (0-6). Bill's son, Bill, coached for a long time at West Philly and then assisted Tom Mullineaux at Frankford. Peffle's son, Bob, was the wildly successful baseball coach at Frankford through the '07 season. Stan Peffle went on to become the czar of Pub sports. Meanwhile, Conway's dad, Frank Sr., coached Bartram to the '76 Pub title. Strange how all of this works, eh?

NOV. 13
NON-LEAGUE
Northeast 37, Olney 0
  Let's start with an all-time PAT sequence. After sr. FB James "Big Country" Rosseau (14-118) ran for his third TD of the second quarter (and game), Northeast was hit with a dead ball personal foul call, thus requiring sr. K-P Tim Freiling to make his kick from 35 yards. He did so, but that was nullified because Olney had gone offside just before the snap. Next, he hit from 30 yards. Oops. NE was guilty of procedure. One more time. Now from 35 again. Goooood! Yes, to get one point, Freiling had to boot the ball three times and the total distance covered was 100 yards!! Gotta love it!! The balls probably traveled about 135 yards, counting the distance beyond the west goalpost. DN ink went to the 6-5, 200-pound Freiling, who has enjoyed great success in football and baseball (slugging catcher) and even soccer (goalie) but somehow is receiving no direct college contact. His owns a 3.0 GPA, so grades are no problem. Oddly, Tim bats and throws righthanded but kicks leftfooted. Remember how NE nixed merely putting the game on Freiling's left instep at the end of regulation last Saturday in the Pub title fray with Washington and an interception resulted, followed by a three-OT loss? Well, in this one, which didn't figure to be close, and wasn't, there was certainly delicious irony when the Vikings' first points came on . . . you got it, a FG by Freiling. It was a 22-yarder with 5:20 left in the first quarter. That score was set up when sr. Marcus Leslie and jr. Jemeil "Florida" Murphy swarmed sr. P Osse Emmanuel after a bad snap. Rosseau's three TDs capped regular drives that followed punts, but jr. DB Eric "Flav" Brundidge did notch two INTs before halftime and he almost ran back the second one for a TD. Rosseau and jr. RB Tyleel Taylor (10-41) played just briefly beyond intermission and the last two TDs went to subs -- tiny jr. Kevin "The" Best on a 4-yard run and jr. FB Rakeem Conover on a 7-yarder. Outmanned Olney moved the football only sparingly. Emmanuel had the longest run, a 19-yarder, out of punt formation while jr. RB-LB Eric Barrow barrowed (as opposed to burrowed -- smile) for tough yardage and made the hardest hits. Sr. QB Terrell Smith, who'd last week become the first Olney QB in, like, for-EVVVVVer to throw for two TDs in three consecutive games, could go only 3-for-14 for 10 yards. It was rainy-windy in the first half and he just never found a rhythm. In the fourth quarter, soph WR-DB Jaron "Snoop" Turner unleashed a vicious hit on sr. WR-DB Je'Ron Stokes (Tennessee) as he caught a punt. After Conover's TD run, sr. H Raheem Groce caught a high snap and took off for the left corner. He was tackled and was pulled aside by coach Mel Hinton when he returned to the sideline. Let's hope Groce's act was not pre-planned. When something similar happened recently at West Catholic, the holder (and a wideout he threw to late in a serious romp) were suspended for one game and ordered to write letters of apology. Since the snap on this one was definitely high, we'll give Groce the benefit of the doubt. On the other hand, I'm sure junior lineman Octavio Monteiro, who earlier missed a 20-yard field goal, would have appreciated getting another chance to score the first point of his career.

NOV. 8
CATHOLIC AAAA SEMI
La Salle 31, SJ Prep 28
  One thing we know now: the events of Sept. 20 were not a fluke. That was the day, you'll recall, when La Salle ended the Prep's glorious run of consecutive CL regular season victories at 55 (on the same field, Plymouth-Whitemarsh, where this one was played). At that time no could be sure how the season would progress. Was La Salle as good as that performance indicated? Would the Prep regroup? Well, both answers turned out to be "yes." The Hawks DID regroup. The Explorers ARE as good as that performance indicated. And the result was this right-down-to-the-final-moments classic. All in attendance will remember it for a mighty long time. What a treat! And the wonderful viewing began immediately as jr. QB Drew Loughery, who would go on to obliterate the city record for passing yards in postseason play, made four perfect throws on a four-play drive that covered 78 yards and created a 7-0 lead. Zip. Eight yards to jr. WR Connor Hoffman. Zip. Eleven to sr. FB Mike Donohoe. Zip. Nineteen more to Hoffman. Zip. Thirty-seven TD down the middle to jr. RB Jamal Abdur-Rahman. It was truly a thing of beauty. Conventional "wisdom" had been contending all season that Prep would find it difficult to battle back from a deficit because of its run-oriented attack. So, the Explorers definitely wanted to jump out early and they did so in impressive fashion. Obviously, by the score, you know Prep didn't fade away. But neither did it lead, at all, so the quick-six was important. Loughery was hardly finished making impressive throws. In all, he went 21-for-34 for 378 yards, thanks to the efforts of Feleccia (5-119), Hoffman (7-59), Abdur-Rahman (4-112), sr. FB Mike Donohoe (4-61) and jr. TE Steve Jones (1-27). And of COURSE a line that gave him great time and barely allowed him to be pressured, let alone hit. Loughery was sacked just twice, and No. 1 didn't occur until early in the fourth quarter. The grunts: sr. C Sean Abbott, jr. Gs Steve Szostak and Matt DiGiacomo, and sr. Ts Bob Siess and Jake Hostrander. With Brett Gordon calling the plays, the Explorers mixed attacks on the edges and straight down the middle. It was quite the clinic. Passing heroics were needed, too, because Abdur-Rahman had no room to run (14-26) and just once gained more than four yards (a 6-yarder). Though both teams moved the ball well in a slight mist that prevailed during the first half, the next TD did not come until 2:44 before halftime. It was set up by a 57-yard, down-the-middle play from Loughery to Feleccia, which carried to the 3. He then made a TD catch in the end zone, reaching over/through sr. DB Mike Yeager. At 14-0, La Salle was ecstatic. Oops. Bye-bye euphoria. On the Prep's next play, sr. QB Mark Giubilato (Temple) whipped a bomb down the middle. Sr. WR Anthony Johnson made the catch at La Salle's 35 and scampered the rest of the way for a 74-yard TD! The Explorers answered right back with a drive that, ultimately, provided the difference. Feleccia again was crucial, making a 22-yard snag at the 20. A spike and two incompletions followed, then jr. Mike Bennett hammered a 37-yard FG at 6.5. End of activity? Hardly! Jr. RB Garrett Compton (24-116) churned for a 24-yard gain and Giubilato let fly his own bomb. There was a classic jump ball with all kinds of bodies tangled. The ball fluttered toward the right, where it hit the hands of soph Frank Fanto. He was alone and could have taken a step or two into the end zone. He couldn't quite hold on. In the third quarter, Prep stalled and La Salle took over on its 30. Up-top time. Loughery hit Abdur-Rahman in stride down the middle and, with the help of a great block from Feleccia, Jamal took it 70 yards for a score. At 24-7, things looked comfortable. It was a mirage. The Prep scored on its next two possessions -- 1-yard runs by Yeager (15-87) and Compton -- with a diving pick by jr. DB Pete Hurley in between. A three-and-out created even more momentum as the Prep kids chanted, "It's not over! It's not over!" But then sr. DB Kevin Farrington made a pilfer of his own after jr. DL Steve Sinnott batted the ball semi-high in the air. Soon came a critical turnover. Giubilato and Compton misconnected on a handoff and sr. LB John Kerrigan recovered at the Prep 10. Immediately, Loughery hit Donohoe with a TD pass in the right corner. The Prep stormed to one last TD with 3:20 left as Giubilato hit Compton for 34 yards and and Johnson for 46, placing the ball at the 6. Yeager picked up a yard, then Giubilato stormed to paydirt on a left-side keeper. Sr. K Kurt Skalamera was roughed on his PAT, so the kickoff came from La Salle's 45. The Explorers expected an onside kick, but Prep played it straight and the kickoff reached the end zone. The Hawks had one timeout remaining. Knowing a running play would have resulted in a TO, Gordon called for pass. Incomplete to Jones. Abdur-Rahman ran for a yard and the Prep used its last TO at 3:07. On third-and-9, Feleccia caught a right-to-middle slant for 27 yards. Then it was Abdur-Rahman for six and Donohoe for three, followed by a motion penalty. Loughery then rumbled to his right under great pressure and . . . completed a throwback pass to Jones for 27 yards! First down. Win in the books. Prep coach Gil Brooks lamented afterward, "We needed just one more possession." La Salle will face Judge, its lone AAAA Division conqueror, in the championship game. The Prep, not headed to a title game for the first time since 1999, will stay busy until a Thanksgiving clash with Inter-Ac power Malvern. The previous record for passing yards in a playoff game, 306, was set by Dobbins' Andre Davis in a lopsided loss to Frankford in a Pub semifinal in '97. Overall, this is the No. 3 total in city history. Central's Mike Roche passed for 409 on Thanksgiving morning against Northeast in '86, and that game was a romp precipitated by previously bad feelings between the coaches. Central won, 60-3. In 2000, Dougherty's Sean McGovern passed for 379 yards in a 35-12 loss to McDevitt.

NOV. 6
NON-LEAGUE
Roxborough 15, Univ. City 14
  These late-season, thrown-together games are always dicey, especially when they involve teams that recently experienced playoff disappointment. Roxborough's wounds were extra fresh because it fell to Mastbaum in a AAA semi just last week. UC had bowed to Washington in a AAAA quarterfinal two weeks ago. Anyway, this game was more than respectable. It was fun watching two of the Pub's better backs -- juniors Akmed Greene of Roxborough (listed at 5-11, 140) and Tariq "Pop Tart" Gordon of UC (5-10, 175) -- and they really played hard. Knowing how dangerous UC's passing game can be, especially in light of the fact his starting cornerbacks were unavailable, Roxborough coach Mike Stanley decided to take the ball-control approach and he called upon Greene 10, 20, 30 . . . 37 times! Phew! The result was 224 yards and a 1-yard TD. Greene never gained more than 21 yards, but 13 times he churned out from 5 to 8 yards and his efforts were much appreciated. Often, the Indians used an unbalanced line. The center was the beneficiary of DN ink, 6-5, 250-pound sr. Joell Hilton, The other grunts were jr. Barry Jones, jr. Kwame Bell, jr. Justin Coffey and sr. Dwayne "Yo, I Had an Interception vs. Fels; Can You Fix the TEAM PAGE?" Ferguson. (Why, certainly.) Hilton, who's being eyed by Temple and other D-I programs, was an attention-getter at DE. He exerted great pressure throughout on jr. QB Michael Adens (two TD passes to sr. Robert McDaniel, but just 3-for-15 overall) and made at least five stops within a whisker of the sideline. Hilton helped to assure UC's final possession would be fruitless when he forced Adens into an intentional grounding penalty 13 yards behind the line of scrimmage. With 28.7 seconds left in the half, Adens had hit McDaniel for a 33-yard score, giving UC a 14-8 lead. On the conversion, Hilton kept scraping and scraping along the line and stopped soph Lamont Wilson just short of the goal line. Big-time play! Down by just six points, Roxborough only had to kick the point after Greene burrowed 1 yard for a TD 3:47 into the third quarter. Sr. FB Grant Graham, a left-footer, did so successfully. UC's final possession began with 8:43 left in the game after a leaping interception by sr. DB Marvin Rhodes. Gordon (tough kid!) provided early hope with a 47-yard burst to Roxborough's 25. Gordon then picked up 3 yards, but the rest of the possession brought disaster: Procedure call back to the 27; intentional grounding (plus the tacked-on, 5-yard penalty) back to the 45; sack by Jones back to the OTHER 45. On fourth and a million (40, actually), the Jaguars tried a quads-right formation. Again Adens was harrassed. He had to throw quite early and the pass wound up close to no one. Greene and Graham ran out the clock from there. The game had begun with much promise, and fun, for UC. Gordon zipped for 40 yards on the first play and McDaniel scored four plays later on a tremendous leaping snag of a 19-yard pass. The Jaguars lost two TDs to penalties: an 82-yard kickoff return by basketball star Marcus Holland and a 47-yard run by Gordon. Sr. DT Kevin Houston had a lot of tackling success in the first half, but barely played on defense in the second. Might have hurt his hand? This was my first time seeing UC since coach Lou Williams refused to provide info for our DN Pub preview. We had a spirited pre-game discussion (smile). As it turns out, he was upset about a story I only LINKED TO from the website, not even something I wrote. Geeeeeeeez. He said it concerned an implication on the summer passing league website that he had recruited a player from West Catholic. All he had to do was talk to me at the time and we could have straightened things out . . . It's over. We move on.

NOV. 1
PUBLIC AAAA SEMIFINAL
Northeast 3, Frankford 0
  Lots of stuff happened. Then again, you could say nothing happened because overtime was looming and the bulbs on the scoreboard necessary for "0" were the only ones that had been lit all night. Would we see more football? Not on the life of Tim Freiling's left instep. (If you follow baseball, you know about Tim's status as an upper-echelon catcher. He throws and bats righthanded, but kicks and punts leftfooted.) Following a short punt and a 10-yard penalty assessed against Northeast's Flav (jr. WR Eric Brundidge) for a block in the back he delivered against Frankford's Flav (sr. Tyron Cunningham), the Vikings took over at Frankford's 47 with 5:26 remaining. A 15-yard facemask flag provided early momentum, as did a pair of short passes from jr. QB Malik Stokes. Soon, NE faced fourth-and-inches at the 9 and eyebrows raised when the coaches did not summon Freiling. Wait, there was a method to the apparent madness. The only intent was to draw the defense offside and that was exactly what happened, as Frankford's fans and coaches groaned. NE did try to score, but called for only runs (all by junior Tyleel Taylor) and the last one -- surprise, surprise -- took him pretty much to the middle of the field. Freiling's kick was strong and true. Bedlam followed. Northeast's defense was outstanding while posting a shutout vs. Frankford for the third time this decade (only one other Pub team, Washington, has managed that feat -- just one time). The Pioneers ran 44 plays and just three netted at least 10 yards. The longest was a 16-yard run by sr. Kalif Walker. At CB, Walker also had two of the most amazing interceptions you could ever hope to see. He reached up with one arm -- an arm that looked about as long as a leg (smile) -- and dragged both down. One was wiped out by a penalty, though. DN ink went to sr. TE-DT Anthony Nieves, who wants to become a pastor. Yes, a pastor. He's already a youth-group leader and is passionate about serving the Lord. All the best with your dream, Ant! Nieves only recently became a TE (he still wears No. 57; did the refs even notice?) and the Vikings often flip-flop him from side to side and run behind him. On defense he had three solos among five stops. Jr. Jemeil "Florida" Murphy and sr. LB Antoine Fowler (forced fumble) added nine and eight tackles, respectively. Late in the second quarter, sr. WR Je'Ron Stokes was fighting for receiving yardage over the middle when jr. DE Tyrell Allen delivered a pop. The ball came loose and, while still airborne, was "recovered" by the other DE, jr. Ammron Hargrove, who zoomed 47 yards to the 3. The Pioneers could not post a score. On third down, Walker lost the handle on a handoff and J. Stokes recovered at the 2 with 0:17 left. Just noticed something: four of the final six guys listed on Frankford's rosters are named Smith. I know the two gigantic DTs, sr. Akeem (6-4, 286) and jr. Tauheed (6-5, 357) are not related. Not sure how Saahir and Javon figure into the mix.

NOV. 1
PUBLIC AAAA SEMIFINAL
Washington 38, Overbrook 0
  The word of the day was "lackluster." Yes, the Eagles wound up pitching a 38-0 shutout, but this was hardly a classic effort and a major step upward in the enthusiasm area will be necessary next Saturday if they hope to avoid an upset (by Northeast) in the title game. Washington crushed 'Brook in the regular season, so there's no doubt the coaches' practice pleas, delivered all week, fell on somewhat deaf ears. How could that NOT have happened, really? Anyway, the highlight today was a breakout performance by soph WR Joe Clayborne, a k a The Next Harold Carmichael. Clayborne, a transfer from U. City, is listed at 6-4, 180. But he looks even taller and his long strides look as if they belong to someone 6-9 or 6-10. He reeled in three passes from jr. QB Aaron Wilmer and all went for TDs, with distances of 39, 9 and 15 yards. Aside from hands, he also showed good footwork, especially on the 15-yarder, a fade to the right corner. Clayborne has a chance to become a big-time recruit. Two rushing TDs were scored by sr. Kyle Glenn. His first, a 14-yarder, immediately followed a fumble recovery jr. Vernon Dupree (of a bad pitchout). The other, good for 50 yards, followed a recovery by jr. Simba Sellers of what coach Ron Cohen said was an unintentional onside kick by soph Tom Marano, who powered a low kick straight ahead off the leg of a 'Brook up-man. The usual kicker, sr. Will McFillin, added a 32-yard field goal. Overbrook had some early and even mid-game chances to cause sweaty-palms syndrome for the Eagles, but were unable to do so. Partially due to its own failings, but more often due to Washington's defensive dominance. Twice in the second quarter, 'Brook experienced on-the-doorstep situations. Sr. DE Harris Scott recovered an errant lateral pass by Wilmer on the 14, but the series fizzled. Later, the Panthers used effective running by jr. Keenan Clark to reach the 6. The next two plays were botched and Sellers batted down a fourth-down pass. Sr. DB Jamal Willians and jr. LB James Fowler had picks for Washington. Overbrook's most active and authoritative defender was sr. LB Julius Faison. He made a few plays along the sideline and appeared to just flat-out LOVE what he was doing. Nice to see. Soph RB David McCants lost a 77-yard TD run to a holding call. Defensive coordinator David Carter, who played there (after Franklin), keeps insisting he's going to get me a West Virginia hat to ease into the rotation that, for now, includes only 4-5 Boston College hats. Steve Slaton starred there. That could work (smile).