On
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Some observations, notes, etc., on games seen by Ted Silary during Nov./Dec. of the 2001 football season . . .
DEC. 2
CATHOLIC BLUE FINAL
Carroll 28, Wood 7
When Carroll sr. Mike Malandra returned the opening
kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown, I thought I would have an uh-oh feeling. As in, here we
go again to Blowoutville. But I didn't, and we didn't. In fact, Wood actually got some
offense going as sr. QB John Spinosa did some hard running and made good
decisions on options (he likely called some audibles, too). The Vikings even went ahead,
7-6, on Spinosa's 4-yard run and a PAT by soph Tom Laurich. Then,
strangely, Wood had almost no success on offense. It collected only three first downs for
the rest of the game. The play of the game occurred early in the second quarter on
third-and-11 for Carroll. Jr. QB Pat Brochet threw a bomb along the right
sideline and megastar WR/DB/KR Maurice Stovall made a leaping 41-yard
reception. Jr. FB James "Warning: Wide Load!" Roderick ripped
off an 11-yard gain on the very next play and the Patriots scored nine plays thereafter on
Roderick's 5-yard run. The 260-pound Roderick finished with 25 carries for 148 yards. He
also was a force at DT. Once he learns to lift his feet, no one man will be able to bring
him down. Carroll's third score came when Brochet found Stovall in the middle of the end
zone on fourth-and-2 from the 7. Roderick had a 21-yard rumble on that drive. He added a
4-yard TD run with 8:46 left in the game; the drive was set up by jr. LB Paul
Costa's fumble recovery. Interceptions went to sr. CB Sean Ryan,
sr. SS Jared O'Shea and Stovall. Wood's best performer was sr. DT Keary
Packer (nine tackles). Granted, Northeast is not exactly around the corner from
Carroll, but it's hard to believe so few Patriot supporters turned out. The total could
not have topped 200. Wood had a nice crowd, meanwhile.
DEC. 1
CATHOLIC RED FINAL
SJ Prep 31, Bonner 6
Huck will do the main report on this one . . .
I'll focus on the pregame goofiness. Many of Bonner's student fans
arrived at halftime of the PL final, which meant roughly 3 p.m. The game wasn't until 7.
Amazing. While I wrote my PL story in the office of groundskeeper Angelo DiMezza,
colleague Ed "Huck" Palmer went out to get us
pizza. When he came back, he said the Bonner guys were at full strength in the parking
lot. At about 5, we took them Doritos and hung around for a while. They set up a grill in
a small space between the front of one car and the back of another and the fire was
getting so big, we were worried about an explosion. Huck did the warning-'em honors and
the front car was rolled forward. Anyway, there were still no Prep kids in sight. Coulda
been interesting, too, because they also would have needed to set up tailgating shop in
the same parking lot. We were wondering what to do with the Tastykakes and it was
approaching 6 o'clock. Huck said a few minutes later, "It's 6. Nobody STARTS
tailgating an hour before a game. Those guys have been here since halftime of the Pub
game. That's nuts. Let's give them the Tastykakes. They deserve them." Made perfect
sense. I went to my car, opened my trunk, pulled out the plastic shopping bags, started
walking over and . . . Someone yelled, "We're gettin' the Tastykakes!" Everybody
dug in. Much later in the stadium, Huck and I walked over to chat with some of the
legendary Prep kids who've been lighting up the site. We explained the Tastykake decision
and they seemed to understand. Even without full stomachs, they did a great job acting
zany in support of their team. Meanwhile, the coolest moment in the game came when sr. G Mike
"Beefy Bonner Loyalist" Kozak, of baseball centerfield
crew fame (see special photos), lined up in a full-house backfield. I figured he'd just be
a lead blocker, but, no, "Koz" got the rock!!! Alas, he only gained 2 yards,
getting stopped on the 1, and then he blocked as sr. RB Paul Kollhoff got
the score. But check out Bonner's Team Page. Mike Kozak. One carry, 2 yards. How legendary
is that?
DEC. 1
PUBLIC LEAGUE FINAL
Washington 19, Northeast 10
There were two big interceptions in the final 14 minutes of this
one. The first gave Northeast life. The second put it 6 feet under. The pick by sr. LB Chris
Poindexter was accompanied by a 49-yard return. Two plays later, he dashed 35
yards to the 4 and three plays after that he scored from the 1, giving NE a 10-6 lead with
11:14 left. The Vikings' fans were rocking and they really felt great when Washington's
next play resulted in a 5-yard sack for sr. LB Harry Max. But that would
be their last happy moment of the day. Washington maintained its poise and drove for the
go-ahead score. Sr. WR Kyle Bell had a 27-yard catch from jr. QB Marcus
Kennedy to provide early momentum and sr. WB Bobby Young,
the third option on a bootleg, made a 32-yard snag to put the ball on the 2. Sr. FB Maurice
Bennett then scored with 4:20 left. On Northeast's subsequent possession, sr. RB Darien
"Party" Hardy got the call three straight times, but he could
post gains totaling only 7 yards. Then, sr. QB James Franklin tried to
hit sr. WR Maurice Slaughter on a slant. Sr. RB-LB Ryan Gore
stepped in front, made the pick and blazed 46 yards for a TD. Ballgame! Gore had eight
tackles, with three going for losses totaling 12 yards. Jr. DE Jameel McClain had
seven. Two linemen, jr. E Joe Tizol and sr. NG Londale
"Lonnie Beans" Walden, led NE in stops with eight and seven,
respectively.
NOV. 22
THANKSGIVING RIVALRY
North Catholic 20, Frankford 9
The Falcons meant business from the very beginning. They started
with a trick play as backup QB Charlie Evans, a soph, took the snap and
pitched back to jr. QB Brian Mitchell. It looked like Mitchell intended
to throw to Evans swinging out of the backfield, but he instead found sr. WR Steve
Cross for a 17-yard gain and North's kids had this feeling: We ain't goin' south
in this one. Sr. FB Rob Shiffler picked up 5 yards on two rushes,
Mitchell hit Cross for 23 yards and sr. RB Jamar "Marty" Little
spurted 18 yards for a TD. The Falcons sustained that feeling, with a few exceptions, for
the rest of the game. Their second scoring drive covered 45 yards in 11 plays after sr. LB
Mike Piotrowicz caught a short, line-drive kickoff. Mitchell had a nice
scramble for 15 yards on third-and-8 and did a nice job on the scoring play as well,
sprinting hard to his right and hitting Cross, who had no easy time getting open and
keeping his bearings, in the front right corner of the end zone. Little finished with 88
yards on 18 carries. Shiffler added 56 on 12. Mitchell had three more scrambles for first
downs. North's line featured C Pat Murphy, Gs Chris Stine
and Sean Murphy, Ts Matt Farrell and Justin
Mooney and TE Mike Gambone. (Is there a law at North that every
team has to have multiple Murphys? -- smile.) Piotrowicz had 16 tackles to lead the
defense. Stine, also a LB, had some hard hits. Sr. DB Brian Hannan
had 11 tackles and a fourth quarter interception that led to the game-sealing TD, Little's
3-yard run at 0:47. Evans, at CB, earlier had a pick wiped out by interference. For
Frankford, sr. RB Marcus "Dink" Waddy rushed 17 times for 104
yards and jr. QB Darrell Turner passed 5-for-15 for 115 yards. The
Pioneers' TD, making it 14-9, came with 6:50 left when Hannan tipped a pass and jr. TE Michael
Humbert, prone on the ground, made the catch in his belly. This was the teams'
74th meeting. Next year's game COULD be played at Veterans Stadium, just like the 51st
game ("50th anniversary game" they called it.)
NOV. 21
THANKSGIVING EVE RIVALRY
Carroll 43, Shanahan 7
I'm sure I wasn't the only person who kept thinking as this mismatch
progressed, "Why isn't Carroll still playing Malvern?" Oh, well. Shanahan was in
its first year of varsity football and though it did some nice things, overall it had no
reason being on the same field as the Patriots. Carroll rolled, rumbled and raced to 388
yards total offense on only 35 plays -- yes, that's more than a first down per play! --
and, like almost always, sr. WR-DB-KR Maurice Stovall had a return TD.
This one came on a 14-yard interception. (He has nine return TDs this season -- five on
picks, four on punts.) Jr. RB Curtis Costa got things started on the
third play, racing 55 yards for a TD. Later, the heroics were provided mostly by bruising
jr. FB James Roderick, who carried seven times for 111 yards and scores
of 38, 17 and 31. Roderick toyed with smaller defenders on all three runs. His 38-yarder
came right after Stovall EASILY turned a wideout sweep into a 33-yard TD, only to see a
flag ruin things. Later, Stovall had a 25-yard run and again showed man-against-boy
skills; he dished out a great stiff-arm. Shanahan scored with 2:02 left in the first half
and that gave jr. QB Pat Brochet a chance to run a hurry-up drill. He did
splendidly, passing 4-for-4 for 53 yards on the 80-yard scoring drive. Sr. TE Evan
Dittler had three snags on the drive, capped by a 3-yard score at 0:20. Stovall
had two picks, raising his season's total to 10. But after the first one, he immediately
dropped the ball and Shanahan recovered on the 8. The Patriots did a nice job holding, as
jr. LB Paul Rambo made tackles on first and third down. A field goal then
went wide left. There was an interesting sight along the sideline: three stars on last
year's team, Jeff Vanak, Brian Mattaway and Derek Zambino,
intently watched the game. Down in the far corner, other guys talked with friends and
barely paid attention. Carroll's final two points came on a pass from Brochet to Stovall.
But don't get bent out of shape. The play followed a bad snap on the PAT. One Carroll
grad, whose identity I'll protect, said at one point, "Why are we playing THIS team?
It's ridiculous. We should be playing Malvern. We deserve the criticism we get over our
schedule."
NOV. 17
CATHOLIC BLUE SEMIFINAL
Wood 10, McDevitt 7
Life's funny. Your school's football program is rolling along,
routinely enjoying stellar seasons, and then, you blink, and a generation has come and
gone and you're saying, "Man, has it been THAT long since we've advanced to a
championship game?" Wood won CL titles in '74 and '78 and played in the final in '80
and now again will have a chance to hoist a plaque. Exciting its spirited fans, who were
loud and active all night, the Vikings emerged victorious. A double headliner was sr.
RB-LB Antonio Troisi, who recently missed two games with a severe
concussion. Early in the third quarter, on an audible, Troisi spurted straight up the
middle for a 49-yard gain, taking the ball to McDevitt's 17. Sr. QB John Spinosa
whipped an 11-yard TD pass to jr. WR Ryan McGinley five
plays later and soph Tom Laurich kicked the PAT to provide a 10-7 lead.
(Laurich had capped the game's first series with a 29-yard field goal. Later in the first
quarter, McGinley had fallen down while in pass coverage, enabling McDevitt sr. WR Mark
Finley to catch a 60-yard TD pass from sr. QB Bill Holden in
easy fashion. Obviously, McGinley felt great about atoning for his mistake.) Troisi had
the biggest role in the play that sealed Wood's win. McDevitt took over on Wood's 45 with
2:23 left and had dreams of driving for the winning score. On second-and-4, Holden rolled
to his left under heavy pressure. Seeing his QB in trouble far behind the line, sr. T Brian
O'Meara figured he had to take a chance. So he ran toward Holden's closest
pursuer, jr. DE Alex Chapalio, and delivered a side-shot block .
Unfortunately for O'Meara, he was unable to get a great angle and Chapalio slammed into
Holden. The ball popped loose, Troisi recovered at 1:36, McDevitt had no more timeouts and
all Wood had to do was execute some kneel-downs to win it. Spinosa accounted for 186 yards
total offense on 44 plays. He rushed 19 times for 76 yards and passed 11-for-25 for 110
yards. Sr. WR-DB Dave Lorditch made four catches for 53 yards (and a
spectacular, last-moment breakup of a pass, intended for jr. WB Robert Henderson,
in the fourth quarter). Wood's student fans were wonderful. They stood for the entire game
and were packed into the front part of the stands. McDevitt's students, meanwhile, mostly
were sitting at the top of the stands. There were some totally dedicated rooters -- eight
had B E A T W O O D painted on their bare chests -- but they didn't get much help. As he
walked off the field, McDevitt coach Pat Manzi told me, "Now comes
the tough part. Saying goodbye to a great bunch of seniors."
NOV. 17
PUBLIC LEAGUE SEMIFINAL
Northeast 24, Mastbaum 7
The story in this one was simple. Mastbaum's line play could not
match Northeast's and not even the presence of Chris DeShields could
overcome that. DeShields, Mastbaum's star sr. RB, posted 152 yards on 15 carries, with 126
of those yards coming on bursts of 74 and 52. (His career now stands at exactly 3,000). On
its other 35 plays, the Panthers collected minus-4 yards! Sr. QB Mark Hansberry
was sacked six times for minus-58 yards and his only positive carry was a 1-yard sneak for
a TD (on which he showed good second effort). Leading NE's defense, like he often does,
was sr. NG Londale Walden. Mr. Cat Quick was in on 12 tackles. Among them
were two for losses and two sacks. Sr. DT Harold Dawling had two sacks.
Sr. DE David Montgomery had a sack-strip early in the second quarter and
sr. DT Adam Bostick recovered on the Mastbaum 25. Moments later, sr, QB James
Franklin whipped a 29-yard scoring pass to sr. TE Maurice Slaughter.
NE's rushing game was led by sr. Chris Poindexter, who produced 184 yards
on 29 carries. His two scores covered 48 and 26 yards. Sr. Darien
"Party" Hardy added 64 yards on 15 totes while jr. Steve
Sandberg kicked a 28-yard field goal. The Vikings' line included sr. C Harry
Max, sr. Gs Shawn O'Flynn and Londale Walden and jr. G Michael
Donnelly, Dawling and jr. Vincenzo Marino at Ts, and Slaughter,
sr. David Montgomery and jr. Lawrence Smith at Es. Sr.
DB Jesse Willgruber returned a third quarter interception 26 yards for a
TD, but a clip was called at the 2. Early in the game, there was an all-time clock problem
-- adding seconds. It was ticking from 11:30 to 11:31 to 11:32 and so on. The time
was kept on the field until early in the second quarter, when the problem was resolved.
DeShields made 11 tackles and blocked a PAT.
NOV. 16
CATHOLIC RED SEMIFINAL
SJ Prep 35, O'Hara 6
But for a flag, this one could have been interesting. On the game's
third scrimmage play, O'Hara sr. WR Tom "Screech" Convery took
a short sideline pass from sr. QB Colin Smith and steamed 75 yards for a
TD . . . only to see the play wiped out by a penalty. The Lions wouldn't hit the
scoreboard for real until just 3:07 remained in the game and by then it was 35-0. The Prep
needed a little time to get rolling, but once it did, forget it. Sr. QB Vince
Gallagher passed 11-for-12 for 180 yards. His prime target was sr. WR Pete
Chromiak, whose selection as a first team All-Catholic was panned in many locales
because of his low reception total. Chromiak is fast and has great hands, though, and he
proved it here by making five catches for 128 yards. Sr. WR Jim Lachman
(3-37) also had a TD catch. Sr. RB Kyle Ambrogi showed his magic touch by
scoring two long TDs on the very same drive. Three plays after a 75-yard TD was nullified
by holding, he raced 48 yards for a score. That's 123 yards worth of running. My guess is,
he was barely breathing hard afterward. Jr. RB Pat Kaiser added 51 yards
and a TD on eight rushes. O'Hara had a bad night. The pain of seeing the early TD called
back was compounded later as Smith (concussion), sr. T-DT Mike "Tuna"
Bucella (slightly dislocated kneecap) and sr. LB Andrew Wood
(wrist) went out with injuries. The lone bright spot came on the TD as sr. FB Pat
"I'll Block Until There's No More Energy Left to Give"
Gallagher caught a 5-yard pass from jr. QB Craig Haywood.
Gallagher had come off the field moments earlier to an ovation from the Lions' players and
fans, but I believe the coaches rethought the removal and said, in effect, "We're
pretty close here, and if anyone deserves to get this TD, it's Pat Gallagher." So
they reinserted him and called the pass play especially for him. If my guess is wrong,
I'll be stunned beyond belief. Soph RB Anthony Heygood, after missing the
first-round playoff with a concussion, was tentative. He settled for 66 yards on 20
carries. Prep's defense was strong. O'Hara runners were dropped for losses nine times. Sr.
DT Mike Mailey made the very forceful (but clean) sack that knocked Smith
out of the game. Sr. LB Adam Hepp and sr. DB Dave McDermott
were in on two TFLs apiece.
NOV. 15
NON-LEAGUE
Edison 16, University City 14
Two weeks ago, the Owls were seven games into the season and still
hadn't scored. Now they have a win, and in VERY dramatic fashion. Trailing by 14-8, and
facing fourth-and-7 on their own 45, the Owls called time and set up a desperation play.
Then they went back onto the field, grouped in the huddle, headed for the line of
scrimmage and . . . flag, too many men. Oh, brother. But when the ball was finally
snapped, a miracle happened. Jr. QB Keenan Nelson fired a perfect lateral
to jr. WR Maurice "Wall" Williams, who stands
6-8. Williams then lofted a perfect pass far downfield to jr. RB Keith Powell.
Powell made the catch and got to the end zone and Edison had a tie. On the conversion, a
procedure penalty moved the ball back to the 8. (Hey, it's Edison. Stuff ALWAYS happens.)
Nelson then took the snap, rolled slightly to his right and flipped to Williams, who
battled through two defenders to get to the end zone. One minute, 51 seconds remained. For
UC, the last gasp ended in wacky fashion. Obviously forgetting that it was fourth down,
sr. QB Hassan King spiked the ball on a play that began at Edison's 47.
Nelson had a special moment on the final play of the first half when he hit RB Shawn
Daniels with a 25-yard scoring pass. That play started at 0:02 after Nelson was
sacked by sr. DE John Berkley (6-6, 254), who showed good movement all
game and could be a true find for someone. On that conversion, a penalty also placed the
ball at the 8. Nelson found WR Dell Maynard in the right corner for two
points. In the first quarter, Edison used the trick play to score a 56-yard TD as Williams
threw to Nelson. But a block in the back was detected at the UC 15 and the score was
nullified. Nelson finished 4-for-11 for 56 yards. Williams went 2-for-2 for 101. Fresh RB Aaron
Harper ran 11 times for 57 yards. Edison's most impressive defensive performance
was turned in by frosh DL Isaias Fernandez, who in the
fourth quarter alone made two tackles for losses and two more for no gain. For UC, sr.
scatback Michael Mallory ran 65 yards for a TD on his
team's second scrimmage play . . . and then didn't touch the ball again until the third
quarter. Jr. RB-DB Bruce Hill ran 28 yards for a score and had an
interception, as did frosh DB Anthony McCloud. Sr. RB Bruce
Morris had 68 yards on 12 carries. Soph DL Donald Brown made a
nice strip/recovery. Rafael Zayas, an Edison and Cheyney grad, and former
player now helping the Owls, constantly yelled high-volume encouragement. At one point he
said, "I'm too young for this. It's giving me heart trouble." UC sr. K Orlando
Okebata had an interesting kickoff sequence. He caused a 5-yard penalty because
his mouthpiece wasn't in (his chinstrap also wasn't buckled), then kicked the ball out of
bounds for another 5-yarder. Then, from the 30, he sent a kickoff over Nelson's head and
into the end zone for a touchback.
NOV. 10
CATHOLIC RED FIRST ROUND PLAYOFF
Judge 10, Ryan 0
Did someone push a "kind of a replay" button? Judge won
the teams' regular season meeting, 14-0, as sr. RB-KR-K Justin O'Brien
scored all of the points and highlighted his performance with two lengthy scores on an
85-yard punt return and a 66-yard run. In this one, he also scored all of the points and
hit a homer from scrimmage (55 yards) en route to collecting 153 yards on 31 rushes. He
also kicked a 22-yard field goal. Someone, or many people, must have had a long talk with
jr. QB Mike Eaton because he showed much more energy than he did in his
previous starts as a replacement for sr. Greg Hennigar (broken
collarbone). He finished 11-for-17 for 136 yards, with sr. WRs Derek Talley
(3-57) and Mike Haigh (4-38) doing most of the damage. The Crusaders did
a great job on a trick play as holder Dale Curry, a soph, threw a 13-yard
TD pass to jr. TE Bernie Mullen off a fake field goal. However, the refs
said Judge only had six men on the line of scrimmage. Judge's coaches were livid because
they purposely used an unbalanced-line formation to get more blocking on the side (left)
where the play was run. After the ball moved back to the 18, Eaton was sacked by jr. DL Mike
DeNoble. Ryan had no truly dangerous scoring chances all night, allowing
Judge to post its first playoff shutout since 1984. The Raiders never got inside Judge's
29. Coach Glen Galeone said afterward, "It's been the same story all
year. We just don't make plays." A 23-yard scramble by jr. QB Joe DeLeo
did get Ryan to the Judge 36 with 4:00 left, but a Ryan lineman drew a 15-yard penalty for
cursing out an opponent and the ball moved back to the Ryan 49. On fourth down, DeLeo was
dropped for a 4-yard loss by sr. LB Tom Lynch. Early in the fourth
quarter, jr. DB Paul Roken delivered a full-magnitude shot on Ryan jr. WR
Kyle Gallagher. I mean, this should have registered on
the Richter scale. Gallagher, who somehow made the catch, was down for maybe a minute,
then he stood up and walked off the field in wobbly fashion with a goofy smile on his
face. It was hard to tell whether he was still seriously dazed or just messing around when
he wobbled. Anyway, he went to the bench, but quickly returned and even ran a long pattern
to the end zone. Soon, he was struggling and being loaded into an ambulance. Someone
messed up by letting him return to action! He suffered a concussion and bruised ribs.
NOV. 10
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Penn Charter 35, Gtn. Academy 0
Not a bad weekend for the Greenfield family. Monroe
"Moose" Greenfield, a '74 PC grad, was inducted into the school's
athletic hall of fame Friday. His son, Aaron, a/k/a "Moose,"
won the Geis Memorial Trophy as the most outstanding player. Greenfield, a sr. FB-DE, got
the Quakers rolling by rumbling 51 yards for a TD on his team's fourth play. He added a
1-yard scoring run in the third quarter and finished with 67 yards on six carries. His one
reception, a 22-yarder from jr. QB Matt Ryan (6-for-10,
83 yards), came during a scoring drive. Jr. RB Tony McDevitt added 85
yards and a TD on 18 carries and had some interesting moments. First, he recovered his own
fumble with his butt. Later, he flipped an 18-yard TD pass to freshman RB Zack
Zeglinski, but the score was wiped out by motion. Then, from the 23, he ran 22
yards to the 1. Greenfield then scored. For my money, the play of the day was made by sr.
DB Chris Whitehead, who ran all the way across the field and finally
caught jr. WR Justin "Christmas" Holiday to prevent what would
have been a 74-yard TD play from sr. back up QB Harry Sankey. Whitehead
caught Holiday, forced a fumble and sr. DB Marcos Zerpa
recovered on the 2. The shutout-preserving play happened midway through the fourth
quarter. Whitehead HAD to be tired. All game at WR he'd lined up a foot or two inside the
sideline. Imagine how much running, or at least trotting, he'd done just going from the
huddle to that distant outpost. GA finished with 1 yard rushing. Greenfield and McDevitt
both made two tackles behind the line and jr. DT Taylor Baum got credit
for a minus-23 yard loss when he cornered jr. P Steve Bowers, who dropped
a snap and backtracked. As the first quarter was winding down, PC assistant Rick
Mellor said to head coach Brian McCloskey, "Quarter,
Brian." As in, we can let the clock run out. The previous play had not gone so well
and McCloskey said with a hint of agitation, "I know!" Mellor smiled and said,
"Little feisty today." In baseball season, Mellor is the head coach and
McCloskey is the assistant. "That's when I get to yell at HIM," Mellor kidded.
PC leads the series, 71-33-11.
NOV. 9
PUBLIC LEAGUE QUARTERFINAL
Washington 38, Germantown 14
I knew something was up when G-town coach Mike Hawkins
told the referee as the final seconds wound down, "I want a timeout at 1
second!" The referee kept saying, "No, you don't," and a clearly agitated
Hawkins kept saying back, "Yes, I do! I want a timeout at 1 second!" As the time
melted away, the ref blew his whistle, trying to grant Hawkins his wish. But the
scoreboard operator let the clock go to 0:00 and the ref, after a brief discussion with
Hawkins, waved his hand to signal the game was over. What had Hawkins so upset?
Substitution patterns. Here's what appened: Washington began inserting second- and
third-teamers on defense early in the fourth quarter (though some starters were on the
field) and G-town finally got rolling -- sr. RB Jeffrey "J.T." King
ultimately scored from the 1. Washington's second offense then tallied with 2:30 left.
When G-town came back out, backup Robert Odom, a sr., was the QB, but his
playmates were mostly starters. Odom passed for 18 yards to King and 51 to sr. WR Loren
Thomas as the ball went to Washington's 6. After King ran 5 yards to the 1, a
bunch of players ran onto the field and Washington suddenly had seven starters back on
defense. Next came a procedure penalty. With that, many of the starters ran back out and
in again came backups. Odom then scored on a keeper. After the game, Hawkins went straight
for Washington coach Ron Cohen. He was steamed, but
Cohen was smiling and appeared to be amazed or oblivious in the post-win euphoria that
Hawkins was giving him a hard time. That changed when Hawkins cussed out Cohen. A possibly
ugly situation was averted when Washington aide John McAneney, followed
by others, stepped in and separated the pair. This confrontation was pretty visible to
anyone who was paying attention, even from the stands, and I was asked about it afterward,
so I figured I'd lay out the facts as I saw/heard them.
NOV. 8
NON-LEAGUE
Frankford 30, Franklin 12
This one had very good intensity for a game featuring teams still
mending broken hearts after not making the playoffs. Plus, it offered a strong performance
by my new hero, Dave Sharp. Dave was the back judge and it was his
responsibility to keep the official time since the refurbished field at 29th and Chalmers
still has no scoreboard. For decades, back judges at 29th Street and other fields with no
clocks have cheated/fudged like crazy so they can end the game faster and roll out. Not
Sharp. There were 97 plays from scrimmage. That has to be a 29th Street record!! Frankford
relied mostly on its running attack as sr. Marcus "Dink" Waddy
(14-95, TD), jr. Mikal Jones (11-49) and soph Jeremy Benson
(5-41, two TDs) led the way. Benson, whose father, George, was the star
RB on Frankford's 1975 PL champs, showed good energy. He ran hard and smelled the goal
line. After a TD run, Benson did some celebratory screaming and pumped his fists a few
times. Frankford coach Tom Mullineaux stepped out onto the field and
yelled down to where the Pioneers were getting ready to huddle for the conversion,
"Benson! Don't you get goofy!" When keeping stats and having to pay attention to
where the ball goes, it's tough to watch line play. But I did try to focus on the battle
between Frankford T-DT Tracy Williams (350 pounds) and Franklin T-DT Boe
Davis (290). They met most often when Davis was blocking Williams and Boe fared
down well, actually. Perhaps understandably, Williams did not show as much spunk as he had
against Washington in a much more meaningful game. Both guys are friendly and personable
and I whipped up a food-oriented story for the paper; Tracy is a good cook. Despite the
loss, Franklin had much to feel good about. The Electrons started the third quarter by
showing strong discipline and resolve on a 16-play scoring drive. The TD came on a
perfectly thrown 12-yard pass to the very back of the end zone -- sr. Aleem Medley
(8-for-19, 59 yards) to soph Jesse Edney. A highlight of the drive was a
14-yard run on fourth down by soph David Calloway. He handled a bad snap
and then took off. Jr. RB Kareem Moore ran 17 times for 53 yards and a
TD. Jr. Jestin Brisbon, who began the season as a TE, had 24 yards on
seven carries and a big-time hit/throwdown on special teams. Randy Evans
had a fumble recovery to set up a TD. After 250-pound sr. TE Jonathan Jordan rumbled for 5
yards on a fake punt, Medley said, "Not too many tight ends can average 5 yards a
carry." While stopping a conversion run, sr. DT William Madre kept
yelling, "No! No! No!" He was right. The play failed. Mike Hinnant was
his usually talkative self, in a positive way. This kid could be on City Council someday.
While I was talking with Boe Davis afterward, some of the Franklin kids gathered 'round
and wanted to be sure I knew that Franklin's principal, John Chapman, had
prohibited everyone from eating lunch yesterday. I passed on the tip to the news
department. Don't know if anyone followed up. Frankford left its medical kit on one of the
two team buses. Mullineaux kiddingly blamed assistant Mike Capriotti.
Calls were made on cell phones and the bus returned to the field. So did the kit.
NOV. 4
CATHOLIC RED
Bonner 16, O'Hara 14
If it's possible to completely dominate a game and win by just two
points, that was what happened in this one. The Friars had nine possessions. The shortest
one lastest five plays and that was at the end to run out the clock. Bonner ran 70 plays
and piled up 24 first downs! The offensive line of sr. C Mike Whalen, sr.
G Mike Kozak, jr. G Matt Blong, sr. Ts Dan
Mulgrew and James Manley and the rotating TEs,
srs. Chris Love and Joe Boland and jr. Nick
Celenza, kicked a--, frankly. They helped sr. RBs Paul Kollhoff (29-134)
and Jason "The Fastest Catcher in America/It Was My Little Brother"
Smith (20-124) surpass 100 yards for the second consecutive game. The Friars
mostly gained yards right up the middle, though they did employ the option on occasion and
it was a keeper by sr. QB Mike Stauffer that produced one of the TDs, a
10-yarder. The other score was a 29-yard pass from Stauffer to sr. WR Kevin LeSage.
That TD came when O'Hara's quality safety, jr. Craig Haywood, was
momentarily out with an injury. It made sense to pick on his replacement and Bonner did
so. Why didn't Bonner score more points? Well, there were two missed field goals and also
an incompletion off a fake. Also, Stauffer threw an interception deep in O'Hara's
territory (jr. DB Rob Smyth returned it 59 yards and a half-the-distance
personal foul penalty put the ball on Bonner's 11. Soph RB Anthony Heygood
scored from the 9 on second down). Heygood did score twice, but was limited to 61 yards on
17 carries and he suffered a possible concussion as well. Bonner's defensive line did just
as well as the O-line. The members: jr. E Casey "Don't Call Me Carey"
Ross, sr. E Tim D'Orazio, Koazk and sr. J.D. Johanson
at Ts and part-time NG Blong. O'Hara sr. QB Colin Smith did pass 8-for-13
for 116 yards, but he was picked twice (by jr. DBs Frank Nunan and Dave
Pasciolla). The Lions' most impressive play was a 40-yard pickup on a screen by
motivated sr. FB Pat Gallagher. Alas, he touched the ball just one other
time -- on a 1-yard carry at the very beginning. Bonner's fans were out in force. Tim
Brown led the brigade, which showed juice throughout. Tim and a couple other guys
had their bare chests painted green and white (good thing it wasn't cold) and they ran
back and forth from time to time waving big flags. One guy even shaved the top of his head
so his haircut could resemble a Friar's! Cool, huh? (Somebody send me his name; I'll try
to mention him in my Daily News notes column. Thanks.) Afterward, I saw "Koz" in
the parking lot and he wanted a Tastykake. I told him he'd have to see Tim Brown. I had my
doubts there'd be any left (smile).
NOV. 3
CATHOLIC RED
SJ Prep 35, Judge 14
For some strange reason, it didn't look like The Prep was doing THAT
great on offense. But then the game ended and the stats were totaled and, voila, 370
yards. Sr. RB Kyle Ambrogi went for 152 yards and three TDs on 14
carries. Sr. QB Vince Gallagher passed 9-for-12 for 154 yards and a TD to
sr. WR Pete Chromiak (3-68) and had a string of eight consecutive
completions. And then, as the game was winding down, jr. RB Pat Kaiser,
getting a chance to spell Ambrogi, raced 50 yards for a TD. As nice as the run was, the
most impressive sight was watching jr. E Peter Welsh sprint downfield and
make sure he got in front of a trailing defender to deliver one last block. (Welsh also
averaged 41.3 yards on three punts). The defining moments occurred late in the first half
after sr. FB John Rinehart ran 4 yards for a Judge TD, cutting Prep's
lead to 13-7. Soph KR Danny Jones immediately sped 63
yards with the kickoff. Gallagher passed for 25 yards to sr. WR Jim Lachman,
then Ambrogi ran 4 yards for a TD. Three touches, removal of danger. Ambrogi then
intercepted a pass by jr. QB Mike Eaton on Judge's second play, Gallagher
completed passes of 18 and 12 yards to Chromiak and Ambrogi, respectively, and Kaiser
drilled a 37-yard FG at 0:00. LB Dave McDermott was in on two sacks, sr.
LB Adam Hepp had a sack and sr. DT Mike Mailey had a
TFL. Also, Ambrogi had a tackle for a 5-yard loss. Prep mainly shackled Judge sr. RB Justin
O'Brien; just one of his 19 carries went for more than 6 yards. The 20-yarder
made his final totals 19 carries, 63 yards. He added 91 yards on three returns. Strange
site: backup QB Dale Curry came in, made a flip to sr. WR Mike
Haigh that produced a 42-yard gain, then immediately left the game as Eaton came
back in. Rinehart completed the scoring drive from the 5 four plays later. Sr. DL Ryan
Loftus was very impressive for Judge. He had two tackles for no gain and an
8-yard sack. He also ran down Gallagher to keep what could have been a very long run to a
6-yard gain. Sr. DB Jim McAteer had a fumble recovery and sr. T Ryan
"Goose" Nase made a tackle on Ambrogi after the interception, or so the
Goosester claimed. After Ambrogi raced 23 yards for a TD late in the third quarter, the
Prep student with the mini-bullhorn said, "Man, is he fast! And he looks good,
too."
NOV. 3
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Malvern 44, Gtn. Academy 7
The emotions were not exactly bubbling as the Friars won the title
for the 16th time in 24 seasons (13 outright, three shared) under coach Gamp
Pellegrini. The Friars barely made any noise as the game ended and congratulatory
hugs were few and lacking in intensity. That's how it is with forgone conclusions. Malvern
frolicked through the league this season and this one was no exception. The Friars scored
on four of their first five possessions as sr. RB Michael Treston
(15-136) ran for two scores and jr. FB T.J. Cascio (3-21) and sr. RB Gerald
Price (4-31) added one apiece. Then, as the half was winding down, sr. K-P Brendan
Carney, who recently made a commitment to Syracuse, hammered a 27-yard field goal
without the benefit of a block. Third quarter TDs went to sub FB Kevin Lilly,
a jr., and sub QB Sean Dougherty, a soph. Malvern's starting O-line
featured sr. C Jeff Carroll, sr. G Shawn Quinn,
jr. G Michael Meehan, sr. T Steve Fischer, jr. T
Stefan Niemczyk and sr. TE Chris Emper. The defense was even
better than the offense. It surrendered just 29 yards before yielding to the second unit
near the end of the third quarter. The front four, nicknamed Mt. Rush-No-More and
consisting of Cascio and sr. Eric Moore at the ends and Quinn and Meehan
at the tackles, helped to make GA go for minus-34 yards on the ground. Meehan, in
particular, abused guys on both sides of the ball. GA is very young. The Patriots began
the game alternating sr. Harry Sankey and soph Sean
Grieve at QB. The tiny, but brassy Sankey had lots of trouble getting into a flow
and at one point was heard to comment, "I'm gettin' killed out here!" Grieve,
who throws lefthanded but punts rightfooted (the Raiders' Rich Gannon did
the opposite while at St. Joe's Prep), finished 10-for-15 for 135 yards and a TD to jr. WR
David Walsh. Seventy-four of those yards came against the second unit. GA
tried some tricks. A hook-and-lateral went for 25 total yards. On a kickoff, Walsh caught
the ball at the 5, then huddled with several teammates and handed the ball to jr. WR
Justin "Christmas" Holiday, who ran for 10 yards. Later, Walsh caught a
pass behind the line and then threw an incomplete pass. GA had big problems with
transition. Often, it had 10 or 12 players on the field and had to scramble and/or call
time. Injured freshman Sanyog Rai began the game keeping stats and got
absolutely clocked on a play out of bounds. He hopped right up, though, and had fun
showing everyone his bent-like-crazy pen. In the second half, he served as a ballboy and
dropped a few flips from the referees. Finally, I kiddingly said to him, "You are
definitely a lineman." He smiled and said, "That's why I could take the
hit." My buddy from last year, injured sr. lineman Bill Speier,
again kept using the lowest possible voice to encourage his teammates. Finally, yet
another injured Patriot, soph RB-WR Tyler Yerk, said to him, "Hey,
do you have a frog in your throat?" Carney sent a few of his PAT kicks over the fence
beyond the track.
NOV. 2
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Washington 12, Frankford 6
What if you held a party and one of the three very best guests
couldn't make it? That's what'll happen next week when the PL playoffs begin and the
absent party will be Frankford. In this do-or-die game for second place in Division A,
Washington claimed the spot and Frankford assured itself of playing two meaningless games
before Thanksgiving. Like it or not, everyone knew the deal going in. Washington opted to
place its fate in the hands of sr. RB Ryan Gore, who had been given
limited opportunities in what mostly had been a series of romps. He responded with 130
yards and a 10-yard TD (on a wingback sweep) on 24 carries. He also had a 44-yard burst on
the Eagles' other scoring drive, which was culminated 1:23 before halftime as jr. QB Marcus
Kennedy threw a 9-yard pass to jr. TE Michael Van Allen. No one
from Frankford was within 10 yards of Van Allen, who was standing in almost the exact
middle of the end zone. Washington's defensive leaders were sr. LB Maurice Bennett,
jr. DL Jameel McClain and Van Allen at OLB. Frankford had a woeful first
half, collecting minus-5 yards rushing. The Pioneers showed juice to start the second half
and sr. Marcus "Dink" Waddy made a couple of nifty moves --
right around sr. DB Deron Dungee, the all-time trash-talker (smile) -- on
a 14-yard TD run. Dungee was getting into it big-time with former Frankford RB Rasheen
Braddock shortly before the TD and Braddock went nuts on Dungee afterward.
"Hey, who got burned on that TD? Was that you? Yeah, I think it was you! Hey, No. 21.
That was you, right? Where were you? Oh, Dink went right around you, right? You better
stop talkin' and start playin'." It was a nice drive (75 yards, eight plays), but
Frankford couldn't sustain the momentum. It had only one first down thereafter and its
hopes were completely dashed with 2:30 left as McClain forced Waddy to fumble and sr. LB Bobby
Young made the recovery. Frankford's team bus was pelted with a few rocks and
plastic soda bottles as it drove into Washington. No one was hurt. The game had a festive
atmosphere. There was a DJ on hand on Washington's sideline and two huge blocks of
speakers. The music could have been heard on the Boulevard, I'm sure. Afterward, there was
dancing right on the field. I opted not to shake my booty. Not that I have a booty.
NOV. 1
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Bartram 20, Bok 14 (2 OTs)
Now THIS was a goodie, at least down the stretch. Honestly, the
first 3 1/2 quarters were rather average, but then the momentum began to build and build
and every heart began to beat a little faster. By the end, I didn't want it to end. I
wanted to see a few more OTs. Last things first: jr. RB Chironn "Goober"
Davis, returning from a neck injury and advised by doctors NOT to play, ran 6
yards for a TD to end the second OT and give Bartram the Division D title, following the
blocks of sr. G Maurice Kelley and jr. T Rich Mink.
Davis also ran for Bartram's first OT touchdown and finished with 112 yards on 27 carries.
On a few early plays, Davis ran out of bounds on Bok's sideline rather than initiate
contact and Bok's players gave him a hard time. Davis admitted later to being hesitant and
not taking hits when he didn't have to. He was tough on inside runs, though. Bartram
needed heroics from somebody because sr. QB Phil Evans (ankle injury) was
unavailable. Jr. FB Julius Caple added 57 yards and a TD on 14 carries.
The other members of the offensive line were sr. C Jordan "Can I Get a
Witness?" Harris (he's an ordained minister), sr. G Coy Boykin,
jr. T Malcolm Roy and sr. TE Joseph "Formally" Smith.
Early in the fourth quarter, Bartram started at its 46 and used the running of Davis and
Caple to advance to Bok's 2. Sr. DL Shawn Jeter broke through and dropped
Caple for a 2-yard loss on third down and fourth down brought a pitchout from jr. QB Hanif
Long to Davis. Davis made an all-time play on every possible level: The pitchout
was high and he had to reach up to control it. That made him stumble slightly and the Bok
guys were in his face, so he had to retreat to the 16. He ducked under what should have
been a sure tackle, then headed to his right. At the 5, and just before stepping out of
bounds, he made a last-second glance and flip to sr. WR Romar Drake in
the end zone. Touchdown! Oops, not a touchdown! A lineman was detected downfield. I'd love
to see the film, though, because it looked like a suspect call. Bok came back immediately
with a 22-yard run by RB Will McCall and a 31-yard pass from sr. QB Kareem
Jeffreys to WR Marcelluas Barnes, who made a great,
hands-all-the-way-out catch vs. double coverage. Jeffreys next threw into the right corner
of the end zone to WB Akeem "Feathers" Green, who was unable to
make the catch. (Back judge Tim Gallagher said Green was inside the
sideline and that the play would have been a TD). The drive then fizzled. In OT, Davis ran
7 yards for a score on second down, but was stopped on the conversion. The scoreboard read
9-8. Huh? On Bok's second play, Green took a lateral pass from Jeffreys and weaved around
a defender for a 7-yard TD. Jeffreys threw incomplete on the conversion. Bok went first in
the second OT. Sr. FB Kevin Cheely ran 4 yards (tackle by Kelley), McCall
was dropped for a 1-yard loss (Caple), Jeffreys was limited to a 1-yard gain on a scramble
to the right (Smith, showing good speed) and Jeffreys tripped and fell for a 4-yard loss
after executing a fake. Davis then ran 4 and 6 yards to end it.