Huck's Corner Football 2009 Return to TedSilary.com Home Page   Ed "Huck" Palmer is a headliner among our trusty statmen/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.

DEC. 12
CLASS AA STATE SEMIFINAL
Lancaster Catholic 23, West Catholic 21
  The dream of going back to Hershey for another state title opportunity ended this past Saturday for the Burrs on a crisp, but otherwise nice day for football at Coatesville H.S. in Chester County. And I’m sure that participating in a wonderfully played game was little consolation for Head Coach Brian Fluck and his squad. But hey, this team has nothing to hang their heads about. Over the last two seasons the Burrs made the final two and four in class AA. Furthermore, they have compiled an overall (26-5) record. Even more impressive is the fact that their five losses have come by a total of thirteen points, including a pair of one-point and two-point defeats. The teams that have beaten them have also gone onto do great things. In ’08 they lost two 4A LaSalle (PCL 4A champion) and 2A Wilmington Area in the 2A final. This season they fell to LaSalle who will play in the 4A final next weekend, Wood who lost in the 3A semifinals this past weekend, and Lancaster Catholic. No lesser-lights in that bunch, right? Ok, so what went on in this tilt? For starters it was a fast-paced game, which witnessed each team only having six total possessions apiece. LC took the opening possession 75 yards on nine plays to score the game’s first touchdown. Star sr. QB Kyle Smith broke containment and scrambled in from 20 yards. A 22-yard field goal by LC sandwiched two unproductive Burr possessions that saw them go three-and-out on each. With a 10-0 lead, LC seemed primed to increase their lead even further after a short West punt. The Crusaders started their third series at the West 33-yard line, but the defense stiffened and forced another FG attempt. This time jr. DE Jim Lynch broke free off the right edge to block the kick. West piggybacked off this momentum to finally move the ball on offense. Sparked by a sensational 40-yard catch by jr. Quran Kent, the Burrs advanced to the LC 20-yard line. A short time later, sr. QB Jarred Evans converted a fourth-and-one at the ten. Then, Evans connected with Lynch on the next play to make it, 10-7. Just 31 seconds remained in the opening half. The drive covered 70 yards on 11 plays. To begin the second half the Burrs started at the LC 29-yard line. Remarkably, they held, held, held, and held the ball some more. All total, the Burrs ran 17 plays on this opening possession. They ate up 10:04 of the third quarter clock. Phew! Evans did the honors with a 5-yard keeper around the right end. LC started their subsequent drive at their 36-yard line. On second down, Lynch and sr. LB Bill Tobin combined to sack Smith for a loss of seven yards. Faced with a third-and-fifteen, Smith somehow escaped from what appeared like a collapsing pocket. He eventually bounced free to his right and perfectly lofted a ball to jr. WR Rhys McCall in the right flat that ended up covering 28 yards to the West 41-yard line. This was a back-breaker for the Burrs to say the least. A stop there and who knows how the game turns out? Then, three plays into the fourth quarter, jr. RB Jordan Stewart rumbled home from two yards to complete this drive and give the lead back to the Crusaders, 17-14, with 11:15 left. Still, the Burrs would answer. Jr. RB Joshua Mathis made his first appearance of the game and rushed six straight times for 31 yards, moving the ball from the twenty to the LC 49-yard line. Then, on a third-and-two opportunity, jr. RB Brandon Hollomon was re-inserted and sped basically untouched through the right-side and down sidelines for the Burrs third score in as many possessions. Now, with 7:31 left the Burrs lead again, 21-17. Would the defense get that needed stop? If not, would there be enough time on the clock for the Burrs to answer again? The answer would be no to both. LC traveled 72 yards on ten plays. They would also benefit from two Burr penalties along the way. With a 1:01 left Smith, a lefty, hit sr. WR Kevin Cotchen from 8 yards on a third-and-four play. This was Smith's 50th touchdown pass of the season, which broke a tie for the most ever in season in PA. Smith also holds the records for most career passing yards and totals touchdowns in a career in the state. Afterwards, Kent returned the kickoff 11 yards to the 26-yard line. With 56 seconds and two timeouts left, the Burrs had a glimmer of hope. However, they would only go as far as the LC 47-yard line. Then, after a delay penalty put the ball back at the West 48-yard line, the Burrs’ last foray came on a hook-and-lateral try, which was thwarted by the Crusaders at the LC forty-five. A year ago, the Burrs raced past LC, 37-14 on this same stage. So, it was easy to understand the Crusaders’ joy afterwards. Meanwhile, many Burrs displayed a tear, or two, or three. Offensively, Evans finished 10-for-14 for 135 yards. Hollomon rushed for 78 yards on 16 carries. Lynch made four catches for 38 yards, while Kent turned two grabs into 55 yards. Defensively, Lynch notched 2.5 sacks, which brought his season total up to 13.5. Sr. LB Dante Dickens led the defense with 7 tackles. Sr. DT John Ruppert (4 stops) had a sack. Sr. DB Ray Manuel and jr. LB Anthony McDonnaugh each made five tackles. Sr. K Tim Carroll successfully booted all three of his PATs. He finished his record-setting career with 170 made extra-points. Evans (1,889 passing) and Kent (808 receiving) set West Catholic season yardage records. LC’s Smith finished the game with an efficient 9-for-13, 174 yards outing. The Burrs will lose some quality seniors, but the cupboard isn’t exactly bare. Five defensive starters return, as well as nearly every skill position player aside from Evans. Included in this are the two leading rushers and four leading receivers.

DEC. 5
CLASS AA QUARTERFINAL
West Catholic 19, North Schuylkill 14
  Well, they got one right! Who, you might ask? And local weather people would be the answer. Most of these individuals called for afternoon snow in the northern suburbs and lo and behold that’s just what we got. For the second straight week the Burrs traveled to Palisades H.S. in northern Bucks County for their class AA quarterfinal match-up with the Spartans of North Schuylkill. About thirty minutes before kickoff light flurries began to fall. By the time the game started, these flurries had increased in magnitude and before long we had a full-fledged snowstorm. Yep, the white stuff fell from beginning to end and came down harder as they game wore on. I’d venture to guess that at least three inches laid on the turf by game’s end. This was true despite an admirable performance put in by the Palisades field staff, which did their best to clear yard markers and sidelines throughout. Things began ominously for the Burrs, too, as the Spartans roared 76 yards on six running plays to start the game with a touchdown. West would answer late in the opening quarter and it came via a big play. On a third-and-twelve chance, sr. QB Jarred Evans fired a rocket on a slant pass to jr. WR Quran Kent, who split a pair of defenders, then nicely maintained his footing on a desperate tackle attempt from behind. The play covered 76 yards. This output was enough to give Kent the single-season receiving record for the Burrs with 753 yards. The old record was held by Rob Gentile (726) in the ’87 season. West would go onto grab the lead on the first play of the second quarter with a defensive score. An intended screen pass was slightly deflected by jr. DE Jim Lynch, which caused the ball to sail into the waiting arms of soph. DB Kevin Malone, who easily scampered into the end zone from 42 yards. Later in the quarter the Burrs seemed to dent the scoreboard once again, when Evans took a sneak on fourth-and-one for a 23-yard score. However, the ever-popular assisting-the-runner penalty was called and wiped out the touchdown. When is the last time any of us have seen this one called? West failed to convert another fourth down immediately afterwards. However, the Burrs defense would notch their third turnover of the first half when sr. DT John Ruppert made his second fumble recovery of the half after a Spartan pitch went awry. This gave the ball back to the Burrs at the Spartans’ 20-yard line. Wasting little time, sr. FB/DE Brian Mosby took a guard-trap play right up the middle for an easy-as-pie touchdown. The conversion pass failed and the Burrs led, 19-7. In the second half, the Burrs seemed to be on their heels throughout. Their first possession ended with a pick on a deflected ball. This allowed the Spartans to march 39 yards on 9 plays to make it, 19-14. With 5:31 still left on the third quarter clock, we were far from over. The Burrs offense continued to sputter afterwards, and would only manage one first down the rest of the way. The Spartans would have three more possession after the scoring series midway through the third quarter. All of them began in West territory. The first one started at the West 41-yard line. A pass interference call put the ball at the twenty. However, Lynch supplied back-to-back tackles for losses, including a 10-yard sack. On fourth down, sr. DB Ray Manuel made a pass defend to end this threat. NS’s next possession started at the West 46-yard line. After one first down, the Spartans stalled again, giving the ball back on downs to the Burrs. Sr. LB Dante Dickens made the key play on this series with a tackle for a 3-yard loss on third down. Eventually, things got extremely dicey for the Burrs. Sr. P Mike Grogan bobbled a low snap on a punt, then kicked a low line drive into the Spartan’s rush. When the snow had settled, NS was in business at the West 29-yard line with 1:29 left. With no timeouts left they decided that the pass would be the way to go. On four straight passes the ball fell incomplete. West took over with 1:08 left and exhausted the game clock with a pair of kneel downs. West did outgain their opponents, 260-to-199, but managed just 18 yards of offense in the second half. Also, 202 of these yards came on just six plays. The other 35 tries netted just 58 yards. Jr. RB/DB Brandon Hollomon managed 74 yards on 17 carries. Evans turned three completions into 130 yards on eleven throws. Mosby gained 39 yards on his 3 carries. Defensively, the Burrs were mostly solid throughout, as the Spartans needed 59 plays to gain 199 yards (3.4 per play). Tackle leaders were: Ruppert (6 solos, 2 TFL’s), Manuel (8 solo), and Dickens (7 solo) who all made nine stops, respectively. Lynch was next with eight. Jr. LB Anthony McDonnaugh (five) and sr. LB Bill Tobin (four) were active. Over the last three weeks the Burrs have knocked-off teams who entered those games with a combined (35-0) record. It gets no easier next week, when the Burrs will play Lancaster Catholic (13-1) for the second straight year in the eastern final. Last year, the Burrs sped past the Crusaders, 37-14, in a game played at Northeast H.S. This game will be played at Coatesville H.S. in Chester County. It will be played at 1 o’clock on Saturday. The Crusaders possess sr. QB Kyle Smith, who has the most career passing yards (8,300+) in PA history. Smith will also enter the game tied for the most touchdowns thrown in a single season with 49. Phew!!!!

NOV.  26
THANKSGIVING RIVALRY
CATHOLIC/INTER-AC
Malvern 17, SJ Prep 16
  OK, let’s set the stage a little in terms of where the mindsets of each of these teams might have been heading into this game. Last week, the Hawks fell to La Salle, 35-28, in an emotional and what had to be spirit-dampening PCL 4A final. The Friars were idle last week, but a week earlier edged previously unbeaten Chestnut Hill to create a three-way tie (Also Haverford School) for Inter-Ac honors. Certainly, one could think that the teams didn’t enter the game with similar frames of minds. And that would probably be understandable, too. Still, at the outset it was all Hawks again. Again? Well, if you remember, but last year the Hawks jumped on the Friars, 21-0. Only to have Malvern roar back and win a classic, 34-27, that preserved a perfect season in legendary head coach’s Gaspare “Gamp” Pellegrini final campaign. This time the Hawks jumped to a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter. A 10-play drive ended on downs for the Hawks to begin the game, but the next time they had the ball they moved 66 yards on seven plays to ignite the scoreboard, as soph. RB Eric Neefe bounced in from five yards out. The next time the Hawks had it they need just six plays to march 48 yards. While under a heavy rush soph. QB/DB Skyler Mornhinweg threw off his back foot just before getting hit and found a wide open sr. FB/LB Stephen O’Hara inside the five. After catching the ball he easily waltzed into the end zone. I never had the sense that the Hawks would go on to frolic, but I did envision a possible three touchdown victory. Then, it happened! The jolt the Friars needed. After the Hawks were whistled for a procedure on the kickoff, they were forced to re-kick five yards further back. Malvern sr. RB/DB Wally “Boomer” Spencer received the ball at the thirteen and then went untouched for a relatively easy 87-yard return. Just once did Spencer have to shift angles during the return and that was to avoid the kicker with a subtle, yet devastating juke. After the touchdown, Malvern’s defense would hold and force a three-and-out. The Friars would follow this with their one true drive of the game. They held the ball for 13 plays and marched 70 yards. In the middle of the possession they overcame back-to-back penalties that put them in a third-and-19 ordeal, when sr. QB Chase Gunther found jr. WR Michael Bolte down the left sidelines for 32 yards to the Hawks’ twenty. Interestingly, Bolte exceeded his receiving yardage for the season on the play, as he entered the game with just 26 yards on the year. From here Gunther found Blote for another six to the fourteen. Sr. RB Bobby Hill rushed for a first down to the ten. The touchdown-scoring sequence went like this: Spencer for three to seven, Hill for six to one, and Hill for one for the tying score. With 2:08 left in the half the Friars had fought back to tie it at, 14-14. The Hawks would threaten afterwards and reached the twelve late in the half, but Malvern held thanks to a sack by sr. DT Jack Moran and intentional grounding call. This was followed up with consecutive pass defends by jr. DB JoJo Rava, who was superb in the Friar secondary all day. To start the second half a promising Malvern drive ended at the Hawks’ 24-yard line, when Gunther narrowly missed Spencer streaking down the left-side on fourth down. However, Malvern’s defense, which gained momentum as the game moved along, struck immediately. Jr. DB Chris O’Brien sacked Mornhinweg, forced a fumble, and made the recovery on a terrific individual play. Malvern took over at SJP’s eleven. The Hawks held, but sr. K/P Mark Tiberi belted a 22-yard field goal to break the tie with 6:22 left in the third quarter. The Hawks would answer with a nice drive that appeared to give them the lead again. Soph. RB Desmon Peoples scored on a ten yard rush, but a holding call negated the score and brought the ball back to the nineteen. This was followed by an offsides call on the Hawks. Then, two plays later Rava ended the threat with a pick at the seven-yard line. However, the Hawks would move closer a short time later. On Malvern’s subsequent possession, O’Hara finished off Hill in the end zone for a safety after frosh. LB Jared Alwan and sr. DE Bill Mancini forced him to retreat in backwards motion after a hand-off. The Hawks would go onto have four more possessions after this. The first two ended in punts. The third came with 5:57 left and began at their 26-yard line. It ended nine plays later when they failed to convert on fourth down at the Malvern 47-yard line with 3:20 left. Still, the Hawks’ defense would force a punt for one last opportunity. Tiberi uncorked a dandy of a kick, though. The high, spiraling kick (49 yards) landed at the three, bounced high, thus giving jr. DB Sean Gordon time to corral it as he jumped into the end zone and tossed it back to soph. LB Reiley Syrek who downed it only inches from the goal line. A wonderful play all the way around! SJP’s last foray started with 2:07 on the clock. The sequence went as follows: A Mornhinweg keeper for five to the six, followed by three successive incomplete passes. O’Brien and Gordon provided the coverage on fourth down on a pass thrown towards the Malvern sidelines. With no timeouts left, all the Friars had to do was exhaust the final 1:31. The Hawks’ sidelines implored the defense to let them score, but that chance would not happened, as head coach Kevin Pellegrini summoned his team to take three kneeldowns. Obviously, Gamp’s savvy didn’t fall far from the tree. Smile! The Hawks just about doubled the Friars in first downs (18-to-9) and total yards (331-to-171). Gunther did a good job directing an offense that never turned the ball over. This was definitely a key! He had his best passing day of the year going, 9-for-17 for 127 yards. Bolte (3-72) led the receiving corps. Malvern could only rush for 44 yards on 31 carries, with Hill (17-28) being the most active. Defensively, the Friars had many stalwarts. O’Brien finished with nine total tackles and three pass defends. Rava had six pass defends to go with his pick. Soph. LB Eddie Morris notched a sack and had a total of nine tackles. Soph. LB Sam Schmucker made eight tackles. Soph. LB Joe Nilan was active with seven stops, while Gordan made five and added three pass defends. For the Hawks, the really seem to rely on the aerial attack today. Yes, a lot of their throws came in the final possessions of both halves, when a hurry-up was in order, but even at other junctures they seem to throw more so than a traditional SJP team normally would do. Mornhinweg finished 19-for-39, for 216 yards. I went back and looked at the SJP team pages from this decade and never have they thrown the ball this much in a single game. This spanned 125 games. Only three other times did they break thirty attempts and these were games that also ended in defeat. The six beneficiaries via the passing game were; sr. WR Bobby D’Orazio (4-47), O’Hara (4-42), Peoples (4-31), sr. WR Pete Hurley (3-31), sr. WR Colin Rodgers (2-23), and sr. TE Dan Pellicciotti (2-42). Morhinweg finished with seven rushes and only one of these came on a called run play. So, all total he went back to chuck it 45 times! And at game’s end he appeared battered. Peoples led the rushing attack with 111 yards on 16 carries. This allowed him to reach the 1,000-yard mark (1,050) for the season. The Hawks now join West Catholic as the only city team to produce 1,000-yard rusher in every season this decade. Defensively, Mancini (5 tackles) and sr. John Arena (7 tackles) had sacks. O’Hara made six stops. Alwan (five), jr. LB Jeff Heath (2 TFL’s), and Rodgers were next with four. There was a good crowd on hand, but it probably didn’t reach the level of the crowds in the first two years of this game. Gamp was honored at halftime and many, many, many former players were on-hand to meet him on the field. He was presented with a ball and a future Malvern athletic complex at the school will be named in his honor. It is well-deserved!

NOV. 14
AA SUBREGIONAL SEMIFINAL
West Catholic 44, McDevitt 22
  Not sure if in city football history we have ever seen two teams play each other three times in four weeks, but that’s exactly what took place today at the South Philly complex between the Burrs and Lancers. In a quirky development, West and McDevitt met to settle one of the semifinal games in the District-12/1 subregional. Bok rolled past Lower Moreland, 42-0, in the opening game of the doubleheader. And just like first two meetings by these teams, the Burrs took the nightcap. Three weeks ago the Burrs bested the Lancers in the PCL AA regular season finale, 28-12. Last week, they won the PCL AA championship, 35-7. Today, it looked like they would frolic even more so, as they held a 23-0 halftime lead. During the first half the Burrs out-gained the Lancers 268-to-31 and held a 12-to-1 first down advantage. After already losing twice to the Burrs it would have been real easy for the Lancers to rollover and quietly end their season. Not to be, though. After holding the Burrs to start the half, McDevitt converted three third downs on their way to scoring their first touchdown of the game. Sr. QB/DB Drew Siegfried found freshman WR/DB Eerin Young in the right corner of the end zone for a 13-yard score. Sr. RB/DB Gary Postell added the conversion run to make it a 23-8 game. Things got even better for the Lancers a short time later. Sr. DE Wallace Weaver sacked and forced a fumble from Burr sr. QB Jarred Evans on West’s subsequent possession. Sr. DE Matt McGrory recovered at the Burr 36-yard line. The turnover paid immediate dividends when Siegfried kept an option around the left-side and raced home for the score. Again, Postell provided the conversion run. Oh baby! A twenty-three point lead had dwindled to just seven in 1:02. Would the Burrs regain control? You betcha! It took West just 55 seconds to answer, as jr. RB/DB Brandon Hollomon sped 50 yards just two plays into the drive to make it 30-16. Ok, McDevitt made their run and now they’re just run out the string, right? Nope! McDevitt would score their third touchdown in as many possessions when Siegfried again connected with Young (3-71). This time they converted a fourth down play that went for 35 yards down the McDevitt sidelines. The extra-point sailed wide left, but we still had a one possession game at, 30-22. West would answer again, though. Spearheaded by a 46-yard kickoff return by Hollomon, the Burrs needed just five plays to cover 35 yards. Evans did the honors with his third one-yard touchdown plunge of the game. McDevitt’s next drive started at their ten. Eventually they were faced with a fourth-and-five. With time running against them Head Coach Pat Manzi thought best that going for it was the call. However, Siegfried was sacked by jr. LB Anthony McDonnaugh to end the drive and give the ball back to the Burrs at the McDevitt eight. Two plays later sr. FB/DE Brian Mosby rumbled in from the one with 4:24 left. McDevitt held the ball to the final minute, but eventually gave it over on downs at the Burr 44-yard line. The Burrs ended it with a pair of kneel downs. West rolled to 378 yards in the game. Evans was on point throughout the first half, where 163 of his 176 passing yards came. He finished 11-for-16 (Just 1-of-2 in 2nd half). He did good job of spreading the ball around, too. Early on he found jr. WR Quran Kent for 21-yard touchdown. Kent finished with five catches for 95 yards. Hollomon had an active game and ended with 234 all-purpose yards. He rushed 12 times for 143 yards, made three grabs for 30 yards, and added another 61 yards on returns. Jr. RB Joshua Mathis chipped in by rushing 11 times for 50 yards. The offensive line was very solid up front. This group included: Soph. C Dom DiGalbo, sr. G’s Jake Zuzek and sr. Marcus Burwell, jr. T Rodney Linder and sr. Erik Harper, and jr. TE Jim Lynch. Defensively, McDonnaugh led with 2.5 sacks amongst his six total stops. He had four total TFL’s worth 20 yards. Sr. DB Ray Manuel and Zuzek (3 TFL’s) each made seven tackles. Lynch had a half-of-sack. Soph. DB Kevin Malone made a pick. Sr. LB Dante Dickens, sr. LB Bill Tobin, and Mosby each made four tackles. Sr. K Tim Carroll had a record-setting day and then some. After West’s first score Carroll belted his 158th PAT of his career. This surpassed the previous record held by former SJ Prep star Pat Kaiser (’02). A short time later he kicked his first field goal of his career. The kick only covered twenty-five yards, but probably would have been good from at least forty if not more. Carroll went on to go 5-for-5 on PATs and now has 162 and counting. For McDevitt, Siegfried finished 10-for-17, for 123 yards. Aside from his long TD run, room was hard to come by via the rush. Eight of Siegfried’s 12 carries (19 yards) went for losses. Postell, McDevitt’s leading rusher, managed 37 yards on 11 carries. This total did allow him to eclipse 1,000 yards for the season. He also had 73 yards on three kickoff returns. Jr. RB/DB Martin Henry added 34 yards on 7 lugs and 52 yards on three kickoff returns. Jr. WR/DB Matt Conroy made four catches for 41 yards. Defensively, all three of McGrory’s tackles (sack) went for losses that rang-up 27 yards. Postell, Young, and sr. DB Kelsey Howell all made five tackles. West will now take on Bok for the right to reach the state playoffs as the D-12/1 representative. Last year, the Burrs overwhelmed the Wildcats, 55-0. I don’t expect to see a score like this in this go-around. Still, the Burrs will probably enter the game as solid favorites, but Bok resistance should be expected and could be had with a bounce or two.

NOV. 13
CATHOLIC AAA FINAL
Wood 21, North Catholic 7
  In a business-like approach, the Vikings won their fifth (3 PCL Blue; last two PCL 3A) title in seven seasons in a game played in a mostly spraying rain and wind-swept Charlie Martin Stadium at Northeast High. Now I know what those guys feel like on that show The Deadliest Catch. As the opening half concluded it felt like I just spent the entire first half on the bow of a fishing vessel. With the wind gusting heavily from left-to-right towards the scoreboard, the rain had no other choice but to smack me on the left-side of my face. Ok, it’s November and playoff football has arrived, so we can’t expect things to be too perfect weather-wise. But has there been a worse season in terms of weekend rain ever? All right, let’s get back to the game and put my Hurricane Schwartz lecture to the side. Here’s a shocker! But all four of the game’s touchdowns were scored with the teams having the winds at their backs. For Wood, their turn heading in that direction came in the second and fourth quarters. However, the beginning of their first scoring drive and a key moment came late in the first quarter with them traveling into the wind. Faced with a fourth-and-two from their thirty-one, Head Coach Steve Devlin summoned on the punt team. The Vikings punter is jr. Michael Downs, who also serves as a part-time WR, so athleticism exists. Wood likes to employ this snap, and then sprint to the right by Downs. For the most part he’ll just kick away, but the option to run or even pass I’m sure exists. And in this case run is exactly what he did. Good for five yards and a Vikes’ first down. A subtle play indeed, but ultra important as it turned out. A short time later, sr. QB Jerry Rahill connected on a third-and-twelve pass play to sr. WR Kevin Shaw for 31 yards to the Falcon 10-yard line. Next, the Vikings would be the beneficiaries of a pass interference call on another third down opportunity. This gave Wood a new set of downs and placed the ball at the two. From here, sr. RB/FB Kevin Murt burrowed in. This capped a 12-play, 77-yard drive. The next time the Vikings got the ball they unleashed another impressive, time-consuming drive. Again, Murt did the honors with a 1-yard bull, which capped a 10-play, 57-yard drive. Once again, it was the unsung play of Downs and Shaw that sparked the series. First, Downs made an 8-yard reception on third down for an important Vikings’ first down at the North twenty. Then, two plays later, Shaw took a flip on a reverse and sprinted 20 yards to the one. Does this kid ever do anything ordinary when he touches the ball? Smile! He has been the master of the big play for the Vikes this year. His nine receptions on the season have gone for 369 yards (41 yard avg). Wow! While two of his three rushes have gone for 17 and 20 yards, and both have ended inside the five if my memory serves. Ok, the Vikings entered the locker room with oodles of momentum. Meanwhile, I entered the press box for a little warmth and dryness. In that opening half the Vikes ran 31 plays to North’s 10. They also had a 10-to-zilch first down advantage. At the beginning of the second half, I knew North would have to act quickly if they were going to get back in this game. Presto! After receiving the second half kick, the Falcons wasted little time with the wind at their backs. Nah, they didn’t chuck it through the air, but relied on the legs of star rusher sr. Eugene Byrd to get them to payturf. It took Byrd and Co. just three plays and 1:21 to make it a one possession game. Using mostly a cutback approach Byrd ripped-off runs of 37, 2 and then 23 for a score. North would get the ball back two more times in the third quarter, but would only manage five offensive plays when they had it. You can thank a stingy Wood defense and the punting of Downs for that. Downs unleashed a pair of boots (Into the wind) good for 42 and 34 yards, respectively. The latter settled at the North 9-yard line. Then, after a 9-yard loss by jr. QB Anthony Reid back to the two. North’s brass decided on a quick-kick by Byrd, which was executed perfectly for 63 yards. It was bitter-sweet, though, as the wind-aiding quarter was dwindling away. On the last play of the third quarter, sr. RB/DB Scott Adkins took a reverse 11 yards to set-up a fourth-and-one at Wood’s 44-yard line. As the final stanza started, Devlin kept his offense on the field and took the bull by the horns. The call was a give to Murt, who saved his best run for a critical moment, rumbling off the right side for seven yards. The momentum from this lifted the Vikings to two more first downs before Rahill hit Shaw down the right hash for a 23-yard game-sealing score. North did have the ball two more times, but would only manage one first down in this sequence. Jr. DE Brian Butler (I like this kid’s motor) and sr. LB Pat Glemser thwarted each possession with crucial sacks. Wood really controlled the ball throughout, as they ran more than double the plays (58-to-27) than the Falcons did. Early on Rahill was very much the catalyst. He started the game with a 30-yard run and went for 109 yards on 21 carries for the game. Nearly all of his runs came on design keepers. He also added 66 yards (4-for-9) via the air. Murt toughed-out 60 yards on 21 totes. His most productive running came in the final quarter, where he had 44 yards on 10 runs. All total, the Vikes gutted-out 279 yards of offense. Let’s give the boys up front some props for a job well done. This unit included; sr. C Dan Grimes, guards sr. Steve Newns and jr. Rory Clark (6’2”, 285 lbs), and tackles soph. Frank Taylor (6’5”, 290 lbs) and jr. Chris Knott (6’3”, 265 lbs).  With soph. TE Colin Thompson (6’4”, 225 lbs) lending a hand, too. Defensively, the tackling totals didn’t pile up for individuals with North not really controlling the ball. However, as a unit the Vikes were lethal. They allowed just three total first downs. Take away the North scoring drive and they held the Falcons to 5 yards on 24 plays on eight other possessions. Glemser led with 5 tackles. All three of Butler’s stops went for losses. Sr. DT Christian Albu had four stops, while sr. LB Charlie McCairns added a trio. S. Adkins made three pass defends. He also did a good job in fielding punts (Three returns for 40 yards) in dicey conditions. For North, they were playing in their first championship of any kind since the ’56 City Title game. Byrd managed 87 yards on 13 carries, but outside of the one drive, neither he nor the Falcon offense ever got on track. Defensively, North was game and had opportunities to stymie Wood possessions, but never really received that big-time play at the right moment. Rock-solid sr. LB David Williams was active throughout with ten tackles (8 solos). Other tackling leaders were: Jr. DB Dave Sherman (eight), sr. LB Rob Butler (seven), and sr. DB Daniel Clark (six). Sr. DT Stephen Rooney registered a sack. Sr. DB Julian Huggins made a wonderful one-handed interception and 25-yard return. Despite the poor conditions there was a solid crowd on-hand. Great job by the Wood staff and players! The Vikings were a 3A state finalist last year and lost roughly 19 starters from that team. North, which is scheduled to close its door in June, will play their last football game ever this coming Thanksgiving against long-time rival Frankford. Undoubtedly, this game will be emotional. Oh yeah, kudos to LaSalle University for stepping up to host this game. It’s obvious to me that the people here GET IT. Great job in giving back!

NOV. 7
CATHOLIC AA FINAL
West Catholic 35, McDevitt 7
  The Burrs captured their fourth straight league title in a game that saw them slowly take charge as it wore on. West has now participated in eight straight league finals. They dropped the first four, but have been the victors in the last four years. The first two came against Wood, in the now defunct PCL Blue, while the next two have come versus Carroll and tonight against McDevitt in the PCL AA. I mentioned earlier that the Burrs slowly took charge. Well, late in the second quarter the score was tied, 7-7. Before this the Lancers had taken a 7-0 lead on a two-yard keeper by sr. QB/DB Drew Siegfried. This score was set-up by a 66-yard pass from Siegfried to jr. WR/DB Matt Conroy. The Lancers were also showing gumption on defense when they stopped the Burrs on four plays after a first-and-goal chance from the five. Setting up this opportunity was West jr. RB/DB Brandon Hollomon, who appeared to score a potential tying touchdown on a 57-yard run. However, the official ruled he was forced out at the five. Many in the area thought differently, though. And later film review proved the others in the area to be correct. Smile! West would tie the game on a 19-yard run by speedy jr. RB Joshua Mathis, capping a 11-play, 65-yard drive. The Burrs overcame a holding and personal foul call on the drive. Ok, now back to the latter stages of the second quarter. McDevitt had a golden opportunity to take the lead again. Jr. RB/LB Martin Henry recovered a muffed punt at the West 14-yard line, but two plays later Siegfried was intercepted in the end zone by sr. DB Ray Manuel. Two plays after this the complexion of the game would change and the Burrs would never look back. On a play-action fake, sr. QB Jarred Evans beautifully lofted a ball down the right-side of the field to jr. WR Quran Kent. During the route, Kent unleashed a subtle but devastating move on his defender, then broke free to accept Evans’ pass. A short time later he was giving the Burrs a lead they would never lose. The play covered 80 yards, but more importantly it really seemed to take the wind out of the Lancers’ sails. Just 2:10 remained on the first half clock. Afterwards, McDevitt actually drove to the Burr 32-yard line in the waning moments, but Siegfried’s last heave fell short in the end zone. The second half was all West. They scored on their first three drives and ran the last five minutes off the clock on their fourth. West out-gained McDevitt 220-to-21 in this second half. Their scoring drives covered 67, 70, and 60 yards. The scoring sequence went like this: Evans to Hollomon for 42 yards on a third-and-fourteen play, a Mathis 18-yard burst after a leaping 26-yard catch by jr. TE/DE Jim Lynch, then a tremendous, diving 22-yard reception by jr. WR Jaelen Strong-Rankin from Evans. Website sidekick Matt “Cauls” McCauley snapped-off a nice picture of the play. I told him to send it Ted, so maybe he could link it to the report. And here it is . . .
Great shot, Cauls!

 All total, the Burrs racked-up 436 yards of offense. And the contributors were of the plentiful. After misfiring on his first two attempts, Evans completed 7 of his last 8 throws for 203 yards and 3 scores. Kent (2-97) and Strong-Rankin (3-38) were his main targets. Mathis (22-125) and Hollomon (12-82, 141 all-purpose yards) complimented each other throughout. West’s offensive line featured: soph. C Dom DiGalbo, sr. G Jake Zuzek (6’3”, 290 lbs), sr. G Marcus Burwell, jr. T Rodney Linder (6’0”, 275 lbs), sr. T Erik Parker (6’1”, 290 lbs), and Lynch (6’4”, 215 lbs). Sr. FB/DE Brian Mosby and jr. FB Albert Campbell lent a hand as blockers. Sr. K Tim Carroll belted all five of his PATs. He now has 157 for his career, which ties former SJ Prep star Pat Kaiser (’02). Defensively, the Burrs really limited McDevitt’s dangerous running game to the tone of 40 yards on 27 carries. Lynch was in the backfield the entire night. He was in on four sacks in the game. Two were solos and two others he split. Six of seven tackles went for losses (32 yards). Jr. LB Anthony McDonnaugh (.5 of sack) had 6 total stops (3 TFLs). Zuzek had five tackles. Sr. LB Dante Dickens forced a fumble that sr. DB Kaheem Summerville recovered. Jr. DE Kris Padgett had a half-of-sack. Soph. DB Kevin Malone played well in the secondary with a pick, 3 tackles, and two pass defends. For McDevitt, Siegfried finished with 130 yards passing, with a 6-for-15 showing. However, he and sr. RB/DB Gary Postell could only manage 16 yards on 20 total carries. Henry had 56 yards of rushing/receiving and added 88 yards on three kickoff returns. Conroy turned his two catches into 81 yards. Defensively, sr. LB/DE Matt McGrory (sack) led with 9 tackles. Sr. DE Wallace Weaver was next with 8 stops. Chipping in were Siegfried (five), sr. LB Quinn Browning (five, 3 TFLs), frosh. DB Eerin Young (four). One of Browning’s stops was the hit of the night when he belted Mathis deep in the backfield just after he accepted the ball. Ok, so what does this outcome mean? Of course, it means that the Burrs and Lancers will meet again next week for the third time in four weeks in one of two sub-regional games. Bok (Pub champ) and Lower Moreland (D-1 rep) will play in the other. The games will be played as part of a doubleheader at the South Philly super site. The DH will kickoff at noon and four, respectively. Can you say only-in-the-district-12? One of these days logic will prevail. I just only hope I’m around to witness it.

NOV. 7
CATHOLIC AAAA
La Salle 24, O’Hara 14
  What we had today, folks, was a uniform-deciding game. Huh? Well, with the Explorers and Lions already locked into the second and third seeds in next week’s PCL 4A playoffs, the only thing still to be determined was which team would wear the darks, and which would wear the whites? Yep, this game was for home team purposes, in a game that will more than likely be played at a neutral site. Thanks to a nearly flawless offensive first quarter, the Explorers will be wearing their traditional navy home jerseys. La Salle turned all three of its first quarter possessions into 167 yards of offense and three scores to build a commanding 21-0 lead over a stunned bunch of Lions. The scoring went as follows. First, sr. QB Drew Loughery capped a six-play, 60-yard drive with a 13-yard slant pass to a wide open sr. WR/RB/LB Sam Feleccia. Then, after a 34-yard punt return by sr. WR Connor Hoffman put the ball at the O’Hara twenty-nine, Loughery would do the honors himself with a one-yard plunge three plays later. The third Explorer score would come with just four-tenths of a second showing on the game clock. Again, it was Loughery, as he found sr. TE Steve Jones on a 9-yard pass. This capped a seven-play, 77-yard drive. I don’t think the slow start by the Lions was attributed to them looking ahead or not really caring. I just think La Salle was that efficient in their execution with the ball. Trust me, but the Explorers were on point at the outset. Both teams played all of their top players except for La Salle’s jr. RB/DB Jamal Abdur-Rahman, who rested an achy knee. After the first quarter, O’Hara started to get its bearings and for the most part had the better of the play over the final three quarters. They would finally get on the board two plays into the second quarter when star sr. RB/WR/DB Corey Brown unleashed a 73-yard jaunt through the right side of the line. The most impressive part of this run was the patience he displayed early in the run. With sr. G Kardell Pressley pulling, Brown trailed him with a hand on his back early on, and then pulled out of an ankle tackle attempt before using his speed to go the distance. Impressive! In the third quarter an interception by La Salle’s sr. DB Vinny Migliarese set-up a 24-yard field goal by sr. K/P Mike Bennett to make it, 24-7. From this point O’Hara would run 38 plays to La Salle’s 12, but could only manage one more touchdown, on another run by Brown (15 yards) with 9:20 left in the game. Two other drives ended on fourth down misfires at the La Salle 26 and 22-yard lines, respectively. For La Salle, Loughery was 13-for-19, for 177 yards in the opening half, but would not connect on three pass attempts after the intermission. Feleccia was prevalent in both the passing and rushing games. He made six catches for 101 yards and out of the wildcat formation he rushed for 26 yards on 6 tries. Jones made 3 receptions for 49 yards. Soph. RB Tim Wade rushed for 114 yards on 17 carries. He reeled-off runs of 25 and 43 yards on draws. Bennett belted two touchbacks with the wind at his back. One landed past the end line. Defensively, sr. DE Steve Sinnott and sr. DT Steve Szostak were strong throughout. Sinnott recorded two sacks and made 7 other tackles. Szostak had a .5 of sack and 6 other tackles. Soph. DL Matt Maginnis also had a half-of-sack. Sr. LB Ryan Saraceni (4 tackles) forced a fumble that was recovered by sr. DB Pat Resch. Jr. LB Joseph Naji had a sack. Other Explorers who were active in the tackling department were; jr. DB Jack Forster (six), jr. DL Ryan Geiger (five solos), sr. S Shane Brady (five). Migliarese was a nuisance in the secondary all day. Aside from his pick he also made four tackles and added five pass defends. It appeared that he may have made another pick close to the O’Hara sidelines, but was ruled out of bounds. O’Hara was led by Brown (Ohio St.) who rushed for 166 yards on 20 totes and grabbed another 21 yards on a pair of receptions. He eclipsed the 3,000 barrier (3,046) for rushing yards and now has 3,902 yards of receiving/rushing. For good measure he added four tackles and a pass defend on defense. What a pleasure it is to watch this kid play! Lending a helping hand was sr. FB Dan O’Hara (11-90), who needed time to get on track, but ripped off runs of 19 (Fake punt), 16, 16, and 21 yards  in the second half. Jr. QB Ryan Laughlin was pressured quite a bit and could only manage 57 yards, on a 5-for-20 showing.  Defensively, sr. DB Andrew Onimus led with 8 tackles. Sr. DE Brendan O’Callaghan (sack) and sr. DB Kevin Johnson were next with six stops apiece. Jr. LB Drew Formica blocked a FG and had a sack. Impressive sr. LB/TE Mike Huf (6’3”, 235 lbs) and jr. RB/DB Adam Dempsey each made five tackles. Sr. DB Ameer Carroll thwarted a late second quarter chance for LaSalle with a pick in the end zone. He returned it 40 yards afterwards. Jr. LB Shawn Driggins recovered a fumble. The teams combined to run 114 plays in the game. Next week these two teams will clash again at a site and time TBA. It will have dandy potential, especially when you think that some high profile players could be looking at there last game. One other thing I like to mention in closing, but what is the deal with the winding of the clock this year? I noticed so many times were players are tackled clearly out of bounds, but the official rules his progress had been stopped prior to doing so. Fellas, if you have better things to do and don’t want to be there, then let someone else do it. The goal is not to get the games over as soon as possible. That’s just my two cents on that, smile!

OCT. 31
CATHOLIC AAA
Wood 24, North Catholic 7
  The Vikings wrapped up their second consecutive PCL 3A regular season title with an opportunistic victory over the Falcons on a wind-swept field at Wissahickon H.S. Over the past two seasons Wood has now gone 10-0 (Two playoff wins last year) over their 3A league counterparts. In these games they have outscored their opponents by a whopping, 343-to-36. Today, the Vikes pretty much settled this one during the latter stages of the second quarter when they posted a pair of touchdowns in a nineteen-second span during the quarter’s final minute. Interestingly, the foray began with a Wood miscue. With the wind at their backs (Blowing from left to right and towards the scoreboard), sr. QB Jerry Rahill’s deep pass was intercepted by jr. WR/DB Dave Sherman at the Falcon ten-yard line. Just less than two minutes showed on the clock when the Falcons took over. So, with the wind gusting into their faces and much real estate to travel, I thought the plan should have been let’s get one first down and get into the intermission. The Vikings only led, 7-0, and North would be receiving the second half kickoff. The best course to achieve this was probably to feed star rusher sr. Eugene Byrd on three straight carries. Byrd did carry on first down and got a modest three yards, in which Wood called a timeout afterwards. On second down, the call appeared to be a quarterback-draw with jr. Anthony Reid, but he slipped almost immediately and was thrown for a three-yard loss. After another Vikings’ timeout, North’s third down opportunity went awry when Reid threw incomplete out in the left flat. Kicking into the wind sr. P Stephen Rooney’s punt traveled just twenty yards, where sr. RB/DB Scott Adkins calmly received the ball and used a nifty 12-yard return to set up shop at the North 18-yard line. Four plays later Rahill raced around the right side and bulled his way to a two-yard score. Just 39 seconds remained on the clock. Things went from bad to worse for the Falcons on the ensuing kickoff, when a squib kick caromed off a Falcon on the second line and was recovered by Wood’s sr. LB Gavin Arcidiacono at the 37-yard line. Instantly, the Vikes went to work, as Rahill neatly connected with speedy sr. WR Kevin Shaw for 34 yards along the right sideline. Two plays later Rahill once again found paydirt with a 3-yard run. Only twenty seconds remained on the first half clock after this. Talk about a kick to the gut. North would never recover. Still, in the third quarter the Falcons started to make some headway with the wind at their backs. However, they ate much of the clock in doing so. It took them 14 plays to travel to the Wood one-yard line. And play fifteen did not cap the drive with a score, as jr. LB Kevin Hannings blasted through the line to belt Byrd and jar the ball loose. Sr. DT Christian Albu, who was a one-man wrecking ball in the second half, was there to make the recovery. North’s defense did force a quick Wood series and began their next drive at the Vikings’ 18-yard line after a short punt. On the fifth play of this drive, Reid burrowed in from two yards to get the Falcons on the board. North ran twenty plays to Wood’s five in the quarter, but they probably need two scores to make this a game in the fourth quarter. Just 1:06 showed on the clock after Reid’s touchdown. The Falcons would never threaten in the final stanza and Wood closed out the scoring on a 29-yard field goal by freshman Nick Visco. This followed a recovery of a muffed punt by jr. WR/DB Sam McCain. For the game, the Falcons actually out-gained Wood 168-to-153 and had two more first downs. North’s defense allowed just 12 yards and no first downs in the second half. However, the Vikings did what they typically do, and that is play hard, smart, and opportunistic football. This has definitely been the recipe for success of late as the Vikes have now won six straight games since opening the season with a pair of defeats. Rahill led the offense with 100 yards of rushing/passing. Earlier in the game he executed a solid 12-play drive that produced the game’s first score. That touchdown came on a 14-yard pass to sr. FB Kevin Murt, who was wide open in the flat on a third down play. Murt also rushed for 37 yards on 13 carries. Shaw opened the game with a 51 yard kickoff return. Defensively, the Vikings were solid throughout. As mentioned earlier, but Albu was a force in the second half. He made all eight of his tackles (7 solos) during the final twenty-four minutes. Jr. DE Brian Butler made five stops, including a pair of sacks that registered 14 yards in losses. McCain oozes versatility and made six solo tackles, an interception, and three pass defends. Jr. P Michael Downs punted four times for a 38.8 average. For North, they were led by Byrd who fought for 110 yards on 25 carries. After Wood went on top early, the Falcons appeared they would answer, as Byrd carried five straight times for 62 yards. What’s that old adage, if it’s not broke then don’t fix it? Well, the Falcons went away from Byrd after having a first-and-ten at the Wood eighteen. A rush by Reid went for zero, then two passes produced a misfire and pick in the end zone. Reid finished with 66 yards on 6-for-18 passing. Sherman caught four balls for 35 yards. Defensively, sr. DB Daniel Clark made six solo tackles. Rock-solid sr. LB David D. Williams also made six stops (5 solos). Sr. DB Gabriel Toledo added five tackles, while sr. LB Robert Butler and soph. LB Jack Schanz evenly split eight. Next week, Wood will take on Lansdale Catholic, while North tangles with Conwell-Egan in the 3A semifinals.

OCT. 30
CATHOLIC AA SEMIFINAL
West Catholic 44, Cardinal Dougherty 0
  As someone who supports a school (West Catholic) that is a shell of its former self in terms of enrollment numbers, I couldn’t help but take a moment and put myself in the shoes of the players, coaches, and supporters of Cardinal Dougherty. This was especially true as the final seconds evaporated from last night’s one-sided Burr win in a Catholic League AA semifinal and most likely Dougherty’s last football game ever.  I just thought to myself what a difficult and sad moment this must be for all of these people, who surely love their school as I love mine. The Cardinals have played football in the Catholic League for 52 seasons (and overall for 53) and compiled an overall record of 227-290-15. Twice they captured league championships (’68 & ’82). Though times have been lean over the last decade, head coach Jim Grugan and his team can feel proud that they experienced a good degree of success in their final season. The Cardinals made the playoffs and reached four total wins for only the second time in thirteen seasons. It’s disappointed that more current students and past alumni weren’t on-hand to take in the final game of this once proud program. The game was played at Truman H.S. in Levittown and I’d venture to guess that no more than 175 people total were in attendance. Yes, another in the ever-growing Only-in-the-Cath. moments, as Truman is hardly around the corner from either participating school. But that’s a story for another day. As for the game, the Burrs ended any suspense rather early when jr. RB/DB Brandon Hollomon (4-80) scored on a 15-yard run just two-and-a-half minutes into the contest, capping the game’s first possession. Still, the Cardinals would show some life during their turn with the rock, as soph. WR Nick Newman caught a 32-yard pass from sr. Trevor Pendleton to move into Burr territory. However, the drive would eventually stall at the Burr 29-yard line. Another good sequence would occur during west’s next possession, as the Cardinals forced a three-and-out and a punt. From here, though, things started to unravel, as the Burrs began to impose their will. It was the special teams setting the tone, too. First, junior LB Kevin Burns got a large chunk of the ball on a Dougherty punt. This was followed by a 16-yard scoring run by Hollomon on the next play. Thanks to a pass interference call Dougherty again moved into West territory, but again were unable to sustain the drive and had to punt. Disaster would soon strike! Hollomon fielded the punt on a couple of bounces inside his one-yard line, which probably wasn’t the greatest of decisions. Still, after an early move to avoid a tackle attempt, he soon found himself heading up the right sidelines with a convoy of blockers. Just one more cutback was needed at about the Dougherty thirty to pave the way for a city postseason record for a punt return. Yes, the 99-yard return shattered (Smile!) the previous mark by Roman’s Charlie McKinney (95 yards) in 1922. How often do we see 87 year-old records fall? Unfortunately, for Brandon he still doesn’t hold the record for a return in his own family. Older bro’ Rob (’08), who’s now excelling at Cushing Prep, returned an interception 100 yards against Dougherty in 2007. Actually, he caught it six yards deep, but high school rules only allow for a maximum of 100 yards in the stat column. What are these people thinking? Smile! West would go onto score two more first half touchdowns and with the score 35-0, the second half was played with a running clock. The fourth West TD was provided by jr. RB Joshua Mathis (10-41) on a 10-yard run. Then, in the final minute of the first half Hollomon took a short swing pass from sr. QB Jarred Evans (3-7-for-7, 80 yards) and zipped from right to left 58 yards for his fourth score on sixth touch of the game. All total, Hollomon’s six touches accounted for 237 all-purpose yards. No Burr offensive starter played in the second half and the defensive unit played just one series. This series ended is a faulty Dougherty punt that saw the ball snapped over the head of the punter, who in turn shoveled it out of the back of the end zone to avoid an oncoming rush. West’s final touchdown came from sr. RB Kaheem Summerville (13-90) on a 2-yard bull. Classy move was offered by Burr chief Brian Fluck late in the fourth quarter. West had started a drive on their 9-yard line at the very beginning of the quarter. On the eleventh play of this drive Summerville rumbled 27 yards to the Dougherty ten with 3:24 left. From here Fluck summoned soph. QB Jaleel Reed to take four knees. Dougherty would get the ball back with 47 seconds left. They had time for one more play; a 4-yard rush by sr. RB/DB Tarik Morris. Some game highlights for the Cardinals are as follows: Pendleton passed for 59 yards. Newman ended with 107 all-purpose yards (46-yard KO return). Morris finished with 63 all-purpose yards. Defensive leaders were; sr. DT Dexter Bush (6’2”, 280 lbs) with 7 tackles (6 solos), sr. LB Chris Telisma (six), Morris (five), and sr. LB Luther Harling (five). For West, the defense the held the Cardinals to 62 yards of offense, including just three yards on 20 carries. Sr. LB Dante Dickens had an interception. Sr. DB Dwayne Medley recovered a fumble forced by sr. LB Jeremy Richardson. Sacks were had by jr. LB Anthony McDonnaugh (4 tackles), sr. LB Bill Tobin, and jr. DE Jim Lynch. West jr. LB Chris Coe suffered an apparent serious knee injury while on kickoff coverage. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Chris. The Burrs have now reached their eighth straight PCL championship game and will play McDevitt, a 21-0 winner over Carroll. The game is slated for Saturday at 7 o’clock, at Northeast H.S.

OCT. 25
CATHOLIC AA
West Catholic 28, McDevitt 12
  With the win the Burrs captured their fourth straight division title (Two apiece in Blue & AA) and won their 19th straight regular season league contest. This game was originally scheduled for yesterday, but with heavy rain in the forecast the powers-to-be decided on Friday to move it to tonight. Good move! The game was played at Cheltenham High School and with all the rain yesterday the field was mostly soft, but not overly soggy. The game decided first place in the AA division, as both squads entered play unbeaten in three league games. Early on it was all Burrs and for a while there it looked like they might win comfortably and eventually going away. The Burr defense began the game with two suffocating possessions. This allowed the offense to start in favorable field position. Actually, both possessions began after good punt returns by jr. RB/DB Brandon Hollomon. The returns went for 29 and 19 yards, respectively. So, West need to cover just 36 and 28 yards on their first two tries to build a quick 14-0 lead. Both scores came via one-yard runs. First, it was sr. QB Jarred Evans on a sneak, then jr. RB Joshua Mathis (13-50) on a traditional rush. The Burrs would increase their lead to 21-0 late in the second quarter. On a fourth-and-goal play, Hollomon made a tremendous grab in the end zone and near the sidelines on a pass from Evans. What made the catch so difficult was that Hollomon had to adjust his body just before the ball got there, as well as hold onto is as he hit the ground. Nice! The play covered 25 yards. With just 1:56 left in the half, one might have thought that this could be the first nail in the coffin. The Burrs led by three scores and McDevitt’s five offensive possessions ended with four three-and-outs and a fumble. These first 14 plays by the Lancers produced zero first downs and negative-19 yards of offense. However, and to McDevitt’s credit, they didn’t go away. Following the Hollomon touchdown, the Lancers used a 40-yard pass play between sr. QB/DB Drew Siegfried to cat-quick freshman RB/WR/DB Eerin Young to bring the ball to the West 16-yard line. Four plays later, jr. RB/DB Matt Conroy broke a pair of tackle attempts and scored McDevitt’s first points on a 5-yard run. In the second half, the Lancers’ defense buckled down and forced two straight West punts. After the second one, the Lancers started with prime field position at the West 42-yard line. McDevitt needed 11 plays to cover this distance, but eventually found the end zone on a 6-yard run by jr. RB/DB Gary Postell. With the score now, 21-12, a two-point conversion try was in order. The first attempt failed when Hollomon broke up a pass towards the back of the end zone, but a questionable pass interference call was made and the Lancers were given a second chance. On this try they gave the ball to Postell on a dive to the left-side, but he was stopped just short by the Burr defensive line. With 7:08 left in the game we still had a two-score game. The Burrs would eliminate further doubt on their subsequent possession, though, as they marched 67 yards on seven plays for their fourth touchdown. Again, it was Hollomon providing the spark, this time with a 28-yard dash off the left-side with 2:56 left. The score was set-up by a huge 30-yard completion from Evans to jr. TE Jim Lynch on third-and-28 play. McDevitt would get the ball two more times after this, but both ended after just one play and on interceptions by West’s jr. DB Lamont Davis and sr. DB Ray Manuel. Offensively, Hollomon led with 90 yards on 13 carries. For the game, he finished with 179 all-purpose yards. Evans was sporadic, but still finished with 111 yards on 6-for-14 passing. Jr. WR Quran Kent made four catches for 56 yards. Defensively, the Burrs held a McDevitt team who came into action averaging nearly 241 yards on the ground to just 30 yards on 31 carries. The Lancers only mustered up 111 total yards on 40 plays. Sr. DE Brian Mosby was a force for West all game long. He finished with 8 tackles and a sack. Five of his stops went for losses (14 yards). Sr. LB Dante Dickens made four stops (2 TFL’s) and a sack, while forcing a fumble. Lynch made a fumble recovery and had five stops. Jr. LB Anthony McDonnaugh registered a sack. Sr. DT John Ruppert had four stops. For McDevitt, rushing stars Siegfried and Postell never really got on track, as running room was hard to come by. Siegrfried was able to pass for 80 yards (4-for-10), but had just minus-27 yards rushing on 8 carries. Meanwhile, Postell managed just 32 yards on 15 totes. Young was their most effective offensive player, as he notched 70 yards of offense on 7 touches. This kid has a chance to be a good one down the line. Defensively, Conroy and sr. DB Kelsey Howell were active. They hustled for 11 and 10 tackles, respectively. Sr. DE Wallace Weaver and sr. LB Matt McGrory each had a sack and evenly split eight stops. Jr. LB Joe Polansky made five tackles, including two for losses. The Burrs were whistled for eight penalties, while McDevitt had zero. To say the least, the Burr coaches were upset at the one-sidedness. Actually, McDevitt was caught once, but West committed a penalty on the same play, so they offset one another. You would think that in a game for first place the penalty calls for each team would be in the same ballpark of one another, right? Hey, I have never been one to point at the officiating. There are a couple hundred reports on this very site to prove that. And I’m not even suggesting that most of these calls tonight weren’t penalties. Most probably were. But you mean to tell that one team commits eight and the other none? I’m sorry, but I don’t buy it. And furthermore I have four years worth of penalty statistics that would blow your minds if I chose to share them with you. Keep in mind that West is (40-9) over the last four years, but the penalty columns would tell you otherwise. Just a little food for thought.

OCT. 24
PUBLIC AAAA RED
Bartram 8, Overbrook 2
  It’s been some time since I took in a game at Bartram’s Field at 58th & Elmwood, but that’s exactly where the trail led me today. Under soggy, muddy, and rain-swept conditions, the Braves and Panthers squared off to settle the fourth and final playoff spot from the Public Red 4A division. Yes, Bartram Field is one of the older sites still used around the city. No, it’s not equipped to handle rain of this magnitude, so it was unfortunate that such an important contest had to be played in these conditions. But hey, super sites weren’t always part of our worlds, so a little back-in-the-day football is what we got today. I don’t think the people over at NFL Films will be calling anytime soon to get the tape of this baby. Still, with the stakes so high, the players played with passion and the coaches coached with vigor. I had the sense throughout that all involved understood the importance of this game, and that is always a good thing, and can never be taken for granted. Ok, not much offensive flow to say the least. In fact, the game’s only touchdown came via a defensive score. Doing the honors midway through the second quarter was jr. DB Donivan Northington, who smoothly stepped in front of a pass in the right flat, and after a brief juggle, zipped to paydirt for a 26-yard score. Sr. Al-Hajj Shabazz provided the conversion on a keeper. The score ended up staying this way until the latter stages of the fourth quarter. At this point, the Panthers tried their best to steal this one late. Their first surge came after a good defensive stand deep in Bartram’s territory. After a bobbled snap on a punt, sr. DB Corey Lilly and jr. DE Chris Dorn easily swarmed under sr. P Bashir Lee for a safety. With 4:50 left, the Panthers were in business and had grabbed some much needed momentum. This momentum continued after Lilly took the free quick 11 yards to the Bartram 37-yard line. Then, sr. QB Andre Sheppard delivered his first and only completion of the day on a fourth-and-eight play, when he hit jr. WR Matthew Ayers for 11 yards to the twenty-four. The next two plays produced an 8-yard run by Sheppard and an 11-yarder from sr. Kirk Wright (13-54) to place the ball at the Braves’ five-yard line. The next sequence of downs went as follows: Wright rush for minus-two (Stop by jr. LB Lamar Richards), Wright rush for one (Stop by sr. LB Derek "Aztec" King), Sheppard rush for one back to the five (Tackle by jr. LB Jeff Byard), then a procedure call on the Panthers places the ball back to the ten on fourth down. The call here was a pass play, but Sheppard’s heave was slightly tipped by soph. RB/DB Brandon Jones and then floated harmlessly out of the back of the end zone. Afterwards, just a 1:45 remained and with Overbrook out of timeouts, all Bartram had to do was take three knees to end it. The teams combined for just 132 yards of offense on 71 plays (1.86 average – Ouch!). Overbook won this battle with 69 total yards, but accumulated 32 of these on that final possession. The offensive output by the teams was almost matched by the combined penalty totals, which came to 127 yards on 17 infractions. Bartram committed nine of their ten penalties in the opening half. Included in this were five defensive offsides. The squads combined to fumble ten times (5 apiece), but only two ended up being lost. Bartram’s leading offensive player was Jones who rushed 7 times for 34 yards. The youngster appeared to have some quick feet, despite the sloppy conditions. I was surprised he didn’t carry the ball more. Defensively, Richards was rock-solid and a force throughout. He made ten total stops (8 solos), which included a half-of-sack. Five of his tackles were made behind the line of scrimmage (12 yards). He also added a fumble recovery. Jones made four tackles and also recovered a fumble. Sr. DL Raymond Fearon (6’0”, 290 lbs) forced a fumble. Byard, a West Catholic transfer, made four stops and shared a sack with Richards. Jr. LB Russell Calloway and King evenly split eight tackles. King made the hit of the day on a crack-back block. This jolt damn near lifted a nearby trolley off its tracks. Smile! Jr. NG Najee Sample (5’4”, 290 lbs) had some beastly moments in the trenches. ‘Brook’s defensive leaders were; sr. DL Jerome Evans (6 stops), jr. LB David McCants (five solos), and Dorn with four (2 TFL’s). Jr. DT Jared Watson made all three of his stops behind the line of scrimmage, while soph. LB Eric Petterson had two of his three tackles go for losses. Sr. RB Shaun Briggs was a bright spot on special teams with a 24-yard kickoff return and a 41-yard punt return. Despite the miserable weather it was good to get out and see a Pub game again. I use to routinely see many Pub games, but my job as a Philadelphia school teacher makes it difficult to see many weekday afternoon Pub clashes. Still, some of my best memories of covering games have come on this trail. That will never change!

OCT. 16
CATHOLIC LEAGUE AA
West Catholic 57, Dougherty 19
  Boy, did this one begin unlike most had thought it would. The Cardinals took advantage of two early Burr turnovers to score the game’s first two touchdowns. First, after a recovery of a muffed punt (Recovery by #9, no such number on roster) the Cardinals set up shop on the Burr twenty. They wasted little time thereafter, as sr. QB Trevor Pendleton nicely floated a pass to soph. WR Nick Newman in the right side of the end zone just a play later. Then, two plays into West’s next possession, a poor exchange from center caused another loose ball, with Dougherty’s sr. DT Stephan Logan making the recovery. The next two plays produced a 27-yard pass play from Pendleton to sr. Jesse Rosinski and a 14-yard run on a keeper by Pendleton, bringing the ball to the Burr 4-yard line. From here, the Cardinals would need all four plays to score, but they eventually pushed their lead to, 12-0, on a 1-yard rush by sr. RB Tarik Morris. Could it be? Upset city? Well, West restored some order after sr. QB Jarred Evans snuck in from a yard out, making the score 12-7. However, Dougherty again served notice that they came to play in the latter stages of the opening stanza. From under center, Pendleton took the snap, stepped slightly to his right, and before long was zooming untouched down his team’s sidelines. The play covered 63 yards and lifted the Cardinals to a 19-7 lead with just 4 seconds left in the opening quarter. Wow! Hard to imagine that head coach Jim Grugan could have drawn up better opening 12-minutes for his club. Oops, not so fast, though. The ensuing kickoff was struck low and hard along the left-side, where shifty jr. WR Quran Kent fielded that ball at the twenty-five. At first the play appeared to be harmless, with Kent being surrounded in tight quarters. But a bob here, a spin there, and soon enough Kent found himself in the open and on his way to a 75-yard scoring return to end the quarter. Can you say momentum meter plummeting? It’s hard to say how much wind this really took out of Dougherty’ sails, but if what transpired from this point is any indication, then it was a considerable amount. Kent’s kickoff return started a barrage of fifty straight points by the Burrs. Still, West wouldn’t grab their first lead (20-19) until 4:53 of the second quarter, on a 6-yard run by jr. RB Brandon Hollomon. This would be the advantage they took into the intermission, so things were still tense for head coach Brian Fluck and his team. But this would change almost immediately in the third quarter. The Burrs went onto score four putting-the-game-out-of-reach touchdowns in this quarter. Doing most of the damage was Hollomon. At half, Hollomon (8-135) had only rushed for 7 yards on two carries. In the third quarter he rushed 6 times for 128 yards and three more scores. The scoring runs covered 36, 17, and 27 yards. The fourth touchdown was supplied by jr. LB Kevin Burns, who beautifully blocked a punt and then won the chase for the loose ball in the end zone. Heading into the fourth quarter the Burrs led, 49-19. In the final quarter the back-ups produced a nice 67-yard scoring drive. The series featured nine straight runs and was capped by sr. RB Kaheem Summerville’s (5-40) 4-yard burst. All total, the Burrs put up 386 total yards. Evans finished 7-for-12, for 142 yards. All but one of his completions went for more than 16 yards. Kent made three catches for 85 yards and ended the game with 201 all-purpose yards. Hollomon finished with 179 all-purpose yards on ten touches. This included a 28-yard punt return that nearly turned into an 88-yard touchdown. Ok, that’s not that crazy of a number. Until, of course, you mention that West only had nine players on the field at the time of the punt. As the Burr offense slowly got into gear, the defense did as well. After Pendleton’s long scoring run, the Burrs defense got extremely stingy. Checkout these numbers! Dougherty had ten possessions from this point. All ten ended in punts and nine of them were three-and-outs. During this sequence Dougherty’s lone first down and plus-ten yards play came via a Pendleton-to-Newman pass play that covered 35 yards. The Cardinals ran 32 plays from the second quarter on and managed minus-eleven yards of offense. Twenty-four of the thirty-two plays went for zero of negative yards. Phew! Furthermore, Dougherty used four quarterbacks during this stretch, as Pendleton, and then Morris, followed by Newman, all left with assorted leg injuries. Freshman FB/LB Quinzell Lasiter finished up in the fourth quarter. The Burrs defense was led by jr. DE Jim Lynch, who made seven tackles (5 solos) and a sack. Six of these stops went for losses that accumulated 26 yards. Sr. DT Jake Zuzek (6’3”, 290 lbs) had a sack amongst his five total stops. SR. LB Dante Dickens made six tackles (3 TFL’s) and a sack, as well as getting a hand on a punt. Burns was a demon on special teams where he made four of his five tackles. Soph. DB Kevin Malone made four tackles (2 TFL’s) and had two pass defends. Jr. DB Lamont Davis made three pass defends. For Dougherty, Pendleton finished with a 149 yards of passing/rushing. Newman made two catches for 55 yards and added 82 yards on five kickoff returns. On defense, he had a 14-yard interception return. Sr. DB Isaiah Howard made a recovery of another muffed punt in the late going. Sr. DE Hovard Harrison, sr. DB Isaiah Banks, and Morris each led with four tackles apiece. Punter Joe Bozzelli was a busy guy and was under extreme pressure all night. All total, he punted 12 times, with a pair of them traveling 39 yards. Not exactly a great night for a long game, but this one last roughly two hours and thirty-five minutes. As the game wound down the grandfather of West’s sr. LB Bill Tobin bellowed, “Geez, it feels like I got here yesterday.” Ha ha. This drew chuckles from all within ear’s reach. Are you wondering how I heard that? Well, with my aggravation level reaching a boiling point to due the Phillies’ loss prior to the game, I decided to avoid further discomfort from Mother Nature and kept the stats from the press box. I sat with assistant coach Albie Crosby throughout. No offense Albie, but I’m not sure when I’ll be coming back.

OCT. 9
CATHOLIC LEAGUE AA
West Catholic 62, Kennedy-Kenrick 0
  In terms of competitiveness not too much was expected in this game. The Burrs are and have been pretty much an AA team in name only. West’s talent level over the last half decade or so has shown to be greater than what you would normally see from a “smaller” type school. Meanwhile, the Wolverines are playing in their final season in the PCL and currently are working with a roster of roughly thirty players. Early on, though, it was K-K who supplied the game’s first two big plays. On the first possession of the contest sr. QB Noah Mascio found sr. WR/DB Cullen Rota for an 18-yard pass completion to convert a third down. Ok, this drive would soon stall, but West’s jr. RB/DB Brandon Hollomon would muff the K-K punt and sr. LB Ed Kelly recovered at the Burr 29-yard line. Hmmm, would the Wolves be able to take advantage? Not exactly! Two plays later, jr. LB Anthony McDonnaugh made an interception in the middle of the field. His GPS system must have been down, though, because he bobbed, weaved, and changed directions multiple times on his way to the game’s first score. Last week McDonnaugh scored another long touchdown on a 77-yard fumble return.  This one covered 82 yards and started a scoring spree that witnessed the Burrs illuminate the scoreboard to the tone of 41 points in a span of 15:06. Even the next Burr touchdown was supplied by the defense. Furthermore, it came on K-K’s next offensive play. Sr. DT John Ruppert (5’10”, 291 lbs) blasted through the line and dismantled a K-K handoff all the while jarring the ball loose. When the mad scramble had ended, jr. DE Jim Lynch was falling on the ball in end zone. The play lost fourteen yards. Ruppert was just getting started, too. In just a half of action, he was in on seven tackles (1.5 sacks), with all of them coming behind the line of scrimmage. His personal carnage was good for 29 yards in losses. Also, he later added another forced fumble and even batted a ball down at the line of scrimmage. West’s next four scores in the first half would come from the offense. In order: Sr. QB Jarred Evans (4-for-4, 67 yards) found jr. WR Jaelen Strong-Rankin for 18 yards on a right-corner fade. Jr. RB Joshua Mathis (8-105) sandwiched a pair of scoring runs (39, 14 yards) around a touchdown rush by Hollomon (3-38). This one went for eight yards. In the second half, and with the clock running, the Burrs would only run nine offensive plays (All runs) total. Two of these runs produced scores by sr. RB Kaheem Summerville (7-109), which covered 3 and 70 yards. In all honesty, K-K probably could have avoided the last two West scores. On Summerville’s long dash, it appeared that they blitzed multiple linebackers on the opposite side of where the run went. Summerville went untouched. Then, in the final minute, a pass play was called. Oops. Reserve jr. DB Kevaughn Gayle made the pick and then slashed his way in for a 32-yard touchdown. Just 23 seconds remained in the game. The Burrs achieved 338 yards on 27 plays. Good for a 12.5 average. Sr. K Tim Carroll belted 8-of-9 PATs. Defensively, West yielded just 28 total yards on 43 plays. K-K could only manage 10 yards rushing on 33 totes. Twenty of these carries went for either zero of negative yards. Ouch! Sr. LB Dante Dickens recovered a fumble. Lynch had a half-sack. Jr. LB Kevin Burns was active in the second half and made five tackles. McDonnaugh was next with four and made a walloping hit on a pass play at the line of scrimmage. Soph. LB Tristin Freeman made four tackles on special teams, while jr. DB Leroy Wesley also notched four stops. All total, twenty-two different Burrs made a tackle. For K-K, Kelly played an active game and made seven tackles (5 solos). Rota was next with four and blocked a PAT. Offensively, soph. RB Rob Edwards (9-26) was their most effective rusher. Rota turned his seven touches into 74 all-purpose yards. It was homecoming for the Burrs and sr. DB Ray “Cholly” Manuel walked away with the king’s crown. He was honored for his royalty with a game ball afterwards. Looks like a former Burr star athlete still has a little in the tank. Dave Bertoline (’88) has worked with the Burr kickers over the last few years and often spends pre-game warm-ups teaching technique. Tonight, he tried his luck at a few kicks. What do you know? Bert nailed a 42-yard field goal and then moments later sent a 45-yard attempt off the crossbar.

OCT. 5
GIL BROOKS UPDATE
  I received an e-mail from coach Gil Brooks apologizing for the incident this past Friday night (mentioned in Prep-Judge game report). I wanted to make people aware that he reached out to me and that we had a friendly exchange via e-mail. I appreciate Gil taking the time to apologize. To be fair I thought it was appropriate that I mention the apology. I have nothing but the utmost respect for Gil and the SJ Prep football program. This incident is now water under the bridge.

OCT. 2
CATHOLIC LEAGUE AAAA
SJ Prep 28, Father Judge 21
  It’s hard to imagine that SJ Prep could dominate this intriguing Catholic League 4A battle anymore through the first twenty-six minutes and thirty seconds of action. Soph. QB/DB Skyler Mornhinweg had just split a pair of Crusaders on a keeper for a 43-yard touchdown. This capped a way-too-easy, three-play, 63-yard drive on the Hawks’ first possession of the second half, propelling them to what appeared to be an insurmountable 28-0 lead. OK, so what’s the one statistic in football that can neutralize a team, no matter how much it dominates in other areas? Turnovers! The Hawks committed five of them. And while the two in the first half did more to prevent potential Prep scores, the miscues after the intermission damn near allowed the Crusaders to fight all the way back. After Mornhinweg’s score, head coach Gil Brooks summoned jr. back-up QB Paul McGann to steer his ship. However, it wouldn’t be long before these waters became choppy. McGann and sr. C Ryan Donovan mishandled an exchange just three plays into that next possession. Judge sr. DE Greg Kovacs recovered at the 25, giving his team a little life. A pass interference call on the Hawks moved the ball to the 12 on first down. Two plays later, Judge caught the Hawks on a blitz, as Smith calmly flipped a short pass to star sr. RB Curt Wortham, who easily scooted in for Judge’s first score. More disaster struck for the Hawks on their next possession. With Mornhinweg returning, he carelessly threw a pass while being brought down by jr. LB Andrew Tuscano. The ball floated right to jr. LB Connor Reilly, who did his best Dancing With the Stars impersonation and waltzed into the end zone. The pick covered just 10 yards and more importantly, moved the Crusaders to within two scores at, 28-14. As the game moved into the final quarter the Hawks appeared to be moving towards another score that would have probably cemented the victory. However, the drive stalled and the Prep was left with a fourth-and-12 from the Judge 18. Once again a Judge defender stepped up to make a play, as jr. DB Connor Thompson notched his team’s fourth interception of the game at the 8. Initially, he appeared to only have a little room to make a return, but he bobbed, weaved, and spun his way for 69 yards before being hauled down from behind by a hustling sr. WR Bobby D’Orazio at the Hawks’ 23. Five plays later Smith tossed a 3-yard score to a wide open sr. TE Kevin Leneghan. Prior to this, the Crusader drive was kept alive by a questionable pass interference call on a fourth down play. There was some contact, but it appeared to me that both players were just running hard next to one another. Anyhow, this made the score, 28-21, with 6:49 left in the game. Afterwards, the Crusaders would get the ball back two more times. First, they took over at their 41 with 5:16 left. This series ended on a three-and-out and subsequent punt. Then, they would have one last foray with 1:29 remaining. By this time they had exhausted their timeouts, but it wouldn’t matter. They gained 6 yards on a pass on second down, but Smith misfired on third and fourth down. The final pass was swatted away by sr. LB Stephen O’Hara just past midfield with 1:06 on the clock. A pair of Mornhinweg kneeldowns ended it. Last week, the Hawks lost rugged sr. RB Garrett Compton to a season-ending knee injury. This allowed much-heralded soph. RB Desmon Peoples to grab a start. Guess what? He wasted little time letting everyone know what kind of game he has. On the first play from scrimmage he took handoff through the middle of the line, broke free from a tackle attempt, and then used his speed from there for an 80-yard jaunt. In the second quarter, he used a 39-yard run on a draw play to set up his second touchdown, a 35-yard dash. In the fourth quarter, he appeared to break free gain for what would have been a 67-yard score, but had to settle for just 36 yards because he started to cramp during the run. The diminutive back (5’6”, 150 lbs) has a list of attributes that is endless. Speedy, quick, elusive, and slippery are a few. Interestingly, I was impressed with the fact that even though he is slightly built; he was still able to break away from what appeared to be sure tackles. He finished with 279 yards on 22 carries. The SJ Prep record for rushing is held by Kyle Ambrogi (’00) with 322 yards. Helping Peoples along the way were the boys up front; Donovan, soph. G Luke Hutkin (6’2”, 268 lbs), sr. G Tom Bernardi, sr. T Sean McGinn (6’4”, 257 lbs), sr. T Seth Betancourt (6’6”, 295 lbs, Boston College recruit), and revolving TE’s sr. Brett Meyer and jr. Fred Santarelli (6’5”, 275 lbs). Mornhinweg has vast potential, but struggled throwing the ball (4-for-16, 49 yards) in this one. Aside from the four picks, he also had a couple instances where he delivered the pass either too soon or too late. I think better command of this will come in time. He did have an effective night running ball, going for 82 yards on 10 carries. He also tossed for one score; a 4-yarder to D’Orazio. Soph. RB Spencer Reid (10-41) also contributed in the running game. All total, the Prep offense ran 64 plays and accumulated 460 yards. Meanwhile, the defense was stout all night when Judge was forced to drive the ball. They yielded just 112 yards of offense and forced eight punts. The linebacker duo of sr. Mike Labor and O’Hara is as good a one-two punch that you’ll find. O’Hara finished with 9 total tackles (7 solos, 3 TFL’s) and three pass defends. Labor was next with six stops, with two going for losses. Sr. DB Colin Rodgers followed with four tackles. Handling the placekicking duties for the Hawks tonight was sr. Max Coar, who is a rugby player for the Hawks. With the Hawks' usual kicker at a soccer game, Coar nailed all four PAT attempts and did a respectable job on kickoffs. The first time Coar put on a football uniform was a week ago. What the Crusaders couldn’t do in gaining yardage, they made up for in displaying a never-give-up attitude. Wortham entered the game averaging nearly 140 yards per tilt, but he was extremely bottled up tonight, and finished with just five yards on 10 totes. There will be better nights. Smith displayed poise and shifty feet on an otherwise hectic night for him. He ended with 73 yards, on 12-for-28 passing. He also added 31 rushing yards on 8 carries. Sr. DB Kevin Toner was his main target with 5 receptions for 34 yards. Defensively, jr. DB Steve Owens (5 tackles) and Toner (5 stops) also made interceptions. Kovacs had a sack. The leading tacklers were; Tuscano (eight) and sr. LB Joe Woltemate (six). Soph. K/P Dave Faraldo punted eight times for a 34.6 average. He also boomed two kickoffs for touchbacks. Of course, Tom “Puck” McKenna supplied the line of the night. During halftime, when he typically does his best pestering, he approached me and said that the Inquirer’s Rick O’Brien was in the press box. “Yo, O’Brien up there doing a bogging.” Ha ha. It was good to chat with long-time area referee Bob Zanneo during the game. Bob was part of Judge’s chain crew. As many of us know Brooks can be as intense and animated as they come on the sidelines. Tonight, his irritability level ascended as the game wore on. Allowing Judge back in the game obviously didn’t sit well with him. The game was Ted’s second story of the day. We usually like to get the coach’s opinion on which player the story should go to. Let’s just say that he was less than cordial when I approached him. When I recommended Peoples he exclaimed, “I don’t care who the (Expletive) you get, pal.” OK, that’s all well and good. Just remember, but we’re not there to make your life miserable. After all, it is YOUR PLAYER GETTING THE RECOGNITION. I’ll chalk it up to a heat-of-the-moment outburst.

SEPT. 26
CATHOLIC AA
West Catholic 42, Carroll 7
  Looks like the Burrs are trying to pick up where they left off last year when it comes to dismantling AA league foes. A year ago the Burrs outscored their four league counterparts in six games (4 regular season/2 playoff) to the insane tone of 59.5 to 9.0. Ok, maybe, this final score was a little more reasonable. The Burrs don’t have the same caliber of firepower as they did a year ago. Still, there is still plenty enough to do considerable damage and in a competitive sense this one was quite reminiscent of the games within the league last year. Played in a steady drizzle/rain throughout, the Burrs put the game in mercy rule status 19 seconds into the third quarter. To be honest, but it appeared to me that Carroll might have welcomed the rapidly moving clock. I got the sense all night that the Pats wanted to shorten the game and their main goal was to take time off the clock as often as they could. They attempted just two passes (both incomplete; both in first half) in the game. Also, they showed little urgency in getting the plays in from the sidelines and fully took advantage of the deliberate nature by the stripes in starting the play clock in between plays. Sure, Carroll doesn’t possess the aerial prowess of some of West’s first three opponents, but the Burrs did enter the game yielding 179+ yards in the air per game. I can completely understand the shortening of the game mindset, but maybe they took it to an extreme. After a Carroll three-and-out started the game, the Burrs wasted little time setting the tone and seizing control. On their first play from scrimmage, West came out with a single back and three wide receivers situated to the short side of the field. West sr. QB Jarred Evans (3-for-6, 101 yards) beautifully faked a toss in that direction, then spun around and calmly flipped a pass to I’m-the-only-one-in-this-zip-code jr. TE Jim Lynch. Lynch literally caught the ball no more than three yards from the line of scrimmage and found oodles of opening real estate in front of him. As he stormed down the left sideline no Carroll defender was close to him for at least fifty yards. Towards the end of his gallop he received nice interference from jr. WR’s Jaelen Strong-Rankin and Quran Kent. The play covered 72 yards and on the how-easy-was-it meter, it registered a ten. Going forward it was the jr. RB Joshua Mathis show for the Burrs. Mathis went on to score West’s next five touchdowns. He accumulated 161 total rushing yards and needed just 8 total carries to inflict the damage. His scoring runs covered 9, 13, 1, 1, and 76 yards. The first three came in the first half. His second one-yard score put the game into mercy rule status and followed his 79-yard kickoff return to begin the second half. Great effort by Carroll’s sr. back-up QB Luke Lyons who somehow chased the speedy Mathis down. His long scoring run came on the first play of the fourth quarter. The Burrs accumulated 357 total yards on 37 plays (9.6 avg). Good effort was put forth by the boys up front. This group includes: soph. C Dominic DiGalbo, sr. G’s Marcus Burwell and Jake Zuzek (6’3”, 290 lbs), and T’s sr. Erik Harper (6’1”, 291 lbs) and jr. Rodney Linder (6’0, 281 lbs). Evans also rushed for 48 yards on 4 carries and finished with 149 yards of offense. Sr. K Tim Carroll returned from an ankle injury and made all six of his PATs. Defensively, the Burrs received strong play from tackles Zuzek (5 stops, 2 TFL’s) and sr. John Ruppert (5’10”, 290 lbs) who also finished with five tackles and a fumble recovery. Soph. DT Devante Ford recovered a late-game fumble that was forced by sr. LB Jeremy Richardson. All total, twenty-four different Burrs were in on tackles. For Carroll, sr. FB Bryant Moritz (10-26) prevented the shutout with a 9-yard blast. The score was set up by sr. QB Chris Shuster’s 70-yard run on a keeper. Like Lyons did earlier on Mathis’ return, Shuster was persistently hunted down by West’s jr. DB Lamont Davis to momentarily prevent the touchdown. Shuster, who earlier had a 44-yard run on a similar play, finished with 132 yards on 10 carries. Carroll’s other 45 plays managed just 113 total yards. Jr. RB Julian Franklin (13-33) was their next best rusher. Defensively, the Pats were led by sr. LB CJ O’Brien and sr. DB Zach Parke, who each made six.

SEPT. 26
NON-LEAGUE
Chestnut Hill 35, Roman 14
  On paper this appeared to be at least a semi-competitive tilt, but midway through the third quarter that was hardly the case. Mercy rule status struck after sr. WR Jon McAllister accepted a deep post pass from jr. QB Danny Gallagher. The play covered 38 yards and the Blue Devils’ lead ballooned to 35-0. Roman would ultimately reach the end zone twice in the fourth quarter to give us a little more respectable final, but by this time the Blue Devils were on cruise control. Ok, so was Chestnut Hill that much better than the Cahillites? Yes, they were better, but probably not to the point where a mercy rule should have occurred. Roman actually outgained them 280-to-240 and had more first downs 17-to-9. Furthermore, they ran 55 plays to CH’s 29. However, Chestnut Hill forced four critical Cahillite turnovers. And anyone who follows football closely knows that the turnover stat is as huge as it gets. CH received picks from sr. FB/LB Tom Devlin, freshman LB Bobby Keyes, and McAllister in the opening half. Keyes beautifully sniffed out a left-side screen pass and returned the pick 29 yards for a touchdown. Devlin showed savvy on his pick, as he slyly stepped back from the line of scrimmage and stepped in front of quick slant that appeared to have all kinds of possibilities for Roman. McAllister’s pick came in the end zone late in the second quarter and probably prevented a score. After the intermission a promising Roman drive ended when a handoff was mishandled and Devlin pounced quickly to make the recovery. This set up McAllister’s mercy rule score. Chestnut Hill opened a game with an impressive scoring drive. They covered 67 yards on 11 plays. Eight of those plays were handoffs to franchise sr. RB/DB Ibraheim Campbell. He rushed for 51 yards on the series, including a key 27-yarder on a third-and-six play. He capped it with a two-yard plow. On CH’s next possession, Campbell again found paydirt with a bullish 3-yard run. This was set up by a lovely throw and catch by Gallagher and McAllister. Halfway through the second quarter Campbell displayed why he’s one of the area’s best backs. On a third-and-twelve play he accepted the ball on draw. Not once, but twice he bounced off would-be tacklers in the backfield. After the early congestion, he got outside, subtly edged back inside, before outrunning all in pursuit back to the outside and down the left sideline for a 72-yard touchdown. Impressive! This kid possesses a nice combination of power and speed, as well as a will-imposing mentality. He’s the type of back that you can contain for three or four opportunities, but you better be ready on the next one or he’ll strike. Campbell finished with 135 yards on 17 carries. McAllister caught all four of Gallagher’s (4-for-7) completions for 98 yards. The Blue Devils are a solid club. They are well-coached and fundamentally sound. The trio of Campbell, McAllister, and Devlin are as good as you’ll find in these parts. I kidded with people along the sideline that if a three-on-three football tournament ever came up, then I more than likely grab this threesome. This is no slight on the rest of CH’s team because there are some nice players littered throughout their lineup. Still, these three are just on another level. Every time Roman seemed like they were going to grab some momentum, a member of this three-pack snatched it away. Devlin serves as passionate lead blocker on offense. On defense he patrols the middle of the field. Today, he was everywhere with a pick, fumble recovery, pass defend, and 11 total tackles (7 solos). Also playing well on defense was jr. DB Corbin Booker with eight tackles and two pass defends. Sr. DT William Emery (6’0”, 260 lbs) was stout at the point of attack with five stops. Meanwhile, sr. DE Brendan Plunkett, jr. LB Corey Goldstein, and jr. DB Brian Dones (3 pass defends) evenly split twelve tackles. Sr. K/P Pat Connaghan belted all five of his PATs and recorded two touchbacks. For Roman, sr. QB/DB Kevin Regan tossed two scoring passes. Jr. FB Christian Seagrave (8 yards) and jr. TE Jack Gallagher (3 yards) were the recipients. K. Regan (6-for-16, 44 yards) has had some solid success during the early portion of this season, but today was not one of his better days. Aside from the three picks, he also had some transition issues with the center. A few times Roman plays were thrown off because of this. The Cahillites received good rushing performances from jr. RB/DB Dennis Regan (17-98) and sr. RB Calvin Garvin (9-89). Roman only had one three-and-out in the game and almost always was able to get multiple first downs when they had the ball. The turnovers just proved to be too costly. Defensively, Gallagher (2 TFL’s) and sr. DB Roemel Morrison each made five tackles. Best line of the day came from a Chestnut Hill fan after McAllister’s pick in the end zone. The onlooker exclaimed twice, “Just because you smell it. Doesn’t mean you get to taste it.” Ha ha….

SEPT. 25
CATHOLIC LEAGUE AA
McDevitt 44, Kennedy-Kenrick 6
  On an extremely pleasant night for football, the upstart Lancers remained unbeaten via an early methodical approach, which in time developed into a downright frolic. The Wolverines, who are playing in their final year in the Catholic League, showed glimpses of possibly hanging around early. They made a good defensive stand to thwart a possible McDevitt score on the opening series of the game. With the ball at the K-K 5-yard line, jr. LB Chris Ploskon tackled a Lancer receiver for a three-yard loss on fourth down. However, McDevitt would capitalize on a short field the next time they had the ball, as they covered 44 yards on 7 plays for the game’s first score. Jr. RB/DB Gary Postell capped it with an 11-yard run. Earlier in the drive he narrowly got the Lancers a first down on a fourth-and-three play. Afterwards, the Wolverines put forth probably their best drive of the game. They held the ball for ten plays and reached the McDevitt 15-yard line, but sr. QB Noah Mascio was intercepted by jr. DB Matt Conroy at the five. A twenty-yard return ensued. McDevitt would pad their lead from here, as they covered 75 yards on eight plays. Again, Postell did the honors, this time on a 3-yard burst. Big runs by Postell (19 yards) and sr. QB/DB Drew Siegfried (24 yards) spearheaded the drive. K-K’s following possession once again reached McDevitt territory, but Mascio was sacked along the Wolverine sideline by sr. DL Bruce Canada. The play resulted in a fumble with sr. DE Matt McGrory doing the recovering. Five plays later, Siegfried (42 yards) used two nice cutbacks to leave multiple Wolverines in the dust, on his way to the third McDevitt score in as many possessions. This made the score, 21-0, with 1:45 remaining in the opening half. Any semblance of competitiveness pretty much ended at this point. K-K did muster one last foray into McDeviit territory, but ran out of time when Mascio was tackled out-of-bounds at the 27-yard line. The K-K coaches pleaded for a horse collar call, but it was to no avail. As it turns out, Mascio (7-for-10, 41 yards) was injured on the play and would be unavailable for the second half. McDevitt made quick work in producing their fourth touchdown of the game on their first series of the second half. The big play was a 34-yard hook-up between Siegfried and Conroy to the K-K twenty. Three plays later, Postell reached the end zone for their third time with 7-yard scamper. Towards the tail-end of the third quarter, the Lancers would push the game into mercy rule territory. First, a high snap on a punt sailed over K-K’s sr. K/P Alex Atkins’ head. As the ball rolled near the back line, Atkins kicked it through the back of the end zone for a safety. Then, Conroy turned his only two carries in the game into 33 and 7 yards respectively, with the latter producing a score. This made the score, 37-0, with 47 seconds left in the third stanza. The rest of the game was played with a running clock. In the fourth, third-string soph. QB Sean Bryson broke a tackle in the backfield and rumbled 44 yards for the final Lancer score. K-K avoided the whitewashing when freshman QB Jamel Stinson (4-for-12, 62 yards) connected with sr. FB/LB Tim Young (6-62) down the middle of the field for a 20-yard score. Just 17 seconds remained on the clock. The Lancers were mostly efficient throughout. Siegfried and Postell are a nice one-two punch in the Lancer backfield. McDevitt is using a spread offense and Siegfried appears to have the athleticism and wherewithall to be effective in running it. He spent the final 13 or 14 minutes on the pine, but managed 147 yards in offense before exiting. He rushed 9 times for 81 yards and threw for another 66 yards (4-for-6). Postell added 85 yards on 15 carries. He also managed 73 yards on a pair of returns. On defense, he added 5 total tackles and 2 pass defends. Conroy totaled 114 total yards on his five touches. The Lancers accumulated 333 total yards on just 40 plays. Paving the way up front were: jr. C Colin Leach, G’s jr. Alvin Goodwyn and jr. Kevin Polansky, T’s sr. Sean Maguire and sr. Ryan Speller (6’3”, 280 lbs), and soph. TE Darren Wright. Defensively, McDevitt held K-K to just 132 yards of offense, including just 29 yards on the ground. Sr. DE Wallace Weaver and sr. LB Quinn Browning registered sacks. Sr. DL Tom Weinert paced the defense with 6 tackles, while sr. LB Tim Montgomery, jr. LB Joe Polansky, and Canada each made four stops. Jr. DB Chris Jarvis made four fourth quarter pass defends. SR. DB Bill Wolk blocked a K-K punt. K-K’s most impressive performer was sr. WR/RB/DB Cullen Rota who managed 113 all-purpose yards. Sr. TE Greg Guidone was active with 3 receptions for 33 yards. Defensively, Ploskon finished with 7 solo tackles (2 TFL’s). Young (five), jr. LB Lenny Martelli (five), and sr. LB Ed Kelly (four) were all involved. Next season, the Wolverines will merge with St. Pius X to create a new high school (Pope John Paul II). Tonight, the Wolverines only had 30 players in uniform. Yep, it can be tough to get kids out when the school is closing at year’s end. The Lancers are riding high and have a reasonable chance to be undefeated heading into their week eight match-up with AA power West Catholic. Don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but that scenario could result in a little excitement for a school that hasn’t had a ton in any sport over the last half decade. No doubt that would be a good thing.

SEPT. 19
NON-LEAGUE
Wood 17, Ryan 7
  Over the past six or seven years or so I have literally only been late for two games. Both of them have been at George Washington H.S. What is it with this place? Ok, it’s not around the corner from Delaware County, where I’m typically coming from, but I have traveled further to cover games and done so without any tardiness. Major traffic on the Schuylkill Expressway was the culprit today. So, when I arrived at the field roughly half of the first quarter had elapsed. Fortunately, it was still scoreless, so no major action was missed. The Inquirer’s Rick O’Brien was covering the game and assisted me on catch-up duty. This tempered my irritation level somewhat. The opening stanza would end with no score, but just prior to it concluding, the Vikings would provide a play that would ultimately become a reoccurring theme in this game. What kind of play do I speak of? The Interception! The Vikes would notch four in this contest. The first was provided sr. DB Scott Adkins, who returned it to the Raiders’ 9-yard line. This was Adkins’ tenth pick over the last two years. This particular thievery would lead to the game’s first points when frosh. K Nick Visco belted a 27-yard field goal. Later in the second quarter, jr. DB Sam McCain made a great snag of a Ryan pass while sprawled on the turf. McCain reached back and somehow prevented the ball from touching the ground. Nice! Five plays later soph. QB Joe Monaghan found imposing soph. TE Colin Thompson (6’4”, 225 lbs) for a 20-yard rumbling touchdown. Monaghan was making the start because sr. QB Jerry Rahill was out with a concussion. The score would hold at 10-0 entering the second half. Where the Raiders would show signs of life almost immediately, as sr. RB Mark Golic ripped off a 22-yard run early, then a 35-yard scoring run a short time later to make the score, 10-7. Ryan’s momentum snatching would be short-lived, though, as Wood would strike back quickly. On the third play of the next series, Monaghan beautifully floated a pass down the middle of the field that sr. WR Kevin Shaw reeled in without breaking stride. The scoring play went for 60 yards. Not much happened after this. Ryan did have a nice 13-play drive that covered 73 yards and reached the five. However, a short field goal attempt was pulled slightly to the right with seven-minutes to play. From here, Wood exhausted the rest of the clock. They held the ball for 11 plays and reached the Ryan 4-yard line. Wood Head Coach Steve Devlin made a nice gesture down by the goal line. He very well could have called a couple of additional plays and possibly tacked on another score. Instead, he called a timeout after running the game clock down. Then, he ended things by having Monaghan take a knee. Ryan is coached by Frank McArdle Jr., whose father Frank Sr. served as Devlin’s defensive coordinator the past couple of years.  The Vikings were paced by the throwing and running of Monaghan. He finished 6-of-12, for 112 yards and added another 47 yards on 11 carries, which mostly came out of a shotgun formation. This kid has possibilities down the line. I still sense a sprinkle of inexperience about him, but he brings above-average athleticism to the quarterback position. Something he does need to work on is holding onto the ball. He lost one fumble and had at least three others squirt out at the end of runs. S. Adkins (9-31) and jr. RB Rob Raison (12-61) were the Vikings’ primary rushers. Raison didn’t possess a carry in the Vikings’ first two games and is listed as a wide receiver on the Wood roster. I wonder if he had a position change during this past week. He showed some shiftiness and provided a 25-yard burst on Wood’s final drive. McCain displayed jack-of-all-trades abilities. He made three catches for 35 yards, returned a punt 37 yards, made two picks, and added a total of five tackles. Defensively, the Vikes received an interception and 8 total tackles (6 solos) from soph. DB Kyle Adkins. I’ll assume that Scott and Kyle are brothers, but feel free to correct me if need be. Sr. LB Charlie McCairns was active with 8 tackles (6 solos). Also contributing were; sr. DE Matt Hoch (6 stops), sr. LB Pat Glemser (five), and sr. DL Christian Albu (4 stops, 3 TFL’s). Jr. DL Michael Moffa had a sack. For Ryan, Golic ran hard for 99 yards on 15 totes. Not the biggest of kids, he showed heart and toughness. Sr. WR Mike DeLeo had three receptions for 51 yards. The quarterback situation for the Raiders might be a little unsettled right now. Both Dillon Cave (jr.) and Mike Anusky (soph.) are underclassmen. Cave got the start, but Anusky relieved him in the middle of the second quarter. Anusky had moderate success with 24 yards rushing on 7 carries and passed 4-for-8, for 55 yards. Defensively, jr, LB Anthony Victor showed a nose for the ball with ten tackles (8 solos). Sr. LB Tony Vendetti made 6 tackles and split a sack with sr. DT Cavan Cantagallo. Ryan fumble recoveries went to Cantagallo, sr. LB Tom Price, and Golic. Jr. LB Kurt Payne made five tackles and forced a fumble, while sr. DT Fran Corbett and DeLeo evenly split eight tackles.

SEPT. 18
NON-LEAGUE
La Salle 16, West Catholic 14
  The people from La Salle were dubbing this one the Christian Brothers’ Brawl and sported catchy t-shirts in proclaiming it. I must say, but that was tremendous foresight on their part, as this was a rock’em sock’em affair from beginning to end. Played before a great and involved crowd (I venture to say in 2,300 range) the Burrs came in as a 2A class team in name only, while the Explorers have been dubbed one of the top 4A teams in the area, if not the state. La Salle played without a couple of injured star performers in sr. WR/LB Sam Feleccia (ankle) and dynamic jr. RB/DB Jamal Abdur-Rahman. The whispers on the sidelines are that they hope to get both back for next week’s league opener versus powerful St. Joe’s Prep. That would be comforting to say the least because La Salle lost a minimum of three other starters during this contest, and the look on head coach Drew Gordan’s face afterwards was one of concern. Game was knotted at halftime, 6-6, but West really had the better of the play. Midway through the second quarter La Salle’s athletic jr. WR/DB Kevin Forster caught a line drive punt in the middle of the field and sprinted towards the right sidelines. He was the recipient of a pair of bone-crushing blocks and returned the ball 57 yards to the Burr 11-yard line. Then, on third down sr. QB Drew Loughery, while under a heavy rush, beautifully floated a pass back across field where an unattended sr. TE Steve Jones was waiting. Jones easily trotted in for the game’s first score. West would answer on their next possession, though. The nicely executed Burr drive would cover 75 yards on ten plays. Doing the honors was jr. WR Quran Kent on a 14-yard crossing pass from sr. QB Jarred Evans. Evens was brilliant throughout, but more on that later. At the intermission, the Burrs held a 195-to-25 yards advantage thanks in part to four sacks of Loughery. After the Explorers forced a three-and-out on West’s first series of the second half, they used another big play to take the lead. Soph. RB Tim Wade, who only carried thrice in the opening half for six yards, took a handoff right through the middle for a 54-yard jaunt, placing the rock at the West five. The Burrs would stiffen, though, forcing La Salle to try a 22-yard field goal which was converted by sr. K Mike Bennett. The Burrs showed life on their next turn, but started the drive at their 4-yard line after jr. RB Joshua Mathis slipped to the turf after receiving the kickoff. For the second time in the game the Burrs held the ball for 10+ plays (Ran 12 plays on first possession of game), but failed to cap it off. Later, the Explorers got a lovely 47-yard pass completion from Loughery to sr. WR Connor Hoffman. The play came with the third quarter clock showing no time, but because a Burr penalty came before the time elapsed, another play had to be run. LaSalle took full advantage and caught the Burrs napping. Three plays into the fourth quarter, Lougherty brilliantly sold a fake handoff for a 3-yard keeper around the left end. This made the score, 16-6, with 10:37 left. The Burrs would not quit, though, and later in the fourth impressively marched 67 yards on 4 plays to draw within, 16-14. Jr. WR Jaelen Strong-Rankin accepted a 15-yard fade from Evans to provide the score. Jr. RB Brandon Hollomon added a somersaulting conversion run with 4:31 to play. On the ensuing kickoff the Explorers were hit with a holding call and started the drive at their 16-yard line. With West overplaying the run, they hit the Burrs with a timely play, as Loughery lofted a ball down the middle of the field to Wade for a 35-yard gain. LaSalle eventually moved to the Burr 16-yard line. A pair of short runs and a pass for no gain followed, with West using all of their timeouts after each. On fourth down, Gordan called on Bennett for a field goal, which he blasted through the uprights. However, just before the snap the Explorers' staff called for a timeout to rethink this strategy. Afterwards, a trick play on a wide receiver reverse and throwback to the quarterback failed and West took over at the 14-yard line with 1:56 left. On first down, sr. DT Steve Szostak blasted through the line and sacked Evans back at the one-yard line. Evans found Hollomon for 18 yards for breathing room on the next play. However, on third down, Kent fumbled after a short catch and LaSalle recovered. The Burrs’ staff contended that Kent never had possession. Kent’ back was to me, so it was tough to say. LaSalle’s sr. LB Anthony Cognetti did the forcing, while sr. DB Shane Brady added the recovery. Two knees ended the game afterwards. La Salle’s Loughery finished 10-for-17, with 131 yards. Wade rushed 15 times for 87 yards. LaSalle managed 182 total yards, but 136 of them came on three offensive plays. Defensively, Szostak had two sacks. Sr. DB Pat Resch led with 8 tackles (7 solos). Jr. DE Cameron Cappo, Brady, and jr. LB Connor Daly each made five stops apiece. Jones boomed four punts for a 40.8 average, including a long of 48 yards. Daly (knee), sr. DB Dale Litner (knee/leg?), and sr. DE/OL Steve Sinnott all left the game with injuries. For West, the offense rolled up 354 yards of offense. Evans went 17-for-24, for 237 yards. He made many tough throws throughout the game, while showing tremendous poise. Kent (4-50), Strong-Rankin (5-92), and Hollomon (7-83) were his favorite targets. Strong-Rankin is the son of the late West basketball star John Rankin. He toyed with Explorer DBs all night, often rising over them for catches. The Burrs’ main rushers were Hollomon (8-51) and Mathis (11-46). On defense, sr. LB Bill Tobin (two), sr. LB Dante Dickens (two), and jr. DE/TE Jim Lynch all notched sacks. Dickens led with 7 total tackles. Tobin and sr. DB Ray Manuel were next with five, while Hollomon and jr. LB Anthony McDonnaugh added four apiece. Jr. P Albert Campbell had a 36.2 average on five boots. Despite mostly good play, the Burrs Achilles’ heel today was penalties. West committed 11 such infractions for 100 costly yards.  West was without sr. K Tim Carroll (ankle), who was injured in a soccer game earlier in the week. Situated along the Burrs’ sideline was former star wide receiver Rob Gentile (’88). Rob, holds both the single-game and season yardage marks for the Burrs. With the Burrs displaying more of a passing prowess this year, could either of these marks be in jeopardy? Time will tell. Anyhow, it was good to talk with him throughout. Oh yeah, one last comment. Leaving Springfield-Montco was like trying to get out of a lot on Broad & Pattison after an Eagles’ playoff game.

SEPT. 17
NON-LEAGUE
Carroll 15, Overbrook 12
  Aside from the yearly Turkey Day clashes you don’t get to see too many Philadelphia Catholic-Public league tilts. But that’s exactly what I was treated to with this rare Thursday night affair. In the end, Patriots needed to fight back from a 12-0 halftime deficit to fend off a feisty bunch of Panthers. With the win, Carroll Head Coach Dan Bielli notched his 100th career victory. Ninety-two of them have come at Carroll, while he grabbed eight as Kennedy-Kenrick’s chief. Long-time assistant and Carroll AD Fran Murphy announced to the team afterwards of Bielli’s feat, which was proceeded by a well-deserved congratulatory roar from his team. This happy occasion came painfully close to being somber one on the game’s final play. First, let’s backtrack just a little. With 2:53 left in the game Carroll’s jr. DE Matt Donaldson (6’3”, 220 lbs) recorded his second sack of the game, forcing a fumble (Recovery by soph. LB Tim Dugan) by Panther sr. QB Andre Sheppard. Carroll looked to the cement the game, but stalled at the ‘Brook 4-yard line with 38.7 seconds left. Soon after, Sheppard completed a 16-yard pass to sr. WR Rodney Hall, moving the ball to the twenty. At this point the Panthers spent their final timeout with 19.3 left. After one incompletion, Sheppard heaved a Hail Mary in Hall’s direction. Hall nicely, if not spectacularly, came down with the ball despite being covered closely by a Carroll’s jr. DB Ryan Shea. The play was good for 50 yards and placed the ball at the Carroll 30-yard line. One second remained on the clock, and the Panthers whizzed to the line in hopes of getting another play off. Believe or not, but they did. Sheppard took the direct snap, stepped-up slightly in the pocket, and slung one down the middle of the field. Carroll’s sr. DB Zach Parke batted at the ball, but it spun off his hand and traveled even further into the end zone, where jr. WR Matthew Ayers nearly made a brilliant, sprawling catch. It even appeared for an instance that he was going to secure it, but it just was not to be. Still, it was a valiant effort nonetheless. In all honesty, Overbrook probably was the better team on this night and outplayed the Patriots for the most part. In the first half it was all Panthers. Sr. RB Kirk Wright (5-74) notched a pair of touchdowns on consecutive carries. The first one covered two yards, while on the next one he sped 69 yards down the Carroll sideline for a score. Defensively, the Panthers forced five Patriot punts in the first half and ended their other two possessions with interceptions. Sr. DB Corey Lilly and jr. DB Charles Faust did the honors here. Overbrook even received the ball first to begin the second half. But this where I think they did themselves in. Yes, ‘Brook employs a spread offense, but there first three second half possessions, all with the lead, ended way too quickly. They ran eleven total plays in the sequence and eight of them were pass plays. Most of them were done in hurry-up fashion too. Why? In my opinion, you need to burn a little clock with that 12-0 lead and the other team situated on the ropes. Ok, enough of that. So, how did Carroll get back in the game? First, with a short field they needed just two plays to make it, 12-7. Sr. FB Bryant Moritz (13-58) rumbled 27 yards for that score. Later, Carroll would be the beneficiaries of a crucial ‘Brook tripping penalty (15 yards, prevented a 4th-and-8) to keep a drive sustained. On the same series, Carroll kept the drive alive with fourth-and-one conversion by sr. QB Chris Shuster. Not long after this the go-ahead touchdown would come on another fourth down play. With jr. K Andrew Brouwers lined up to try a 28-yard field goal, Shuster took the direct snap from center, rolled to his right, and calmly threw back slightly left to Z. Parke in the end zone. Soph. RB Teron Dobbs added the conversion run. Two of Carroll’s five pass completions came on fakes. Dugan when lined up as the punter, found Shea for a 15-yard gain earlier.  Dugan actually had nice all-around game and finished with quite the unusual four-pack: Pass completion out of punt formation, fumble recovery, interception, and blocked PAT. Shea was Carroll’s next best rusher with 40 yards on 12 carries. Defensively, Shuster and Shea also contributed picks. Jr. LB Matt Brigg led with 7 tackles, while jr. DB Greg DiSanto was next with five. For the Panthers, the offense really sputtered after the intermission. Up until that final possession foray, they only mustered up 18 total yards. In the first half, they moved the ball well. Sheppard was definitely the catalyst. He completed his first five passes of the game, all too different receivers. Overall, he finished 13-for-29, with 145 yards. He also toted the ball ten times for 39 yards. Wright showed some explosiveness on his long scoring run. I wouldn’t have minded seeing more of him, especially with the Panthers leading. However, he only carried two more times after his mad dash. Hall finished with 4 grabs for 86 yards. Defensively, the Panthers were really good all night. Carroll’s offense can be hard to defend if you’re not use to it, but the Panthers were mostly in the right spots. Carroll’s sixty plays netted just 164 yards (2.7 avg). And let’s face it, twenty-nine of these yards came on trickery. Jr. DT Jared Watson (6’2”, 260 lbs) was stout all game long. He registered two sacks and three other TFL’s. Sr. LB Erik Staley (5 total stops) and sr. DL Dante Branham also recorded sacks. Jr. LB Quamaine Harris, who goes, maybe, 5’9”-160 lbs, was fearless all night. He forced a fumble and made 9 total tackles. He also fielded five punts in the air (One fair catch) and made modest returns after the catch. It’s refreshing to see guys come get the ball with confidence. Lilly added a fumble recovery to go with his pick. Other tackling leaders were; jr. LB David McCants (six), jr. DE Chris Dorn (six), and soph. DB Rahfik Slaughter (five). Funniest moment came late in the third quarter with Overbrook in punt formation. For what seemed like a good five seconds the punt team stood perfectly still, like you do prior to snapping the ball. With everyone waiting, there became one obvious problem – Where’s the punter? Ha ha. Best line of the night was also provided by a couple of the Panthers. Not sure who said it, but the exchange went like this after a Carroll punt was almost mishandled. “Yo, when it bounces you don’t have to touch it.” “I didn’t touch it!" "You were trying too.” Just another night at the office, as this baby lasted over 2 ½ hours.

SEPT. 11
NON-LEAGUE
La Salle 28, Malvern 7
  Thankfully, the gusty winds from earlier in the day subsided, and the temperatures still sat in the 60’s. A month or so from now this one could have been big-time miserable. Instead, it was only somewhat annoying on the weather front. Yes, it rained from beginning to end, but for the most part it was more of a pain-in-the-butt spray, than a constant downpour. Last year, Malvern put forth a wonderful campaign in longtime Head Coach Gaspare “Gamp” Pellegrini’s final season. The Friars went undefeated and for the most part dismantled the opposition. One of those teams on the other end of a Malvern frolic was La Salle, which was flattened, 47-21, yielding 467 total yards in the process. Gamp’s son, Kevin, has now taken the reigns for his pop, and right now is working with an inexperienced bunch. Just four starters returned. Meanwhile, the Explorers returned just about every one of their key performers from a year ago. I guess you could say the teams have switched roles from a year ago. La Salle’s first possession was impressive, but ended with fumble inside the Friars’ ten-yard line. Sr. DT Will Cavalieri did the forcing, while sr. LB Sean Walsh recovered. However, the next time they put their hands on the pigskin it would end on a positive note. Star jr. RB Jamal Abdur-Rahman capped a 10-play, 60-yard drive when he burrowed in from a yard out on the second play of the second quarter. The Explorers would push their lead to, 14-0, on a wonderful hurry-up series just before halftime. They started the possession on their twenty with 2:19 left. Then, it was concluding with 15 seconds left in the half on another 1-yard blast by Abdur-Rahman. All total, the Explorers needed just 8 plays to march the 80 yards. Execution at its finest! Abdur-Rahman was instrumental on the drive rushing 5 times for 37 yards. Also, sr. QB Drew Loughery was precise in going 3-for-3, for 43 yards in the series. In the third quarter, Malvern finally started to make a little noise. A sack on Loughery by sr. DT Jack Moran produced an 18-yard loss and forced the Explorers to punt from their 7-yard line. Afterwards, the Friars would only need 4 plays to march 31 yards. Bruising jr. FB Bob Scaramuzza (8-32) pounded in from the two-yard line, making the score, 14-7. Prior to this, sr. RB/DB Bob Hill helped set-up the score with a 23-yard scamper. So, would this turn into a barnburner? Not exactly, as LaSalle would seize control with a timely touchdown-answering drive. Again, they marched 80 yards, this time on 12 plays. Doing the honors in this go-around was soph. RB Tim Wade on a 2-yard run. Things would turn for the worse for Malvern on their next offensive play, when sr. DB Pat Resch intercepted a pass and returned it 27 yards to the Friar three. On the next play, Wade again darted in for his second touchdown in as many touches. The sequence witnessed LaSalle score twice in 26 seconds. Guess what people? The nails were being hammered. The Friars never threatened from here on out. The Explorers were already playing without star sr. WR/LB Sam Feleccia (knee) and may have lost Abdur-Rahman for some time too. Towards the end of the third quarter he injured his left knee. Not sure how serious it is, but at game’s end he was hobbling off with an immobilizer on the knee. Prior to getting hurt he was sensational, carrying 26 times for 151 yards. He displayed shiftiness and patience. Hopefully, it is only minor and he won’t be lost for an extended time. The likeable Wade was solid throughout. He turned 12 total touches into 64 yards (3-37 receiving) and two TD’s. All total, the Explorers garnered 296 yards in the game. Playing a pivotal role in the trenches were: jr. C Ryan Geiger, sr. G Matt DiGiacomo (5’11”, 265 lbs), sr. G Steve Szostak (6’3”, 265 lbs), sr. T Steve Sinnott (6’4”, 230 lbs), and jr. T Cameron Cappo. Jr. T Daniel Ezzo added depth. The gun-slinging Loughery contributed modest numbers for him, but was effective nonetheless. He finished 10-for-16, for 120 yards. Sr. WR Connor Hoffman (3-33), sr. 6’5” TE Steve Jones (2-25), and jr. WR/DB Kevin Forster (2-25) each made multiple snags. Jones made a beautiful one-handed, sprawling catch to set-up the third touchdown. Forster also added a pick and a trio of pass defends in the secondary. Jr. LB Connor Daly (6 tackles) made the hit of the night when he met a Friar ball-carrier head-on. He actually had to leave the game for a while after this tackle with a battered nose. Two of his stops went for losses. Sr. LB Anthony Cognetti was next with 5 tackles and a forced fumble. He also added two pass defends. Abdur-Rahman assisted with 3 stops and a fumble recovery before departing. Sr. DB Shane Brady and sr. DB Vince Migliarese evenly split 8 tackles. The Friars were gritty for the most part and I suspect they will get better as the weeks move on. Hill led the offense with 96 total yards (61 rush, 35 rec.). Jr. DB Chris O’Brien played a super game on defense with 10 total tackles (8 solos) and a forced fumble. Sr. DT/OL Joe DiTrolio (5’11”, 260 lbs) was all business on the line of scrimmage. He added 7 total tackles (6 solos). Other prominent contributors in the tackling department were; Moran (five), Hill (five), Scaramuzza (six), sr. DE Christian Green (six), and jr. 6’6” 235-lb DE Sean Mooney (five). Sr. K/P Mark Tiberi (6’3”, 210 lbs) showed a big leg. With little wind behind him he sent one kickoff a couple of yards deep in the end zone. He also punted six times for 38.5 average. Despite the unfriendly weather a good crowd was on hand, but many of the younger spectators opted for an around-the-fence location. Hey, it probably beat parking on those west bleachers.

SEPT. 6
NON-LEAGUE
West Catholic 21, Roman 18
  This marked the ninth consecutive year the Burrs and Cahillites have opened their seasons with a tilt at the shore. The series began in Lower Cape May in years one and two, but since then Maxwell Field in Wildwood has been the stage. For the most part the games have been competitive and entertaining, and this year was no different. West is coming off a rather remarkable season where they lost in the AA state final in Hershey. Many main cogs from that team, including Curtis Drake (Penn St.), Raymond Maples (Army), and Rob Hollomon (Cushing Prep) have moved on. Of course, they took their 7,200+ total yards, 48.4 ppg, and 10.9 yards per play with them. The numbers still boggle my mind. Anyhow, that was then and this is now. Duplicating those numbers is probably next to impossible, but there is hope that achieving equal success in the win-loss column can still be had. Maybe, with a little good fortune another state run at the 2A level will exist come November. Meanwhile, the Cahillites are coming off a disappointing end of last season, but are still two years removed from a Catholic Red title. They expect to make noise at the 4A level yearly. The Burrs started the scoring on the first play of the second quarter. Jr. RB/DB Brandon Hollomon, young bro’ of Rob, converted a fourth-and-two play with a dash through the right-side that covered 24 yards. This capped the Burrs’ opening possession of the game, covering 80 yards on 13 plays. All but one play on the drive was a run. Roman would draw to within 7-3 on a 31-yard field goal by jr. K/P Kyle Haber (Narrowly pushed a 30-yard attempt to the right on RC’s first series) on the Cahillites’ subsequent possession. West would extend their lead to 14-3 on another run by Hollomon. This one went for 26 yards and came with 1:38 left in the half. With the Cahillites trying to create a little havoc prior to half, sr. QB Kevin Regan was intercepted by Hollomon. He returned the ball 24 yards to the Roman 11-yard line, giving the Burrs a prime opportunity to pull further away with 32 seconds left on the clock. However, it was not to be, as the Burrs mishandled their first two plays and on third down, sr. QB Jarred Evans was picked by sr. DB Roemel Morrison just inside the end zone. He returned it 35 yards before being tackled and ending the half. To begin the second half the Cahillites would stymie West deep in their territory. Afterwards, they would need just three plays to draw closer at, 14-10. Jr. WR Kawaun Chavis out-fought a Burr defender for a heave by K. Regan in the end zone. The play covered 32 yards. West would waste little time grabbing back the momentum, as Evans displayed Drake-like skill on a zig-zagging 72-yard touchdown run. The play was a designed keeper to the right. After pulling away from an early tackle attempt, twice he made hard cuts in the open field to change direction on Cahillite pursuers. This made the score, 21-10. It would stay this way until late in the fourth quarter, when K. Regan converted a fourth-and-goal on a one-yard sneak. He added the conversion run on a rollout to his left to make it a three-point game, 21-18, with 2:09 left. With just two timeouts left the Cahillites opted for an onside kick, but West’s jr. WR Andre Maddox calmly secured the ball. Still, the Cahillites weren’t going to go quietly. With Roman out of timeouts, jr. RB/DB Dennis Regan brilliantly stripped, then recovered a fumble at their forty. With 57 seconds left Roman probably needed to march about thirty-five yards to give Haber a shot at a tying field goal. It was not to be, though, as K. Regan was intercepted by sr. LB Dante Dickens two plays later along the Roman sideline. For West, Hollomon rushed 17 times for 96 yards. Evans added 115 yards of passing and rushing. For now, the offensive line and defensive front seven appear to be the strength of this Burr squad. Sr. OL/DT Jake Zuzek (6’3”, 290 lbs) is a stalwart on both. Sr. OL/DT Erik Harper (6’1”, 291 lbs) displays beastly tendencies. These two along with sr. DT John Ruppert (5’10”, 290 lbs) and jr. DE/TE Jim Lynch (6’4”, 215 lbs) helped neutralize the Cahillite ground game to the tone of 47 yards on 26 carries. Sr. LB Bill Tobin (4 tackles, fumble recovery), Dickens (5 stops), and jr. LB Anthony McDonnaugh (5 tackles) all showed a nose for the ball. Sr. DB Ray Manuel added 5 stops and 2 pass defends. Sr. DE Brian Mosby (6’2”, 220 lbs) added a sack. Roman was paced by the passing of K. Regan, who finished 9-for-20, for 186 yards. The Cahillites possess an athletic group of WR’s in Chavis (3-61) and soph. Darryl Mintz (2-58). Jr. FB/LB Christian Seagrave (3-61) was active out-of-the-backfield. Ultimately, D. Regan could emerge as Roman’s top skill player, but the Burrs did a solid job with him for the most part, as he could only manage 20 yards on 9 offensive touches. He did begin the game with a 37-yard kickoff return. On defense, I really liked the play of jr. LB Abdul Basil, who finished with 8 tackles and a sack. Sr. lineman Matt Schickling (6’3”, 235 lbs) was active on both sides of the ball and finished with 5 tackles. Jr. LB Jack Foley finished with 5 tackles, while K./D. Regan added five apiece. This shore series now stands 5-to-4 in favor of Roman. West has won the last two. Despite it being a wonderful beach day, a good crowd was on-hand to take in the game.

SEPT. 4
NON-LEAGUE
Bonner 24, Upper Darby 12
  It’s been a rough couple of seasons for Head Coach Tom Oropeza and his club, but expectations entering this campaign are definitely a little higher than they have been. The Friars ended the ’08 season with a trio of victories and there was hope that this created a foundation that could be built upon. Opening up with rival Upper Darby was not going to be an easy chore, though. The Royals had beaten Bonner in four consecutive games. One of the things that have plagued the Friars in recent years has been inopportune penalties. One just had to wonder what Oropeza and Co. were thinking after sr. RB Eric Petransky’s 93-yard opening kickoff return was negated by an illegal block. Here we go again? Haven’t we seen this before? Not so fast. Yes, Bonner’s opening possession did end with a turnover, but from that point they emphatically dominated the Royals for the rest of the first half. Bonner ran 37 first half plays. Phew! Meanwhile, Upper Darby only managed fifteen. This allowed the Friars to out-gain their counterparts, 208-to-24. And, out-first down them, 10-to-1. Bonner’s second possession methodically moved 44 yards on nine plays. It was capped with a 20-yard field goal by sr. K/P Dan Vanderslice. As we moved to the second quarter it was more of the same, stingy defense and efficient offense by the Friars. Sr. WR/DB John Wichmann returned a punt 24 yards to the Upper Darby 17-yard line. Three plays later, Wichmann was snatching a nicely thrown ball from jr. QB Sean Quarterman for a 19-yard touchdown. Good play all the way around on this baby. Quartman showed nice zip and placement, while Wichmann displayed concentration and delicate paws while being tightly covered on an inside post pattern. Bonner would make it 17-0 on their next possession. Once again Quarterman (4-for-8, 78 yards) connected with Wichmann (3-74), this time for 36 yards. On the next play, Petransky ripped-off a 26-yard run through the middle to bring the ball to the four. Two plays late he took a pitch to the short side of the field, out-running all Royals in pursuit to the cone. Upper Darby has had a fairly solid program over the years, but they were absolutely dreadful on offense in the first half. And when the second half began it was more of the same. On Upper Darby’s first play of the second half, jr. LB Marcus Collins made his second fumble recovery of the evening to set-up shop at the Royals’ 14-yard line. On the fifth play of this drive, Quarterman brilliantly sold a fake pitch to his left and rolled out to his right, where he calmly hit jr. TE Bentley Woods for a 4-yard touchdown. With the looks of a blowout in sight, the Friars sputtered and became sloppy has the game wore on. They allowed two Upper Darby scores afterwards and fumbled twice in the fourth quarter. Hey, let’s cut them some slack. No one is saying this is a finished product and they probably still have to learn how to keep that throttle down on teams when given the chance. Overall, it was a very good showing for Oropeza and his squad. Petransky did most of his damage in the opening half where he went for 83 yards on 17 totes. He finished with 111 tough yards on 29 carries. This was good for MVP honors. Ironically, his first cousin, sr. LB Zac Petransky (7 tackles, Fumble Rec.) won MVP honors for Upper Darby. Also running well for the Friars was undersized sr. FB Kyle Schuberth (9-57). Quarterman totaled 111 yards passing and rushing (10-33). Good line play was had by; sr. C Mike Murphy, intriguing soph. G Tyler Ramirez (6’0”, 290 lbs), impressive jr. G Andrew Hackett, sr. T James Colivas (6’4”, 285 lbs), and jr. T Derrick Ferguson (6’3”, 245 lbs). Defensively, Hackett was a force on the line. Four of his five tackles went for losses. He also batted a pass down at the line. Interceptions were had by jr. DB Mike Ianovale (4 tackles) and jr. DB Jamie Juisti. Jr. LB Brendon Garrison registered a sack. It was a good defensive team approach for the Friars all night, as they pretty much suffocated Upper Darby’s spread offense when it counted. UD’s jr. QB Mike McGee, a Cardinal O’Hara transfer, was forced into a 10-for-27 performance (117 yards, TD). Upper Darby’s jr LB Amara Kamara is a keeper. He finished with 12 tackles, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. I really liked his size and athleticism. The teams combined to run 105 plays. Everyone got their money’s worth in that department.