SEPT. 29
TEDBIT
  And just like that, sadly, the Romano family no longer will be able to make impressive contributions to Ryan's football program. Senior quarterback Matt Romano, a four-year varsity performer, suffered a serious knee injury in last week's loss to La Salle and his season is over. In all, Matt generated 3,788 yards of passing/rushing along with 46 touchdowns. His brother, Bobby, was a prominent receiver for the Raiders in the 2012 and '13 seasons. His TD output, with returns mixed in, was 12 and he offered 1,020 yards of receiving/rushing. He's now a junior infielder for Fairleigh Dickinson's baseball team and has already enjoyed two years of starting. And then, back in the early '80s, there was the guys' dad, Bob. Complete stats from those days are unavailable, but we do know Bob was Ryan's primary rusher in 1983. Despite having to sit out two games, he produced 755 yards and five TDs on 151 rushes while adding a pass-catching score. The family breakdown is below. Dad and sons ch-chinged their way to at least 5,563 yards, which is 55-plus full fields. That total also computes to 3.16 miles, which is 12-plus times around the tracks that surround football fields. Very impressive. Meanwhile, Matt will work like crazy through the rest of the fall and winter with the expectation of being able to return for his final baseball season. Best of luck, Matt!
  UPDATE: Matt was able to make it back for the Thanksgiving game vs. Ryan. He passed 12-for-16 for 218 yards and three TDs and his passing totals have been adjusted. His 3,405 yards are a school record. He had no carries vs. Washington. He finished with 4,006 yards of rushing/passing.

SEPT. 28
TEDBIT
  Can't imagine too many leagues can make this claim: Every starting quarterback is completing at least 50 percent of his passes. That's how things stand right now in the Inter-Ac and two guys -- SCH Academy's Matt Rahill and Episcopal's CJ McAnally are completing at least 60 percent. Below are the top 10 Inter-Ac/Catholic passers, based on completion percentage. SJ Prep's Marquez McCray tops the CL at 58.8.

SEPT. 27
TEDBIT
  Just five games into this season, two guys already own lofty spots on Judge's list of passing/receiving TD leaders over the last 35 seasons. QB Rob King is tied for third, seven scores behind leader Chris Fagan (21 in '87) and wideout Justin Gies is tied for second, two behind leader Prince Smith (nine in 2014).

SEPT. 26
TEDBIT
  In the 2014 season, Inter-Ac League schools met Catholic League schools for 11 games and eked out a 6-5 advantage. In these last two seasons, the I-A has exhibited dominance. It owns a 17-4 advantage in wins-losses and 627-404 in points.
  UPDATE: On Oct. 8, GA beat West Catholic. That result has been added. Advantages are now 18-4 and 645-416.

SEPT. 25
TEDBIT
  For the second consecutive season, the Inter-Ac League has posted a 6-0 sweep in non-league games in a week. The details are below. The average score in Week Two in 2015 was 32-17. This time the average score was 36-16.

SEPT. 24
TEDBIT
  Last night, Penn Charter sr. lefty Mike "Neeko" Hnatkowsky became the Inter-Ac's career leader in passing yardage thanks to a 12-for-26, 202-yard effort in a 27-0 win at Interboro. The former record holder, John Loughery, also played for PC (2011 grad) and is now a graduate assistant at Temple, where he finished his college career after first playing for Elon, in North Carolina. (John is also a first cousin of PC product Matt Ryan, a 2003 grad and the long-time QB for the Atlanta Falcons.) Meanwhile, you might want to write down this name -- James Biggs-Frazier. Perhaps you'll win money in a future trivia contest. He was the only guy to catch passes from Hnatkowsky (as a senior in the 2013 season) and Loughery (freshman in 2010). He now plays DB for Fordham. For the moment, five Catholic League guys own career yardage totals that are higher than Neeko's. Those numbers are below the career breakdowns for Neeko/John. . . Congrats to Neeko and click here for a pic that shows him with former PC QB Chris Rahill, who's now the offensive coordinator under coach Tommy Coyle.

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SEPT. 23
TEDBIT
  The game I've come to call the Duke-out of Delco will again take place tonight -- 7 at Cardinal O'Hara -- and, as noted last year, Bonner-Prendie will be looking to extend its mini-run of success.  After losing 20 of the previous 23 meetings through the 2013 regular season, the Friars captured the '13 playoff by a score of 41-38, the '14 contest in the regular season by a score of 33-13 and then last year's regular season meeting by a score of 20-0. It was only the third shutout by Bonner/B-P vs. O'Hara and the first since 1969! The score that year was 30-0. The Friars also posted a blanking (14-0) in 1967. Last year's shutout -- Shaun Douglas helped to make it happen with two interceptions; Joe Hartley-Vittoria paced the offense with 206 rushing yards -- was dedicated to the defensive coordinator, Jeff Connell, who missed the game due to health issues. Jeff is still part of B-P's staff under the new coach, Jack Muldoon. Greg "Bubba" Bernhardt, the former boss, is now assisting at Sun Valley under Ray Gionta, a star lineman at the ol' St. James and later the coach at CL schools. Bubba is guiding the wideouts and linebackers and works with Ray in calling the offensive plays. SV is off to a 4-0 start for the first time in 15 years, so all's going great! The O'Hara/B-P series began in 1965 and O'Hara owns a 39-21 advantage. In the games in '78 and '79, only five total points were scored! O'Hara won by 3-0, then by 2-0. The Lions also claimed a 2-0 victory in '75. In the teams' first 10 meetings, Bonner went 7-3. O'Hara swept six straight from 1975-80, then eight in a row from 1983-89 (one playoff mixed in). In three games vs. O'Hara, 2015 B-P grad Collin DiGalbo rang up 1,059 yards and 14 TDs! He passed 44-for-75 for 765 and nine while rushing 50 for 294 and five. Here are the top performances in rushing/passing/receiving from 1982-2015:

SEPT. 22
TEDBIT
  Here are the city leagues' top football families from the 1971 through 2015 seasons. How are they ranked? We used a point system based on All-City selections -- four points for first team, two for second and one for third. In the No. 1 clan, the Persons, Andy, Brian, Dan, Fran and Joe all earned first team honors. Andy was also a third teamer as a junior while Chris was a second teamer as a senior. Click here for a website Tribute Page that was posted in 2006 as Joe finished his (and the family's) football career. Tied for second are the Mayock quartet (yes, Mike is now the NFL draft expert) and Stinson-Campbell trio. Special mention must be made of the Downs and Hemmert crews. They were able to generate 14 points apiece with only two brothers -- Derrick and Chris Downs, Mike and Chris Hemmert. Of course, some of these brother groups would have earned even more points if not for injuries. Same for those that came close to making the Top 15.

SEPT. 21
TEDBIT
  Bishop Egan (now Conwell-Egan) began playing Catholic League football in the 1963 season and Cardinal O'Hara joined the organization two seasons later. Over the years, how many times do you think they've met? . . . It's a low number. VERY low. As in zero. Hard to believe, right? The CL had divisions based on geography from '63 through '98, then on enrollment (in two different forms) from '99 through '15. Now the league has switched back from three to two divisions -- still based on enrollment -- and since O'Hara's enrollment has dipped in recent  years,  the school now finds itself in the smaller-schools Blue Division. That's where C-E is entrenched and the schools will meet Friday, Oct. 14, 7 p.m., at nearby Truman. While hosting a completely unfamiliar opponent that night, C-E will also celebrate Homecoming. Also listed below are other matchups that haven't occurred too often through the years.

SEPT. 20
TEDBIT
  Here's a fact you'll find hard to believe: Over the last 35 seasons, Carroll quarterbacks have passed for 200 yards in a game just 10 times. Here's another: The number was six before this season began and Stephen Honick has reeled off four in a row. The breakdown is below.

SEPT. 19
TEDBIT
  Manny Quiles has experienced quite the "rush" to high school fame. Well, the TS.com version anyway (smile). As this season began, the 5-8, 165-pound soph, though also a starting cornerback, was only a backup wide receiver on offense. In time, he also became the second-string running back and Friday night vs. Carroll all he did was become just the second La Salle player to rush for four TDs in one game over the last 35 seasons. Syaire Madden, the starting RB, departed with an injury after just four carries. Quiles wound up being given 17 carries, and he collected 164 yards in addition to the four scores. This was the ninth four-TDs outing by an Explorer since 1982 and the breakdown is below. The grunts were soph C Brian Grady (making his first start), sr. Gs Cole Lerch and Garrett Zobel, jr. Ts Brendan O'Brien and Chris Maloney and jr. TE Liam Trainer. The guys are position-coached by Dom D'Addona and Dan Pfeiffer and thanks to head coach John Steinmetz for providing all names.

SEPT. 18
TEDBIT
  Every team would prefer to pitch a shutout instead of a "sixout," and Conwell-Egan's defense did so Friday night while earning a 28-6 win over West Catholic in a Catholic Blue opener. That's because the Burrs' lone TD was scored by their defense (on a fumble recovery). On Sept. 16, 2011, West was blanked by La Salle, 24-0, in a non-league game. Thereafter, it scored at least one offensive TD in 63 consecutive games before the Eagles accomplished shutdown mode Friday night. Right below are the names of C-E's defensive players and coaches, courtesy of head coach Jack Techtmann, and underneath that is a breakdown for West's single-TD-on-offense games within the streak.

SEPT. 17
TEDBIT
  The day was Oct. 5, 2006, and the final score was 26-12. The occasion was a Catholic Blue regular season game and the winner was Conwell-Egan. The loser was West Catholic and the Burrs did not lose another regular season division game until . . . last night. The occasion again was a Catholic Blue regular season game -- yes, the CL is back to names of colors for its divisions (and back to two instead of three) and the score was 28-6. In between, coach Brian Fluck's Burrs rolled to 43 consecutive regular season victories and the average score was 41-8. The city record for consecutive regular season league wins belongs to St. Joseph's Prep, which captured 55 from 1999 through 2007. That wonderful run also ended with a first game. In their '08 division opner, the Hawks fell to La Salle, 31-17. Meanwhile, back in that '06 win over West, C-E was led by rushers Ray O'Hara (21-154, one TD) and Jim Domzalski (12-92, one), passer Kevin Schafer (6-for-16, 106, two) and receiver Ryan Golin (5-86, two) . . . In last night's win, Danny Bentley (8-85), Kendall Jones (15-62) and Dwayne Majors (6-27) rushed for one TD apiece and Patrick Garwo, also a rusher, threw a TD pass to Jonathan Bennett off a fake punt. In all, the Eagles turned 55 carries into 296 yards.

SEPT. 16
TEDBIT
  It's doubtful St. Joseph's Prep's D'Andre Swift will ever forget tonight's Catholic Red football opener vs. Archbishop Wood, set for 7:30 at William Tennent High, in Warminster. Aside from the fact it will be televised on ESPNU, there's this: Swift will achieve three career milestones. He needs 90 yards to reach 3,000 for rushing and 48 to reach 1,500 for receiving. Don't bet against him, folks. If the breakdown doesn't quite work out, 138 combined yards will give him 4,500. To this juncture, no city rusher with 3,000 yards has also accumulated as many as 1,600 receiving yards. D'Andre will soon accomplish that feat. For now, the record for receiving yards by a 3,000-yard rusher belongs to 2011 La Salle grad Jamal Abdur-Rahman (78 for 1,120 and 12 TDs). Also tonight, there will be a big halftime moment when Wood's Mark Webb announces hic college choice. His final six includes Georgia, Penn State, Temple, Maryland, North Carolina and Alabama. Almost all recruiting experts are predicting Mark, D'Andre's good buddy, will decide to join him at Georgia. As things turned out, Mark announced his decision prior to the game. Verdict: Georgia. Not to the same extent, but Mark also had nice football moments as a freshman. His stats are also below. As you'll notice, each of his two catches in 2013 went for TDs -- a 44-yarder vs. North Penn and a 98-yarder vs. Lansdale Catholic. That second one missed tying the city record by one yard.
  UPDATE: Swift suffered an injury on the Prep's first series and made only a brief appearance thereafter. He rushed once for six yards and caught two passes for 22. Webb made one catch for 27 yards.

SEPT. 15
TEDBIT
  The Catholic League, no doubt, offers quality football, but that doesn't mean it storms through every season without hiccups. Last weekend, for the third consecutive year, the CL suffered at least eight losses in one week of non-league games. (N-L games in which CL teams played each other are not included). There were 10 losses in Week Two in 2015 and that same number in that same week in 2014. In the 10 seasons from 2004 through 2013, there were four weeks with at least eight N-L setbacks. There were also more teams through the 2009 season. Dougherty, Kennedy-Kenrick and North Catholic closed in June 2010.

SEPT. 14
TEDBIT
  Below you'll see a list that includes seven Catholic/Inter-Ac quarterbacks. Five have already passed for 3,000 career yards and two more are on the doorstep. What sets them apart? They're lefties. Two have baseball ties. Sean Grieve pitched in the minors and Alex Hornibrook (now at Wisconsin) is the nephew of ex-MLB catcher Ben Davis (Malvern), an analyst on Phillies broadcasts. Kyle McCloskey's dad, Mike (Judge), played tight end in the NFL.

SEPT. 13
TEDBIT
  After some rough moments following the sudden death of popular coach Danny Algeo in the summer of 2014, O'Hara is again having football fun. Under second-year coach B.J. "Butch" Hogan, a first team All-City defensive back for the school's 2000 Catholic Red champs, the Lions are off to a 3-0 start and have accomplished an uncommon feat. Only five times in the school's football history -- it goes back to 1964 (joined the CL in 1965) -- has O'Hara scored at least 35 points in three or more consecutive games. The details are below. Sr. Myles Henderson and  juniors Nick Kutufaris and Te'Ron Johnson have paced the rushing attack while sr. Tommy "My Name's My School" O'Hara has done the passing. His top targets have been jr. Justin Santilla and soph Chris Kirby. The grunts, courtesy of coach Hogan: sr. C Ryan Harlow, sr. G Stephen Randazzo, jr. G Tom Wertz, sr. T Des Holmes, sr. T Stephen Brown. (Also involved: sr. Gs Colin Hickey and Pat Foster.)

SEPT. 12
TEDBIT
  The 2016 NFL season is already No. 1 when it comes to "Our Guys" official debuts. Five draftees and a guy who spent the 2015 season on the Denver Broncos' practice squad, Zaire "Bam" Anderson (Frankford; he received a Super Bowl ring!), have already played. The previous record for OG debuts was four and it was accomplished six times. In 1941, Jack Ferrante, the original and much more productive Vince Papale, is included though no one seems to know his exact back story. He lived in West Philly in his teens and might have attended West Philly High and/or a trade school before dropping out early to get a job in a supermarket. Anyway, he had a nice run in the pros and later coached Bonner to a Catholic League championship. In 1961, the foursome included three guys who played in the old American Football League. In 1987, eight total guys made NFL debuts. However, four were replacement players during the strike and that was a whole different animal. It's possible at least two more guys will officially take the field this season -- Roxborough WR Rasheed Bailey and Bartram DB Al-Hajj Shabazz. If you know of others on the doorstep, please reach out via tedtee307@yahoo.com. Thanks!
  UPDATE: Having been promoted from the practice squad Oct. 8, Al-Hajj Shabazz made his NFL debut for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Oct. 9 game vs. the New York Jets. That makes seven 2016 NFL debuts for "Our Guys"!

SEPT. 5
TEDBIT
  Ryan junior Jaye McNeil is off to quite the rushing start. He started the season by carrying 11 times for 165 yards and four TDs in a 47-7 win over Quakertown, then followed with 31 totes for 262 yards and three scores in a 33-12 success over Bonner-Prendergast. In the last 35 seasons, he ranks No. 2 among Raider rushers in first-two-game performances with 427. In 2013, fresh off his transfer from Judge, Samir Bullock exploded a for school record of 345 yards in the opener vs. O'Hara, then followed with 132 vs. Wissahickon (477 total). Joe Zeglinski, the guy who holds spots three through five on the list below, is preparing for his second season as Ryan's basketball coach. Frank Wycheck, at No. 8, had a nice career in the NFL. Thanks to coach Frank "Five" McArdle, we can shed some light on McNeil's blockers . . . center Mike O'Brien, guards Drew Obuchowicz and Brendan Ruskowski, tackles Tim Moulton and Dante Vecchione, rotating tight ends Patrick Jurgelewicz and Dan McBride and (in certain formations) fullback Jason Jefferson. You could make a strong argument that Jurgelewicz owns the best number ever to appear in a Tedbit -- 800. As a junior, the now-senior achieved that perfect score on the math portion of the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Congrats! Wait, let's make that Conpats!

SEPT. 4
TEDBIT
  In Conwell-Egan's 2016 opener Friday night, sophomore running back Patrick Garwo scored three touchdowns while totaling 234 scrimmage yards. Billy Everett, the school's biggest supporter (by far!), got pretty darn excited while watching Patrick's performance and couldn't help but share some thoughts. In a text, he noted C-E "has a soph RB that is very, very good. Has some Steve Slaton in him, but bigger." By bigger, Billy meant thicker, not taller. The roster provided to this website by C-E does not include heights and weights, but Billy thinks Patrick is about 5-9, 215. Anyway, a comparison to Steve Slaton, who went on to play in the NFL, was quite the eye-catcher, and that led to this Tedbit. Below are the Top 10 career rushers in Catholic League history and a breakdown for how they fared with rushing/receiving in the first games of their sophomore seasons. Slaton is No. 1 at 239. Garwo? He pumped out 234 yards. Impressive. Via coach Jack Techtmann, here are the names of C-E's grunts . . . C Gino Turchi, Gs Keanan Baines and Jimmy Buchanan, Ts Quameer Francis and Patrick Shire, sixth man Matt Wolf and handyman Ross Logan.

SEPT. 3
NON-LEAGUE
Penn Charter 35, Lansdale Catholic 14
  Look below the report for Game Firsts (This was the first game on OC's new turf field) and PC's starters
  The heck with Hurricane Hermine. How 'bout Hurricane Quaker! (Smile). A little over the top? No doubt. But PC did have some wonderful moments this morning in beyond-nutty conditions at Ocean City High (NJ), and, let's face it, your team is definitely performing well when it forces the mercy rule to take effect just 1 minute, 46 seconds into the third quarter (at 35-0). Luckily, except for some intermittent drizzle in the second half, rain was never a factor. However, it was windy like crazy. As the teams were warming up for the 10 a.m. start, the wind was coming straight off the ocean/boardwalk toward the far end zone. For most of the game, though, it whipped from the 5th & Boardwalk corner to the far, opposite corner. How hard was it blowing? Put it this way: Along the sideline, even bulky guys were occasionally nudged off their spots. Also, most of the kickoffs blew off the field across the home sideline. Now for the shocker: Despite the wild and wacky wind, PC sr. QB Mike "Neeko" Hnatkowsky, a lefty, was able to throw for three TDs while going 6-for-10 for 150 yards. Talk about putting the proper touch on the ball. Most completions received help from the wind and Neeko was able to successfully judge how much he needed to do and how much help he'd receive from the wind. The scores went to sr. WR Chris Tucker on two fades/streaks to the far/left corner and to sr. TE Luke Stansfield on a leak-out toward the far/right corner. That play began with an all-tight formation with, in effect, two TEs and two slotbacks. No one paid even remote attention to Luke and he looked like the only guy in Ocean City as he reeled in the ball. As for the game's early moments . . . welcome to The Edward Saydee Show! The 6-foot, 172-pound Saydee is a sophomore transfer from Prep Charter, in South Philly, and possesses a rare combination of speed and nimble feet. By the end of the first quarter, he owned 113 yards and two TDs on nine carries en route to final totals of 14-153-2. He also had a catch for 20 yards and two returns for 19. Ch, ching -- 192 all-purpose yards. Saydee's best run was a 32-yarder for the game's first six points. He was bottled up at the line once, twice, maybe even three times, but managed to wriggle free and break to the outside in part with the help of a terrific block from sr. grunt Harold Anderson. PC scored on its first five possessions and managed to keep LC in check. The Crusaders were hardly hapless, totaling six first downs during that span, but the Quakers made key plays at the right times. Shortly into the second quarter, LC earned first-and-10 just outside the 10. On fourth down from the 2, sr. QB Michael Basilii tried a right-side keeper and was swarmed by soph DT Ronnie Ross and sr. LB Brendan Pell, among others. A 60-yard hookup between Neeko/Luke fueled the following scoring drive, capped by a 12-yard pass to Tucker. LC showed some mettle on its first play of mercy-rule status as jr. RB Matt Casee sped for 29 yards. Basilii scored six plays later on a 5-yard surge up the middle. The Crusaders hit the scoreboard again with 0:59 showing as the backup QB, jr. Mike Dutkiewicz, hit jr. WR PJ O'Connor with a 27-yarder. PC coach Tommy Coyle made some interesting, and much appreciated, choices for game balls. The first was presented to popular trainer Tom Yabor, who is leaving PC to sell orthopedic braces. The next two went to players who live quite far from PC but showed major dedication all summer by showing up again and again and again for offseason training workouts . . . at 7 a.m.! They were soph lineman Hayden Knighton (Pottstown, PA), a starter, and frosh QB/DB Marcellus Poland (Sicklerville, NJ), a sub for now. Great job, guys. Hope you treasure those footballs. Drew Gordon, who enjoyed a wonderful coaching run at La Salle (and last year assisted at his alma mater, McDevitt), is now directing the offense for LC coach Tom Kirk. Great to see you, guys. Five of the six refs were Judge grads. Prominent among them: head ref Bill McKeever and his son, Bill, the head linesman, and one of the back judges, Ernie "Knows Everybody" Gallagher. A few other notables: Kevin Callahan, former sports writer for South Jersey's Courier Post, basketball ref John "Prez" Przybylinski and former PC football/baseball star Ed Malandro, who wound up holding the down marker. Last night, Ed (OPC '83) gave a well-received inspirational speech to PC's football guys at a hotel in Voorhees, NJ. They spent the night there to make the Saturday morning trip to OC less taxing. Here's hoping OC doesn't get hit too hard by the hurricane/storm, whatever it is by the time it passes by. Since very early childhood, OC has been my favorite place on earth. (Except for the part of any store where Tastykakes can be found - smile).

Game firsts . . . this was the first game played on OCHS' new turf field.