SEPT. 28
CATHOLIC RED
Ryan 27, Judge 20
   This one had some slow moments, especially in the first half, but wound up being very entertaining. Ryan used a three-play, 73-yard drive with 6:56 left to take a 27-20 lead and then had to hang on, and did so splendidly, after star sr. WR Kyle Gallagher (4-87) allowed Judge sr. DB Paul Roken to steal the ball with 3:45 left. Judge wound up with first-and-10 at the Ryan 26. The sequence: soph DB Mike Pinto stopped jr. WR/part-time RB Carl Peterson for a 1-yard gain; jr. LB Sean Lucarini held jr. RB Joe Becht (20-119) for no gain on a draw; sr. DE Bill Lynch dropped sr. QB Mike Eaton for a 6-yard sack; and Eaton badly overthrew a receiver on fourth down under heavy pressure from jr. DE Dave Levan. Ryan's winning drive was preceded by a 17-yard KO return from freshman Joe Zeglinski. Then, DeLeo (7-for-17, 137) hit Gallagher for a 19-yard gain, "Ziggy" ripped off a 39-yard gain and DeLeo hit Gallagher for a 15-yard TD on a right-to-middle slant. Up by only five, 25-20, Ryan coach Glen Galeone opted to go for two. DeLeo was going to pass, then indicated he wanted to run up the middle. There was no room, so he dashed around the right side and scored standing up. It was a nice improvisation. Pinto and sr. DB Chris Bakos had interceptions for Ryan while Bakos and sr. OLB Jonmike McArdle blocked punts. By the way, McArdle is OUTSTANDING as a long-snapper. Big-time velocity. Sr. K Chris Weber booted field goals of 20 and 41 yards. Zeglinski finished with 102 yards and a TD on 17 carries. He also had a catch for 30 and two returns for 37. His 30-yard catch, to the left side, immediately followed a 16-yarder, to the right side, that would have been a TD if not for a holding call. For Judge, aside from Becht, Eaton went 9-for-21 for 120 yards and Peterson made six catches for 77 yards while jr. Mike Bergey did some yeoman blocking, even a significant distance downfield. Jr. Tim Wacker began the game with a 98-yard KO return for a TD. Wacker and Roken also had interceptions. Sr. Matt DeLong, in his first game as Judge's kicker, booted FGs of 20 and 32 yards. Jr. LB Anthony Rodriguez was in on nine tackles. After performing at halftime, Ryan's band packed up and left. Judge faced an interesting choice late in the first half. On a play where Wacker intercepted at the 1, holding was called on Ryan far behind the line. If Judge had accepted, the ball would have been moved back to Ryan's 45. That's a field position difference of 54 yards. Judge opted to let the interception stand. Eaton threw a pick on the seocnd play and Ryan scored four plays later on DeLeo's 8-yard pass to sr. TE Bill Freiling.

SEPT. 28
CATHOLIC RED
SJ Prep 49, La Salle 12
   What is going ON here? Is The Prep this good, or are its opponents this bad? The Hawks frolicked and likely could have scored 60 or 70 if they'd been so inclined. The halftime score was 34-0 and I can say this without too much chance of being challenged: It was the Explorers' worst half of football in the modern era. La Salle has a veteran defense, but it was given no chance by the offense. Here are the results of each first-half possession: interception, lost fumble, 11-yard punt, 9-yard punt, lost fumble, interception, dropped snap on fourth down, 4-yard loss as time ran out. Those woes enabled Prep to take over at the 50, 36, 42, 36, 23, 6 and 34 (those last six numbers are in La Salle territory). Prep's leaders on offense were sr. RB Pat Kaiser (15-145) and the combination of sr. QB Matt Stefanski (6-for-15, 123) to soph WR Steve Quinn (3 catches, 96 yards, all for TDs). Kaiser also kicked five PAT and two FGs and sent five of his kickoffs into the end zone; through a strong crosswind, no less. The balls landed nine, nine, eight, seven and three yards deep. Amazing! Jr. Danny Jones was spectacular also. He had two interceptions, returning them for a total of 56 yards, and scored on a magnificent, bob-and-weave, 89-yard kickoff return. Jr. DB Greg Ambrogi and jr. DT Brandon Friday had fumble recoveries to set up scores. Friday was also in on two sacks. After Kaiser's TD provided a 40-0 lead early in the third quarter, Prep posted a two-point conversion. There was no intent to embarrass. The snap was bobbled by Stefanski, who then scrambled and did a nice job finding jr. Brian Tracz. La Salle mostly abandoned its running game early when the coaches acknowledged that the O-line could not handle Prep's D-line. The running game was hurt by the absence of jr. RB Max Mullineaux (high ankle sprain, maybe out for three more games). La Salle finally had a happy moment late in the third quarter when sr. Sean Agnew returned a punt 74 yards for a score. Jr. L Kevin Donohoe made a crushing block. Eighty-seven seconds later, sr. QB Joe F. Winning whipped an 18-yard scoring pass to jr. TE Frank Jorfi right after sr. LB Rob Brassell recovered a fumble. La Salle kids at one point were yelling at Kaiser, "Ham and cheese! Ham and cheese!" That's what one would find in a Kaiser roll, right? Even before halftime, Prep's were chanting, "Start the buses! Start the buses!" Even though this was a daytime game, a great crowd was on hand.

SEPT. 27
NON-LEAGUE
Northeast 24, Germantown 6
        Early-season games are always tough to predict because there’s so little to go on. Though I figured this affair would be a goodie, it didn’t come close. Northeast was not awesome, but G-town did very little right and that produced something of a yawner. The Vikes’ rushing leaders were srs. Stanley Ebron (11-75, TD) and Eric Clark (7-75, TD). Ebron had a strange play early in the game. On a run that should have been a 46-yard TD, he somehow stepped out of bounds even though no one was close by. The QB duties mostly were handled by jr. Marcellus Sammons, though jr. Andrew Lihotz was first on the field. They’re both listed at 5-9, 160. Lihotz is a thrower. Sammons has good enough feet/instincts to run some option. NE’s defensive leaders were jr. LB Warren Bartlett (nine tackles, most made with authority), sr. E Khalid Berry (good pursuit and the ability to fight off blockers) and Clark (tough against the run). Sr. Steve Sandberg went 3-for-3 on PAT, converted a 26-yard FG and sent three kickoffs (admittedly with a wind at his back) to the 1 or into the end zone. He averaged 27.7 yards on three punts; all were INTO the wind if I remember correctly. G-town’s only truly positive performance, really, was turned in by jr. LB Omar McDonnaugh, who has become a regular doo-doo talker on “Intelligent Thoughts.” Guess what? He can PLAY. He made 11 tackles and three times, at least, met guys, picked them up and hammered them to the turf. Omar is something of a character, as noted by camera operator Dominic Davis. “I think they found that boy in a hospital. He’s crazy,” Davis cracked. For G-town, which never got untracked, jr. Marcus Walton rushed 10 times for 67 yards. Sr. Ryan Graves, a lefty, went much of the way at QB and wound up throwing a late, 22-yard TD pass to sr. WR Akil Stokes (2-49). But soph Brandon Cuff also received some time and he showed a very good presence and arm strength, even though he went 0-for-5. G-town’s woes were illustrated when it lost fumbles on consecutive plays in the fourth quarter. The second lost fumble (recovery by jr. DL Drew Lessa) came just after G-town’s Raheem Lewis recovered the ball on the NE 10. On what turned out to be the last play of the game, NE’s Fil Jakimoski showed nice persistence. He botched a recovery, then crawled about 5 yards to another spot and DID make a recovery.

SEPT. 26
NON-LEAGUE
King 13, Bok 8
  The rainy, windy conditions, which caused all kinds of ballhandling and footing problems, made this one tough to enjoy. There was almost no chance that anyone was going to break a long run, and completed passes were only a rumor. King had two, fourth-quarter chances to win the game and succeeded the second time. Down by 8-7 with a shade over 5 minutes left, Mike Stanley, King's first-year coach, had soph Sammy Tranks, a left-footer, try a 22-yard field goal from the right hash mark. Veteran "Pub" watchers knew the deal: this attempt had no chance. It was too slippery and too much could go wrong. It is was nice that Stanley showed confidence in his kicker, but the ball was popped almost straight up and to the right. Back onto the field for Bok came sr. RB Akeem "Feathers" Green, who'd posted decent first-half numbers (and scored eight points on a TD and conversion run) but then sat down with a minor injury. Green lost the handle on his second carry and sr. DE Dallas Cummings (I liked this guy; very sturdy and aggressive) posted his second recovery at the Bok 12. Sr. QB Dion "Flea" Whittington made a great effort on fourth-and-5, sprinting to his left (as much as he could on the slick turf) and diving toward the pylon. He was ruled out about a foot from the goal line, then went into the end zone on his second sneak with 0:50 left. Whittington, a 6-2, 190-pound lefty, is quite talented, even though he could not show much in this one. He hopes to attend prep school for a year and then earn a D-I scholarship. He's a football athlete with a swagger and there's always room for them. Srs. Kevin Snyder and Roland Penn had a bit of success on rushes. Aside from Cummings, King's defensive leaders were Snyder (two tackles for losses) and Penn at LB. Counting his three late carries, Green rushed 14 times for 41 yards. Bok jr. QB Allen Major, a brassy, but very small kid, had all kinds of trouble holding onto the ball. Bok lost three fumbles, but had at least five more drops that resulted in losses. The Wildcats' top defenders were jr. DBs -- Marcelluas Barnes, Hakim Leach and Tarif Henry. All three were aggressive, making hard hits to keep some plays from becoming very productive. Four Stanleys were in the house: Jody helped his brother Mike; their father, Joe, is the PL FB chairman and King's athletic director; and Pete, Joe's brother, came down from NY to watch. I covered Pete 25 years ago when he played for Episcopal. Yikes!

SEPT. 21
CATHOLIC RED
SJ Prep 37, Ryan 14
   "Uh, oh." That's one phrase people said while watching this one. A fellow reporter said, "The season's over. Just give Prep the championship right now. They're too good." Beforehand, everyone viewed this as a "barometer game." If Ryan could hang, there'd be hope for the others. If not . . . As the score mounted, Ryan coach Glen Galeone said, "Well, I guess the rest of the division better watch out." When the Raiders returned to the field from the halftime break, with the score at 30-0, assistant Rick Eife said, "They didn't score while we were in the locker room, did they?" Sr. RB-K-KR Pat Kaiser was Mr. Do-Much for Prep. He rushed 13 times for 142 yards and four TDs, caught one pass for 24 yards, booted four PAT and a field goal, had a 16-yard kickoff return, and sent three kickoffs into or beyond the end zone. It's hard to believe Prep could be this lucky, but Kaiser has many of the same running qualities that made Kyle Ambrogi such a star the last two years. He runs hard and harder and somehow is able to keep his feet against multiple tacklers. His 35-yard TD run with 7:01 left in the third quarter raised the score to 37-0 and caused the clock to run for the rest of the game. Prep's defensive line was also worthy of high praise. Sr. Es Matt Parkhurst and Mike Cappelletti, jr. T Brandon Friday and sr. T John Quinn lived in Ryan's backfield. Ryan runners/receivers were thrown for losses 11 times! This was my first look at the Raiders and sr. QB Joe DeLeo. He was on the run all night, but I liked his presence and how he handled the tough times. Admittedly, they came against second-teamers, but he had two excellent scrambles late in the game. One went for a TD and the other took the ball to the 1. On punt coverage, Prep jr. Greg Mendez and Ryan jr. Dave Levan got their facemasks tangled. Both took off their helmets and Mendez ran to Prep's sideline with Levan's helmet still attached to his! A moment later, Levan's helmet was returned to him. Prep jr. LB Brian Tracz, like he often does, had the best hit of the game. Two of them, in fact. DeLeo, meanwhile, uncorked a ferocious block. Ryan had a nice fan turnout, but there was no PA announcer and the referees had to scrounge around hard to find people to work the chains.

SEPT. 21
CATHOLIC RED
Roman 12, Bonner 7
  This one produced no fireworks, but it was still totally watchable because both defenses turned in strong performances. Roman's headliner was sr. RB-DB Johnny Ortiz, who's one of those heart-and-soul little guys (5-8, 150). Using impressive, hunt-and-peck instincts out of Roman's wing-T offense, Ortiz gained 76 yards on 11 carries and posted gains of 11, 7 and 9 yards on a 12-play, 80-yard drive that was capped when soph RB Marc Patricelli (20-63) scored from the 2. Ortiz also made two interceptions deep in Roman territory (at the 15 and 6) and had a 43-yard return after one of them. Roman's line was not overwhelming, but definitely controled the line of scrimmage. The members: sr. C Tom Sugden, sr. G Jeff Grimmie, jr. G Frank Suplick, jr. T Lenny DeMalto and sr. T Ed Penna. Sr. Mike Rosanova and jr. Charron Fisher shared TE. Jr. QB Andre Sloan-El passed 6-for-11 for 70 yards and jr. WR Charlie Squitiere made four catches for 62 yards. He scored a TD on a 35-yard reception one play after Fisher recovered a fumble. In the last minute, Squitiere also uncorked a 48-yard punt that went about 25 to 30 yards in the air and bounced/rolled the rest of the way. The ball was tight to the sideline and only magic appeared to keep it in. Jr. DB Mike Gavin ended it with an interception two plays later. Roman's best defender was jr. LB Tom Bowen. He showed strength and quickness and was always around the ball. He made three tackles for losses. Sr. DT Matt Roakes also made a few plays in heavy traffic. Bonner had a great goal-line stand early in the fourth quarter. Roman had the ball at the 3. Sr. CB Dave Pasciolla dropped Patricelli for a 1-yard loss, Pasciolla and sr. DL Earl McNeil (6-3, 247) combined to hold Sloan-El to a 3-yard gain, then sr. DT Matt Blong dumped Sloan-El for a 2-yard loss. A field goal attempt then went awry. Bonner never quite clicked on offense. Sr. QB Frank Nunan got the start because sr. Drew Zagursky was out with a concussion. Frank is Mr. Brass, and he helps a team in all kinds of ways, but he struggled throwing. He went 2-for-12 with three picks. Just to find ways to get star WR Paul McNichol the ball, Bonner used three reverses. He responded with three carries for 55 yards and a 7-yard TD. Zagursky is due back next week and soph Andrew Case is said to have all kinds of potential. It'll be interesting to see how the situation plays out. Sr. Steve Jones gained 38 yards on eight carries and blocked a punt. Nunan had a 44-yard kickoff return. At times, the interior of Bonner's DL boasted 680 pounds, at least. Sr. John Wickersham (345) was next to sr. Jared Smith (335). Roman sr. K John "Byrd" Pendergast slammed a PAT right into the crossbar. The ball bounced back to the line of scrimmage, where sr. E Derek Dopkin jumped and tried to catch it. Zip. Right through his hands. "It wouldn't have counted anyway," he said, sheepishly.

SEPT. 21
NON-LEAGUE
Mastbaum 14, Roxborough 6
  Someone please remind Mother Nature that it's not July anymore? It was extremely hot for this morning affair and the play was often lethargic. Yards were mostly hard to come by, which was probably caused by offensive shortcomings more than defensive greatness. Not until the fourth quarter did two successive plays produce gains of at least 10 yards. Mastbaum's talent and size levels are down a shade, but coach John Murphy still has some respectable players. The 'Baum had a sensational goal line stand late in the first quarter, stopping Roxborough for 1, 0, 0 and minus-2 on a series that began at the 2. Sr. LB Nate Nixon was involved in the tackles and second and third down. On fourth, sr. DT Jose Perez exploded across the line of scrimmage and dropped jr. QB Clinton Taylor. In the second quarter, sr. DE Will Martin and soph LB Jahlil Porter recorded a 5-yard sack and jr. DE Mark Brighter followed immediately with a 10-yarder. With 1:54 left in the game, Roxborough jr. LB Kenneth Anderson recovered a fumble (strip by sr. DL Robert Nock) and the Indians took over on their 43, still holding out hopes of getting a tie. Taylor threw a swing pass to jr. RB Kyle Earls. Nixon stripped him and Martin recovered, putting The 'Baum out of harm's way. 'Boro ran nine plays in the second half. Six lost yardage and one resulted in an interception (by jr. DB Jovan Pratt). Really, Roxborough's only highlight was an 84-yard KO return by sr. Tyree Wyche. He was tackled on the 3 by sr. Lawrence Calloway and Taylor went in two plays later. Earls, at OLB, had a strong performance. He showed excellent tackling skills, always getting in his licks below the waist. He had nine stops. Mastbaum's QB, sr. David Wilson, is very small (listed at 5-8, 155), but throws a decent ball. He finished 5-for-10 for 46 yards, as Pratt made four catches for 28 yards. The two main rushers were soph James Baptiste (10-48) and Nixon (9-44). I saw something I've never seen before. With Roxborough on Mastbaum's 1, the star RB asked to come out of the game because he needed a rest. It wasn't sr. Brandon Sutton, by the way. He's expected to be the headliner later, but he missed the game with a tender knee. Soph K David Pough hammered two PAT. Standing on his own 27 -- in other words, 33 yards from where the starting point -- Roxborough's Ed Fairfax was hit flush in the facemask by a kickoff. How does THAT happen??

SEPT. 14
NON-LEAGUE
Conwell-Egan 34, North Catholic 14
   Yes, I realize C-E won the game, but the night experienced by North sr. QB Brian Mitchell must receive first mention. North ran 67 plays and Mitchell threw or ran on 62 of them! Included were the last 42 in a row and all 40 in the second half! Overall, he passed 14-for-47 for 166 yards and carried 15 times for 85 yards. He also punted seven times for a 34-yard average (long of 50), attempted a 34-yard field goal, which was blocked, and kicked two PAT. Excluding plays on which penalties were called, he was directly involved on 72 of 77 snaps. (He also kicked off and spent much of the game on defense, too.) Mitchell's percentage was so low in part because the grass and ball were a shade slippery from pre-game rains (there was also a light shower deep in the second quarter) and because he was under constant pressure. I can only imagine how many times he was hit. A few passes were dropped, too. North's prime rusher, soph Shane McNamara, departed with a neck injury after his first carry midway through the first quarter. His replacement, soph Gene Zimmaro, carried four times before leaving just before halftime with leg miseries. As the Falcons came out for the second half, coach Tim Quinn said, "We're going into the shotgun and throwing the ball until the kingdom comes." He wasn't kidding. All of Mitchell's 10 second-half rushes came when he was forced out of the pocket and had to take off. He ran for one score and hit jr. WR Charlie Evans (2-48) for another. Dave Rodriguez made seven catches for 90 yards and was fearless on returns. Soph Chris Wenger showed some crispy moves on a 23-yard kickoff return. Jr. DE Ryan Nottis was in on four tackles worth 19 yards in losses. For C-E, like always, soph RB Steve Slaton was the show. He toyed with North's defense, honestly, rushing 19 times for 261 yards and four TDs. His longest scores covered 87 and 57 yards and I don't believe he was touched on either run. Interestingly, both runs were to his left. His line: sr. C Bill Jacobs, jr. G Brian Hrynczyszyn (say that fast once), sr. G Rich Casmirri, sr. Ts Evan Snydman and Matt Brazil and sr. TE Darin Lorady (jr. TE Anthony Caranci was injured early on the same play where McNamara got hurt). Slaton (5-11, 175) displayed the corner-turning burst and twice absolutely clocked two guys with FB-type strength. Sr. DB Dan Quinn scored on a 36-yard interception return and soph DB Jeff McClenton ended North's last possession with a pick. Brazil was in on two sacks. The game took 3 hours and North's coaches had an on-field, post-game pow-wow with the players that lasted 20 minutes.

SEPT. 14
NON-LEAGUE
La Salle 10, Gtn. Academy 3
   Not the most sensational game ever, but it was watchable and featured a respectable finish. Trailing by 10-3, GA took command on its 9 after sr. WR-DB Justin Holiday blocked a field goal attempt and kept the ball for 15 plays. On fourth-and-1 from its 30, GA gambled and jr. QB Sean Grieve (11-for-19, 101) hit soph RB Matt Brown for a 23-yard gain. Later, the Patriots were in business with first-and-10 at the La Salle 28. The sequence: two incompletions, a 2-yard loss by Brown on a draw (tackle by jr. DT Kevin Donohoe and soph DE Christian Barrett) and an incomplete pass into the end zone at 0:56. Jr. LB Miles Miller had a strong performance for La Salle. He made two early sacks and had some of the harder hits. La Salle had a strange day offensively. Jr. RB Max Mullineaux posted just nine carries total (51 yards) and six came on the first series of the third quarter. After a holding call made it third-and-18 from the 23, sr. QB Joe F. Winning hit Mullineaux with a perfectly thrown TD pass into the left corner of the end zone. It was a hot day and Mullineaux appeared to be winded as he lined up to kick the PAT. He even slumped over. Coach Joe Colistra yelled, "Need a time out!?" Mullineaux waved it off and then proceeded to hammer the PAT to the rim of the track. Mullineaux earlier booted a 21-yard field goal. Winning went just 1-for-3. Sr. RB Brian Donohoe gained 74 yards on 16 carries. Aside from blocking the FG attempt, Holiday showed his athleticism with a spectacular catch on a short pass, reeling in the ball one-handed. Grieve, a lefty, had little time all day and La Salle's d-backs did an excellent job in coverage, so Grieve kept having to throw short. GA coach Michael "Pup" Turner played the angles in GA's last drive. After a lineman-downfield penalty was assessed on an incomplete screen pass, Turner said through his headset to an assistant, "I'm going to buy you some time here. Get the next call ready." He then demanded an explanation from head ref Tommy McClain. GA sr. lineman Dale Becker, who insists he's a big fan of the site, injured his trick left knee and went to the bench. His father, showing concern, came down out of the stands and got within a few feet when Dale stopped him dead in his tracks. "I'm fine. Go back up," he said, sternly. Dad turned around and did as told (smile). Incredibly, though the schools are rather close geographically (and were even close in their former locations; La Salle was at 20th and Olney, GA was at Greene Street and School House Lane), this was just their third meeting total and first since 1931! GA won that one, 6-0. La Salle won in 1924, 13-0.               

SEPT. 13
NON-LEAGUE
West Catholic 32, Judge 29
   Friday the 13th was certainly not unlucky for Curtis "Boonah" Brinkley. In the very same game, he joined two prestigious rushing clubs -- 300 yards in a game, 3,000 in a career. The speedy, shifty and oh-so-tough runner carried 24 times for 306 yards and two TDs, raising his career total to 3,024 yards in just 27 varsity games. He raced 57 yards on his first carry and later had another 57-yarder. West coach Brian Fluck at times made Brinkley line up as a wide receiver, just to provide a different look and spread out the defense. But on the Burrs' last series, as they were trying to protect the lead, Fluck employed a full-house "I" with two others directly in front of Brinkley. Boonah's main blocker was rock-hard fullback Chester Roebuck (6-2, 240), also a force at LB. The line: sr. C Will Grant, soph G Frank Pirrotta, sr. G Tyler Wims, sr. T Mike Cannon, jr. T Fran Enright and soph TE Derrell Hand. West received excellent efforts on two other TDs. With some moves and a burst of speed, sr. WR Jonathan Jackson turned a hitch pass from jr. QB Will Burke into a 30-yard score. Soph CB Chris Diaferio showed nice concentration on a tipped pass and wound up bobbing and weaving his way to a 68-yard interception return. Sr. DT Steven Williams, though "only" 6-foot, 205, made a big-time showing. He made 2 1/2 sacks and one other tackle for a loss, and was close to several other sacks. Jackson, at DB, broke up several passes. For Judge, which largely had to abandon the running game after falling into a 32-13 hole, sr. QB Mike Eaton passed 21-for-37 for 248 yards and one TD. He had completion streaks of six (early) and eight (late). He hit six receivers, with jr. WR Carl Peterson (7-110; he also had a 66-yard kickoff return), sr. RB John Rinehart (5-57) and sr. WR Russ Magyar (4-54) emerging as the leaders. The top Crusader overall, though, had to be jr. DB Tim Wacker. In his debut at K, he hit field goals of 32 and 20 yards and punt returns of 35 and 48 yards. That second one went for a TD and, when followed by Eaton's conversion pass to Rinehart, drew Judge within three with 3:40 left. Brinkley then gained 42 yards on six plays and the Crusaders regained possession at 0:20. Eaton's 24-yard hookup with Peterson moved the ball within a yard of midfield, then Brinkley got a pick to end it. Earlier, Brinkley also had the game's best hit, likely giving jr. DB-backup QB Dale Curry a concussion at the end of a 31-yard run from punt formation. Early in the second quarter, Curry, the holder, was just slightly long on a pass off a fake field goal to sr. Joe Leotta that could have been an 18-yard TD. The play was executed in perfect fashion otherwise by Curry and everyone else. West had 398 yards total offense and 43 on returns. Judge had 346 and 193. Considering the schools are hardly natural rivals, there was a decent crowd on hand.

SEPT. 7
NON-LEAGUE
St. Joe's Prep 21, Malvern Prep 7
   If only all games could have an atmosphere like this one. The stands at Plymouth-Whitemarsh were packed on both sides and spectators ringed much of the track, three to four deep in some places. It was THIS Prep vs. THAT Prep. The Catholic League's premier program vs. the Inter-Ac League's premier program. Student (Prep coach Gil Brooks) vs. Teacher (Malvern coach Gaspare "Gamp" Pellegrini, who coached the Hawklets to the 1977 City Title before leaving to coach at Malvern). This one was won on two big plays, and featured a connection from sr. QB Matt Stefanski (8-for-16, 251) to soph WR Steve Quinn (4-184). On the verge of being sacked for a safety by sr. DE T.J. Cascio, Stefanski stepped up and lofted a bomb to Quinn. He caught the ball at roughly midfield, dragged a defender at ankle level for at least 5 yards and then broke away for a 95-yard TD! Their other TD hookup covered 74 yards as Quinn split a pair of defenders and took off virtually unchallenged. Quinn is the brother of sr. John Quinn, the squad's top lineman. When kidded that Steve, who also had some nice moments at LB, would be tough to live with now, John cracked, "He's good. He's a little more important than I am." Stefanski scored the other TD on a 2-yard keeper. Sr. RB Pat Kaiser posted 94 yards on 21 carries and the Prep posted 395 yards total offense. You'll almost never see Malvern scorched to that degree. Jr. LB Brian Tracz did some serious rocking to lead the defense. Jr. NT Brandon Friday twice made excellent plays on screen passes while also recovering a fumble. Especially early, sr. Nate Egner was a strong presence at safety. Malvern's lone score came on a 1-yard, second-effort sneak by sr. QB Dave Moore. Moore went only 10-for-28 for 91 yards and had location woes most of the evening. Cascio rushed 14 times for 46 yards and had the hit (recovery by sr. DT Stefan Niemczyk) that set up the score. Both schools' rooting sections were loud, but Prep's won this battle. I can't imagine too many students were NOT on hand. Prep soph Jim Bogan had the hit of the night while blocking on a punt return. It was nice to see the '77 team honored at halftime. I kind of hate to admit this, but I covered that team while working for the old Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. One of the stars and captains was John Gannon, brother of NFL QB Rich Gannon. I spoke with him briefly and also with star rusher Joe Rabuck, whose 43 carries in a playoff game are still a city record.

SEPT. 7
NON-LEAGUE
Penn Charter 20, O'Hara 7
  This win for my alma mater must be accompanied by at least a partial asterisk because O'Hara's headliner, jr. RB Anthony Heygood (9-47), was limited to one half of action by a bruised knee. Nevertheless, PC played well and more than deserved the victory. The decisive sequence occurred early in the fourth quarter when O'Hara, trailing by 14-7, earned first-and-10 at the 18. Then, so. DL Colin Hitschler held sr. WR Bob McAndrews to a 2-yard gain on a rocket screen; sr. LB Rob Hitschler (Colin's brother) tackled sr. RB Anthony Lucidonio for no gain; C. Hitschler and sr. DE Mike Boles combined to drop sr. QB Craig Haywood for a 1-yard loss after flushing him out of the pocket; and Boles hit Haywood just as he was throwing on fourth down, forcing an incompletion. Two plays later, soph handyman Zack Zeglinski ripped off a 67-yard gain on a running play (he swept right, then cut back against the grain) and sr. QB Matt Ryan lofted an 11-yard scoring pass to jr. WR Sean Singletary. That was it, folks. Most eyes were on the 6-5, 205-pound Ryan, who is bound for Boston College. He was not completely sharp, but did have many "almosts." He finished 7-for-17 for 93 yards. He also had gains of 8, 13 (for a TD) and 26 yards on keepers. He is somewhat nimble, as some of you may know (he plays shortstop in baseball, along with basketball). Sr. RB Tony McDevitt (22-114) ran hard throughout and rarely was brought down by one tackler. Often, he showed the knack for picking up 2 or 3 more yards than he appeared to deserve, if you know what I mean. Zeglinski rushed for 96 yards and added 55 on receptions. On defense, E Jarrod Williams and T Chris "Chips" Johnson also had good moments, as did McDevitt at LB. Rarity: how often have you EVER seen this? Soph strong safety Ryan Nanni was wearing No. 50. Yes, 50. Sr. T Benjamin "Biff" Gottehrer picked up 2 yards while advancing a fumble by McDevitt. Biff, according to his dad, hates the name Benjamin and wants to legally change his first name to Biff. Cool, huh? I'm thinking of changing mine to "Knucklehead." Haywood finished 10-for-16 for 98 yards. He was mostly accurate, but his receivers were unable to add many yards after catches in part because PC's tacklers were always in the vicinity. Sr. WR Mark Greim made six catches for 71 yards. Soph LB Dennis Borcky was a terror early in the game, and was literally in on almost every tackle. He departed soon thereafter with a stinger, though. Sr. LB Corey Cannon also popped with authority. The game was played at Sun Valley. Lord only knows why it had to start at 10:15 a.m.

SEPT. 6
NON-LEAGUE
La Salle 37, McDevitt 0
  Who would have predicted this? A blowout in a matchup featuring two quality programs. The loss was the worst for McDevitt since 1981 (38-0 to Judge), which was the year before current coach Pat Manzi took command. About 2,000 fans were on hand for the first game under the newly installed lights at Springfield Montco. The renovated facility looks great, by the way! The Man Most on a Mission was sr. RB-P Brian Donohoe. The former QB looks much more comfortable in his new spot and he tortured the Lancers, accumulating 155 yards of rushing (18-98), receiving (2-24) and passing (33 yards to jr. WR John Trainer.) He was juiced and that probably had something to do with what had happened a week earlier: two of his punts were blocked, resulting in TDs, in an 18-16 loss to Plymouth-Whitemarsh. Jr. RB Max Mullineaux, the son of Frankford coach Tom Mullineaux, added 52 yards and a TD on nine carries and hammered a 40-yard field goal. The other headliner was sr. DB-KR Matt McGurkin. He made a leaping interception to help set up a TD and then scored on a 63-yard, thing-of-beauty punt return. McGurkin caught the ball in the middle of the field and zoomed to the left, where La Salle had set up a textbook wall of blockers. When a McDevitt defender approached at maybe the 20 yard line, McGurkin switched directions, put on a move or two and wound up scoring back in the middle of the field. Sr. Sean Agnew also had two impressive punt returns, of 35 and 51 yards. McDevitt offered little resistance in its opener, honestly. It posted just two first downs until the late going (it added two more) and showed little emotion until after two-way sr. L Mike Haggerty suffered a rib injury in the middle of the third quarter. There was a 25-minute delay as officials awaited the arrival of an ambulance. There'd been a serious auto wreck nearby on Cheltenham Avenue, so the EMTs were quite busy. Sr. P Robert McHugh (6-3, 215) had to punt seven times. He averaged 34.6 yards. Sr. QB Robert Dougherty gave an uneven performance, not surprising considering he's a first-year starter. He committed one cardinal sin early, reaching out with the ball while trying to get a first down. It was batted away, jr. DT Kevin Donohoe recovered (yes, that's Brian's brother), and La Salle took the lead for good five plays later on Brian's 16-yard run. Sr. DE Andrew Kovach made some impressive plays for the Lancers and as the game wound down, I heard him "reminding" his teammates (not so gently, either) that they'd better hit the weight room come Monday. La Salle has two guys named Joe Winning. Joe F. (for Francis) is the sr. QB starter. Joe W. (for William) is a substitute soph LB. They're cousins.