Sparky's
Corner
Return to Home Page
Kevin "Sparky" Cooney is one of our
trusty statisticians/observers. He's a big'un, so make way when he comes running down the
sideline. OK, walking briskly. Note to coaches: Please resist the temptation to put him at
nose tackle. He's there to keep stats, not make All-City. Sparky also covers sports for
the Intelligencer/Record, in Eastern Montgomery County.
He needs attention, so e-mail him at SparkyRec26@aol.com.
NOV. 2
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Northeast 34, Lincoln 16
An absolutely gorgeous November day saw the Vikings make short
work of the Railsplitters. Northeast has a lot of weapons; chief among them is sr.
RB Brent Grimes. Grimes ran the ball nine times for 59 yards, while
catching two passes for 26 yards. He also added two touchdowns. Sr. QB Noel Nation
was 4-for-6 for 79 yards in the air, while jr. FB Darien Hardy carried
12 times for 81 yards. One nice player for Lincoln is sr. QB Andre Coles,
who was 8-for-12 for 117 yards and a touchdown. To picture Coles in your mind, think Randall
Cunningham. Good strong arm, plenty of escapability. There were two great stories
out of this game. First occured at halftime, when the Northeast band didn't start to play
until five minutes left in the intermission. The next scene reminded me of a lyric from Don
McLean's song "American Pie": The teams took the field, but the band
refused to yield. The NE band coordinator actually asked officials for 15 extra minutes,
so his squad could practice for Thanksgiving. He was denied. The second story happened at
the end of the third quarter. When making a tackle, Lincoln jr. DB Thomas Woods
was knocked silly. Woods staggered over to the Vikings sideline, and answered
"Friday" when asked by the NE trainer what day it was. As the quarter was
changing, Lincoln coach Jeb Lynch came over to check on Woods and to
bring him back over to Lincoln's sideline. Lynch said of Woods, "Ah, he's tough. He's
only 140 pounds" and followed by giving him a playful slap on the helmet.
OCT. 29
CATHOLIC RED
La Salle 19, Bonner 6
The air finally had that little nip to it. Playoffs must be
coming. Pretty good football game (7-0 at the end of three quarters) and remarkably clean
(Bonner was not penalized at all, La Salle had two flags in the first half for 21 yards).
For years, everyone's talked about how great the La Salle offense has been. It's easy to
forget that the Explorer defense has been pretty good as well. Sunday was its time to
shine, thanks in large part to the play of jr. LB Ed Sabia (12 tackles,
all over the field) and sr. DE Nate
Moss (run stuffer that closed the middle of the line). Offensively, the
Explorers were stagnant until the fourth when sr. QB Gabe Marabella
started rolling out of the pocket and finding some receivers. It was my first look at
Bonner this year, and I have to say I was impressed. It was a far cry from the squad that
was pounded like a drum in '99. Sr. LB-RB Lou Pagnoni plays like a man
possessed.... La Salle is coming around at the right time. Everyone seems to have handed
the title to Prep. As Lee Corso would say, not so fast my friend. First
of all, a correction to a post I made two weeks ago about the La Salle band. It plays
"Louie, Louie" at the end of the game, not "Taking Care of Business."
It was remarkably gracious to me today when rumors had otherwise. Thanks, boys, and keep
up the good work. Now for Tom McKenna two-part story of the week: Part I,
"Hockey Puck" arrived at Springfield at 11:30 am and found nobody there. The
reason: He forgot to set his watch back an hour last night. That's why he's the best. Part
II, I walked onto the field and I get this reaction echoing through the stands.
"Great, I have Brad (Wilson, the associate sports editor of the
Record) on one day, Stuart (London, sports writer for the News
Gleaner) last night, and your fat (rear end) today."
OCT 27
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Frankford 31, Lincoln 6
This game was pretty bland and nondescript, played against a
bizarre backdrop of the teachers' strike starting at the same exact time as kickoff
(3 p.m.). The Pioneers keep using a steady attack of sr. QB Lacey Lancaster,
sr. HB Gil McCloud, and jr. FB Marcus Waddy to its
advantage. Frankford's defense was dominant, led in large part by sr. LB Shawn
Williams, who flies to the football. Lincoln has some talent, but sometimes it
looks as though the players would rather fight themselves than the other team. There was a
general sense of glum in the air regarding the strike. One coach I asked about the
situation called it "dumb and unneccessary." Here, here to that one. One name to
keep in mind is Pioneer soph. QB Darryl Turner (6-4, 185). He has great
escapablity. On one play, he slipped out of two tackles and threw a 40-yard bomb to sr. SE
Kevin Green. Turner's teammates have quickly dubbed in "Randall."
OCT. 15
CATHOLIC RED
La Salle 33, Ryan 7
Another warm and wonderful day in the neighborhood. If you
want to read my complete game story, click onto phillyburbs.com (sorry, I need to plug to
survive). For the Explorers, it was a wonderful day on both sides of the ball. Sr. QB Gabe
Marabella is showing more poise every time out. On a day that sr. RB Ryan
Parfitt didn't play all that much with a hip injury, more Explorers came to the
forefront. Like sr. FB Emmett McGowan, jr. HB Jeff Mills
and jr. HB Sean Miller, who hurdled a Ryan lineman on his way for a
50-yard TD. Ryan is . . . we'll let coach Glen Galeone sum it up:
"We're not a very good football team." The Raiders have a survival game next
week against Judge. Given what the Crusaders did to Roman on Saturday night (31-28 win),
it's not looking good for the boys on Academy Road to make the playoffs. One Ryan bright
spot is jr. RB Pete Varanavage, who is turning into one
of the toughest backs in the CL. Another reason Galeone is one of the best coaches to deal
with: After the game, he asked the La Salle pep band director to please be quiet so he
could talk to his team. Reporters have moaned and groaned about hearing "Taking Care
of Business" all through their interviews with Explorer players for years thanks to
the horn section. The band, by the way, mocked Galeone as he walked away. I don't think
any of them would have done it to his face. I know I wouldn't. Random thought No. 1: Isn't
October suppose to be colder? No. 2: Is there anyone that is not coming down with some
sort of cold or allergy problem with this weather?
OCT. 13
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Frankford 28, Mastbaum 6
On an absolutely beautiful day for football, the Pioneers turned in
an offensive and defensive effort that should make the sometimes grumpy Frankford coaching
staff happy. Riding the running of jr. RB Marcus Waddy (20-222, three
TDs), Frankford was able to control the football on the ground and totally wear down the
Panthers' front line. Frankford took control late in the first half when soph. DE Michael
Humbert stepped in front of a backwards pass by jr. QB Murray Frazier
at the Pioneer 21 and returned it for 25 yards. On the next play, Waddy broke a 54-yard TD
run to make it 14-0 Pioneers. The Frankford defensive unit deserves major kudos for
holding the Panther offense to 120 yards total offense. Those members included Humbert,
srs. Jeff Nagle, Shawn Williams, Matt King, and Michael
Dolbow, along with jr. Michael Robinson. You can tell that Tom
McClain is the head official at your
game when the game starts at 2:58, and ends by 4:24. Frankford Band Director Robert
Parisi was spotted in the second half with one of those funny conductor type hats
on, a la the guy in the Music Man. The Warren Commission note of the week: There was
(almost) nobody on the Grassy Knoll at Lincoln. A grand total of five. Is it necessary for
the Panthers to end their pre-game "fired up" chant with two obscenities? This
is, after all, only a game.
SEPT. 30
CATHOLIC RED
O'Hara 34, Ryan 7
Fought off a nasty grass allergy day to find my way to Northeast
Field for the Great sr. RB Kevin Jones Traveling Road
Show. Jones lived up to all the hype, running for 153 yards and two scores on 18 carries.
He also had a 75-yard TD called back by penalty. (The flag was iffy, to say the least). In
my mind, Jones is not as good as Eddie Gaskins (Frankford 1994-97). Eddie
had more natural speed. But the Lions are more than just Jones, and in my mind they are
the deepest team in the Red Division. Sr. RB Greg Watson (13-88) is
slippery and not afraid to take on defenders. Sr. QB Mike Lomas
can throw a pretty ball with a nice spiral. Sr. WR Ryan Barksdale can
flat-out fly. Second time I saw Ryan this year, and the Raiders strike me as a team that
is just missing something. Sr. QB Nick Pinto and sr. WR Joe Dumas
are as good a pass-catch combo as the Raiders have had in a few years. I had the chance to
observe this one from closer than normal as a member of the chain gang. The Ryan guys had
trouble getting volunteers to do the job, so I decided to fill right in, a la Tom
McKenna doing PA on Friday night at Roman-North. I thought it would be
easy. Well, there were six measurements, with two of them (on the far sidelines) requiring
more running than I've done in about 10 years. Boy, was I winded. Ryan coach Glen
Galeone one time gave me a "What the (heck) are you doing here?" stare.
Couldn't really blame him.
SEPT. 24
CATHOLIC BLUE
McDevitt 35, Dougherty 12
You can read about the game in "On the Trail
With Ted" (or you could have read my story at PhillyBurbs.com; shameless plug). But
I'll add that I've never seen anything like that before, and I may never again. Also,
there was one classic Tom McKenna-ism. Tom had Dougherty's PA announcer
state that jr. QB Sean McGovern had passed for 400 yards. One problem: He
hadn't. And as the CD guy was announcing it, Tom went running into the booth and yelled,
"Don't say that!" and "Who told you to say that?" When Tom was
reminded that HE said that, it suddenly got very quiet at Charlie Martin Memorial
Stadium.
SEPT. 22
NON-LEAGUE
Roxborough 16, University City 0
You can tell you're in The Pub when
. . . There are 17 people in the stands at kickoff, and 19 at halftime.... when the home
team (Roxborough in this case) has to travel halfway across the city (to Germantown's
field) because its field is torn apart. Seriously, the Indians actually looked halfway
decent, especially on defense. I like the way they swarm to the football. U. City had
chances, but couldn't find a way to punch the ball into the end zone when it was
needed. One thing I'd never thought I would see or hear in the Public League -- a cell
phone playing Beethoven's "Ode To Joy."
SEPT. 22
CATHOLIC RED
La Salle 41, Judge 21
First serious chance to look at my alma mater (Class of '92) in full
effect under new coach Tommy Coyle. New look is right, as the Crusaders
started out with a 65-yard, up-and-out pass for a touchdown. But La Salle is just too much
and too good, and the Crusaders' defense couldn't stop anything. Sr. Ryan Parfitt went
for 160 yards, and some Division I-AA colleges would be wise to take a look at him as a
RB. Sr. QB Gabe Marabella had all day to pass, and split Judge's defense
in two. One final note: Judge has to do something about the uniforms. Powder blue is just
too easy a target. And the helmets look like an explosion at the Sherwin Williams plant.
SEPT. 15
NON-LEAGUE
Washington 39, Germantown 8
The first Pub game of the year is always a
special treat; you get to see a lot of good people who you haven't seen in months. This
one looked so good on paper. But as Kenny Mayne says, "They don't
play games on paper, they play them on television." (Which they did, since the game
was televised by CN8). Washington looks very good, especially jr. RB Ryan Gore.
Gore is tall (5-11), strong (190 lbs) and fast. Washington's quarterback is sr. Ivan
Kosty. He's the first quarterback that I've ever seen wearing a number above 18
(he's #34 in your program). The flip side was the G-town offense, which just was totally
out of synch. There were some light moments, such as the injured sr. RB Nasir
Sadat asking the people behind the Bears' bench to be respectful for the national
anthem. Then, there was the case of diminutive GW running back Mike Delvalle (5-5,
135, jr.) , who entered the game as a replacement in garbage time. On his second carry,
Delvalle broke two foot tackles for 5 yards. "They're trying to go low on him,"
one Washington player said. "That's stupid. He's four-foot-2." No sooner had the
words left this kid's mouth than Delvalle broke a 61-yard touchdown run. It was made
possible in part by an incredibly bone-jarring downfield block from sr. TE Kent
Hartley at the 10-yard line, which knocked a G-town player halfway to the track.