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Huck's Corner Return to TedSilary.com Home Page
Ed "Huck" Palmer is one of our trusty statisticians/observers. He
is not to be confused with Tom "Puck" McKenna. (Huck is normal.
Puck is not even close). He will make reports on games he sees. You may contact him at TEDDYCAT10@aol.com. |
OCT.
30
CL BLUE
West Catholic 26, North Catholic
13
The Burrs had their hands full
throughout as the Falcons battled them tooth and nail all afternoon long. North let West
know they would be in for a game after they took their opening possession 57 yards for the
game’s first score. The 11-play drive took over six-minutes off the clock and was
capped by a 5-yard run by sr. RB Shane McNamara
(18-54). This was the first rushing touchdown allowed by West this season. North converted
three third-downs on the drive and was very impressive in doing so. West answered right
back with an impressive drive of their own, traveling 80 yards on seven plays mostly
behind the running of sr. RB Chris Diaferio He
carried six times for 81 yards, including a 4-yard TD run. West’s two-point
conversion try failed, and North led, 7-6. The Falcons would increase their lead to 10-6
with four minutes left in the second quarter on a 34-yard field goal by jr. K Kevin Romans. Later in the second quarter North
appeared to convert another third down that would have allowed them to keep the ball, but
they were called for an illegal block in the back. Afterwards a delay penalty and a
five-yard loss put the ball at their 10-yard line on fourth down forcing a punt. West jr.
WR/DB John Maddox returned the punt nine yards
to the North 35-yard line with a 1:17 left in the half. On third-and-15 Diaferio raced 16
yards for a first down. On the very next play frosh. QB Eric Brennan nicely found Maddox in the corner of
the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown with just :15 seconds left. Maddox made a wonderful
catch over two North defenders. The Falcons actually had pretty
decent coverage on the play, but the athleticism and leaping ability of Maddox was just
too much to overcome. Brennan had just re-entered the game after backup jr. Steven Powers was injured. This should be a big
confidence boost for the youngster. The score gave West a 13-10 lead going into the
intermission. As for Powers, he wound up breaking his collarbone. My thoughts go out to
him, for he has endured more than his share of setbacks due to injuries. North forced Diaferio to fumble on the first play
of the second half and took over at the West 46-yard line. They drove to the 16, but
stalled and had to settle for another FG. Romans knotted the score when calmly made a
32-yarder. On the ensuing kickoff Diaferio redeemed himself when he raced 90-yards for a
touchdown, thus giving West a 20-13 lead. North’s soph. WR Daryl Robinson took the next kickoff 51 yards
and had the Falcons sitting pretty at the West 35-yard line. However, they could not
manage a first down and the Burrs took over on downs. On North’s next possession they
would again enter West territory, but the drive would be halted when Maddox made a leaping
interception down the far left sideline. It was Maddox’s eighth pick of the year.
With 7:09 left in the fourth West would take over at their 29-yard line. They proceeded to
hold the ball for 11-plays and scored on a 19-yard run by Diaferio with 1:14 left. Again,
Diaferio was very instrumental on the drive. He carried the ball on nine of the eleven
plays, gaining 64 yards in the process. For the game he was sensational and rushed 28
times for a career-high 241 yards. Add this to his 105 yards in returns and he accumulated
346 all-purpose yards. Not a bad day’s work!! West could not muster much in the
passing games and only attempted seven passes in the game. Doing the dirty work up front
were: sr. C Thomas Davis, rotating G’s sr’s
James Smart, Marques Slocum (6-6, 325), and Frank Pirrotta, T’s Matt DeMarco (6-3, 340) and Robert Grant (6-3, 320), and TE’s Derrell Hand (6-4, 315) and jr. Chris Farmer (6-5, 245). FB’s jr. Wayne Donahue and sr. Kelven Quick did a good job of lead blocking.
Defensively, the Burrs were led by emerging soph. DE Anthony Rhoades who finished with 12 tackles (7
solos), including 2 sacks. In total he had five TFL’s that accumulated 17 yards. This
kid just seems to get better with each passing week. Donahue, playing on a banged-up knee
with his usual hard-hitting self and finished with 11 tackles. DE Farmer added a sack and
jr. DB Parris Shannon ended North’s last
drive with a pick. Sr. LB Michael Evans had his
most productive game of the year with 7 tackles. Slocum added five stops in the middle of
the line. Sr. K/P Josiah Morley punted three
times for a nice 38.7 average I was really impressed with the way North played and
competed. For many stretches of the game their will to win seemed to be at a higher level
than West. McNamara didn’t rush for a high average, but was tough throughout. Sr. QB Joe Waclawski had a really nice game and threw
some nice balls. He finished 10-for-18, for 126 yards. Eight of his completions went for
first downs. North passing game was extremely successful on quick two-step drops and fade
passes. Waclawski’s main target was Robinson, who caught 5 passes for 83 yards. He
also added 113 yards on five returns, and finished with 198 all-purpose yards.
Defensively, the Falcons didn’t provide much resistance to West’ running game,
but played hard nonetheless. Sr. LB Matt Sharkey
forced two fumbles and recovered one of them. On one of his forces he nicely poked the
ball out from behind of the huge Hand as he rumbled down field on a 35-yard gain. He also added six tackles, including a half of
sack. Jr. DB Jeff Nance also recovered a
fumble. Frosh. DB Pete Sellecchia stood out for
a young player and led the Falcon defense with nine tackles. Sr. OT/DT Hector Guzman (6-2, 250) played well on both
lines. He made five stops on defense. Sr. LB David
Tankelewicz and jr. DT Rasuel Thomas each
recorded a sack, while jr. LB Charles Klink
added a half of sack amongst his four stops. McNamara and sr. DB Gene Zimmaro evenly split 10 tackles. Romans was
impressive on his two field goals and he also lifted a high booming kickoff five yards
deep into the endzone for a touchback. With the win West clinched first place in the CL
Blue. North is safely sitting in fifth place and has earned a playoff spot. This team, if
they continue to show emotion and play smart, could cause an opponent some trouble come
playoff time.
OCT.
29
CL RED
Roman 34, Ryan 14
Roman scored three
fourth-quarter touchdowns to pull away from a gritty group of Raiders and secure third
place in the CL Red. The Cahillites slept-walked through the first half, furthermore
proving that for one reason or another this team just doesn’t start out games running
all cylinders. Roman attempted an onside kick to start the game. It appeared that they had
the Raiders outnumbered in the area of the ball. However, the rock hadn’t traveled
the necessary ten yards, and when it did a Ryan player alertly jumped on it. It took Ryan
just six plays to move 50 yards, capped by a 25-yard run by jr. RB Joe Zeglinski. He actually accounted for 51 yards
on the drive, as Ryan was called for two-procedure penalties. On the scoring run he headed
up the middle and found himself amongst a mass of humanity, he then calmly bounced a few
yards back and busted it outside, scoring rather easily. After the score the Roman
defensive group took a serious lambasting from defensive coordinator Brian Conroy. Since it was early the stadium wasn’t
crowded yet, and the Roman faithful were actually stunned by the ease of the touchdown. I
imagine that you could hear Conroy’s displeasure from the streets surrounding the
stadium; he was that loud and perturbed. In the latter stages of the second quarter Ryan
had another decent drive into Roman territory, but it ended when soph. DB Dominique Joseph made an INT in the endzone on
fourth down. Now, with a sign of life the Cahillites took advantage, and behind the
passing of sr. QB/DB Tim Hoban knotted the game
when he found jr. WR/DB Cory Jackson in the
middle of the endzone on 15-yard strike with just :20 seconds remaining in the half. Ryan
had five defensive players near Jackson, but Hoban whizzed the ball over one player’s
outreached hand and Jackson nicely hauled in the pass. The drive covered 80 yards on 13
plays, and lasted a tad over three minutes. Hoban was 4-for-6, for 57 yards on the drive.
The Cahilltes got right into business at the start of the second half and marched 70 yards
on 9 plays to untie the game. Again, it was Hoban doing the damage. This time he found jr.
WR Dan Jordan (4-55) on a beautifully thrown
deep post pattern for a 30-yard score. Instrumental on the drive were a 12-yard keeper by
Hoban and 15-yard completion from Hoban to sr. TE Matt
Schenk. On Ryan’s second play of the subsequent drive, Jackson intercepted a Ryan
pass and the Cahillites were back in business at their own 43-yard line. This time they
held the ball for 11 plays and on the first play of the fourth quarter, sr. RB Evin Jones plowed in from the one to increase the
lead to 21-7 after a Hoban conversion run. Amazingly, in the third quarter Roman had the
ball for 19 plays and Ryan just two. They out-gained them in the quarter 121-to-minus-2,
Ouch! However, the Raiders would pull to within 21-14 on a laser of a throw by jr. QB Charles McGinn to sr. RB Chris Smith that covered nine yards. The score was
set up by a tipped-ball and juggling reception by sr. FB Ron James. On Roman’s first play of their
next possession sr. RB Mike Guinter raced 62
yards on a counter play to expand the Roman lead to 27-14. Ryan’s next possession
would end on a Roman INT by soph. DB Troy
Richardson. Jr. RB Sean Woods would bull in
from the one-yard line 8 plays later to provide the final score. Prior to the touchdown
Jones rumbled for 21 and 46 yards on back-to-back plays. Hoban was above solid all
evening, and finished 9-for-13, for 127 yards. More impressively he went 4-for-4 on third
down passing to keep drives alive. He even had time to add four stops and a pass defend
while playing defense. After a slow first half, just 43 yards on ten carries, Jones again
exerted himself after the intermission. In his typical freight train style he picked up
speed and power that led to a dominant performance. He finished with 166 yards on 26
totes. His 123-yard second half allowed him to surpass the 1,000 barrier for the season
(1,080 currently). Roman produced 281 yards in the second half and accumulated 402 yards
for the game, amassing 20 first downs in the process. It was good to see the little-used
Guinter and Woods get a taste of the end zone for the first time. These two have played in
the shadow of Jones, but have contributed and done the little things all year long. Solid
line play was provided by: sr. C Jim Moore, jr.
G’s Rich Brandt and Jude Martin, T’s sr. John Haughney and jr. Dan O’Connor, and TE Schenk. Defensively, the
Cahillites were again led by tough as nails sr. LB Sean
Matthews who had a team-high 9 tackles. Jr. DB Aaron
Pryer was the only starting member of Roman’s secondary to not get a pick, but he
contributed with some hard hits and finished with 6 stops. Sr. LB Tim Plona registered a sack. The Cahilites were
guilty of nine penalties for 80 yards. Twice, they had to kickoff deep in their own
territory after receiving unsportsmanlike conduct penalties after touchdowns. First, a
Roman Asst. Coach was slapped when he questioned a missed extra-point. Then, Hoban
received one when he spiked the ball after his conversion run. Ryan started quick, mostly
behind the running of Zeglinski (16-111). The patient, quick-footed back began the game
reeling off large chunks of yardage. He finished the first half with 107 yards on 14
carries. He would only carry the ball twice in the second half for just four yards. His
first carry didn’t come until the 11:30 mark of the fourth quarter, and then on the
next play he re-injured an ankle and would not return. McGinn, a lefty, showed a strong
arm at times, but finished just 4-of-12, for 84 yards. James produced 84 all-purpose yards
on four touches, but no other Raider did much offensively. The Ryan defense played
disciplined and strong in the first half, but after spending so much time on the field in
the third quarter they eventually began to wear down. Spearheading this group was sr. LB Mark Wyszynski who had a game-high 10 tackles.
Jr. DB Mike Varanavage was next in line with 9
stops. Sr. DB Mike Pinto hustled throughout
with 7 tackles. Sr. DB John Michalowski was
active with six stops. Sr. DT David Sykes,
sr. LB George Colbert, and jr. DT Kyle Connelly each chipped in with five tackles.
Sr. DT Joe Jackson (6-4, 290) appears quick and
agile enough to garner some looks from 1-AA’s. With the win Roman clinched at least
third place in the CL Red. They’ll host O’Hara next Friday night with the winner
earning second place. Ryan will need to win against Bonner next week to make the playoffs,
and hope that Father Judge loses to SJ Prep. A loss to Bonner and the team that opened the
season with impressive showing over Suburban powers Pennsbury and Neshaminy will be
watching the playoffs from home.
OCT.
23
CL BLUE
West Catholic 33, McDevitt 6
The Burrs
capitalized on an early Lancer turnover and in essence never looked back. On
McDevitt’s second play from scrimmage, sr. RB Damian
Jordan failed to accept the handoff from sr. QB Ed
McGrory. The ball found the waiting arms of Burrs’ sr. DT Derrell Hand (6-4, 315) who scooped it up and
lumbered seven yards to the McDevitt 12-yard line. Three plays later, jr. WR/DB John Maddox took a speed-sweep around the right
edge for an 8-yard score. On the Burrs next possession it was Maddox who found the end
zone again, this time on a 18-yard pass from frosh. QB Eric Brennan. This score was set up by a 36-yard
Brennan-to-sr. WR Antoine Stout (3-63) toss and
a 13-yard Brennan-to-sr. FB/LB Michael Evans
completion. The Burrs would make it 20-0 right before the half on a sr. RB Chris Diaferio 1-yard score. Jr. QB Steven Powers was at the helm during this drive,
and he led the offense quite nicely. He went 3-for-3, for 39 yards on the 10-play, 74-yard
drive and looked comfortable in doing so. It was good to see this kid experience some
success, after what has been an injury-plagued career at West. Powers was more than likely
on his way to becoming the Burrs' starting QB before he broke his thumb during camp. He
has been back for a few weeks now and continues to try to shed the rust. He still could be
a factor for the Burrs before it’s all over. Diaferio added two more scores in the
second half for the Burrs. His first went 55 yards as he split two-McDevitt DB’s. The
last one, his third of the game, covered just one yard, but it was set up by his 44-yard
burst on the first play of the fourth quarter. In the game, Diaferio covered 156 yards on
18 totes, 110 of these yards on 8 carries came in the second half. He also added a
conversion run after one of the West scores. Brennan finished 5-for-10, with 77 yards. He
threw some nice balls in completing four successive passes. However, he did overthrow a
couple of receivers, with one leading to a pick. Soph. RB Dennis Shaw ran well and got into the McDevitt
secondary a handful of times. He finished with 75 yards on 13 carries. The Burrs offense
churned out 389 yards in the game. Paving the way up front was: sr. C Thomas Davis, G’s sr. James Smart (5-10, 265) & sr. Frank Pirrotta, T’s sr. Robert Grant (6-3, 320) & sr. Matt DeMarco (6-3, 340), and Hand. Grant played
with a heavily wrapped cast on his left hand. The Burrs were missing D-1 prospect sr.
DT/OT Marques Slocum (6-6, 325), who sat out
the game with a high-ankle sprain. The Burrs defense was stingy throughout. Maddox made
two-leaping INT’s, and now has seven picks on the year. Evans forced a fumble and
made a pretty one-handed INT before going out of bounds during the second quarter. He
finally looks to be getting close to 100% after fighting turf-toe for much of the season.
Hand, without Slocum playing next to him possibly played his best game of the year. He was
active early and often. Three of his four tackles went for losses. However, his most
memorable play of the game probably came on the offensive side of the ball when he took a
hand-off from a fullback position and rumbled for a 14-yard gain. Sr. LB Kelven Quick led the defense with five tackles.
Soph. DE Isiah Edmond added a sack. Soph. DE Anthony Rhoades and jr. DB Matt Ambrosine evenly split 8 tackles. Late in the
game, reserve jr. DT Roosevelt Ben (6-5, 260)
registered five tackles. Leading tackler jr. LB Wayne
Donahue missed the second half with a bruised knee. The Burrs defense held the Lancers
to just 64 yards rushing on 27 lugs. This game was important for the Lancers in their
search for one of the final playoff spots. However, the early fumble really seemed to get
them down, and they never actually got any kind of continuity on offense. Their leading
rusher, Jordan managed just 41 yards on 17 carries. Syracuse recruit, sr. FB/LB Lamar McPherson, was mainly used as a lead blocker
and had only two carries for three yards. I wonder how much he has really recovered from
the severe injury he experienced last season. You would think even a 70%-to-80% McPherson
would be worthy to get more than just two totes. He actually looked pretty good on a
couple of kickoff returns (two returns for 84 yards). After West’s first score he
went 56 yards on the ensuing kickoff and looked strong in doing so. He also added 6
tackles on defense. McDevitt used three quarterbacks in the game: sr. McGrory (the
starter), jr. Tom Maha (returning from injury),
and soph. Frank Doyle (mop-up duty); they
collectively went 8-for-20 for 85 yards. McGrory struggled mightily and threw all three
picks. It was the youngster Doyle who allowed his team to avoid the shutout when he threw
an 8-yard scoring pass to jr. WR Abraham Doe
with just :18 seconds left in the game. Maha did some nice directional punting (3-43.3
avg). Sr. WR/DB Steve Merlini played hard as he
usually does. He caught three passes for 57 yards. On defense he had a team-high 11
tackles, and seemed to be everywhere. Jr. RB Emanuel
Harrison (3-35) had a nice 26-yard run late in the game that helped set up the
McDevitt score. On defense, soph. DB Joe Mitros
made an interception. His brother, jr. Brian Mitros
made six tackles and blocked an extra-point. Jr. DT Robert
Marino recovered a fumble late in the game. Soph. DE Brandon Williams and jr. DT Mike Wojcik (6-4, 260) evenly split ten tackles.
Jr. LB Steve Gallagher was active and made
six stops. Next week, McDevitt plays a critical game when they travel to Norristown to
take on Kennedy-Kenrick. The winner will more than likely secure a playoff berth. The
Burrs can clinch first place in the CL Blue with win over North Catholic next week at
home.
OCT.
22
CL RED
Roman 25, Bonner 13
Offensively, the first half was bland and sluggish, as both teams
struggled to mount any kind of offensive consistency. The only points came with just :18
seconds left when sr. QB/DB/K Tim Hoban nicely
lined a 33-yard field goal between the uprights. The Cahillites went into the locker room
with a narrow 3-0 lead. However, the second half would be a complete turnaround in the
play-making department. The teams combined for 35 points and 404 yards of offense. Roman
seized control early when jr. DB Aaron Pryer
forced sr. RB Carl Graham cough-up the rock on
the second play of the half. Soph. DB Dominique
Joseph recovered the fumble and the Roman offense was in business at the Bonner
26-yard line. Two plays later sr. FB/LB Sean
Matthews bullied his way in from the six. On the conversion, sr. DB Cory Jackson took a shaky snap and nicely ran it
in. He damn near faked a Bonner defender out of his shoes in doing so. The Friars would
strike back on their next possession when sr. FB Jeff
DiSipio scurried in from the one. The score was setup by a lovely 24-yard pass and
catch between jr. QB Marc Verica and sr. WR John Quinn. Verica narrowly lofted the ball over a
Roman defender and Quinn showing tremendous concentration hauled in the pass. The
Cahillites extended their lead to 18-6 after a bulldozing run by sr. RB Evin Jones. The powerful back took an option pitch
from Hoban and had all kinds of real estate around the left end. At around the nine he
came across one last Friar defender and promptly landed the thunder blasting his way to
pay dirt. Did anyone get the license plate of that truck? Bonner would again get back in
the game when DiSipio scored his second touchdown of the game, this time from 2-yards.
This score was also set up by a big pass play, as Verica connected with sr. WR Mike Heppler for 51 yards. On the ensuing kickoff
the Friars sent a pooch kick (still 8:00 left) into the middle of the field, a mad scrum
erupted, but Roman’s soph. RB Ricky Nau
came up with the pigskin. The Cahillites iced the win with an 8-play, 60-yard drive for
the last score. On third down, Hoban found Matthews along the right sideline on a
late-developing play. He easily trotted into the end zone for a 13-yard score. On the
play, Hoban rolled right and his two primary options were well covered in the end zone. He
did a great job of patiently allowing Matthews to come free underneath. Speaking of
Matthews, in my opinion he is the heart-and-soul of this Cahillite club. Tonight, he
showed why! Coming into the game he had only touched the ball twice on offense. However,
in this game he netted 67 yards rushing and receiving and scored twice, one of each. In
the first half he caught identical passes on each side of the field for seven yard gains.
Those plays help set up the field goal. Defensively, he was his typical stellar self and
had a team-high 10 tackles. It took a while for the bruising Jones to get rolling, but
when he did he had the Bonner defense chasing, pulling, and tugging to bring him down. He
finished with 133 yards on 23 carries. He also contributed 58 yards on two receptions.
These two grabs were equally as important as the rushing yards. Both led to touchdowns.
The second was a 38-yard gain on a third-and-16 play midway through the fourth quarter. He
was WIDE OPEN coming across the middle deep downfield. Jones finished with 223 all-purpose
yards in the game. The play of Hoban had to be very encouraging for the Cahillite
faithful. A week after taking his share of lumps against SJ Prep he bounced back nicely.
He finished 7-for-16, and 104 yards. Many of his completions were clutch. For good measure
he converted two third-downs and one fourth-down with runs/sneaks. Late in the game he
added a nice over-the-shoulder INT in the endzone to prevent the Friars from drawing
closer. Not to go unnoticed is the fact that
he booted his first field goal of the year and drilled both PAT attempts. A certain
reporter had mentioned that Bonner held a big advantage in the kicking game earlier in the
week. I wonder who this was? Smile!!! Tough-guy of the game goes to jr. RB Sean Woods, who early in the game left with an
injured ankle. In obvious pain, it looked like he would not return. However, he made it
back onto the field after the half and gutted out 34 yards on 6 carries. Sr. LB Brian Chiodi recorded back-to-back sacks late in
the first half. The sacks accumulated 19 yards in losses, and more importantly forced a
Bonner punt. Roman ultimately drove and scored on Hoban’s field goal. Sr. DT Jim Moore added a sack, and sr. DT John Haughney and sr. LB Tim Plona split a sack. Joseph was active with 8
tackles. Jr. LB Ryan McAdams played a nice game
with 6 stops. The Roman defense held Bonner to just 58 yards rushing on 29 carries The
Friars were once again led by Verica, who threw for 184 yards, on 12-for-22 passing (162
yards in second half). This kid continues to develop and quite frequently demonstrates the
poise needed to be a top-flight leader. Many of his completions had all of the needed
attributes: zip, touch, and accuracy. His main target was Heppler who ended up hauling in
six grbs for 128 yards. Graham (12-57) had a couple of decent runs, but never really got
in the flow of the game. Six different Friars caught passes. Defensively, the Friars
played hard, but on a few instances they failed to get critical stops. I was very
impressed with the play of jr. DT Pat Dix (6-2,
250), who lived in the Roman backfield in the first half. He finished with 9 tackles. His
partner-in-crime in the interior of the Friar d-line, sr. DT Mike Nolan (6-3, 270) had five stops. Jr. LB Matt Boland equaled Dix and registered 9 tackles.
Boland often plays with a ton of passion and fire. Soph. LB Mike Dougherty was next with seven tackles. Jr. DE
Steve Wheatly also added 7 stops. Jr. LB Matt Licci and sr. DB Ryan Juisti evenly split 12 tackles. It’s
back to the drawing board for the Friars, who were coming off a couple of impressive wins.
They’ll finish the season with two road games (Ryan & La Salle). They’ll
need to win one of these games to lock up a playoff berth. The Cahillites will probably
claim the third spot in the CL Red with the win. It was a great bounce-back road win for
Roman after last week’s pasting at the hands of SJ Prep. It should go a long way in
getting back some confidence for the latter part of the season. Just a thought, but why do
teams opt to spike the ball in a hurry-up situation after the clock has stopped when a
first down gained? To me wouldn’t it be wise to line up and run a play, instead of
losing that down? This isn’t directed at Roman because they did it tonight, but
because I often see this happen and was wondering why it occurs as much as it does.
OCT.
16
NON-LEAGUE
Bonner 17, West Catholic 13
The Friars gave the Burrs their
first blemish of the season in a hard-fought and intense high school football game.
Basically, it came down to Bonner making the plays necessary to outlast the Burrs. They
weren’t bad plays by West, but good plays by Bonner. Trailing 13-10, with 5:50
remaining, Bonner took over at their 33-yard line. They held the ball for ten plays, and
with just :47 seconds remaining, sr. QB Marc Verica,
on a first down play found sr. RB Jeff DiSipio
coming across the front of the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown pass. There were many big
plays during the drive. Twice, the Friars converted third downs. Sr. TE Mike McCall (3-30) caught two huge passes, 11 and
7 yards. The first converted a third-and-eight. Sr. RB Carl Graham (more on him later) unleashed a
16-yard burst after McCall’s 11-yarder. Shortly thereafter, Verica found sr. WR John Quinn for 16 and 9 yards on back-to-back
plays. Verica was held relatively in check for most of the game, but was 5-for-5, with 47
yards on the game-winning drive. Can you say leader, poise, and clutch? West’ glimmer
of hope was all but snuffed away from them on a holding penalty during the ensuing
kickoff. Soph. RB Dennis Shaw (15-54) returned
the ball 45 yards to the Bonner 45-yard line. However, the penalty brought the ball back
to the West 25-yard line. Jr. DT Pat Dix (6-2,
240) and jr. DE Steve Wheatley each had sacks
during the Burrs' last ray of hope. The Friars came in with a good game plan and really
bottled up the Burrs' offense, especially in the second half. They held West to just 6
yards rushing and 73 yards of offense after the intermission. Forty of these yards came on
one play. The Burrs were severely hampered by the loss of leading rusher, sr. RB Chris Diaferio (7-45) for the entire second
half. He was forced to leave the game with a bruised/stiff neck suffered while playing
defense. No Friar was more pumped about the game than Graham, who spent three years at
West. Coming into the game no team had rushed for more than 100 yards against the Burrs
defense. Today, Graham accomplished that feat by himself. He finished with 129 yards on 18
totes. He showed speed, elusiveness, patience, and determination in doing so. Known
primarily as a breakaway threat and outside runner, today he trusted his blocks and ran
hard inside. Though the Burrs held him for no gain or negative yards seven times, he did
uncork significant runs of 16, 16, 22, 14, 44, and 16 yards. Doing this against a team
that had virtually shutdown the running games of all of their opponents - - Quite
impressive! Much credit needs to go to the
Friar O-line. Playing key roles in this area were: sr. Alex Fremont (6-3, 250), sr. Dave Fremont (6-3, 270; his twin), sr. Rich Canfield, sr. Matt Minutolo (6-3, 255), jr. Steve Clement, sr. Mike Nolan (6-2, 270), and McCall. Another game of
seeing Verica, and another game of me leaving impressed. He finished 9-for-16, and 112
yards. In the overall scheme of things these were just modest numbers, but the intangibles
that I mentioned earlier are what stood out. At times the Burrs put significant pressure
on him, but he kept his cool and made the plays in the end. Late in the first half he
directed a game-tying 63-yard drive that was capped when he found, sr. WR Mike Heppler (3-53) down the left sideline for a
24-yard score with only :58 seconds left in the half. The drive was also aided by a
17-yard completion to Heppler , 13-yard run by jr. RB Frank Bizzari, and a questionable interference
call on a Burr defender. Sr. DB/K Ryan Juisti,
with the wind at his back nicely boomed a 48-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter.
Earlier in the game Juisti blocked a Burr punt. Defensively, the Friar front-four were
tremendous. This group included: Ends Wheatley (7 tackles, batted ball, sack), Canfield,
T’s Nolan and Dix (5 tackles, sack). Jr. LB Matt
Licci was his typical gritty and hard-nosed self with a team-high 8 tackles. Jr. DB Ryan Hunt chipped in with 7 tackles. Emotional
and spirited jr. LB Matt Boland had a sack
amongst his five stops. Soph. S Mike Dougherty
was active with six tackles. The whole defensive unit for the Friars deserves credit for a
well played game. Sr. P Andrew Case beautifully
coffin-cornered a punt to the West one-yard line. The Burrs sputtered offensively for most
of the game. Seven of their eleven possessions lasted four plays or less. However, they
did put together a nice 99-yard drive for their first score. Runs by jr. FB/LB Wayne Donahue (21 yards), Shaw (16 yards), and
Diaferio (33 yards) keyed the drive. It was capped by a 1-yard sneak on fourth down by
frosh. QB Eric Brennan. Later, Donahue (6-37) gave the Burrs a 13-7 lead with a one-yard
plunge. That score was setup by 40-yard connection from Brennan to jr. WR John Maddox (2-54) that placed the ball at the
Friar 5-yard line. Maddox showed good concentration as he swung his body around to make
the grab, narrowly keeping a foot in bounds. Brennan, finished 4-for-10, with 81 yards.
The Burrs all but abandoned their passing game during the quarters when they went against
the wind. However, they had chance to put the game away on the first play of the fourth
quarter. Faced with a fourth-and-3 from the Bonner 29-yard line Maddox was lined up to the
far side with one-on-one coverage. A fade pass was called, but Brennan either rushed the
pass or the ball slipped out of his hands. The Friar defensive back had already fallen,
but as Maddox came back for the ball he momentarily lost his footing as the ball fell
short. He ended up trapping the ball against the ground. If the pass had traveled another
foot or two he would have easily caught the ball and ran in for the score. This is not a
poor reflection on Brennan. I think he has done a very good job to date. I believe he will
only get better as he gets stronger, but it is going to be hard for the Burrs to rely on
such a YOUNG player to win you close games. It is obvious that the kid is in the midst of
growing into his body; therefore rolling him out to is off-side might not be the smartest
of things. He got crushed doing this late in the game. I would also like to see the Burrs
expand the playbook for times when their normal offense struggles. Over the past few years
West has had tremendous success pounding the ball at opposing defenses and mixing in the
pass when defenses least expect it. These ingredients have been very successful. However,
I have noticed that in the few instances were this hasn’t worked they have struggled
mightily. I wouldn’t mind seeing some screens, draws, and passes to running backs out
for the backfield. Believe it or not, but only three players have caught balls for West
this season, and none is a running back. Defensively, the Burrs had some really good
moments, but at times exhibited poor tackling that allowed the Friars to convert some big
plays. They also appeared to be tired as game wore on. They did get to Verica on occasions
and sacked him five times. Sacks were had by: Donahue, soph. DE Anthony Rhoades (1.5 – 3 TFL’s), sr. DT Marques Slocum (1.5), and jr. DB Harold Davis and sr. DE Derrell Hand each split a sack. Jr. DB Parris Shannon made a nice leaping INT and then
returned the ball 19 yards. The diminutive Davis excelled all afternoon and had nine
tackles, four went for losses that accumulated 18 yards. Donahue was active and he also
had nine stops. Slocum (5 tackles) and Hand (4 tackles) each were involved on three
TFL’s. Maddox and soph. DE Isiah Edmond
evenly split 10 tackles. Even though this unit gave up a late game-winning score they
continue to be the backbone of the team. West jr. DB Tyrek Smith made a nice save of a sr. K/P Josiah Morley punt when he dove and kept the ball
from bouncing into the endzone. Heads-up play of the day goes to West sr. DT/OL James Smart who calmly caught the second half
kickoff after signaling for a fair catch. In the long run this loss may do a lot of good
in the Burrs quest to get that elusive CL Blue Championship. Now they can refocus
themselves and be better prepared for when the tight games during the playoffs come
rolling around. I still believe they are the team to beat in the CL Blue. Bonner now has
played two consecutive solid games and with the most difficult part of the season behind
them will look to build momentum as they head towards the playoffs. They should battle
Roman for that third spot in the CL Red. On a personal note I spent a good portion of the
second half in the press box as an annoying rain/drizzle fell. It was the first time I
ever kept stats from up above. It wasn’t bad, so will I continue to do this? Probably
not, I enjoy the interaction from the sidelines too much.
OCT.
15
INTER-AC
Episcopal 13, Penn Charter 7
The Churchmen
finally got that monkey off their backs, but to Head Coach Rick Knox and his team it must have felt like a
300-pound gorilla. Episcopal hadn’t beaten Penn Charter for 15 years. Can you say
jubilation? That’s exactly what the Churchmen and all that have either played,
coached, or cheered must feel this evening. This was only game one of the Inter-Ac season,
but its implications were extremely high. After preseason play these two teams look to be
the favorites for the crown. Now, the Churchmen currently find themselves in the driver's
seat for that elusive title. Things didn’t start off that great for Episcopal, as
PC’s sr. RB/LB Paul Sweeney split the EA
defense for a 51-yard touchdown giving the Quakers an early lead midway through the first
quarter. However, EA would knot the game late in the first half on a 9-yard run by
franchise, sr. QB Brian FitzPatrick. It was
FitzPatrick, who moments earlier set up the score when he went 47 yards to the Quaker
7-yard line. Three plays later he made a beautiful read on a run/pass option play. Rolling
out right he calmly avoided a few defenders before slashing his way into the end zone. The
game remained deadlocked 7-7 until the latter stages of the third quarter. Then,
FitzPatrick and his magic struck again. This time EA was faced with a third-and-12 from
their own 28-yard line. With FitzPatrick in the shotgun, the ball from center went low.
The cagey QB calmly picked up the bobbled ball and continued on with the intended play, a
keeper to the left. Somehow, he managed to avoid the Quaker pursuit, and then broke a
tackle before tiptoeing like a ballerina along the sideline. He was brought down 57 yards
later at the Penn Charter 15-yard line to complete a truly magnificent run. Shortly
thereafter, jr. RB Chris Lenane (14-46)
squirmed in from the 3-yard line with 10:25 left. Right before that, FitzPatrick converted
a third-and-four from the nine, when he found freshman TE Sean Cohen for a 6-yard reception. Cohen had a
relatively clean uniform before this play, but changed all of that when he dove for the
sticks. This was a very good play by an extremely young player. This score would provide
the difference as Episcopal’s defense forced a punt and two turnovers on
Charter’s last three possessions. First, sr. LB Lou Calabrese would recover a fumble with 2:43
remaining. Then, freshman DB Bobby FitzPatrick (Brian’s
younger brother) would make an interception with :24 seconds left. There were many heroes
for the Churchmen today, but like in most weeks it was the play of the elder FitzPatrick
that really turned heads. He ripped the Charter defense for 219 yards on 24 carries. The
good news for the Quakers was that they held the elusive and deceivingly strong
FitzPatrick to 13 carries of 3-yards or less. The bad news, he torched them for
significant runs of 20, 47, 57, and 50 yards. Just when they thought they had bottled him
up, he would strike. His 50-yard run would have been an unbelievable 95-yard touchdown,
but it was called back due to a clip. For the record the foul looked to occur
significantly behind the play. On the run, an inside keeper, he ran up the middle, bounced
off a few tackles and then made an amazing spin move to get into the open where he found
nothing but open pastures. It was nice!! Sr. FB Pete
Wichman was used more as a decoy, but did get 45 yards on just 5 carries. Episcopal
churned out 326 yards on 46 carries. The boys paving the way up front were: jr. C Scott Ritrovato, OG Calabrse, jr. OG Ben Kissner, jr. OT Zach Morse, sr. OT Greg Isdaner (6-4, 310), and sr. TE Joe Rosati. Defensively, it was again Rosati from
his inside-linebacker spot leading the way. He finished with a team-high 10 tackles. This
kid just makes plays and is the FitzPatrick of the defensive unit. He, along with Isdaner
should be drawing attention from the Villanova, Delaware, and Patriot League schools. I
like the spunk and determination that Kissner shows on the defensive line. He was next
with 6 tackles. Jr. LB Rob McCallion was solid
with five stops. Sr. DB/WR Dylan Brown had four
returns for 56 yards and had a couple almost in sloppy conditions. I like the way Penn
Charter played, but in the end they just couldn’t string enough good offensive plays
together. Sweeney ran hard and tough, and finished the day with 115 yards on 16 totes. Sr.
QB James Hannah had trouble finding much
rhythm. He finished just 3-for-12, for 78 yards. All of his completions went to sr. WR Ryan Nanni. During the second quarter he failed
to handle snaps on back-to-back plays. The Quakers went from first-and-10 on the EA
22-yard line to third-and-13 on the 25-yardline. They went on to lose the ball on downs.
Defensively, the Quaker unit was game all afternoon. Jr. LB Joe Rauchut made a nice one-handed interception on
a screen pass and had 9 tackles. Jr. DE Brian
Teuber also made nine tackles and was very active. Sr. DT Colin Hitschler was his typical hustling self and
had a sack amongst his 7 stops. He also blocked a PAT. Sweeney was in on 8 tackles. Soph.
DB Sammy Zeglinski played an aggressive game
and made 6 tackles. Sammy’s older brother, sr. RB/DB Zack Zeglinski, arguably the heart-and-soul of the
team has been lost for the season with a knee injury suffered shortly before the opening
game. This Quaker team may have lost another important player as sr. TE/DE R.J.
Hollinshead fell victim to a knee injury early
in the game. I saw him just prior to the start of the second half and asked what happen.
He replied, “I don’t know, I just heard something pop.” Not good, but lets
hope it’s not too serious and he gets back out there soon. Jr. P R.J. Lyons punted four times for a nice 36.8
average in not-so-good conditions. Jr. DB Sam
Biddle made a nice heads up play when an Episcopal punt glanced off him. He quickly
realized it and calmly jumped on the ball. During the fourth quarter the referees drew the
ire from plenty of the Episcopal faithful located along the sideline. The Churchmen were
whistled for 5 penalties for 55 yards during the final quarter. A fifteen year winless
streak against a rival can get more than a few people antsy (smile!).
OCT.
10
CL BLUE
Wood 35, North Catholic 0
The Falcons entered the contest
with the hopes of showing that their (3-1) record was legitimate, and not the product of a
suspect schedule. While the Vikings were looking to get back in the mix at the top of the
CL Blue division. To put it mildly, the Falcons had their wings clipped severely by a
physical Wood team. This was no contest, as the Vikings thumped North in every facet of
the game. North would only manage two first downs (one courtesy of a penalty) and would
cross midfield just once all afternoon. Wood dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides
of the ball. Defensively, they held the Falcons to a measly 13 yards of offense on 30
plays, OUCH!!! On 24 rushes North netted a negative-3 yards!! Their nine offensive
possessions went as follows: three plays - punt, three plays - punt, three plays - punt,
four plays - downs (at own 21), two plays - half, four plays - punt, four plays - fumble,
three plays - punt, and four plays - downs. Not a pretty sight! Leading the charge for the
Vikings on defense was hard-hitting and instinctive sr. LB Bill Gross, who went
nuts for 3 sacks among his12 total tackles, and a forced fumble. In total, he had 6
TFL’s for 31 yards in losses. All three of his sacks followed the same suit, as he
blitzed through a gap in the line untouched, and then easily threw North’s sr. QB Joe
Waclawski down before he could react. Jr. DT Mike Gallagher was active along
the line and made four stops. Sr. LB Pat MacAfee also made four tackles. Sr. DB/WR James
Harrigan added a fumble recovery. In fact, the whole defensive unit for the Vikings
deserves credit, as they really bottled the Falcons up all afternoon long. As impressive
as the Wood defense was the offense was equally as impressive. Jr. RB Bryan McCartney had
the breakout game he was waiting for. Last season McCartney had a tremendous sophomore
campaign, but he has struggled some in the early portion of the season. There were no
struggles today, as he torched the Falcon defense unmercifully. He scored three touchdowns
(18, 16, & 13 yards) and rushed for a season-high 224 yards on 28 totes. In the game
he had twelve runs of ten or more yards that just shredded the North defense. Wood scored
on five of their first six possessions. They had touchdown drives of 7 plays/52 yards, 11
plays/51 yards, 8 plays/73 yards, five plays/21 yards, and 11 plays 67 yards. Also
providing scores for the Vikings was Harrigan who hauled in two TD passes from sr. QB Chris
Hanson, these went for 14 and 8 yards respectfully. The fourteen-yarder was a serious
back-breaker for North. It came on a fourth down play into a stiff wind. Harrigan made a
nice leaping grab over a couple of smaller Falcon DB’s. Hanson, who entered the game
as one of the leading passers in the city was not asked to throw much. He finished with a
modest 54 yards on 5-for-10 passing. FB’s MacAfee and Gross did a commendable job of
lead blocking. Much credit needs to go the Viking offensive line consisting of: rotating
TE’s sr. Bryan Howard, jr. Ryan Dolan, and sr. Pat Haviland,
OT’s Gallagher and sr. Stephen Bednarik, OG’s sr. Greg Thomas and
jr. Matt Knox, and sr. C Christian Szablowski, who is the heaviest of the
linemen at just 245 lbs. This group dominated throughout, and paved the way for 329 yards
in offense and 20 first downs. Not too many bright spots for the Falcons, as I’m sure
the are disappointed with their performance. Tough, sr. RB Shane McNamara hardly
had room to breathe and could only manage 19 yards on 8 carries. He was active on defense
and routinely stuck his nose in there for a team-high 8 tackles. Sr. DT Hector Guzman and
sr. DB Dwight Williams (two - pass defends) were next with six stops apiece. Jr. LB
Charles Klink had a sack among his four stops. He also boomed a 59-yard punt late
in the game, and punted five times for a 36.4 average. Sr. DB Joe Szychulski and
sr. LB Matt Sharkey evenly split 10 tackles. Three of Sharkey’s stops went for
losses. Soph. WR Daryl Robinson did a nice job returning kicks with 81 yards on
three returns. Wood ran 55 plays to North’s 30. The final 14:26 of the game was
played with a running clock.
OCT.
8
CL RED
Bonner 53, Judge 20
Sr. RB Carl Graham’s 77-yard kickoff return broke a 20-20 tie late in the
third quarter and started a scoring spree that featured 33 consecutive Bonner points in
just 7:44 of action. Graham ended up scoring five touchdowns in the game. He also scored
on runs of 8, 15, 27, and 1-yard. He finished the game with 12 carries and 115 yards. Two
of his scores were of the highlight variety. During the kickoff he caught the ball with
good momentum going forward, he made a slight move to the right, and then headed into the
pack where he jumped over a blocker/defender, from that point it was off to the races, as
he easily outran all of the Crusaders. His 27-yard score was his best run from scrimmage.
The play went left, where he got outside, as the Judge defense strung him out along the
sideline, but he calmly side-stepped one man and then bobbed-and-weaved before cutting
back across the field for an exhilarating touchdown. Graham is a transfer from West
Catholic. He experienced some success last year, but rarely saw the field backing-up Burr
great Curtis Brinkley. He did get one start against Penn Wood last year on
Thanksgiving and ran for over 200 yards in that game. The Friars had many stars on the
evening, included in this was jr. QB Marc Verica (6-4, 193). The more I see this
kid, the more I like. He appears to be wiry strong and has real good feet. Tonight, he
went 7-for-11, with 171 yards and a TD. He also rushed for 56 yards on 8 carries, while
scoring on a 35-yard designed keeper around the right end on a third-and three play. His
shortest completion went 19 yards. When he gets adequate time to throw he can be very
dangerous. Sr. WR Mike Heppler (2-60) hauled in a 36-yard scoring strike. Sr. RB Jeff
DeSipio had a nice all-around game going for 103 all-purpose yards on just 8 touches.
Sr. QB Andrew Case, who started much of his sophomore and junior years scored on a
12-yard run in mop-up duty. On Verica’s scamper for a touchdown, sr. OG Alex
Fremont (6-3, 260) made not one, but two beautiful downfield blocks to free Verica.
Including a errand center snap the Friars had thirteen different players rush the ball in
the game. Defensively, sr. DB Kevin Niedelman had a game for the ages. He made two
fumble recoveries, picked off two passes, and even had time to make 9 tackles, Phew! Jr.
LB Matt Licci had a game-high 10 tackles and showed toughness throughout. Jr. DE Steve
Wheatley chipped in with 6 tackles and jr. DB Ryan Hunt was active with five
stops. Jr. LB Matt Boland forced a fumble, sr. DT Mike Nolan (6-2, 270)
added a sack, and sr. DE Rich Canfield also made five stops. Right now, the
Crusaders look like a depleted squad. Tonight, like in past weeks they suffered their
share of injuries. They actually led 17-13, and then after Bonner went ahead 20-17 again
showed life with a 13-play, 54-yard drive that resulted in a game-tying field goal.
However, after that it was all she wrote as the Friars frolicked big time. Jr. QB Justin
DeCristofaro completed eleven passes, but many were on the short side. He finished
11-for-25, for 92 yards and a 5-yard score to sr. TE Pat Taylor near the end of the
half. Jr. RB Jeff McMahon ran hard for 71 yards on 15 carries, and scored a TD. If
they game would of remained competitive these totals probably would of went up. Jr. RB/WR Erik
Frazier had 73 yards rushing and receiving. On the defensive side of the ball sr. Greg
Gontz recovered two fumbles. Sr. LB Brian Hampson also recovered a fumble and
sr. Joe VanBuskirk recovered a muffed punt to set up the first Crusader score. The
leading tacklers were sr. DT Fran McIntyre and soph. DB Tom Hayes who evenly
split 10 tackles. Jr. WR Will Taggart and jr. DB Matt Rodriguez both nicely
blocked PAT’s. Sr. K/P Dave Read boomed two FG’s (both 35 yards) and
punted four times for 36-yard average. He got some real good hang-time on a couple.
OCT.
8
NON-LEAGUE
Loyola-Blakefield (MD) 21,
Episcopal 7
In a physical and hard-hitting
game the Churchmen suffered their first loss of the season to a very good team from
Baltimore. In Fact, the Dons are the #1 ranked team in Baltimore and #8 ranked team in the
state of Maryland. Loyola seized control right from the opening possession. It took less
than three minutes for them to march 65 yards for an opening drive score. Later, Episcopal
fell behind 14-0 midway through the second quarter. This time the Dons went 73 yards on
fourteen plays. On the drive Loyola twice converted on fourth downs. The second came on a fourth-and-goal from the two. On the
play the Loyola rusher narrowly broke the plane of the goal. The Churchmen came right back
to get within 14-7 on a 60-yard burst by, sr. QB/DB Brian FitzPatrick off an option
play to the short side of the field. On the play, Ftizpatrick got around the right edge
and impressively broke a tackle on a hard hit before streaking down the sideline. Shortly
thereafter, Episcopal had a golden opportunity to possibly knot the game up. On
Loyola’s next possession, sr. DB Dylan Brown intercepted a pass and returned
it 40 yards to the Loyola 22-yard line. However, two plays later Brown failed to handle a
pitch and Loyola recovered the fumble halting an Episcopal scoring chance. Next, the Dons
did what most good teams do and made the Churchmen pay for their miscue. In just four
plays Loyola went 80 yards to score their third touchdown of the half, and grab a 21-7
lead. Again, Episcopal had a chance to draw closer before halftime. With :25 seconds
remaining Fitzpatrick found frosh. WR Jimmy McGoldrick (3-60) for a 19-yard
completion that put the ball at the Loyola five-yard line. There was also a
roughing-the-passer penalty and ball was placed at the 3-yard line. At this time Episcopal
still had a timeout remaining. I thought they were going to call it, but there appeared to
be some confusion. So, the play was whistled in with FitzPatrick standing with the coaches
near the sideline. He hurriedly ran to the huddle and got the play off. Brown was then
thrown for a 6-yard loss and EA used their final timeout. There were only :02 seconds left
on the clock. On their last play FitzPatrick was pressured and ended up throwing the ball
away. The miscommunication likely cost the Churchmen two more cracks at the end zone. More
bad news came EA’s way at the start of the second half. FitzPatrick was groggy/dizzy,
and then later diagnosed with a concussion, he would not return. This was just too much
for the Churchmen to overcome. They continued to play hard and kept Loyola off the
scoreboard, but could not muster much offense themselves. Before leaving FitzPatrick still
generated 143 yards of offense. He rushed 11 times for 94 yards, and completed a couple of
passes for another 49 yards. He also made six tackles in the first half and a took a
couple of hard shots in doing so. Sr. FB Pete Wichmann also ran hard and finished
with 97 yards on 15 lugs. Jr. QB/DB Tim “T.I.” Ivory took over for
FitzPatrick and had some decent moments early, but spent much of the fourth quarter
avoiding pass rushers. Defensively, the
Churchmen played hard and after the early going matched Loyola play-for-play. They ended
up forcing four Loyola turnovers. Picks were had by: Brown (two) and Ivory, while jr. LB Rob
McCallion recovered a fumble that was forced by sr. LB Lou Calabrese. As always
the leader of the defense was sr. LB Joe Rosati who was all over the field and made
a game-high 12 tackles. This kid plays extremely hard and has a nose for the ball. Sr. DT Ben
Kissner played a gritty game and chipped in with 9 stops. The Churchmen had their
chances in this game and even out-gained the Dons 326 yards to 315 yards. Believe it or
not, but SEVEN times EA drives ended on Loyola’s side of the field. Twice drives
ended with turnovers, at the 20 and 10 yard lines. The half ended with the ball at the
Loyola nine-yard line. Also, four times Episcopal failed to convert on either
fourth-and-one or fourth-and-two. These drives ended on the Loyola 24, 27, 14, and 37-yard
lines. At some point they needed to capitalize! Leading
the charge for Loyola was their 6-2, 240 lb. QB/S Brady Smith, who has signed to
play at UConn. He absolutely dominated the first quarter. On the last play of the quarter
he turned an ankle and ended up missing a couple of possessions. He later returned and
threw a 27-yard touchdown. He finished with 61 yards (TD run) on 9 carries (many early)
and threw 10-for-19, for 132 yards. Episcopal will have to rebound and heal quickly as
they will open the Inter-Ac season against rival Penn Charter next weekend.
OCT.
2
CL RED
Roman 25, Father Judge 6
Just like the past few weeks the
Cahillites sputtered out of the gates, but just like the past few weeks they eventually
seized control and went on to win their fourth straight game. Again, it was timely offense
and solid defense that was the trick. Neither team did much of anything for the first
twenty minutes. Then, Roman struck first and doing the damage was none other than their
go-to back sr. Evin Jones. Jones put the Cahilltes in business with a 49-yard
rumble that placed the ball at the Judge 13-yard line. On the play, Jones exhibited both
of the qualities that I mentioned last week. First, he patiently side-stepped a defender
in the backfield. Then, at about ten yards down field he showed his strength when he
pulled away from a Crusader would-be tackler. However, the Judge defense stiffened briefly
and the Cahillites were faced with a fourth-and-one from the four. Was there any doubt who
was getting the ball? Of course not, as Jones broke through the middle of the line
virtually untouched for the game’s first score. It came with just :53 seconds left in
the half. Roman went up 13-0, and then 19-0 on back-to-back third quarter possessions.
Both ended on Jones’ touchdown runs, 5 and then 2 yards. Instrumental in both scoring
drives were a couple of nice receptions by sr. TE Matt Schenk. First, Schenk
converted on a third down as he caught a pass coming across the middle on his way to a
33-yard gain. Then, he made a tremendous leaping grab between a couple of Judge defenders
on a third-and-11 play that went for 14 yards. Later on, Schenk again showed his
athleticism by getting up and authoritatively blocking a PAT. This was very impressive!
Roman made it 25-0 on 102-yard interception return by jr. DB Cory Jackson (139
return yards). On the play, Judge had the ball at the seven and jr. QB Justin
DeCristofaro was looking for sr. TE Pat Taylor coming across the endzone.
However, a nice play by Roman’s sr. DT Tim Plona forced DeCristofaro up into
the pocket, which had him hold the ball a second longer than he wanted to. Taylor was
initially open, but this little delay allowed Jackson to close in and make the pick. He
shrugged off a tackle attempt at around the eight, and then it was nothing but open real
estate. Official stats will only give credit for a 100-yard INT return, but I think
we’ll all agree that 102 yards sounds better. In the game Jones ran for 141 yards on
26 carries. This was his fourth consecutive 100-yard performance. He also showed a strong
stiff-arm on more than a few runs, easily pushing away Crusader defenders. Sr. QB Tim
Hoban passed 5-for-11, for 100 yards. He completed a few clutch passes when he needed
to. Sr. RB Mike Guinter had a late 50-yard touchdown run nullified because of a
holding call. It was the Roman defense that shined on an otherwise cloudy afternoon.
Leading the charge might be the city’s best secondary. If they are not the best, they
are certainly the most athletic. The scary thing is that they’re all underclassmen.
Jackson (7 tackles, INT), soph. Troy Richardson (3 pass defends), jr. Aaron
Pryer (6 tackles), and soph Dominique Joseph (5 tackles, INT, 2 pass defends)
all had shining moments. Jackson had the hit of the game when he sent jr. WR/DB Will
Taggert flying after Joseph nicely broke-up a pass. Taggart was shaken, but got up
under his own power shortly thereafter. Other defensive leaders were; sr. LB Sean
Matthews 6 tackles, jr. DT Rich Brandt had a sack-and-a-half and forced a
fumble, jr. LB Ryan McAdams 6 tackles, and sr. LB Brian Chiodi had a sack.
The Crusaders were coming off a huge 7-0 win over Ryan and will looking for yet another
momentum-building win. I wasn’t at the Ryan/Judge game last week, but the Judge
faithful had to feel they were seeing a repeat of that game in the early going, as both
teams were offensively inconsistent to say the least. The Crusaders hung tough throughout,
but eventually were worn down by the Cahillites. Their lone score came on a 30-yard TD
pass from DeCristofaro to jr. RB Erik Frazier (4-98) early in the fourth quarter.
Other than that the Crusaders had a few decent offensive moments, but not nearly enough to
keep it close. DeCrostofaro finished with decent numbers, 7-of-15, for 151 yards, but much
of this came after the game was already decided. However, I liked his pocket-presence and
play-action ability. Another year of getting stronger should go a long way in his
development. Frazier was one of only a few Crusaders who showed considerable quickness. He
finished with 143 all-purpose yards. Soph. RB Jim Lavelle (11-45) ran hard in the
second half. Defensively, the Crusaders hung in there despite the fact that they lacked
any serious size. Sr. LB Brian Hampson led the defense with 13 tackles. Jr. DB Matt
Rodriguez (7 tackles) and jr. LB Jeff McMahon (6 tackles) each had an
interception. Sr. DB Greg Gontz was active with 9 tackles and soph. LB Luke
Seagrave registered five stops. Sr. P Dave Read punted four times for a 42.0
yard average. He had a long of 53 yards. Both of these squads are relatively young. They
had only a combined 24 seniors on their rosters.
OCT.
1
CL BLUE
West Catholic 27, Kennedy-Kenrick 6
OCT.
1
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Southern 28, West Philly 6
The
Rams scored on their opening possession and then never looked back in a solid divisional
win over the Speedboys. Leading the way was their franchise jr. RB/LB Lamone Fox,
who scored three touchdowns and added two conversion runs for 22 of his teams 28 points.
His scoring runs went for 16, 1 and 6 yards. On the day he carried 27 times for 153 yards.
This kid runs hard and is patient when he needs to be. Defensively, he led the defense
with 6 tackles and has a serious nose for the ball. Fox is undoubtedly right near the top
of significant juniors in the Pub. Southern’s other touchdown came off a pass from
sr. QB Jalil Harris, who found sr. WR Michael McClain wide open in the end
zone on a 27-yarder. This score did some serious back-breaking to West as it came with
just :18 seconds left in the half. Harris, a former Speedboy had some good moments in the
afternoon. Though a competent passer when given time, it was his running and his lovely
fakes off of options that got my attention. He had 109 yards of total offense in the game,
with 58 of these yards coming on six carries. Twice he dazzled in the open field on option
plays. Much credit needs to go to frosh. FB/LB Tyrel Cooper (5-11, 210), who was
Fox’s lead blocker all afternoon. This kid just kept pounding the line with
consistent fury despite being a youngster. It wasn’t until the late going that he got
rewarded with a couple of totes. He ran hard for 13 yards on the two carries. He also
added four tackles and forced a fumble on defense. The Rams have some biggies on the
O-line. The line featured: soph. TE Jahmel Bashir (6-3, 220), jr. C Ricky Nguyen,
sr. T Brandon Johnson (6-0, 290), frosh. T Marquise James (6-4, 305), sr. G Harry
Walker (6-2, 260), and jr. G Demetrius Tillman (6-2, 235). This group was very
instrumental in paving the way to the Rams 303 yards of total offense. The Freshman James
should be a keeper. He his still raw, but with hard work and good coaching he could be a
future stud. This kid already possess the body of a man. Defensively, soph. DB Phil
Montgomery had a fumble recovery and jr. DT Anthony Bouie added a sack. The
Speedboys just shot themselves in the feet all afternoon and never actually got on track.
Ill-timed penalties were the culprit in the first half when the game was still
competitive. West committed nine of their eleven penalties in half number one. The biggest
came with the score 8-0 Southern. Soph. QB Brandon Johnson hit jr. WR Mutafa
Iddeen (2-61) a few yards off the line of scrimmage with a pass. Iddeen made move and
then was off to the races on an apparent 88-yard touchdown. However, another Speedboy
player exhibited severe knuckleheadism (stole that from Ted) and body-slammed a Ram
defender at least 40 yards behind the play. It occurred right near the end of the run,
thus bringing the play back to the spot of the foul. The play did net 35 yards, but took
away a much needed touchdown. Later, Johnson found sr. WR Shabazz Madison on a
29-yard scoring strike. Johnson made a great individual effort to elude several Southern
defenders before reversing fields and then calmly hitting a wide open Madison. Amazingly,
it ended up being the only offensive play West Philly attempted in the final quarter.
Johnson showed some flashes and a decent arm on occasion. He only finished 4-of-12, for 99
yards, but there is some talent here. Defensively, sr. LB Daniel Bouie, a recent
addition to the Speedboy squad, led with 8 tackles. Jr. LB Tim Mitchell and DB
Johnson evenly split 10 tackles. Jr. LB Abdoulaye Bah forced a fumble. I missed who
recovered the ball, so when Bah came to the sideline I asked if he knew who ended up
jumping on it. He replied, “Yea, I forced it.” But who recovered it? “I
don’t know man, I’m too busy hitting. I’m just doing hitting now.” The
game was marred with penalties as the teams combined for 19 miscues for 163 yards.
Southern’s Montgomery and West Philly’s jr. OT/DT Darren Watson (6-4,
300) both splayed gigantic taped-up casts on their arms.
Late in the game Southern’s Brandon Johnson spotted me on the sideline during
a change of possession. At least he thought he spotted someone. I heard Johnson yell,
“Puck, Puck.....Yo, get me in that report.” I said, sure, but next time get my
name right.