NOV. 12
NON-LEAGUE
Roxborough 26, King 16
  Roxborough returned to the win column last Thursday with a 26-16 win over Martin Luther King High School in windy, misty Roxborough.
  Roxborough’s leading rusher senior Akmed Greene missed the game against King. In his place, if not at the tailback position but as the offensive leader, was junior Bernard Avery. Avery carried the ball 15 times, gaining 110 yards. The 5-foot-9, 190-pound fullback/linebacker scored three touchdowns, two on offense and one on defense, for Roxborough. He also registered five tackles and two assisted tackles.
  King senior running back Joseph Montouth carried the ball 34 times, mostly from the wildcat, for 114 yards. On four of those carries he was met behind the line of scrimmage by Roxborough senior defensive tackle Barry Jones. Jones totaled five tackles and three assists. He also sacked senior quarterback Donavan Bowman.
  Roxborough took the lead in the first quarter after Montouth mishandled the shotgun snap. Avery picked up the loose ball and ran it 38 yards for a touchdown.
  The Cougars tied the game in the second quarter on an 11-play, 50 yard drive with Montouth scoring on a 6-yard run.
  Roxborough grabbed the lead with 50 seconds to play in the first half on a 2-yard run by Avery. Senior Braheem Ford’s 42-yard run around the left side highlighted the drive that started on the Roxborough 47.
  The Indians extended their lead in the third quarter on a 23-yard run by Avery.
  In the fourth quarter Roxborough’s Antonio Murrell intercepted a pass from Montouth and the senior ran the pick back 28 yards for a touchdown.
  Montouth cut the Roxborough lead on a 2-yard touchdown run with 5:46 to play in the game.
Roxborough (7-4, 4-2) will have a bye this week as they prepare for their Thanksgiving Day rivalry game against Roman Catholic (4-7, 3-4).

OCT. 30
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Chestnut Hill 45, Penn Charter 0
  Chestnut Hill Academy keeps rolling along, piling up win after win. Their latest conquest: Penn Charter.
  The Blue Devils downed the Quakers, 45-0, at Penn Charter Friday afternoon.
  CHA senior running back Ibraheim Campbell rushed for a game-high 194 yards on 15 carries. He also scored three rushing touchdowns. Campbell scored from 38, 6 and 75 yards out, respectively.
  The Quakers' balanced attack of 19 running plays and 20 passes managed only 120 yards of total offense. Penn Charter junior quarterback John Loughery completed 11 of his 20 passes for 112 yards. He also threw one interception, a second-quarter pick by Campbell that set up his 75-yard TD run. 
  If CHA’s dominance on offense and defense wasn’t enough, they also scored via special teams. Senior Jon McAllister returned the opening kick of the second half 82 yards for a touchdown.
  Senior kicker Pat Connaghan nailed a 34-yard field goal in the first quarter to put CHA up 10-0. He also caught a 35-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Danny Gallagher (5 of 7 for 65 yards) with 20 seconds to play in the first half.
  With the large lead, CHA head coach Rick Knox was able to give some underclassmen a taste of the action. Sophomore running back Cedric Madden carried the ball 10 times, gaining 58 yards.  He also scored on a 7-yard run in the third quarter.
  With three Inter-Ac games down, the Blue Devils (8-0, 3-0) will face perhaps their biggest test of the 2009 season when they host the Haverford School Saturday afternoon.
  The Fords enter the game with a record of 7-2, 3-0 in the Inter-Ac. They are coming off of a 17-14 win over Malvern Prep last week. The Haverford School won with three seconds to play on a 40-yard field goal by Aron Morgan.

OCT. 9
PUBLIC AAA
Roxborough 14, Penn 8 (2 OTs)
  Oh another week, another game and another contest decided in overtime.
  For the second-straight week, the Roxborough Indians battled a division foe and for the second-consecutive week four quarters of football failed to determine a winner. But unlike last week, when the Indians fell to Dobbins, 26-20, in quadruple overtime, Roxborough emerged victorious. This time it took just two overtime periods.
  Junior fullback Bernard Avery barreled into the end zone from three yards out to give the Indians a 14-8 win over the William Penn Lions Friday night in the 6th annual Philadelphia Prince Hall Football Classic at Gratz' Marcus Foster Memorial Stadium.
  The good news for the Indians, in addition to notching their first division win of 2009, is that their defense has shut out their opponents for 13 straight quarters of regulation play. The bad news is their offense hasn’t produced a touchdown in regulation since Sept. 25 when Avery scored in the fourth quarter of Roxborough’s 30-0 shut out of Fels.
 William Penn entered Friday’s game after falling to Penn Wood, 40-8, last week for their first loss of the season.
 The Lions’ offense has suffered a similar plight to that of their Friday night opponent. Penn scored 42 points in their 42-20 win over Comm Tech in week one. But since then they have averaged just over 12 points in three games. One of those games was a 14-8 overtime win at King three weeks ago.
 The only scoring threats in four quarters of play came from Roxborough (3-3, 1-1). The Indians’ first possession ended in a fumble on the Lions’ 25-yard line. An 18-play drive that consumed 12:55 and stretched from the third quarter into the fourth quarter ended on down at the Lions’ 18. The last drive of regulation ended when Roxborough ran out of time at the Penn 26 after a sack by Lions defensive tackle Keon Jordan.
  Penn (3-2, 0-1) scored on their first play from scrimmage in the first overtime period on a 10-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Anwar Mathis to senior running back Erik Simmons. Penn added the 2-point conversion to take an 8-0 lead.
  Roxborough caught a break on their possession in overtime number one. Roxborough senior running back Akmed Greene fumbled the ball at the 3-yard line. Simmons recovered the ball for Lions and it appeared as if the game had ended. Penn's players and coaches thought so. The public address announcer though so. The fans thought so. But the officials were not so sure. After a discussion the play on the field was reversed; no instant replay needed.
  The ball was spotted at the 4-yard line and two plays later, Roxborough senior quarterback Antonio Murrell snuck in from just under 1-yard. Forced to go for two points, Roxborough tied the game on another Murrell run.
  Penn stood inches from the goal line on their second possession after Mathis completed a pass to Lawrence Inman. Inman reached to 1-yard line and stretched the ball toward the goal line but Avery, playing linebacker, kept the ball out of the end zone.
  The Lions failed to run the next play in time and were penalized 5-yards for delay of game. When the Lions ran their next play, the Indians’ defensive front, a group that had spent most of the game in the Lions’ backfield, once again pressured Mathis. Roxborough’s six-foot-two, 245-pound senior defensive tackle Kwame Bell hit Mathis as he released the ball. The diverted pass landed in the hands of sophomore linebacker Adrian Johnson-Pope.
  Roxborough needed only two plays, a 7-yard run by Braheem Ford and the game-winning plunge by Avery, to right last week’s defeat.
  Notes … Roxborough’s senior defensive tackle Barry Jones earned game MVP honors.

OCT. 2
PUBLIC AAA
Dobbins 26, Roxborough 20 (4 OTs)
By Joseph Turkos, Roxborough Review
  Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer Ernie Banks is credited with saying, “It’s a great day for a ball game; let’s play two.”
  Of course he was talking about baseball. That sentiment could have been applied to Friday’s Public League Class AAA opener between Roxborough and Dobbins.
  The day was great. The game was even better.
  The Indians and the Mustangs battled for 48 minutes and resolved nothing. To decide a winner, the Division AAA foes traded touchdowns for not one, or two, or three, but four overtime periods. Finally, Dobbins junior fullback Terrance Stafford bulled his way across the goal line to give the visiting Mustangs a 26-20 victory.
  In regulation, Dobbins (3-2, 1-0) found themselves with the majority of opportunities to score. On their first possession of the game, the Mustangs advanced to the Roxborough 25 in 11 plays before turning the ball over on downs.
  In the second quarter, Dobbins sniffed the pylons, reaching the 6-yard line. A Dobbins 10-yard holding penalty, two incomplete passes, a short gain of a yard and a fourth-down sack by defensive end Tyler Renninger ended the threat. The sack also ended Renninger’s day as the 6-foot-4, 245 junior left the game with a sprained ankle.
  Roxborough’s best opportunity to score came late in the first half but twelve plays yielded only a missed opportunity. With 29 seconds to play, Roxborough (2-3, 0-1) stood 33 yards from the end zone. But the Indians relinquished the ball after four incomplete passes from senior quarterback Chris Stoffere (3 of 15, 17 yards).
  Dobbins again moved deep into Roxborough territory in the third quarter. Senior defensive back Marquise Ransom stopped Dobbins running back Karon James (19 carries, 46 yards) on fourth-and-one on the Indians’ 33.
  The Roxborough offense continued to struggle in the fourth quarter. With 2:56 left to play in regulation, Dobbins senior defensive back Brandon Briggs picked off his second Stoffere pass of the day at the Roxborough 33, taking to ball to the Indians’ 28.
  The Roxborough defense stood strong, keeping Dobbins out of the end zone. Dobbins junior kicker Kevin Gransby missed a 26-yard field goal with 47 seconds to play. Roxborough elected to run out the clock and head to overtime.
  The scoring drought of regulation evolved into a scoring tsunami in overtime.
  Dobbins struck first in the first overtime. Junior quarterback Kevin Butler’s 8-yard run set-up his 1-yard touchdown run a play later. Gransby missed the extra point, giving the Mustangs a 6-0 lead.
  Roxborough tied the game when they took their shot at the end zone. Senior running back Akmed Greene (22 carries for 98 yards) started the second play of the Roxborough drive with the ball in hand but when he hit the 3-yard line the Dobbins defense hit Greene, knocking the ball out of his hands and into the arms of Ransom who stepped over the goal line. Roxborough failed on the 2-point conversion.
  In the second overtime, Roxborough had the first shot at scoring (in overtime, the team with the second possession in one overtime period has the first possession in the following OT period).  Stoffere hit Braheem Ford on third down for a 12-yard touchdown pass. Again the ensuing 2-point conversion failed.
  The game nearly ended on the Mustangs’ first play from scrimmage when they regained possession. James fumbled the ball on a reverse. Erik Saunders picked up the loose ball near the line of scrimmage and the six-foot, 220-pound Dobbins offensive lineman rumbled to the one. James scored on the next play to tie the game. Gransby missed the extra point and the teams headed to overtime number three.
  Facing a fourth-and-11, Butler (5 of 11 for 28 yards) rolled left and threw a jump ball to the front corner of the end zone. Junior split end Jamil Williams, at 5-foot-7, climbed the ladder, stuck his left arm in the air and came down with the ball and six points. This time James converted a 2-yard run to give the Mustangs a 20-12 lead.
  Roxborough cut the lead to 20-18 on a 4-yard run from Greene. Stoffere connected with Ford in the back corner of the end zone to knot the game at 20.
  In the fourth overtime and with the first possession, Stoffere threw his third pick of the day. Senior defensive Martin Culbreth pulled down the miscue and put Dobbins in position for a win. Stafford, the game’s leading rusher with 133 yards on 14 touches, scored three plays later to give Dobbins the victory.