Frog's Corner
                                                         Football 2015

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  Mark "Frog" Carfagno is yet another of our trusty statisticians/observers. He's fun to be around and very thorough. He's also loyal to the schools in South and Southwest Philly, but if you're from someplace else and can play, he'll admit it.
   Frog may be reached at markcarf@verizon.net.

November 27, 2015
Thanksgiving Rivalry
Neumann-Goretti 26 Southern 24
 
Yes they are all called Turkey Bowls. High School games all across the country play them on the last Thursday in November. However what took place at the South Philly Super Site may have just as well been called the South Philly Variety Show. There were all kinds of plays in this contest won by the Saints of Neumann-Goretti 26-24. There were long punts, blocked punts and fake punts. Also onside kicks both successful and unsuccessful and one almost being returned for a Southern TD. You want more. How about the old Muddle Huddle formation pulled out of the N-G playbook by head coach Dan Concannon and a fumble returned for a TD that flew right into the hands of Southern’s Samid Williams. It was as if a woman had said to Williams, “Son, could you carry this bag of groceries to my car please”? I still am not finished. How about the old naked bootleg called by Southern’s head coach Frank “Roscoe” Natale, which saw the Rams QB Zebby Zarwie go untouched an almost unnoticed into the end zone for a 6 yard TD. Finally it may have been Thanksgiving, but it had parts of Halloween as the number 6 and 66 kept appearing on my stat sheet giving it the feel of the Devil whose infamous number is 666 . Now to dissect all of these mess on Southern’s opening drive they marched the ball down to the Saints 4 yard line. On second down Devon Moore fumbled the ball that was recovered at the NG one yard line by number 66 Rashid Saunders. Southern then held the NG offense for a quick three and out which brought in punter Gage Caiazzo who punted the ball 51 yards to the Southern 42 yard line. The Rams gained 8 yards on three downs and decided to go for the first down from their own 49. Facing a fourth and two Zarwie fumbled the ball and it was recovered by the Saints number 6 Keith Jenkins. Helped by a 23 yard run by QB Brandon Pridgen the Saints moved the ball to the Rams 22 and were facing a fourth and 6. Pridgen dropped back to pass but was sacked for a 13 yard loss by Wayne Christian. Southern took over from the 35 but couldn’t get a first down and was forced to punt the ball. Early in the second quarter the Saints had the ball of on the Rams 24 when Pridgen was hit and the ball first appeared to be snatched by a Southern player, but it then pooped straight up in the air to Williams and he waltzed into the end zone from the 19 yard line. Martell Marshall then ran for the 2 point conversion as the Rams led 8-0 with 10:04 left in the quarter. Turnovers which had hurt Southern all season again haunted them after they forced the Saints to punt midway through the quarter. Punting from the Southern 44 Caiazzo put the Rams in a hole with a 40 yard boot down to the Southern 4 yard line. Caiazzo punted 4 times for an average of 39.2. On third down from his own 9 Marshall fumbled the ball when he was hit by you guessed it number 6 Jenkins and the ball was recovered by Zack Treadwell at the Southern 19. After a 2 yard loss Pridgen then connected on a 20 yard pass to Bryan Gabriel down to the South Philly one yard line. Pridgen then sneaked in on the next play to cut the lead to 8-6 after the NG PAT failed with 1:04 left before half. To start the third stanza the Rams defense held the Saints and Southern took possession after a Caiazzo 34 yard punt that was returned 10 yards by Quaree Thomas to the Southern 20. The Saints then responded by forcing the Rams to punt after three plays. Disaster again for Southern as…there goes those six’s again… Jenkins blocked a punt that was scooped up by his teammate Maurice Mazzccua at the 22 and returned 13 yards to the Southern 9. On first down Jenkins took care of those 9 with a TD burst at the 6:38 mark of the third quarter. The conversion run failed and the scoreboard read 12-8 in favor of the Saints. Southern’s offense clicked on their next possession as they patrolled 54 yards with Marshall gaining 22 on a run from the Saints 28. Zarwie then ran the bootleg for six points and then he connected with Manier Kennedy on the 2 point conversion pass for a 16-12 Rams lead at 3:31 of the third period. Southern then kicked the ball out of bounds on the ensuing kickoff. The Saints took the penalty and forced Southern to kick again from the 35. A failed on sides kick followed which gave the Saints excellent field possession at the Southern 45. On first down Mazzccua went straight up the middle to pay turf which gave the Saints the lead for good. Pridgen followed with a PAT pass to Treadwell and a 20-16 N-G lead late in the quarter. The Saints increased their led to 26-16 when Jenkins ran one yard for a TD with 8:12 left in the contest. Concannon’s squad tried an onside kick which backfired when Williams returned it 44 yards to the N-G six yard line. One first down Marshall scored the game’s final TD and Zarwie connected with Zion Vaughnn for the 2 point conversion to close the scoring for the day. Southern had one last chance when they were forced to start their final drive from their own 5 after a 32 yard punt by Caiazzo. On fourth down from his own 7 Zarwie threw the ball down field where it was intercepted by Treadwell at the Rams 23 with 1:58 left on the fourth quarter time piece. The Saints then took three knee’s to conclude the contest. For Southern Marshall ran 20 times for 91 yards, Zarwie 13-34 and Moore 6-31. Williams who was named the MVP for Southern recorded 9 tackles, 7 solo, 3TFL including a sack. Christian numbered 8-5-sack, Delandre Francis 7-5-1, Williamson Sankara 6-4-1 and Harry Miller closed with 5-3-1. For Neumann-Goretti Jenkins ran 13-64, Gabriel 6-51 and Mazzccua 4-58. Pridgen passed just 2-4-25. Saunders led the defense with 9-7-1. Trailing was Amire Tyler 8-6, Treadwell 7-5, Jenkins 7-4-2-sack and the MVP for the Saints Bryan Gabriel 7-5. Good Luck to Bryan as he is expected to join the United States Marine Corp upon graduation.

Week 11 Recap
November 16, 2015 
 
Lincoln’s Michael Guyton rushed 13 times for 130 yards and 2 TD’s while QB Allston Augustin passed 13-25-181-TD to lead the Railsplitters to a 25-22 victory over the Warriors from Boys' Latin. Lincoln took an early first quarter lead when Augustin connected with Nassir Coleman for a 10 yard score. Nick Houser booted the PAT and it was 7-0 in favor of the boys from the Northeast. Latin controlled the final quarter and a half as they would score 2 second quarter TD’s on QB Keith Brown’s 7 yard keeper and a Deandre Salters 27 yard catch and run from Malik Johnson who took over the Latin QB duties midway through the second quarter. Johnson also added a conversion run as the visitors headed to their lockers with a 14-7 halftime advantage. It took Lincoln just 16 seconds to cut the deficit to one point at the start of the second half. Hosea McClam opened the third quarter by returning the kickoff 43 yards to the Latin 43 yard line. On the first play from scrimmage Guyton took care of the rest of the yardage running all the way to pay turf at the 11:44 mark of the third stanza. The Railsplitters forced a three and out by the Warriors and would go on to take the lead on their next possession. The highlight of the drive and marked on my notes as MY PLAY OF THE YEAR, was when McClam took a short pass from Augustin and then danced, hopped, skipped, jumped and juked for 22 yards and a first down before he was stopped at the Latin 22. After a loss of three yards on first down, Augustin connected with Coleman for another 22 yards before Augustin ran the final 3 for a TD. Lincoln’s 2 point conversion pass failed but they took the lead 19-14 late in the quarter. Early in the fourth, David Williams took the lead away from the Railsplitters when he blasted 42 yards for a score with 11:02 showing on the final quarter clock. Malik Johnson again ran for the PAT as the Warriors went on top 22-19. Guyton made sure the lead didn’t last long after he bolted 55 yards for another TD with 10:52 left in the contest. The PAT kick was no good, but the TD was the only thing that was needed as the Warriors were shut down on their next possession which ended at the Lincoln 8 yard line as a result of two outstanding defensive plays by defensive back Will Rambert. Rambert denied two would be TD receptions by batting down both balls in the end zone with the final one being at the 5:15 mark of the fourth quarter. The Railsplitters kept the ball the rest of the way as a result of two big third down conversion runs by Augustin. McClam caught 5 passes on the day for 45 yards. Tariq Blakney snatched 2 for 61. Blakney also had an interception as did Nyshir Mackee for Lincoln. Abdulaye Ndiaye led with 9 tackles. He was trailed by Sam Karr 7, Michael McIhenney 7, Jamir Turner 7 and 2 for losses while Jacob Krah notched 6 with 2 sacks.  Houser also snagged a runner behind the line of scrimmage. For the Warriors, Williams rushed 10-76 and Darae Ross 9-59. Johnson passed 4-7-74 with the leading receiver being Corey Little with 2-32. Ross led in tackles with 9 and right behind was Jibreel Hughes 8, Obi Odey 7-TFL, Marquise Johnson 6-sack and Damion Sears 6-TFL-sack.
  It was back to the South Philly Super Site for game number 2 as the Rams of Southern played host to the Cougars of Martin Luther King. With Casey Williams still out of action the primary running duties lean on the shoulder of Martell Marshall for Southern. Unfortunately on the game’s first play from scrimmage Marshall was hit hard by Paul Sanchez and fumbled the ball that was recovered by Sanchez. The hit banged up Marshall who wouldn’t return until the third quarter. After the fumble the Cougars took over the pigskin at the South Philly 34 yard line. Five plays after the recovery Jann Gunter-Scott scored on an eight yard run. Keohn Davis booted the PAT for the quick 7-0 lead. After Southern was forced to punt on their next possession, MLK would score again on another 8 yard run, this by Rob Harris. Davis added the PAT and before you could sneeze it was 14-0 Cougars. King expanded their lead to 21-0 as a result of a 13 play 67 yard drive that was concluded with a Harris 5 yard TD toss to Shaheed Ross. Trailing by 3 scores at the start of the second half Marshal made some South Philly sound as he scooted 43 yards for the Rams first TD. On the Cougars next possession the marching shoes were strapped on again, this time for 57 yards on 12 plays. Harris ended the drive with a 16 yard scoring pass to Ryleigh Mathis. The Cougars were unsuccessful on the PAT as the third quarter ended with MLK on top 27-6. The Games final TD was a real quick pick six by Southern’s Sekou Sanoe who needed just a step and a half for his 2 yard TD. In spite of missing almost half of the game, Marshall was the game’s leading rusher with 11-76-TD. Quaree Thomas, who filled in for Marshall ran a respectful 11-53 with a 2 point conversion scoot. Ace Walker returned 3 balls for 54 Southern yards, while Nasir Mundey returned 2 for 77 and also added an interception. Samid Williams paced the Rams defense with 8 tackles. Mundey added 7 as did Delandre Francis. Thomas and Na’Ron Garner each had 6 while Wayne Christian numbered 5. Harris passed 7-17-85-TD for MLK. Ross was his leading receiver with 4-40. Sanchez rushed 11-54 and Harris 8-34. Overall the Cougars ran 33 times for 146. Southern ran 33 for 158. Tamir Robinson led the Cougars defense with 9 tackles, 7 of the solo variety with 1 sack. Sanchez read 7-5-1, Devon Aaron 5-4-sack, Xavier Landon 5-3-1 and Tileem Yates closed the door with 5-3.
  In spite of three lost fumbles and a half dozen penalties the Warriors of Del Val totally dominated the Prep Charter Huskies 36-7 to win the Philadelphia Public League’s 2A Championship. Actually it was a fumble by the Warriors that got their juices going. After losing the ball on their fourth play from scrimmage, Del Val had their eyes on PC’s star running back Quadir Strothers. On first down, Strothers was gang tackled 4 yards behind the line of scrimmage. Could a game really be over that fast? YES IT WAS. The Warriors manhandled the Huskies holding Strothers to just 34 yards on 12 carries and limiting the explosive PC offense to just 108 total yards. The fired up defense chased Huskies QB Mamud Dioubate 39 yards the wrong way on 9 zigs and zags. Diuobate passed 6-16-1-45. The Huskies overall rushed 27 for 62 yards. Alonzo Davis was the man for DV with 8 tackles, 6 solo, 3 for losses and a sack. Zi’Tear Wilson 7-5-2/sack, Devon Humphrey 6-4-1 and Derrick Smith 5-3 all stood out. Andrew Thomas-Sumpter 2 and Zamir Davis along with Jahmir Nuble all had tackles for losses. Aaron Hall had an interception for the Warriors. DV Coach Troy Gore spread the ball around to 7 different ball carriers accumulating 219 rushing yards on 43 runs. Davis led with 9-62-2TD. Desmont Pugh ran 11 for 45-TD. Shayne “Sugar” Smith passed 8-14-87-TD. Smith also was very giving, throwing the ball to 6 different receivers. His one TD heave went to Nasir Coleman. It was Coleman’s only catch of the evening. The Warriors other TD was a 1 yard run byShaheed Brown. Anthony Thomas led the Huskies defense with 8 tackles. Romeo Outland and Jibril Little both had 6 while Karamo Dioubate and Jarred Brown each had 5. Michael Moffo had a tackle for a loss and also recovered a fumble. Also grabbing loose ground balls for PC was Kareem Dennis and Cheick Diawara. Edward Saydee scored PC’s only TD on a 63 yard burst.
Team Stats:
First Downs: DV-18 PC-5
Rushes-yds: DV- 43-219 PC 27-62
Passing yds: DV-87 PC-46
Total Offense: DV-306 PC-108
Comp-Att-Int: DV- 8-14-0 PC 7-18-1
Return yds: DV- 96 PC- 99
Punts-Avg: DV- 1-27.0 PC- 5-32.4
Fumbles Lost: DV-3 PC-1
Penalties-yds: DV- 6-49 PC 4-45

Week 10 Recap
November 10, 2015
 
Game one was down the hill at Lincoln High School where the Railsplitters faced the Firebirds of The High School of The Future. Future started the contest off with a nice 82 yard 15 play drive that ended with Joseph Adside scoring the initial TD on a 7 run. The Firebird defense started strong forcing a quick three and out and punted the pigskin back to Future. [Oh, how I really wanted to say Back To The Future Firebirds! Well I said it anyway.] On second down from their own 38 yard line Future QB Jathan Jones completed a 2 yard pass to Nysear Oilver-Stidem . Oliver-Stidem fumbled the ball and it was recovered by Jacob Krah of Lincoln at the Firebirds 40. From that point on the venue turned into the Michael Guyton show. On first down Lincoln lost one yard, on second down, Guyton ran 41 yards for his first of 4 rushing TD’s as the Boys from Northeast Philly frolicked their way to a 52-12 triumph over Future. Guyton ran the ball just 6 times, but he totaled 188 yards on the ground for an impressive 31.3 yards per carry average. Guyton also caught 2 passes for 13 yards. Leading 20-6 at the half, Lincoln exploded with 26 third quarter points and added 6 more in the fourth. Jones who threw 39 times for Future and completed 14 for 186 yards had 2 consecutive throws intercepted and returned for TDs in the third stanza. Nyshir Mackee 58 yards and Andrew Mondelus 28 were the pickers. Lincoln QB Allston Augustine ran 19 yards to pay turf and completed 6 of 12 passes for 77 yards. The home squad’s final score came on a 60 yard kickoff return by Ziar Jackson. The TD occurred just after Future scored on a Jones to Imir Pope 40 yard pass with 3 minutes remaining on the running scoreboard clock. In fact when Jackson was racing towards the end zone his coaches were yelling to fall down or run out of bounds so Lincoln wouldn’t crack the 50 point mark. It was a nice gesture or suggestion on the part of the Lincoln staff, but it’s hard for a kid not to “Take It To The Crib”, when opportunity comes knocking. Pope was the leading receiver on the afternoon catching 4 passes for an even 100 yards. Adside ran 14-64 for Future. The Firebirds defense didn’t light up the tackle board but, Jahsir Sephes, Dymere Edwards and Jones all had tackles for a loss. Lincoln’s Abdulaye Ndiaye led with 6 tackles, 5 solo and 2 for losses. Sam Karr and Krah each had 5. Krah had a TFL as did Nick Houser, Mackee, Michael McIhenney, Chazz Parks and Jovan Cureton.
  Back down to my home away from home for game 2, the South Philly Super Site, where the Warriors of Boys Latin faced the Rams of Southern. Yet another game where the visitors scored first via the arm of QB Troy Hester7-12-100, completed his first 4 passes, the big one being a 29 yarder to Deandre Salters. Hester capped the 61 yard drive with a one yard keeper at the 9:09 mark of the first quarter. After the initial flight, Hester was headed to the bench as a result of an injury, but would return in the third quarter. He was replaced by Keith Brown who completed just 1 of 7 heaves for 9 yards. After the score at the 9:09 mark, the Rams fumbled the kickoff and the Warriors took over at the Southern 49. Looking to increase their 6-0 lead Latin was unable to capitalize and turned the ball over on downs at the Rams 35. On Southern’s first offensive play Martell Marshall ran 65 yards for a TD and also scooted in on the 2 point conversion for the 8-6 advantage while on their way to a 28-6 victory. Marshall ran 16 times for 120 yards. Southern closed the first half scoring when Ace Walker caught a 5 yard pass fromZeeby Zarwie with just 14.7 seconds left before intermission. Marshall again ran for the 2 pointer for a 16-6 Rams lead. The third quarter had head coach Frank “Roscoe” Natale’ and his mentor Tom DeFelice names written all over it. The Rams ran the ball 15 consecutive times with Marshall doing most of the work, but to their credit the Warriors stopped the Rams at the Latin 26 yard line and got the ball back after Southern had it for all but 1 minute and 4 seconds of the quarter. The Rams defense tightened from that point on and overall limited the Warriors to a rushing total of minus one yard on 20 tries. Zarwie increased the lead when he threw a 40 yard TD strike to Nasir Mundey with just 4:25 left in the contest. Mundey snatched another throw for a 3 yard TD later in the quarter. Zarwie passed just 7 times but completed 6 for a pedestrian 80 yards. Samid Williams was the tackle leader for Southern with 7-6-2. Na’Ron Garner 6-4-1 and Delandre Francis 5-3-sack also pitched in. Making additional stops behind the line of scrimmage for the Rams was Devon Moore, Terrance Summers and Sekou Sanoe. Harry Miller recovered a fumble for Southern. Latin’s defensive leader board was topped by Jibreel Hughes 10-7-2/sack. One of my favorite Defensive Tackles pound for pound Obi Odey made 8 Warriors stops with 7 being solo. Javon Rice totaled 7-6-2.
  Game 3 was back in South Philly and it was a Public League AA Semi-final with the Prep Charter Huskies playing host to the Knights of Strawberry Mansion. If you like a one man show then this was the place to be. PC’s Quadir Strothers stole the show rushing 12 times for 162 yards and 4 TD’s. He also caught a 28 yard TD pass from Mamud Dioubate 5-9-111, and returned an Interception 30 yards for a score as the Huskies hounded the Knights 53-8. In fact Strothers scored 6 unanswered TD’s. Mansion took an early 8-6 lead as a result of a 92 yard kickoff return for a TD by Anrico Stevenson. Basil Wilson ran for the conversion giving the visitors the slight advantage with 7:28 left in the first quarter. Strothers scored on a 5 yard run at 3:53 and would score 5 more times in succession to increase the lead to 46-6 after Bryan Hernandez kicked the PAT. Edward Saydee closed the Huskies scoring, racing 32 yards to the end zone while Hernandez again booted the PAT. Hernandez finished with 5 PAT kicks. John Davis scored the first TD catching a 3 yard toss from Dioubate in the first quarter. Along with his rushing, receiving and Interception yards, Strothers returned two other balls for 50 yards. His final all-purpose numbers were 270 on 16 touches for an average of 16.9 per touch. Speaking of returns, Stevenson must have felt like he was in the park. He returned 6 balls for 169 yards for a 28.2 average. Stevenson also was the Knights leading rusher with 5 carries for 44 yards. The Huskies defense held Mansion to just 11 total rushing yards on 32 totes. Wilson passed 4-12-34. Rasheed Schneck 8-6, Wilson 8-6-1, Darrell Young 6-4 and Tawfeeq Z. White 5-4 were the Mansion tackle leaders. Dontae Hardy and Isaiah Johnson recovered fumbles and also had tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Anthony Thomas dominated on defense for PC with 9 tackles, 8 solo, 4 for losses including 2 sacks. Aiding Thomas was Sulaimaan Daniels 7-5-1, Saydee 6-4 and Marque Duffy 5-4-sack. Other sacks were notched by Jarred Brown 2, Karamo Diuobate and Michael Moffo. Catching the opposition behind the line of scrimmage was Romeo Outland 2, Peter Gaye andMarcus Bryant. Little, Brown and Cheick Diawara recovered fumbles. 

Team Stats:
First Downs: SM 8, PC 15
Rushes-yards: SM 32-11, PC 28-275
Passing Yards: SM 34, PC 111
Total Offense: SM 45, PC 386
Comp-Att-Int: SM 4-12-2, PC 5-9-0
Return yards: SM 195, PC 111
Punts-Avg: SM 3-21.7, PC 1-38.0
Fumbles Lost: SM 3, PC 2
Penalties-yards: SM 5-38, PC 7-82.

Week 9 Recap
November 3, 2015
 
It took a while for the Warriors of Boys Latin to get going however when they did the game was basically over as a result of 28 second quarter points while on their way to a 40-6 victory over High School Of The Future Firebirds. The Warriors rushed the ball a total of 31 times and notched 145 yards and 4 TDs. While their stingy defense limited the Firebirds to just 30 total rushing yards on 14 attempts. Jathan Jones passed 26 times for Future, completing 10 for 91 yards. Joseph Adside completed a pass off of a fake punt for 25 yards for Future. The Firebirds only TD was a 6 yard Jones pass to Djibril Diall in the fourth quarter. Imir Pope was the game’s leading receiver snagging 4 passes for 70 yards for Future. For Latin, David Williams rushed 7-75-2TD, Keith Brown 7-54-TD and Troy Hester 2-16-TD. Frosh QB Malik Johnson threw just 2 balls but one was good for a 58 yard TD strike to Todd Gregory. Rasheed Wilson had 2 Interceptions, returning one 71 yards for a score. Jibreel Hughes led the Warriors in tackles with 6 including a sack and he also recovered a fumble. Linebacker Nysear Oliver
- Stidem was impressive on defense for Future recording 8 tackles, 6 solo with a sack. Corey Wilson 7 and Jahsir Sephes 6 and 2 for losses pitched in on defense.
  The Frankford Pioneers traveled south to 10th and Bigler to face the Rams of Southern for the final playoff spot in the Public League AAAA Liberty Division. Southern scored first and they also scored last, but what happened in between is what really hurt the Rams. The Pioneers outscored Southern 42-2 on their way to a 42-16 triumph. Ralph Hyland ran 19-134-TD for Frankford and the Pioneers added another rushing TD by Jermar Allen. QB Mikey Morell had no trouble facing the Rams secondary while tossing 9-12-183-3TD.Esky Lopez was the leading catcher with 4-136-TD. Brandon DeJesus and Naim Franklin also caught TD passes for Frankford. Quasim Butcher returned a Southern fumble 39 yards for a TD. Franklin also had an interception as did Larry Scruggs. For Southern Martell Marshall ran 17-72, Ace Walker 4-9-TD and freshman QB Zeeby Zarwie 6-28-TD. Zarwie completed just one pass for 13 yards to Devon Moore in 7 attempts. Williamson Sankara blocked 2 punts for South Philly and one resulted into a Safety. Samid Williams led the Rams tackle board with 7. Trailing was Marshall 6 and Sekou Sanou 5. As far as the Pioneers tackle leaders . . . Sorry boys, your numbers are too difficult to read. Another pet peeve of mine. Schools want their kids to get recognition but it’s impossible when the numbers aren’t visible in a fast moving sport like football. Tell your Coaches you want new jerseys.
  At the South Philly Super Site the Bartram Braves led by their sensational sophomore RB Answered Gleplay held on to defeat the Panthers of Fels 32-27. Gleplay ran the ball 36 times for 305 yards and 3 TD’s. Gleplay almost broke the single game record by Bartram’s Paul Northern who ran for 337 in 1995. Joel Gland snagged a 43 yard TD pass from Dequan Ollison, while Ollison also rushed for a Braves TD. The Panthers Jahmir Bohannan ran 8-95-TD. He also grabbed three passes for 110 yards and a TD.Dejohn Green ran 10-68 and Khalif Whitaker 9-52-TD. The Braves Hanson Teah playing Linebacker for Bartram made 10 tackles, 8 solo and 4 behind the line of scrimmage for 28 lost Panthers yards. Defensive End David Smith matched Teah’s tackle number for Fels registering 10 with 6 being solo. Aiding the Panthers defense was James Newton with 9 tackles followed by Green 8, while Ismail Toure and Noah Beauburn each had 7. Beauburn also recovered a fumble.
  Earlier this year I had seen Overbrook QB Gary Hawes and I was very impressed. Well the second showing was also impressive. Hawes passed 11-19-216-3TD as the Panthers won easily over the Palumbo Griffins in South Philadelphia 50-14. Quincy Fairy was Hawes’s primary receiver with 5 catches for 109 yards and a TD. Clifford Brinkley numbered 4-77-TD. Jonathan Hodges was the recipient of the third TD. Hawes ran the ball just two times but they both were TD’s, 3 and 6 yard prances. Joel Polk ran 9-82 for Overbrook. Karim Dixon intercepted a Palumbo pass and ran 30 yards for 6 points. Nasir Holliday led the ‘Brook in tackles with 9-6-1. Polk notched 8-6, Charles Spencer 6-4 and Nasir Devore helped with 5-3-sack. It was relatively easy to pick the Griffins star. Deen Whitaker ran 18-154-TD and a new single game rushing record for Palumbo. He also returned 4 balls for 76 yards, recovered a fumble and led the Griffins in tackles with 7.Ernest Holland made 6 Palumbo tackles. Ian Barret had an interception.

Week 8 Recaps
Oct. 27, 2015
 
Here’s a question for Mr. Silary. When was the last time the first two scoring plays in a Public League game were field goals? That was the case at West Philly High where Boys Latin defeated Mastery North 22-13. The Pumas kicker Dejason Ellis was successful from 32 yards in the first quarter and 34 from in the second as Mastery North led 6-0. After the second boot which came at the 6:52 mark, the Pumas Sadique Moore recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff at the Warriors 14 yard line. However two illegal procedure penalties had MN going in the wrong direction before they too fumbled at the 24 yard line giving the ball back to Boys Latin. With the help of some penalties and a big run of 26 yards byDavid Williams the Warriors marched 76 yards with the final 7 coming on aTroy Hester pass to Keith Brown. The two point conversion pass failed and the teams entered the locker rooms tied at 6. Speaking of penalties there were quite a few. Unfortunately the Pumas prevailed in that department 14-10. The only score in the third period was a 45 yard run by the Pumas Khalil Nelson who ran 22 times for 120 yards. Ellis added the PAT and it was 13-6 in favor of Mastery. The Warriors turned up their engines in the fourth stanza and took the lead for good when Javon Rice blocked an Ellis punt and recovered it in the end zone for a quick 6. The two point conversion was successful giving Latin the edge 14-13 with 11:01 left in the contest. At 10:46, just 15 seconds later it was 22-13 when Obi Odey picked up a Nelson fumble at the Pumas 26 and ran to pay dirt untouched. Williams then ran for the conversion to conclude the evenings scoring. Williams rushed 14 times for 77 yards and Hester passed 5-12-39 TD. Deandre Salters caught 3 balls for 25 yards. He also caught a 2 point conversion pass. Rasheed Wilson had 3 returns for 57 yards. Odey was the man on defense for the Warriors. Besides his fumble return, he also intercepted a pass and made 9 tackles, 6 solo and 2 for losses. Brown had 7 tackles while Malik Johnson, Rice and Marquise Johnson all had 6. Darae Ross had an interception and along with Odey, Hester, Rice and Brown recovered fumbles for the Warriors. Mastery QB Jabriel Gregory passed 7-9-70. Nelson was the leader on the reception board with 4-44. Sadique Moore 8-6-sack, Jordan Stansbury and Teryell Simmons 7-5 and Daniel Braggs 6-4-1 were the Pumas defensive standouts.
 
No fun was had in South Philly for the Southern Rams who took the field with some of their best talent left on the sidelines as a result of injuries, discipline or academic problems while on the other sideline the Bartram Braves ran wild in route to their 37-0 pounding of the Rams. Answered Gleplay again led the Braves running 17-191-TD. He also kicked a PAT. Kamar Harris ran 11-80-TD for Bartram who totaled 320 yards on 37 rushes for an 8.6 average yard per carry. QB Dequan Ollison passed 2-6-64-TD, he also rushed for a 7 yard score. Both of his passes were snagged by Joel Gland. Gland also returned a fumble 25 yards for a TD. Jymer Sands who made his debut as a fullback, after playing on the offensive line the first 7 weeks took 4 handoffs for 25 yards with one TD. For Southern Ace Walker scooted 11-81 and Quaree Thomas rushed 10-51. The Rams went with a freshman Zebby Zarwie as their QB. He completed just 2 of 9 passes for 37 Yards. Thomas had an interception and Kynan Chambers recovered 2 fumbles for Southern. Delandre Francis and Chambers each made 7 tackles while Manier Kennedy 6 and Samid Williams and Na’Ron Garner 5 led the South Philly tackle board. For Bartram Gland added another fumble recovery. Also picking up loose balls were Harris and George Quiyea. The tackle parade featured Davon Bishop 8-6-3, Hanson Teah 7-4-1, Tayvon Jackson 6-4-1 and Quadree Barnes 5-3-sack. Nate Mitchell also picked up a sack.
 
It was back to South Philly Super Site for some Catholic League football as the Roman Catholic Cahillites played host to the Explorers of LaSalle. Final score LaSalle 49 Roman Catholic 14. This was clearly men against boys as the Mercy Rule was applied at the start of the third quarter with LaSalle leading 35-0 at the half. Roman only trailed 7-0 after the first quarter but the Explorers exploded with 28 points in the second period. The five first half TD’s were a 31 yard run by Syaire Madden and just for fun Madden ran for 2 more TD’s in the first half. Isaiah Jones and Nick Rinella also ran for TD’s to complete the first half scoring. Matt Savage kicked 5 PATS. He would had 2 more in the second half. In attendance with me was my sidekick Joe McFadden Jr. Joe’s dad was a long time CYO coach at various schools and did one stint as an assistant at West Catholic. Mr. McFadden passed away a few years ago and was involved with coaching all sports for over 60 years. Yes, you can say he was “Old School”. The reason for the mention here is this. After Roman went three and out to start the third quarter LaSalle took possession on their own 46. After the first five plays I hear this from Joe Jr. "Yo Moe, Yo Moe [NOTE: we have been calling each other Moe for over 40 years] What’s this about?" I responded with, “What do you mean/" He said, “It’s 35-0 and they are throwing the ball." I looked down at my play-by-play sheet and LaSalle had passed on 4 of their first 5 second half plays. I told Joe, that’s the norm now. The rule of the thumb is leave your first team in for the first series in the third quarter and then empty your bench. I also told him that teams run the spread offense and very rarely will you see a QB take a snap behind the center, although I personally feel teams should at least implement it when it’s 35-0. By the way on the sixth play after the half, QB Chris Ferguson threw a 25 yard TD pass to Kyle Johnson. Joe McFadden Jr said to me, “Right now my dad is turning in his grave." Sorry, Joe, but that’s the way it is in 2015. Ferguson passed 7-13-92-TD. Troy Holland caught 4 balls for 45 yards. Madden ran 13-89 and Kevin Lajeunesse 6-53-TD. Austin Lemke led in tackles with 9-6-4. Chris Maloney numbered 7-4-2. Marques Cooper ran 13-66 for Roman. Back up QB Anthony Butler tossed 6-8-77-2TD. Joey Bristow was the receiver on both scores and totaled 5 catches for 53 yards. Humza Basil rushed 10 times for just 3 yards put he had fun returning 5 balls for 119 yards. Shane Flaherty was spectacular on defense recording 12 tackles with 9 being solo.Tom Stevens 8 and Troy Brown 7 were the major tackle contributors.
  Game number four for yours truly was also played at the SPSS and it was more Catholic League action with the Neumann-Goretti Saints hosting the Lancers of Bishop McDevitt. In basketball people like to see some one on one competition, especially for the nationally known and highly successful Neumann-Goretti hoop squad. Well each team featured one guy to fill the stat board. For the Saints it was Khalil Roane who rushed 24 times for 173 yards and a TD. He also caught 2 passes for 55 yards and returned the second half kickoff 55 yards. His all-purpose numbers would add up to 283. For the Lancers it was QB Dontae Mason. Mason passed 10-16-165-3TD. He also rushed 9-66 giving him a total number of 231. Although Roane won the individual game, McDevitt won where it counted and that was on the scoreboard 41-20. McDevitt scored the only first quarter points on a Vince DiLeo 6 yard pass from Mason. Alex Wilson booted the PAT. The Saints scored early in the second quarter on a 22 yard pass from Brandon Pridgen to Maurice Mazzccua . The PAT pass failed and it was 7-6 in favor of the Lancers. McDevitt would add two TDs late in the second quarter. Mason connected with Javonne Campfield on a 25 yard strike for one score and Dileo rushed 2 yards to pay turf with just 57.6 seconds left in the half. Wilson again added the PAT and it was 21-6 at intermission. The Lancers would light up the scoreboard two more times and extend their lead to 34-6. DiLeo grabbed a 28 yard heave from Mason while Tyler Shelton picked up a fumble and ran 72 yards for the other score. Roane would score from 26 yards out early in the fourth, but the Lancers came right back with DiLeo dashing in from the 4 yard line. Pridgen closed the scoring on a one yard keeper. Pridgen passed 5-11-123-TD. Aiden Brown caught two balls for 46 yards for the Saints. Gregory Fuller led the Saints in tackles with 8. He was trailed by Rashid Saunders 6, while Terrence Williams and Mazzccua each numbered 5. The Saints had a 55 yard TD reception called back because of a penalty in the first quarter. For the Lancers Amir Lockhart recorded 7 tackles including 3 behind the line of scrimmage and one being a sack. Keith Cole 6, Shelton and Campfield both had 5. Ira Bond had an interception for McDevitt. 

Week 7 Recap
October 20, 2015
  Ted
has been calling some of the weekend games as Blowoutsville. Well unfortunately I saw three of them to the combined score of 154-16, Ouch! There is not really any joy of watching these games, either from a fans' standpoint, coaches' standpoint, officials or my standpoint. Most blowouts -- or as my old friend use to call them OBO’s or Officials Blow Outs -- provide plenty of offensive stats for the victorious team and really they are the only highlights. So let’s get right to them. In Imhotep’s 56-8 win over Dobbins, Mike Waters ran 13 times for 152 yards and 5 TD’s for the Panthers. The most impressive player on the field was ‘Tep QB Nasir Boykin. The junior star passed 18 times and completed 14 for 272 yards and 3 TD’s. The leading grabbers were Justin Harris 4-55-TD, Naseir Upshur 3-83-TD, Nasir Lewis 3-65-TD and Amir Brown 3-43. The overmatched Mustangs were held to 64 yards rushing on 26 attempts. Hardnosed Divine Epps took a beating but was just as physical as the Panthers, running 14-28. QB Brandon Smith numbered 11-39-TD. He passed 3-8­-63. Amir Black filled the Imhotep tackle board with 9-7-1. Trailing was Paris McMillian 7-5-1, Isheem Young 6-4-1 and Kamal Harrison and Mike Crawford both with 5-3. The home team’s defensive leaders included Dymire Bruce 7-5­-sack, Smith 6-4 and Leschon Gonzales 5-3-sack.
  In spite of 12 penalties totaling 117 yards the Huskies of Prep Charter prevailed easily over the Palumbo Griffins 46-8. David Hand the PC head coach again paraded 11 ball carriers to the field totaling 318 yards on 23 burst for an average gain of 13.8 yards. Quadir Strothers ran 8-122-TD. Edward Saydee was very economical running twice for 77 yards and 2 TD’s. Chamir James was a good shopper also running just once for a 16 yard score while John Davis did the quick checkout with 1-18-TD. QB Mamud Dioubate passed 2 for 3 with both completions being TD’s. A 47 yard toss to Strothers and a 39 yard flip to Ibrahim Diaoune. The Griffins score came on a 1 yard plunge by Deen Whitaker. Ernest Holland caught a two point conversion pass from Alieu Sahor. Tahir Cruise ran 12 times for Palumbo registering 72 yards. Cruise also returned 3 balls for 54 yards making him a 126 yard all-purpose type of guy. Impressive tackle numbers are hard to come by when the opposition totals only 25 plays where tackles can be awarded. Whitaker led with 5, while Cruise and Tahmir Johnson both had 4. The Huskies leader was Romeo Outland with 7-5-1. Others pitching in included Yaseen Shands 6-3, Karamo Dioubate 6-3-sack, Darryl Lamar 5-4 and John Davis 5-3. Those beside Dioubate making tackles behind the line of scrimmage were Cheick Diawara, Anthony Thomas, Jabril Little and Diaoune.Bryan Hernandez kicked 4 PAT’s on 5 tries.
  People’s Prep from Newark, N.J. traveled to Philly to take on the Warriors of Boys Latin. The Wolfpack had 22 players in uniform and some were smaller than the 5’6 guy typing this report. The score was 38-0 after the first quarter. The officials said they would run a Keystone type of clock after the first stanza. I asked what that was and one replied something about midget or middle school football. Well whatever it meant it was the correct thing to do as the Warriors scored just 14 points over the next three quarters on their way to a 52-0 victory. The strangest or best play of the game came right before halftime. Todd Gregory intercepted a Wolfpack pass 6 yards deep in his own end zone. He then went straight down the left sideline. I thought for sure he had scored since I ran first to the spot where Gregory caught the ball so I could give an accurate account and then I heard the coaches yell not to block anyone in the back. There were no flags and the clock read 0:00. , but unfortunately he was caught at the ONE yard line as the first half ended. Gregory gets credit for a 99 yard interception return as per the NCAA rule book that Ted uses for statistics. The Warriors Malik Johnson rushed 4-64. David Williams 6-62-TD, QB Troy Hester ran 4-31-TD and passed 1-1-TD to Deandre Salters for 35 yards. Winston Downing ran 4 times for 24-TD. Damian Sears had a 19 yard Interception return for a score whileKeith Brown just had to run 2 yards to pay turf with a fumble and Jibreel Hughes recovered a fumble in the end zone for a TD. Besides Gregory and Sears, Devin Jones also had a pick. Marques Johnson paced the Warriors defense with 7-6-3-sack. Joshua Williams also recorded 7 tackles with 5 being of the solo variety and one for a loss. Omaji Odey had 2 sacks and Daree Ross had one.

Week 6 Recap
October 13, 2015
 
For the Southern Rams to have any chance of upsetting the mighty Bulldogs of Simon Gratz they had to have a respectable running game, particularity by their stud Casey Williams, get first downs, control the clock and not turn the ball over. Sadly to say they did none of the above. Casey Williams only carried the ball twice before he was injured and left the game early in the first quarter and never returned. The Rams lost the ball 4 times as a result of a fumble and rushed 28 times for a measly 55 yards. The result was a 52-6 victory for Gratz. Luke White rushed 9 times for the Bulldogs gaining 98 yards. He also caught a 52 yard TD pass from Amir Gillis. Gillis also heaved a 30 yard TD to Amir Lewis
. Lewis also rushed 7-72-TD while Gillis ran 6-53-TD. Gillis also passed 4-7-98-2TD. Javon Whitefield ran 3-62-TD,Samir Thomas 2-56-TD, Rahmir Johnson 5-34-TD and Shawn Jenkins scored on a 3 yard plunge for Gratz. On the evening the Bulldogs pounded the turf for 414 yards on 37 rushes for an average of 11.2 yards per carry. Southern’s only score was a 19 yard TD reception by Sekou Sanoe from Jalil Turner. Turner threw 5-8-81 TD. His favorite target was Sanoe who caught 4 balls for 76 yards. Sanoe also led the Rams tackle board with 7 whileSamid Williams and Devon Moore each notched 6. It was tough to tell who padded the defensive stats for the Bulldogs since their defensive line was responsible for numerous tackles and assist. However from my viewpoint along with the help of my long lost sidekick Joe McFadden, who finally returned from his busy schedule working the Pope Patrol at Jefferson Hospital, Jenkins,Charly Timite and Johnson each had 7 tackles.
  Hey, How About Those Owls! No not the Temple Owls, who are off to a great start but the Owls of Edison who won for the second week in a row. After jumping ahead 16-0 Edison held on at the end as Roxborough scored 2 TD’s in 25 seconds in the fourth quarter. After Makai Young caught a pass in the flat, he somehow avoided numerus tacklers and raced 50 yards for the Indians second TD with 4:07 left in the contest. The Indians converted the two point conversion to cut deficit to 16-14. The visitors then attempted a second onside kick after successfully converting the first, but this time the Owls recovered and were able to run out the clock. A huge fourth and one conversion and a tremendous second effort on a QB keeper by Naeem Bonner with 1:31 left sealed the victory for the Owls. Edison led at the half as a result of 2 TD’s. The first was a 3 yard prance by Bonner in the first quarter while the other was a 2 yard run by Tymiir Alls in the second. Fortunately the Owls converted both of their PAT’s as indeed they were the difference in this contest. Alls ran for one as did Kwiese Barnes. No one really lit up the offensive stat board for the Owls although Luis Nieves rushed 6-68. Alls who I was told just transferred from Roxborough was terrific on defense making 10 tackles with 7 being of the solo variety while sitting out a series or two because of cramps.Cameron Scales 8, Talib Adams 6-sack and Barnes 5 -2TFL’s aided Alls. Young was the man for the Indians running 20 times for 102 yards and a TD. He also was the recipient of 4 passes from QB Jeff Manning. Manning passed 6-11-94-TD. 59 of those yards went to Young. The Indians defense was paced by Allan Bratton and Jamil Price who both registered 7 tackles. Jujuan Peel 6, Samir Wright and Alexander Washington both with 5 finalized the leader board. Keshan Hooper had an interception for the Indians.
  In almost the same scenario as the Edison game, the Palumbo Griffins held on in the final seconds to defeat the Lions of KIPP DuBois 20-14. Palumbo led 20-0 at intermission as a result of a Deen Whitaker 17 yard TD reception from QB Alieu Sahor. Whitaker also scored on a 3 yard run whileErnest Holland returned a fumble 28 yards for the Griffins final score. The Lions scored 14 points in the third quarter and almost orchestrated a 71 yard drive in the final seconds before John Plummer who took a handoff at the Griffins 7 yard line but was stopped at the 2 by Fajon Mobley and Tahmir Johnson as the clock read 0:00. Plummer got the Lions on the board with a 94 yard jaunt midway through the third quarter while Jordan Ross caught a 63 yard TD pass from Tyree Howard late in the third stanza. Plummer rushed 8 times for 134 yards and Howard passed just 3-12-85 with Ross catching all three. Tahir Cruise ran 21 times for 108 for the Griffins. Whitaker made 7 tackles for Palumbo while Ross and Plummer each had 7 for KIPP.Tyree Robinson snatched an interception for the Lions.
  “Too many teams in the Philadelphia Public League," I heard from the Prep Charter sideline. “Condense the schools,” the gentleman said. “Philadelphia is a great place for High School Football which produces some great talent, but could produce more with better coaching”. Those were the words of Auburn University’s assistant coach Lance Thompson, who was in attendance to take a peek at Prep Charter’s Karamo Dioubate. Yes, I hear those types of comments just about every day of the football season however that is a discussion for another time and something I wouldn’t want to be a part of. Let the people who make the big bucks make those decisions. I just take notes or stats of what I see and that is good enough for me. Hey, that rhymes! Ha, Ha. The Huskies Quadir Strothers ran just 4 times but numbered 177 yards. His runs were 75 TD, 10 TD, 33 TD and sorry 59 no TD. If my math is correct that is a 44.25 average yards per carry for Strothers as Prep Charter won easily 40-0 over the Knights from Strawberry Mansion. Prep’s other TD’s included a 17 yard reception by John Davis from Mamud Dioubate a 25 yard run by Anthony Thomas and a 29 yard burner by frosh sensation Edward Saydee. Bryan Hernandez booted 4 of his 5 PAT kicks through the uprights. Mansion suited up just 21 players and were without QB Nysiem Parks and a few others as a result of some disciplinary issues and missed practice time. So the man who stood behind the center was Basil Wilson. Wilson ran for his life all afternoon and somehow managed to throw 15 passes despite the constant pressure from the Huskies. Even coach Thompson was impressed with Wilson saying “that kid is taking a beating and bouncing right back up" and then added, "he should sleep real well after the game." Wilson ran 20 times for just 44 yards of course he was sacked or caught behind the line of scrimmage 6 or 7 times. He passed 7-15-58. His leading receiver was Isaiah Johnson with 3 catches for 29 yards. Wilson also found time to make 6 tackles. Darrell Young had 7 for Mansion. PC head coach David Hand wasn’t stingy as far as how many people would run the ball. Eleven Huskies touched the ball in the backfield as the final numbers read 26-304. Mamud Dioubate passed 4-6- 41. Yassir Cooley picked off one of Dioubate’s passes and Ben Collins recovered a fumble. Davis, Saydee and Sulieman Pollard had interceptions for the Huskies. Jabril Little and Davis each had 7 tackles and Thomas recovered a fumble.

Week 5 Recap
Oct. 6, 2015
 
How’s this for an interesting statistic? Southern’s Casey Williams ran the ball 32 times and caught one pass, which gave him 33 touches on the evening. Fels, the Rams' opponent, rushed 24 and passed 11 for a total of 35. Yes, Williams did put in a day’s work as the Rams defeated the Panthers 22-0. Williams totaled 181 rushing yards and two TDs. Southern, operating with Marvin Fleming behind the center in place of Jalil Turner, who sat out the game for disciplinary purposes, dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. The Rams ran and ran some more, gaining 334 yards on the ground on 56 attempts, Turner passed just 1-3-7. The Panthers ran the ball 24 times but could only manage 77 yards on the ground while QB Aasim Campbell passed 6-11-47. Despite the numbers domination by the Rams they only led 6-0 entering the fourth quarter. However Ace Walker scored on a 1 yard plunge midway through the final period and Zion Vaughn secured the victory when he intercepted a pass on Fels’ next possession. Williams would complete the TD scoring with a 5 yard run at the 2:36 mark. Southern’s Martell Marshall, who hits the hole quicker than any back I’ve seen this year, rushed 12 times for 94 yards. Vaughn led the defense with 8 tackles. Casey Williams 6 and Wayne Christian 5 helped out on defense. Williamson Sankara recovered a fumble for Southern. Dejohn Green rushed 7-40 for Fels and was tied on the tackle board with Jahmir Bohannan each notching 10. Others pitching in on defense included; Khalif Whitaker 9, James Newton 8, Dhamir Shoultz-Johnson 6 and Ismail Toure 5.
  As teenagers most of us loved to play football in the rain and mud. Of course we used no equipment. We would play until we got completely soaked and all muddied up, then go home, shower and come back out and meet up with our friends. This was how it felt at 58th and Elmwood when the Braves of Bartram hosted the Tigers of Kensington High School in a driving rainstorm. The problem with this game as compared to some of our games back in the day was that it was non-competitive or a total mismatch of talent. The Braves pounded the Tigers 40-0 with the mercy rule not coming into play until the first play of the fourth quarter. For those of you who are not familiar with Bartram’s home field, most of the time the scoreboard clock is not operating so therefore the time is kept on the field. Apparently the referees never played in the rain when they were kids because the total number of plays run for the entire contest was 36. Yes, you heard that correctly. Bartram ran 19 offensive plays while Kensington had 17. I heard some officials complain they weren’t dressed for rain. Well how about  looking out at the damn window and see the miserable conditions. Well enough of the Hurricane Schwartz stuff and on to the football game. Bartram’s Answered Gleyplay rushed 9 times for 75 yards and 2TD, Kamar Harris ran 4-58-2TD and Hanson Teah rushed 3-24-TD. The Braves did not throw as pass. Joel Gland and Yassim Thompson each recovered fumble. The Bartram defense held the Tigers to minus 5 yards of total offense. With the limited number of plays the game’s leading tackler was Kensington’s Dyronne McCray-Wiggins with 5.
  Back to the South Philly Super Site for contest number three. Prep Charter took on the Lions of KIPP DuBois. Final score, the Huskies 34 KIPP 0. Although this is listed as a AA Classification game in Philadelphia’s Public League’s District 12, according to good guy Kipp Coach Keary Dias the Lions will play in the single A tournament come State Playoff time. For a second year varsity program the Lions are well coached and make very few mistakes. Prep Charter, who won the Public League AA crown before falling to Neumann-Goretti in last year’s AA City Title game, are favored again in 2015. The Huskies easily defeated the Lions 34-0. Quadir Strothers, one of the city’s leading rushers, ran 14 times for 228 yards and broke PC’s single game rushing record. Strothers notched 3TD with the most electrifying being his 80 yard scoot in the second quarter. Edward Saydee, who was the game’s leading tackler with 9, returned a kickoff 92 yards for a TD while Yaseen Shands returned an interception 38 yards to pay turf. Naszhir Felder ran 13-56 for KIPP. The outmanned Lions ran 39 times for just 88 yards. John Plummer led in tackles with 7.
  The Palumbo Griffins took on Bergen Tech of New Jersey for my weekend’s final contest. Tech prevailed to the tune of 40-14. Tahir Cruise ran 13 times for Palumbo gaining 79 yards with a TD. He also scored on a 47 yard reception from QB Alieu Sahor. Sahor replaced Derek Brown who was sidelined with an injured shoulder. The game had one serious moment when Palumbo’s Dylan Torriero laid motionless on the South Philly Turf for several minutes. After being comforted by his coaches and trainers Torriero began moving his extremities much to the delight of the nerve-racked spectators. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital as a precautionary measure. Bergen’sMike Nowak ran 21-181-2TD and their QB Matt Orrecchio passed 6-9-70-3TD. Cruise had an interception that he returned 16 yards. In all Cruise touched the ball 16 times for 172 All-Purpose Yards. Paul Johnson paced the Griffins defense with 10 tackles. Trailing Johnson was Ian Barret 8,Ernest Holland 7, Sahor and Cruise 6 and Tahmir Johnson and Jordan Smith both had 5. Palumbo wasn’t granted any home cooking as they were penalized 11 times for 103 yards. Bergen’s numbers were 7-50. One disturbing thing I witnessed was immediately after Palumbo coach Scott Pitzner questioned an official on the sideline for an explanation of a penalty; in fact, Pitzner had questioned the officials all afternoon but never received a satisfactory answer if any answers at all. After questioning the official on the Palumbo sideline, Palumbo’s Tavion Mack punted the ball which took a favorable bounce and clearly went out of bounds at the 1 or 2 yard line. The said official signaled the ball went into the end zone for a touch back. Or should I say a “Get Back “as in getting back at Pitzner for questioning him. That, Mister Official, is what I call a Bush League move!!  

Week 4 Recap
September 26, 2015
  Let me start off by welcoming Pope Francis to the City of Brotherly Love. After all why ignore his presence when His Holiness is the reason all games were rescheduled. Ok, now I feel better so let’s recap some pigskin play. Game one for yours truly was at 29th & Chalmers where the Knights of Strawberry Mansion hosted the Lions of KIPP DuBois Collegiate Academy. The Lions leaped to a 30-8 halftime lead and led 38-8 with 7:17 remaining in the third quarter. Mansion would score later in the quarter and early in the fourth to cut the deficit to 38-23 but they ran out of gas and would not score again until the game’s final play on their way to a 52-29 defeat. The most efficient or perhaps economic player of the day was KIPP QB Tyree Howard. Howard completed just 3 of 7 passes but all 3 went for TD’s. Two went to Jordan Ross for 35 and 55 yards and the other to Tyree Robinson for 57 yards. The Lions other TD’s came via the legs of Naszhir Felder 2-98-2TD, John Plummer 6-43-TD and Zhymir Ball 3-28-TD. Romaine Palmer had a good day rushing for KIPP DuBois running just 7 times for 96 yards. On the day Kipp ran the ball 34 times for 266 yards while Mansion struggled on the ground, gaining just 75 yards on 26 rushes. The Knights QB Nysiem Parks threw extremely well completing 12 of 17 passes for 229 yards and 4 TD’s. The recipients of his six point tosses were Nasir Lewis 51 yards, Basil Wilson 20 and 50 yards and Murell Kearney for 45 yards. Wilson also excelled on defense making 9 tackles, 6 solo with 2 for losses. Wilson also had an interception. Tajmere Mclean numbered 9-5-1 while Joshua Hunter registered 7-5. Isaiah Johnson forced and recovered a fumble on the same play for the Knights. He also had 4 returns for 82 yards. John Plummer led the Lions defense with 8-6-3. Directly behind were Andrew Harvey 7-5-1, Ta’Hir Boone-Branch 6-4-1 and Palmer 6-4.

  It was on to the South Philadelphia Super Site for game number Two. Unfortunately this was one of those games that I really don’t enjoy and to explain let me start at the end of the contest. Del Val Charter had just scored their 11th TD to increase their ridiculous advantage over the Palumbo Griffins to 69-0. Yes, you read that correctly. After the score the Warriors kicker Imere Taylor ran on the field for his 11th PAT attempt. According to Del Val’s head coach Troy Gore the Warriors decided before the game not to run for any conversions and that he was basically giving Taylor an opportunity to perhaps become the Warriors Field Goal and PAT kicker. Taylor struggled all evening hitting on just 3 of his 10 previous attempts. On what would become the game’s final play, Warriors holder and starting QB Shayne “Sugar” Smith, took the snap from center but instead of placing the ball on the ground to hold for his kicker, he stood up and threw a pass to a wide open Nasir Coleman for 2 more Warriors points to make the final score 71-0. Immediately after Smith threw the ball Gore ran onto the field and starting screaming at Smith. It was obvious that Smith made the call on his own. Coach Gore personally told me later that Smith would not start the next Del Val game, which also is their homecoming game. Kudos to Gore for taking a stance. Gore also told me that he is trying to change the reputation of Del Val football. In the past they have been penalized by District 12 officers for various infractions. Gore, who has been on the job for 14 months, claims he will do it by getting advice from coaches who have been around for a long time. He named former Bok Tech head coach Tom DeFelice and current Southern head man Frank “Roscoe” Natale as two of his mentors. Needless to say Palumbo head coach Scott Pitzner was not a happy man. He was very upset that the Warriors threw the football with a 32-0 advantage that resulted into a TD. He of course was mad of the mockery on the final play and he claims that his starting QB, Derek Brown broke his clavicle bone as a result of a late hit out of bounds. Brown was taken to the hospital by ambulance in the second quarter. Yes a flag was thrown on the play. What does all of this mean and where does it go from here, I have no clue. Those of you who have read my reports on this site for years, know that scoring an astronomical number of points or as some say rolling up the score really does not impress me. You do not show up your opponent! I have been criticized in the past for even saying or implying that a team disrespected another team. So what did I do? I personally asked about a dozen coaches how they feel when a team runs up the score on them. Surprisingly, all of them said that it was OK. Like my late mother used to say “Mark, every dog will have their day”. In other words, paybacks are a bitch. OK, if it’s fine with them, then I will not write about it. In fact I haven’t done so until now. Do I understand why it’s done? Not really. However, what most attribute it to is the fast style play in today’s football. No huddle offense and spreading of the field. The game has become more like touch football and that means plenty of throwing whether it’s 7-0 or 70-0. If you have an opinion on this topic, fell free to send me an Email atmarkcarf@verizon.net. Yes, they did play the game so let’s get the numbers out of the way. The Warriors Shaheed “Do-Do” Brown had 5 TD’s. He rushed for 2, caught 2 and returned one. Brown touched the ball just 9 times. Five rushes, 2 catches and 2 returns and totaled 224 all-purpose yards. His breakdown was 47 rushing yards, 53 receiving and 124 return yards. I would say he had a nice night. “Do Do Done Did His Thing”. Jahmir Nuble rushed 12-119- 2 TD, Kyeef Williams rushed and caught TD’s, Andre Nesmith ran for a TD and Alonzo Taylor returned a punt for six points. Smith passed 4-5-103-3TD. Palumbo ran the ball 31 times but managed just 36 yards against the tough Warriors defense. After Derek Brown left the game with his injury he was replaced by Dylan Torriero. Brown threw 0-2 and Torriero 1-2-3 yds. The only number that glowed for the Griffins were Tahir Cruise’s 5 returns for 70 yards. Alieu Sahon and Ian Barrett both had 6 tackles for Palumbo. Because the numbers on their jerseys are difficult to read and the fact that most of the tackles were made right at the line of scrimmage by a host of players I felt that it was not necessary to list tackle leaders for the winners.

WEEK 3 RECAP
Filed Sept. 22
 
My first stop was at the South Philly Super Site where Tigers of Kensington High School took on the Rams of Southern High in the first Liberty Division 4A game for both squads. The Tigers should have known almost immediately that it wasn’t their day as they fumbled the opening kickoff that was recovered by Southern’s Kasene Brown-Richardson at Kensington’s 27 yard line. On the game's third play, Southern’s Casey Williams rushed for his first of two TD’s from the 5 yard line. Williams ran just eight times for 123 yards as the Rams romped 54-0. The game was quite unique in that Southern only ran 19 offensive plays. They rushed 18-227 and QB Jalil Turner completed his only pass attempt to Manier Kennedy for a 24 yard TD. The Tigers were a sight for sore eyes offensively. They would run the ball 27 times for minus 84 yards, however QB Bela Donnelly when allowed time, completed six of seven passes for 83 yards. Isiah Gonzalez was the prime target catching 4 balls for 49 yards. Other Southern rushing TD’s included a 4 yard prance and a 44 yard burst by Martell Marshall. Brown-Richardson added a 5 yard score and Zaundire Drayton scooted 19 for a score. Williams would also score from the 50. Sekou Sanoe registered 9 Ram tackles including 4 behind the line of scrimmage and also recovered a fumble. Casey Williams pitched in with 8 including 2 sacks. Other Southern sacks were notched by Devon Moore, Terrance Summers, Souleyman Dosso, Williamson Sankara, Delandre Francis and Kynan Chambers. For the Tigers both Dyronne McCray-Wiggins and Henry Williams each had 5 tackles, while Walter West recovered a fumble.
  Game two pitted the Lancers of Central taking a road trip to Southwest Philly to do battle with the Bartram Braves. In one of the year’s most entertaining games the Braves trailed 21-0 but managed a comeback to take a 22-21 lead with 4:17 left in the fourth quarter. The Lancers answered back in less than 2 minutes when Omar Jamaladdin snagged a 20 yard TD pass from Jeffrey Copeland and Soosung Whang nailed his fourth PAT kick giving the Lancers the lead 28-22 at the 2:39 mark of the final stanza. The Braves had one last push and managed to move the ball down to the Central 9 yard line as QB Dequan Ollison was tackled in bounds by Blake Schwartz as time expired. Central scored their first 3 TD’s on a 30 yard run by Copeland and a 9 yard rush from Jamaladdin. Copeland tossed a 58 yard strike toCollin Washington for a scoreboard changer. Copeland ended his day tossing 9-18-1-142-2TD. Washington was his leading receiver with 3 catches for 78 yards. Copeland also ended up being the Lancers top rusher numbering 8-43. The Braves Answered Gleyplay ran 21 times for 101 yards and TD. Ollison also rushed for a TD and tossed one to Deshane Hylton for 24 yards. Ollison passed 8-23-1-157. Joel Gland 2-67 and Ta-Shawn Stringfield 3-64 led the pass catching crew. Schwartz led the Lancers defense with 9 tackles. Basheer Steed 8, Whang 7 and Kei-shon Graham 5 also aided Schwartz. Washington had an interception for Central. Jymeer Sanders 8-sack, Kabir Drummond, Hanson Teah and Blessings Kahn each had 7. Kahn recovered a fumble that was forced by Drummond and George Quiyea had an INT.
  It was back to South Philadelphia for the third contest to witness the Palumbo Griffins take on Valley Forge Military Academy. The game's headliner from a local standpoint was Deen Whitaker. Whitaker became the Griffins' All Time single game rushing leader, although this is only their second year of varsity football, Whitaker ran 13 times for 96 yards as the Griffins prevailed 22-14. Whitaker also had 10 tackles, 7 solo and 1 TFL. Whitaker I was told was just recently moved to offense because of his speed. The All State Sprinter hopefully will top the 100 yard mark later in the season. The game was knotted at 14 apiece when Palumbo scored their final TD on Whitaker’s 41 yard rush around the right side with 5:35 to play in the contest. VFMA actually had 2 more chances to score before time expired. After the TD by the Griffins the visitors moved the ball to the Palumbo 28 but a Gavin Chaffee pass was intercepted by Tahir Cruise at the 20. The Academy held Palumbo on downs and had one more chance with 1:12 left but 4 consecutive incomplete passed sealed their fate 36 yards away from Pay Turf. Palumbo QB Derek Brown completed just 3 of 8 passed but one was a 28 yard toss to Cruise while Brown also rushed 1 yard for a score. Impressive looking Junior RB/LB Audley Isaacs rushed 20 times for 110 yards and a TD for VFMA. He also had 8 tackles as did his teammate Jaden Kelly. Helping out Whitaker on the Palumbo defense wasIan Barrett with 9 tackles while Ernest Holland and Tavion Mackboth had 7.Crusie filled up on All Purpose Yards with three returns totaling 83 yards, 11 rushes for 23 yards plus his TD grab giving him 134 yards on 15 touches.

WEEK TWO RECAP
Filed Sept. 15
 
My first stop was at 48th and Spruce, the home of the West Philly Speedboys but on this evening in a driving rainstorm, it served as the home of the Boys Latin Warriors who played host to the Lions of Kipp DuBois
. In extremely muddy conditions, somehow the Warriors David Williams managed to run for 113 yards on 17 carries and two Touchdowns as the Warriors dominated the Lions to the tune of 22-0. Williams also ran for two 2 point conversions while Nyree Ali scored the other Warriors TD. Led by Williams, Boys Latin rushed a total of 34 times for 165 yards. Kipp struggled, numbering just 41 yards on 24 totes. Not much passing was done as BL’s Troy Hester threw 3 passes and completed the only pass of the evening to Deandre Salters for just 8 yards. Kipp QB Tyree Howard threw the ball twice and didn’t connect on either one. Kipp lost 4 fumbles while Latin only lost one. The Warriors defense was paced by Javon Rice who notched 8 tackles, with 6 being of the solo variety and one for a loss. Helping out Rice was, Devin Jones and Marquise Johnson who both had 6 tackles. Johnson snatched a runner behind the line of scrimmage. From my viewpoint those who recovered fumbles for Latin included; Vaughn Weldon, Obi Odey, Jibreel Hughes and Keith Brown. For Kipp Ronald Lloyd and Naszhir Felder registered 7 tackles while Jordan Ross had 6 with a sack. Ta’Hir Boone-Branch recovered a fumble for the Lions.
  My next stop was at the South Philly Supersite, where the Palumbo Academy Griffins took on the Indians of Roxborough High School.The Indians came out on top, 27-8, but trailed at halftime 8-7. Palumbo’s only TD was an 8 yard completion of a Derek Brown pass to Tahir Cruise
. Brown gave the Griffins the lead when he completed a conversion pass to Ian Barrett. Brown ended his day completing 6 passes out of 17 attempts for 54 yards. He also threw 2 interceptions which were picked off by Corey Alston and Derrick Boyd. The Indians were stingy on defense allowing just 37 rushing yards on 20 Griffin runs. The real story of the game was Roxborough’s Makai Young. Mister Young accounted for all 27 Indian points. He ran for three TD’s, and caught a pass for another. To add to his versatility he also Kicked 3 PAT’S. Young rushed 15 times for 123 yards. He also caught 4 passes for 62 yards and totaled 185 yards of offense. The entire Indian squad had 252. Roxborough QB Jeffrey Manning completed 9 of 15 passes for 104 yards. He threw one pick that was grabbed by Cruise. Deen Whitaker led the Palumbo tackle board with 8. Trailing behind was Alieu Sahor with 7, Ernest Holland 6 and Brown 5. Cruise and Rameen Johnson were credited with sacks. The Indians had three players who each had 6 tackles. Jamil Price, Keshan Hooper and Andre Boston. Boston had a TFL as did Jujuan Peel and Alston. Darr Freeman had a sack.
  I returned to 48th and Spruce for a West versus Southwest Philly rivalry. The Speedboys hosted the Braves of Bartram in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd, but when it was all over the Braves prevailed 20-8. Amazingly the Speedboys turned the ball over 7 times but still had a chance to take the lead trailing just 14-8 after Abdul Gary Reid-Williams electrified the crowd with an 87 yard interception return to pay dirt and Tarell Mcleod ran for the PAT with 4:38 on the fourth quarter clock. After forcing the Braves to punt on their next possession, the Speedboys took control at their own 6, with 2:41 remaining. On first down, QB Tybir Williams threw an incomplete pass. Williams only takes the helm when the Speedboys need to put the ball in the air for extensive yards. Their starting QB was Quayshon Glass who threw 5-20-98 yards. On second down from the 6, Williams attempted a screen pass, butQuadree Barnes read it perfectly and intercepted the pass at the 3 and walked in untouched to end the drama. Bartram QB Dequan Oliison completed 8 passes in 23 attempts for 146 yards and 2 TD’S. He completed a 74 yard strike to Joel Gland and a 12 yard toss to Ta-Shawn Stringfield. Answered Gleyplay ran 23 times for 94 yards. Ollison scooted 8-51. West Philly’s leading rusher was Peter Hutton touching 5 for 35. Bartram limited the Speedboys to 85 rushing yards on 25 attempts. West Philly appeared to score near the end of the third quarter, but Isaiah Maples’ 93 yard return of an interception to the end zone was denied because of a penalty on the return. Instead of 6 points, the Speedboys took control of the ball way back on their own 18 yard line. Ouch! Hanson Teah and Stringfield each had 6 tackles for the Braves. Besides Barnes, Kabir Drummond and George Quiyea also had interceptions for Bartram. Teah forced a fumble as did Drummond. Davon Bishop, Gland, Drummond and Barnes all recovered fumbles for the Braves. West Philly’s Tylar Brown 9, Devante Stuckey 8, Da’Quan Bard, Kwadere Fleming 6, and Mitchell Hudgins along with Hutton notched 5 tackles.

WEEK ONE RECAP
Filed Sept. 8

  Hello All and of course HAPPY FOOTBALL! I am going to change it up a little from previous years and give brief summaries of the games I covered. First up for the 2015 season was the Railsplitters of Lincoln taking on the Rams of Southern at the South Philly Super Site on Friday September 4th. With Temple head coach Matt Ruhle on hand to take a peek at Southern’s Casey Williams the Senior RB and DE did not disappoint. Williams ran 29 times for `170 yards and scored three TD’s. He also was a force on defense despite being double teamed most of the contest. He made 8 tackles and hurried, rushed or scared Lincoln QB Allston Augustin into five incompletions. Williams also blocked a punt as the Rams held on to win 22-16.Four Ram turnovers aided Lincoln and gave them one last chance after they recovered a fumble down by 6 at their own 33 yard line with 2:50 left in the game. Lincoln was able to cross the 50 on their last drive and penetrated to the Ram 32 as Augustin completed 3 passes. However a huge sack by Samid Williams and good pass defense by Zion Vaughan, who had an interception early in the second quarter, and Ace Walker stomped out any Railsplitter chance for a comeback. Michael Guyton ran 12 times for 100 yards, while Augustin tossed 8-20-1-91 yds. 1 TD for Lincoln. Augustin’s TD pass of 25 yards was hauled in by Tariq Blakney. Hosea McClam was the Lincoln leader with 3 catches for 31 yards. Blakney 9, Michael McIhenney 8, Abdulaye Ndiaye 7, McClam 6 and Kenneth King 5 were the Railsplitter tackle leaders. For the Rams Samid Williams 6 -2 TFL’s Williamson Sankara 5-2 TFL’s –sack, Terrance Summers 5- 1 TFL and Vaughan 5 paced the Rams defense.
  My next stop was Harriton High School near Villanova University to watch the Speedboys of West Philadelphia High School take on the Rams. On this brutally hot afternoon WPHS ran all over the Rams to the tune of 42-14. In fact they rushed 44 times for 344 yards. They kept on running with returns, pass receptions and interceptions for an all-purpose yardage number of 606. Tarell McLeod ran 11 times in the first half for 109 yards and a TD. Peter Hutton rushed 9-104-TD. Mitchell Hudgins returned a kickoff 72 yards for a score. Other rushing TD’s were by Reid Williams, QB Quayshon Glass and Zackariah Payton. Da’Quan Bard 2 and Glass both ran for conversion points. Jahara Reid 2, Nelson Walker and ArthurWilliams all had interceptions for the Speedboys. Tylar Brown and Devante Stuckey both had 8 tackles. Special shout out to West Philly’s AD Barry Strube for helping out with the stats.
  My final stop was the home of the Speedboys, where the Braves of Bartram were taking on the Overbrook Panthers. I didn’t arrive until the start of the second half, so another shout out to Bartram head coach Jim Chapman for allowing me access to watch the first half on the computer as the Braves prevailed 14-0. The highlight of the evening were two highlight reel runs by Bartram’s, oh I how love this name, ANSWERED GLEPLAY. Gleplay raced 82 before he was caught from behind in the first half to set up Bartram’s first TD. He ran 63 yards to pay dirt in the second half. Those two gaudy runs gave Gleplay some nice closing numbers, 15 rushes for 195 yards. The Panthers Joel Polk also did well, rushing 24-129. I watched 6 QB’s perform on Friday and for my money the best arm of the day was Overbrook’s Gary Hawes. Hawes only completed 6 of 25 passes for 74 yards, his arm strength was above average and his poise was excellent, but his receivers had difficulty shaking off the Braves defenders. Quincy Fairy was the leading pass receiver grabbing 3 balls for 46 yards. Bartram’s Ta-Shawn Stringfield and the Panthers Tyjae Gamble each had an interception. Bartram’s other points came from a QB keeper by Dequan Ollison and a 2 point conversion pass from Ollison to Stringfield.