Public League Final X-Ray, 2005 . . .

  Here's a look at the teams in the PL final, played 11/19 at Northeast's
Charlie Martin Memorial Stadium. Frankford was coached by Mike Capriotti.
NE was coached by Mel Hinton.

  The game was broadcast live on WVCH radio, 740 AM, as well as on the
Internet at www.sportsjuice.com.

  Ted's story about the game is at the bottom of the page.
  And here are links for website reports by Ted and Bill Wettstein. 

FRANKFORD 14, NORTHEAST 13
Northeast     0 -- 7 -- 6 -- 0 --- 13
Frankford    6 -- 0 -- 0 -- 8 --- 14
  F: N. Johnson 33 fumble return (kick failed)
  NE: McGinn 1 run (Mountney kick)
  NE: McGinn 1 run (run failed)
  F: Spires 5 run (Hardy run)
                                           NE      Fkd
First downs                             9       8
Rushes-yards                    2-120      40-109
Passing yards                         78      17
Total offense                        198      126
Passes                              6-10-1     1-6-0
Return yardage                       24      89
Punts                               5-34.2      5-21.0
Fumbles lost                            2      2
Penalties-yards                    6-42      2-10
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
  RUSHING -- NE: Fox 22-98, S. Johnson 7-27, McGinn 7-(-8), Miller 6-3. FKD: Spires 16-80, Hardy 11-22, Norris 6-14, N. Johnson 4-20, Mintz 2-(-10), A. Williams 1-3.
  PASSING -- NE: McGinn 6-10-1 -- 78. FKD: Hardy 1-6-0 -- 17.
  RECEIVING -- NE: S. Johnson 2-44, Small 2-24, Evans 1-12, Miller 1-(-2). FKD: A. Williams 1-17.
  INTERCEPTIONS -- FKD: Bohannon.
  RECOVERIES OF OPPONENT'S FUMBLES -- NE: Joseph, Butler. FKD: N. Johnson, C. Wilson.
  RETURNS -- NE: Fox 2-24. FKD: Spence 3-42, Mintz 1-1, N. Johnson 1-33, A. Williams 1-13.
  TACKLES -- NE: Craddock 10, Butler 9, Joseph, Maiellano and Zepp 8. FKD: Brockington 10, Hairston 9, Mintz and Norris 8.
  SACKS -- NE: Butler, Stallings, Joseph, Maiellano, Zepp and Newton, all 1/2. FKD: Cruz two halves, Brockington and N. Johnson, both 1/2.
OTHER TFLs -- NE: Joseph 2. FKD: Brockington and Norris 2.

FRANKFORD'S SEASON                                    NORTHEAST'S SEASON
W-L We They
at Strath Haven L 0 24
at Pennsbury L 7 28
at Bartram W 37 6
West Phila. W 43 0
Washington (NE) W 28 6
Mastbaum W 52 8
at Dobbins W 20 0
Northeast L 12 13
at Germantown W 41 22
Overbrook  1/4 W 16 14
Germantown   1/2 W 13 12
W-L We They
Gratz W 16 6
Judge W 28 14
at West Phila. W 38 6
Roxborough W 28 0
at Dobbins W 24 12
Germantown W 40 12
Mastbaum W 34 0
at Frankford W 13 12
Washington L 7 14
Gratz   1/4  W 21 2
Washington   1/2 W 21 6

PROJECTED ROTATION MEMBERS . . .

FKD OFF.

NE DEF.
C Randy Warner 74 E Jordan Strickland 27
G Chad Gordon 64 E Jesse Joseph 59
G Braheem Foy 65 T Walt Maiellano 29
T Angel Gonzalez 77 T Ulysses Stallings 78
T William Ray 75 ILB Seth Shapiro 55
E Alonzo Williams 39 ILB Derek Butler 3
E Maurice Bellinger 15 ILB Lamone Fox 25
QB Ryan Hardy 12 OLB Chris Craddock 28
RB Brandon Norris 34 OLB Chris Zepp 33
RB Calvin Spires 25 CB Ste'Shaun Johnson 10
WB Nathaniel Polk 26 CB Nafis Muhammad 15
K Kyle Berry 61 S Charles McGinn 12
P Alonzo Williams 39
LS Luis Sanchez 22
KR Shareef Mintz 28
KR Christopher Spence 45

FKD DEF.

NE OFF.
E Eric Hairston 17 C *Yaroslav Mukha 77
E Nate Johnson 33 C Vincent Meskill 66
T Chris Cruz 58 G Seth Shapiro 55
T Tyree Dudley 72 G Michael Lewis 79
ILB Damon Brockington 49 G Joshua McGarvey 56
ILB Brandon Norris 34 T Rob Lucini 72
OLB Alonzo Williams 39 T Michael Freiling 76
OLB Christopher Spence 45 E Sean Evans 5
CB Shareef Mintz 28 E Derek Butler 3
CB Joseph Bohannon 29 QB Charles McGinn 12
S Christopher Wilson 18 RB Lamone Fox 25
RB Harold "Aaron" Miller 22
WB Ste'Shaun Johnson 10
K Chris Mountney 35
P Chris Mountney 35
LS Derek Butler 3
KR Lamone Fox 25
KR Ste'Shaun Johnson 10
*-status unclear (injury)

STATISTICAL LEADERS . . .

No. Name SH Pen Bart West Wash Mast Dobb NE Gtn Ovb Gtn

Totals
RUSHING
25 Calvin Spires 2-9 12-47 6-27 9-68 19-141 6-74 24-130 11-115 11-29 17-131 14-71 131-842
34 Brandon Norris 19-86 14-53 6-65 9-129 11-111 7-107 x x x 12-83 16-57 94-691
33 Nate Johnson 3-41 2-3 13-54 13-66 12-143 2-11 2-12 47-330
12 Ryan Hardy 6-(-5) 13-27 3-31 4-14 2-86 11-70 14-19 5-14 9-(-10) 6-59 73-305
26 Nathaniel Polk 12-22 2-0 2-10 1-4 3-14 1-19 1-(-2) 1-15 2-28 2-(-2) 27-108
PASSING
12 Ryan Hardy 4-16 4-10 6-7 3-7 3-6 3-4 3-12 7-10 4-7 2-10 1-9 40-98
42 41 151  3 44  1 45  1 93  2 67 178  1 61  2 28 36 786
RECEIVING
39 Alonzo Williams 1-23 3-54 1-7 2-36 2-66 2-53 4-68 3-45 1-13 19-365
15 Maurice Bellinger 1-2 1-11 2-67 1-20 1-27 2-65 1-36 9-228
SCORING
25 Calvin Spires 6 12 12 12 6 12 6 66
34 Brandon Norris 6 18 14 12 50
No. Name Gtz FJ West Rox Dobb Gtn Mast Fkd Wash Gtz Wash

Totals
RUSHING
25 Lamone Fox 9-62 22-184 12-73 16-147 23-232 19-142 9-51 29-122 20-115 26-164 21-63 206-1355
22 Harold Miller 5-28 15-145 2-9 6-36 4-22 17-142 5-105 4-14 9-53 7-16 6-34 80-604
10 Ste'Shaun Johnson 4-42 6-35 2-48 1-15 5-63 6-65 2-(-9) 6-35 5-11 37-305
12 Charles McGinn 10-(-33) 1-2 2-(-13) x 1-(-3) 4-2 18-(-45)
PASSING
12 Charles McGinn 1-3 0-1 4-9 x 2-3 6-8 13-24
9 0 55 11 87  1 162
1 Michael Small 4-8 2-4 0-1 2-6 1-1 1-4 2-2 12-26
31 17 0 38 5 1  1 42 134
RECEIVING
5 Sean Evans 1-9 1-18 2-32 3-33 2-21 2-47 11-160
3 Derek Butler 1-5 2-16 3-50 6-71
25 Lamone Fox 1-22 1-24 1-11 1-1 1-7 5-65
22 Harold Miller 1-5 1-(-3) 1-27 1-30 4-59
10 Ste'Shaun Johnson 1-10 1-2 *2-33 *4-45
SCORING
25 Lamone Fox 12 12 12 12 18 18 12 6 6 18 12 138
35 Chris Mountney 4 2 8 4 6 10 4 1 1 3 3 46
22 Harold Miller 6 6 6 12 30

THE FIRST TIME . . .

REPORT BY AMAURO AUSTIN
OCT. 21
PUBLIC RED
Northeast 13, Frankford 12
    What a bullet (and it was a 45-caliber) the Vikings dodged en route to going 8-0. The Pioneers outplayed the Vikes for three quarters, but they failed to capitalize on opportunities throughout while also being penalized 14 times for 108 yards. Otherwise the total yardage disparity was 391 to 183 in favor of Frankford. Its amazing that the Vikes won this one. It may have been a lot of luck on their sides. That and the fact that they have superstar sr. RB Lamone Fox and Frankford doesn't. This may have been Mr. Fox's best performance yet. He truly kept the Vikings in the game when things looked to be in doubt. He rushed 29 times for 122 yards with 5, yes 5 first down runs on 3rd down plays & a 7-yard score with 4:10 remaining in the 3rd quarter to take the lead for good at 7-6. Then he put the game away to start the 4th with a 31-yard strike to streaking jr. WR Sean Evans (6-6 205) out of a half-back pass on 4th & 6. This was NE's first receiving TD on the season and it came at the hands of Fox. If that wasn't enough, he stopped impressive jr. RB Calvin Spires (11-115, TD) dead in his tracks on 4th down at the 3-yard line with just under 2 minutes remaining. It was an amazing performance. Defensively, Srs LB Chris Zepp and DE Derek Butler led the way with 11 tackles apiece. Sr. LB Seth Shapiro was in on 9 tackles. He also recovered a fumble and made a key stop on a Pioneer conversion play. Fox was in on 7 with a TFL. The Pioneers can only blame themselves for this loss. They got down to the Red zone four times in this one and did not capitalize. Spires started off fast when on the game's second play from scrimmage, he went off the left tackle for 84 yards untouched. He battled cramps the rest of the way through. However, on the next three Frankford possessions there was great opportunity for them to score with nothing doing. First, the Pioneers took over on the NE 13 after the combo of sr. LBs Alonzo Williams & Damon Brockington turned a fumble 36 yards. The Pioneers got to the 8 before they fumbled and turned it back over to the Vikes. On the next possession, the Pioneers got all the way to the Viking 1-yard line and had three plays there only for sr. QB Ryan Hardy (6-4 180) to be stuffed all three times. Then they got all the way to the Viking 4, but two penalties and a sack pushed them all the way back to the 25. Mind boggling, right? Otherwise, Hardy did a great job running the offense. He passed 7-of-10, for 178 yards and a 63 yard strike to sr. WR Maurice Bellinger directly after the Fox toss to Evans. Bellinger caught another long pass earlier that was reduced from over 40 yards to 2 yards by a penalty. Sr. TE Alonzo Williams caught 4 balls for 68 yards. Jr. FB Nate Johnson bulled his way to 66 yards on 13 carries. On D, sr. DT Danny Berdell (a sack & 2 other TFLs), sr. LB Eric Hairston (in on 11 stops including a TFL) & hard-hitting sr. CB Chris "Boobie" Wilson (8 solo tackles).
   AA's Notes: The outcome of this one will be interesting if these two squads were to meet again. The Pioneers were again without their star sr. RB Brandon Norris (knee) and I don't see them making these kinds of mistakes again. They are too good for that... It was good to see Evans become a star here being that he only lives a short walk from Pioneer stadium. Plus he was heckled all game long from the stands by some of his Frankford friends... The Vikes have some good looking O-Linemen in srs. G-T Michael Lewis (6-2 290) & studly sr. C Yaroslav Mukha (6-5 275). I'd have to imagine both have drawn some looks, especially Mukha... Not that it matters now, but it kind of bothers me to not see sr. WR-LB-DB Rockeed McCarter not experiencing the joy that the rest of his former Viking teammates have had thus far this season. Rock' probably could have put this team over the top and not to take anything away from or say anything bad about Roman, but I bet he's still a Viking at heart. He was only a 3-year starter in 2 sports there before leaving for greener (purpler -smile) pastures? Oh well I guess its water under the bridge now.

--

Frankford coach happy he listened to pop

By TED SILARY

Just because Mike Capriotti is now in his mid-50s, don't think he has stopped obeying his father.

Good thing for Frankford High's football program, too, because yet another Public League championship has been claimed and the Caps combined for the capper. Well, to make it possible.

Six minutes, 42 minutes remained in the fourth quarter Saturday at Charlie Martin Memorial Stadium when fullback Calvin Spires ran 5 yards for a touchdown to draw the Pioneers within a point of Northeast.

Instinctively, Mike Capriotti, Frankford's coach, allowed the kicking team to assemble on the field. But then he called timeout and did something else instinctively - glanced over at his dad, Ray. And the sign from him was to go for two.

It wasn't as though Mike was listening to some kind of okey-doke. Ray Capriotti was a coaches' first team All-Public back for Frankford in 1945 and '46, and later nurtured his sons to outstanding careers - Mike as a rusher-linebacker for a Pub champ at Frankford in '69; Ray Jr. as the quarterback for a City champ at Cardinal Dougherty in '68.

The conversion? It was successful and gave Frankford a 14-13 win. But it did not come in easy fashion.

Quarterback Ryan Hardy rang up the two-pointer what seemed like 3 hours after the play began. He rolled to his right, thought about passing to a wide-open Alonzo Williams, began to evade pressure, cut it up the middle, met several layers of resistance, and finally powered into the end zone.

Phew! Just like it was drawn up!

"I was scared," Spires said. "I thought Ryan was going to get sacked. Then I thought he was going to get tackled [after deciding to run]. He had to go a long way for that."

Said Hardy: "I told my team right from the beginning of the game, 'I'm not letting you down. In a game-winning situation, I'm making it happen.' "

He added: "That play goes back to the summertime. When I worked hard to make my legs and arms stronger. That helped me break those tackles. I felt them on me, but I wasn't going to stop until I had that conversion. In fact, I'd still be running."

At this time next week, Hardy and his teammates will still be dragging. The Pioneers on Thursday morning will host their Thanksgiving rival, North Catholic, and then Saturday night will travel to Allentown for a PIAA Class AAAA state quarterfinal against Liberty, of Bethlehem.

So, yes, that'll mean three games in 8 days and two in 3. Maybe the giddiness will get them through.

These guys are living charmed lives. Frankford's 26th title, and the first for second-year coach Capriotti, came in walk-a-tightrope fashion. The Pioneers won their three playoffs by four total points (16-14 over Overbrook and 13-12 over Germantown).

They were sprinkled in stardust early. Just 2:11 into the game, they took a 6-0 lead as Nate Johnson caught a midair fumble by quarterback Charles McGinn (hits by Damon Brockington and Chris Cruz) and raced 33 yards to the end zone.

"It came right into my arms," Johnson said. "I took that thing back. I saw an opportunity and took it. I was just running over that way, trying to make a tackle. The ball popped out. Came right to me."

En route to the end zone?

"I was smilin' the whole time," he said. " 'Cause I knew it was going to be a touchdown. There was no one there."

The Vikings tallied the next two TDs on a pair of 1-yard sneaks by McGinn after leaning heavily on the rushing of franchise back Lamone Fox (22-98).

It was Fox, however, who fumbled to set up the winning TD and, in a head-scratcher, he received just one carry in eight plays thereafter. Christopher "Boobie" Wilson made the all-important recovery for Frankford at the Northeast 24 and a half-the-distance penalty for shenanigans in the fumble scramble moved the ball to the 12. Spires, who finished with 80 yards on 16 carries, did his dirty work from there.

"I'm happy for my coach," Spires said. "He's getting a championship in only his second year. And for a school where he got one as a player, too. So this means a lot to both of us."

The stretch was not without consternation. A strip/recovery by Jesse Joseph gave Northeast the ball on Frankford's 22 with 2:45 left. The next three plays produced just 2 yards total and Chris Mountney could not connect on a 38-yard field goal at 43.1.

Let the celebration begin... And the despair.

You know how Mike Capriotti was feeling.

Long after he was doused with water, and cried, and gave a millon interviews, and just before he received multiple hugs from loved ones as he left the stadium, he said: "I made my father proud. That's a biggie."

Title tidbits

Joe Bohannon had an interception for Frankford while Damon Brockington (10, two for losses, half-sack) and Eric Hairston (nine) led in tackles... Chris Mountney did not get a chance to kick a PAT that would have provided a 14-6 lead. Holder Michael Small was tackled after having to control a low snap... The title was the third in three tries for RB-LB Brandon Norris. He spent last year in Florida.