OLNEY 27, EDISON 14

OLNEY'S CONTRIBUTORS
Coaches
Hugh MacDonough, Dennis Ginenthal, Greg Bloom, Barry Strube.
Offense
C: Gerardo Zuviri.
G: Shawn Parker, Jamaine Anderson.
T: Tyree Green, Frank Randall, Emmanuel Stotts.
E: Don McCray, Stefon Broughton, Derrick Hydie.
QB: Mike Reyes.
RB: Jerrell Toomer, Wagner Estrella.
FB: Jamarr Leary.
K: Gerardo Zuviri.
P: Derrick Hydie.
Defense
E: Donaldson Jeoboham, Jamaine Anderson, Quentin Canada.
T: Emmanuel Stotts, Frank Randall, Angelo Harris.
NG: Gerardo Zuviri.
LB: Don McCray, Derrick Hydie.
CB: Mike Reyes, Stefon Broughton, Marcus Majette.
S: Jamarr Leary.

Ted's website report . . .
OCT. 26
PUBLIC BLUE
Olney 27, Edison 14
   Twinkle, twinkle, little Estrella. And all the larger Estrellas, too. Estrella is “star” in Spanish and having a guy with that surname play a prominent role on the very best day in Olney’s grid history certainly provided an interesting twist. At 5-6 and 165 pounds, Wagner Estrella, one of two halfbacks in coach Hugh MacDonough’s double-wing set (and coming off ACL surgery last fall), is literally the smallest guy on the squad. Size never prevents leadership, though, and so it was today as the Trojans earned a chance to munch a piece of the postseason pie for the first time in the program’s 75-year varsity history. Hard to believe, huh? Olney’s biggest problem through the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s was geography. Though it always had a gigantic enrollment, it also had a student body that did not match the other Northeast-area schools’ in terms of stability, football savvy, resources, community support, etc., and that made things impossible when trying to go against Frankford, Northeast, Washington, Lincoln, Mastbaum . . . Ability grouping, though, was a godsend and MacDonough, as you might imagine, was thoroughly in favor (hmm, didn’t he propose it and draw up the plan? -- smile) and the Trojans this season proved to be a perfect fit for Blue. Now, of course, they’ll bounce up to White next season and we’ll see how that goes. Olney needed to win this game to take the division and the early part did not go well. In fact, Edison jumped off to a 6-0 lead late in the first quarter on a 15-yard run by sr. RB Kory Marshall (15-79), a very bright and together young man who could wind up at Columbia. Not long after that, Frankford assistant Juan Namnun called out my name from the fence and asked, “Where’s that Lincoln game?” If Olney had lost, the Blue title would have gone to Lincoln, a 34-6 winner over Fels, on tiebreakers and I’m guessing the Frankford guys were thinking Olney was looking a little sluggish and might not emerge victorious. Not sure if one or more did go to watch Lincoln, but the thought was there (smile). Olney did get rollin’, though, and it happened right away. A pair of nice runs by sr. FB Jamarr Leary (10 yards) and jr. HB Jerrell Toomer (18) got the ball into Edison territory, then the momentum continued with Leary’s 9-yard burst and an 8-yard keeper by sr. QB Mike Reyes, with a 5-yard facemask infraction tagged on. Estrella then scored on a 13-yard sweep right and, after two penalties, sr. C-NG Gerardo Zuviri hammered home a 30-yard PAT. Edison then marched and marched some more and used a 5-yard pass from jr. QB Ernesto Medina to sr. WB Joshua Alicea to set up fourth-and-7 at the 11. Medina then kept and was held to a 3-yard gain by sr. DE Donaldson Jeoboham. At first Olney appeared content to be careful and merely avoid having to punt. But when an 11-yard sneak moved the ball to the 25, the Trojans switched into ah-what-the-heck mode and ordered another sweep right for Estrella. And there he went! For 75 yards and a TD! Third quarter: an early 57-yard TD run by Toomer (5-127, this kid’s per-carry average for the season is still over 10). Fourth quarter: an early 40-yard TD run by Toomer. Edison’s one answer came late in the third on a 1-yard sneak by Medina. I spent the second half on Olney’s sideline, though it made for tricky photo-snapping due to the sun’s placement, because I wanted to see close up what the mood would be. There were occasional yells of “History!!” and “Destiny!!” as the minutes melted down to a precious few and then the emotions really began to bubble as Reyes executed a couple of game-ending kneeldowns. Unfortunately, someone from Edison got frisky on one of them and the refs ordered Olney to back up and remain there. Thankfully, there were no handshake-line incidents. At first, MacDonough was mostly able to avoid getting doused with a jug of water. But then, jr. lineman Brandon Harling and another kid in street clothes came up from behind with an ice-filled cooler and that did the soak-him-good trick. The Trojans gathered in the west end zone and Reyes, who still had the ball, tossed it to MacDonough. The coach gave a short speech and there was major rejoicing and then the Trojans headed to their team buses, lined up along Hunting Park Avenue. Olney, by the way, was the only current Pub/Cath team (except for the brand new Pub squads, of course), that had never qualified for postseason action.