OCT. 31
PUBLIC/D-12 CLASS A FINAL
Delaware Valley 34, Future 20
  This has to rank highly on the list of rougher sports tasks: Meeting a team in a playoff you crunched just three weeks earlier. DV sliced and diced Future, 50-0, so imagine how little attention the Warriors paid to coach Barry Thomas when he told his players all week in practice, "These guys are pretty good. If we're not focused, they'll give us a game." Or words to that effect. Guess what? Future DID give DV a game and with just a few minutes remaining the outcome was still very much in doubt. On the third play of the fourth quarter, jr. RB Khalil Hobson raced 86 yards for his third TD, including one on a reception, and the Firebirds were within 22-20. Alas, sr. QB Kamel Powers dropped the snap on the conversion and the chance at a tie was frittered away. Later, there was a questionable play call as star sr. LB Ameer Selden, also the punter, misconnected on a fourth down play from DV's 40. Hobson ran for a yard and a facemask penalty put the ball at the 24. Hobson ran four yards (sr. LB Nick Myers made one of his MANY tackles) and then Powers lost two off another bobbled snap. The fourth down call was a toss left to Hobson. Rather than four yards, he gained about three yards and 10 or 11 inches and DV took over with 5:04 showing. A procedure call set up third and 14 from the 11. Would Thomas run the ball, work the clock a little more and depend on his defense? Nope. He ordered a pass to jr. WR Brad Wilson, who'd twisted his ankle very early and had even removed his pads, thinking he'd never get back in the game. Wilson ran a shallow, right-to-left slant. With a better timed jump, jr. DB Xavia Witherspoon probably could have posted a pick. He only got a deflection, however, and Wilson wound up with an 89-yard TD! Despite the ankle miseries, he was flyin' down the sideline! Ha, ha. Shortly after an end zone celebration, he went down and had to be helped to the bench. It was quite the crazy scene. The joy being expressed by DV's fans quickly multiplied. On the kickoff return, the ball became dislodged from Hobson and jr. DB Aaron Baker ran it back for a 35-yard TD. DV was missing star jr. RB Markeese Walker, among others, so the rushing responsibilities were shared by srs. Neal Warren (17-55), Barry Devine (8-48) and Brian Murray (5-18); each had one TD. Sr. QB Sean Williams went 5-for-10 for 187 yards. Sr. Tavon Holloway had a 43-yard catch along with a pick. Sr. TE Jeremiah Mitchell managed two snags for 37 and an interception, as well. Sr. big-'un Fred Ruff had some dominant moments along the D-line, though he also missed some time with a bum ankle. Sr. LB Robert McDonald, jr. DL Terrell Young and jr. DE Naeem Brogdon were the most visible of Future's defenders. I covered this one on the fly as Duck made a call during the McDevitt-Carroll game and said he was having trouble with a severe headache. That one started at noon and luckily went very quickly because hardly any passes were thrown. I made it to Gratz at about 2:45 for the 3 o'clock start, and the trip even included a quick stop for gas in Mt. Airy. Oh, for a Tastykake, too. Smile. Though the attendance at this one was not exactly earth shattering (well, they ARE small schools with short histories), I liked the atmosphere. Both schools had sassy cheerleaders and Future had a sitting band. Not a marching band, but entertaining nonetheless.

OCT. 31
CATHOLIC AA SEMIFINAL
McDevitt 21, Carroll 0
  So, did you enjoy your trip in the football time machine? Things surely were different back in the 1930s, weren't they? Passes were few and the running was tight to the vest. McDevitt and Carroll combined to throw the ball just five times. In the Public League, sometimes you'll see such hesitancy, especially on muddy fields in games involving lower-echelon teams. But it's hard to believe this game occurred in the Catholic League on an all-weather surface (at P-W). Yes, there was on-and-off rain and some gusty winds. The wet stuff was misty, however, not of the drenching variety. McDevitt's breakdown was 40 runs, two passes. Carroll's was 53, three (not counting a shaky center snap that resulted in a 10-yard loss). The first half, believe it or not, included just two possessions apiece, not counting a late kneeldown by McDevitt sr. QB Drew Siegfried. The Lancers went six and out, then Carroll used 18 plays -- yes, 18 -- to march from its 20 to McDevitt's 25. On fourth and 14, sr. QB Chris Shuster threw long to jr. RB Ryan Shea in the right corner. The Lancers covered 75 yards in 12 plays, thanks mostly to jr. RB Gary Postell (25-143), and Siegfried used second effort to score from the 2. Sr. K Kevin "Das Boot" Gallagher added the PAT. Carroll then started from its 26 and got as close as the 8 as the half wound down. A 17-yard run by sr. Zach Parke made it first and 10 at the 12. Soph RB Teron Dobbs, who sometimes took direct snaps, collected two yards (tackle by jr. LB Joe Polansky). Sr. FB Bryant Moritz did likewise (tackle by sr. DE Wallace "Wawa" Weaver). Then, on a pitchout to the left, Dobbs was dropped for a two-yard loss by sr. DL Bruce Canada and jr. Andrew Brouwers hammered a 27-yard field goal attempt a shade to the left. McDevitt had two decent chances in the third quarter and into the fourth. Neither panned out. Sr. DE Chris King's strong play on a sweep left thwarted the first opportunity. A fumble by Postell (recovery by sr. DB Greg DiSanto?) at the 1 sabotaged the second. Soon, after a punt by Siegfried, who's usually excellent, traveled just seven yards due to a combination of wind and a crazy backward bounce, Carroll needed to cover just 29 yards to create a tie. Wasn't to be. On first and goal from the 10, jr. S-OLB Martin "Nico" Henry stopped Dobbs for no gain. Postell then dumped Shea for a 1-yard loss. On third down, Dobbs dropped a direct snap and had to fall on the ball, resulting in a six-yard loss. Shuster's over-the-middle pass did not come close to being completed. Wouldn't have mattered anyway because the Patriots had been guilty of a chop block. Finally, in the last 4:22, there was excitement, thanks to Henry. Out of the Lancers' shotgun set, he took a handoff from Siegfried and, with help from jr. Matt Conroy's downfield blocking, ripped off a 55-yard gain. Postell ran 18 yards for a TD two plays later (and got roughed up about seven yards deep in the end zone, producing a personal foul penalty that was assessed on the kickoff). On Carroll's first play, Shuster launched a left-side pitchout and . . . whoa! A guy in a white uniform didn't catch it. Henry did. Yes, in the air. He had no trouble running 18 yards for a TD. Down below the press box, I heard an excited McDevitt fan yell, "That boy must be All-Catholic!" Another guy drew laughs by piping up from a short distance away, "He must have paid the quarterback 25 dollars to pitch it to him!" Siegfried then hit Conroy with a conversion pass. McDevitt's line included jr. C Colin Leach, jr. G Alvin Goodwyn, jr. G Kevin Polansky and sr. Ts Ryan Speller and Sean Maguire. The Lancers will meet West Catholic in the AA final Saturday night, 7 o'clock, at Northeast. The Burrs won the teams' first meeting, 28-12. 

OCT. 24
PUBLIC AA SEMI
Imhotep 28, Furness 0
  So, how many completions do you think it should take for a quarterback to accumulate 248 yards? Twenty? Fifteen? Ten? Try five. At least in this contest. Jr. Christopher Lewis passed 5-for-13 for 248 and even Puck could tell you that's just under 50 yards per completion! Amazing! Lewis' first pass definitely set the trend. Lined up to the left, Lewis took a lateral and launched one way downfield to wide-open sr. Devin Sanders. The TD covered 67 yards and wound up being the only score of the half as the teams mostly punched and counter-punched with not much in the way of results. Lewis' second-half completions netted 48, 67, 33 and 33 yards, with TDs going to sr. Kendrick Lewis (48) and sr. Leland Smith (67). Lewis always had a tremendous amount of time in the pocket. While waiting for guys to finish their patterns, he could have eaten lunch and then even dinner. The Panthers' other score came on a 22-yard run by jr. Maurice Palmer (10-100). This kid comes off as a true tough nut. He powered through tackles again and again and this scoring run was very similar to the one by Frankford's Jeffione Thomas that decided the 40-34 overtime game with Northeast just yesterday. Furness had just one answer: soph RB-QB Sharif Smith. Splitting time between tailback and Wildcat snap-taker, he carried 26 times for 104 yards and completed a pass to sr. WR Ryan Johnson for 33. The QB, sr. Anthony Ings, hit sr. TE Montez Brown for a 29-yard gain. Each leaping catch was impressive. They almost paled in comparison, though, to a late interception made by Smith. After tripping, he was flat on his back as he snagged the pick! Palmer logged a sack and another TFL while Sanders, Dasir White, Darius Williams, White again, Kyle Hambright and Ryan Barren also made tackles behind the line. With the score at 8-0 (Imhotep had won by that score just last week), Furness had a great chance to create a tie right before halftime after Johnson's catch placed the ball on the 2 at 8.9. But on a sneak, Smith could only pick up a yard. C. Lewis' 48-yard TD bomb to K. Lewis (not related) occurred just two plays into the third quarter. S. Smith also managed 62 yards on three returns, so in all he accumulated 197 (counting a 2-yard loss on a reception). This game was played at Gratz and with Imhotep serving as the home squad, the PA announcer was basketball coach Andre Noble, who's also Imhotep's athletic director. At one point he said the basketball was on a certain yard line. He's forgiven (smile).

OCT. 20
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Malvern 44, Penn Charter 27
  Ah, that’s more like it. After watching six blowouts this “weekend” (definition expanded, since it extended Thursday to Monday; No. 6 was Bok-Franklin and Frog handled that report), I finally got to enjoy two-pronged fireworks in Tilt No. 7. Along with sunshine and the ol’ field-level vantage point. I know the economy still stinks, but Malvern’s grounds crew deserves a raise. You barely would have guessed it had rained the day before, let alone hard for multiples. The field was in terrific shape. After watching Chestnut Hill and Haverford School frolic in league openers, the Friars wanted to make a don’t-forget-about-us statement and did so almost in emphatic fashion. We say “almost” because PC did ring up a decent amount of points itself and there’s a suspicion the stretch run REALLY could have been interesting if not for an injury to star sr. WR Mick Foley. In the first half, Foley posted five catches for 89 yards and two TDs as he worked in close to perfect harmony with jr. QB John Loughery. But on the first play of the third quarter, while playing defense, Foley suffered a shoulder injury (might even be separated) and had to depart. Classmate Michael Brown (sr. DB, whale of a game on that side of the ball) also got dinged on that play and went limping off. He was able to return shortly thereafter. Foley made it back midway through the fourth quarter, but he was mostly a decoy and he logged just two more catches for short gains. Malvern’s far-and-away headliner was sr. RB Bobby Hill, who used his lacrosse-trained feet to scamper, twist and turn to 210 yards and five TDs on 28 carries. The scores covered 6, 17, 5, 6 and 52 yards, in that order, and the last one made it 44-27 with 3:32 left. I loved seeing that one, truthfully, because it put the ball back in Loughery’s hands and gave him another chance to add to his portion of the statfest. He went just 2-for-6 for 23 yards on that possession, however, and Malvern needed to run just two plays, not counting a kneeldown, to wrap it up. Malvern’s grunts were sr. C Jack Devine, sr. Gs Jack Moran (subject of DN ink) and Joe DiTrolio, sr. T Kevin Quinn and soph T Connor Mahoney. In all, they helped the offense roll to 340 yards as sr. RB Wally Spencer (7-21, TD) and jr. WR JoJo Rava (4-39) also enjoyed productive afternoons. Jr. FB Bob Scaramuzza had to settle for just 21 yards on seven totes, but since he threw up maybe 5 feet away from me on the sideline at one point (maybe the cafeteria workers deserve a pay CUT? -- smile), we’ll give him a free pass. Anyway, his main job is to block. The QB was sr. Chase Gunther while the TE was jr. Sean Mooney (6-6, 235; very important on Hill’s sweeps). In the ebb-flow department, the key moment occurred after Hill’s 5-yard run made it 30-19 with 9:09 left. On the kickoff, Brown was stripped by sr. Jeff Schulte and soph David Zarkoski recovered on the 10. The Friars needed just three plays to capitalize as Hill swept home from the 6. Loughery had an uneven first half as his two TDs were matched by two interceptions (by soph LB Sam Schmucker and jr. DB Chris O’Brien, the son of the former La Salle High and Drexel basketball star of the same name). Running game? Non-existent. And that was the main reason passes were ordered for PC’s final 34 plays of the game (six to end the half, all 28 in the second). Under constant pressure, Loughery got off 31 of them and was sacked three times (one was an intentional grounding call). He was dropped four times total for 27 yards. Brown’s rushing numbers were 6-(-2) while sr. FB Jim Lamb’s were 2-6. So the rushing lack-of-yield was minus-23 yards on 12 carries. Credit that to the strong push of a D-line including Moran and DiTrolio at the tackles and Mooney and sr. Cristian Green at the ends. Overall, Loughery went 22-for-41 for 298 yards. This breaks the school record of 292, set by Larry Storm in the '95 season. The balls were divvied up to sr. WR David Martina (10-138, also two TDs), Foley (7-95), sr. WR Joey Sankey (3-38, also a pick) and Brown (2-27, a no-gainer and the 27-yarder on a shovel pass). Malvern has a quick turnaround with a Friday night game at Episcopal. Coach Kevin Pellegrini had a good line while talking to his team in the post-game gathering. “That’ll be the first night game in Inter-Ac history . . . well, except for the last part of this one.” Episcopal's Tom Kossuth reminds us that in 2005 a league game between the Churchmen and Gtn. Academy was played under the lights at Wissahickon. Unless a game back in the day was played under portable lights, MP-EA will be the first night game played on an Inter-Ac campus. The start time was 4 and the proceedings wrapped up at 6:15. The shadows were VERY long and some help was being provided by the new lights that also adorn the Friars’ field. Had some tough moments on the photo trail. The camera batteries ran out right before Foley’s TD catch with 0:13 left in the half and since the play happened right nearby, hopefully that pic would have been good. Then, while processing everything, I accidentally deleted a pic of one of Martina’s TD snags, which was also nearby. Grrrrrrrrrrr. Luckily, it was still in the original folder, so I was able to retrieve it Tuesday morning and add it to the set. It’s at the very end.

OCT. 18
CATHOLIC AAAA
O’Hara 56, Ryan 0
  What a one-sided weekend. If tomorrow’s Penn Charter-Malvern game is also a blowout, it might be time to call for the start of basketball season. Let’s see. In the six games I saw from Thursday through today, the average score was 44.5 to 3. Ouch. The margin in a couple of those was somewhat surprising. Can’t say that about this one, which was played on the artificial turf at Marple-Newtown. Well, 56-0 was a little much, but there was no doubt O’Hara was going to frolic even without star sr. RB Corey Brown (Ohio State, knee strain, miiiiiight be back Saturday vs. SJ Prep). Despite the best efforts of rookie coach Frank McArdle Jr., there’s still just too much of a gap between these programs. DN ink went to sr. FB Dan “Cardinal” O’Hara and, aside from the fact his name matches up so well his school, we had some fun with the fact that he’s one of the few fullbacks in world history to also return punts! (Due to Brown’s injury.) Coach Danny Algeo said with a laugh, “I hope this is short-lived. Not that Dan is doing anything wrong back there.” O’Hara had a couple of short returns and called for a fair catch on another. He ran seven times for 64 yards, caught three passes for 30 (included was a 14-yard TD) and blocked with purpose for jr. RB Adam “Jet Sweep” Dempsey (12-187, four scores). The other three TDs went to rushing subs Major Everett and Tom Familetti, a sr. and jr., respectively, and to ever-impressive soph DB Demiere Shaw on a 49-yard interception return. Sr. Mike Granata banged home all eight of his PAT attempts. The game began in very strange fashion as sr. Ryan lineman Jim Grbas, standing in the second row of returners, made a fair catch of a short kickoff at the 28. He later did so again at the 35 (and got clocked, resulting in a 15-yard penalty) and sr. Tom Price followed suit at the 30 in the fourth quarter. Unbelievable. Since no one will be able to prove otherwise, we’re going to call that one a city record – most fair catches of kickoffs in one game (three). Over the weekend, Huck pointed out another oddity from the West Catholic-Dougherty game. Dougherty fumbled the ball eight times and lost NONE of ‘em. Sounds like another city standard  to me (smile). Ryan experienced major problems moving the football. In the fourth quarter, with subs on defense for O’Hara, the Raiders began having a little bit of fun. A screen left from jr. QB Dillon Cave to sr. RB Mark Golic produced a 34-yard gain to the 10. Two plays later Cave tried a right-corner fade to sr. WR Pat Kwiatkowski. He and the defender, sr. DB Ameer Carroll, went up high, but the ball was just a smidgeon underthrown and Carroll came down with it. Quick thought: Shouldn’t Carroll be attending the CL school in Radnor? (smile)

OCT. 17
CATHOLIC AAA
North Catholic 41, Neumann-Goretti 0
  The stretch run of North's final football season certainly began with a bang. After getting punched in the gut last week with the news of the school's impending outta-here, the football Falcons had no one to bang heads against because the game with Carroll wound up being postponed until who-knows-when (swine flu issues). So struggling N-G incurred all the pent up wrath/frustration. Certainly no ebb and flow to talk about here. Sr. TB Eugene "U-Turn" Byrd turned 22 carries into 210 yards and two TDs and received tremendous downfield blocking from his wideouts and even from sr. FB David D. Williams. Jr. QB Anthony Reid hit sr. WR Julian Huggins with a perfect mini-bomb that turned into a 93-yard score and tallied his own long one on a 61-yarder. Jr. Shawn Wilson added late scoring runs of 12 and 32 runs. Jr. lineman Kerry Shields posted three PAT, then yielded to soph Nick DiMascia for the final two. N-G's first-year coach, Rich "Moose" Carfagno, is doing something that's HIGHLY unusual. In the afternoon game, I saw GA's Austin Kevitch and Keith Braccia alternate series by series. Well, N-G sr. Anthony Mastrando and jr. Mark Stinsman switched in and out every PLAY. Mastrando went 3-for-5 for 18 yards while Stinsman's only completion in nine attempts produced a 52-yard gain to sr. WR Louis Coles. None of the Saints' rushing plays gained as many as 10 yards. In the waning moments, star sr. K-P Will Huff was given a shot at a long field goal. A 57-yarder to be exact! The wind was behind him, but it was raining like crazy by this point. The ball did reach the back part of the end zone, but the kick had no true chance to succeed. Still, it was cool to see and maybe Huff will get another opportunity to break the city record (54 by Wood's Tom Laurich in 2003) as the weeks go on. The Puckster was in attendance and was his usually babbling/entertaining self. (He was also at Haverford, but stayed downstairs there and hung out under a canopy with the PA announcer. Say your prayers that THAT man recovers -- smile.) Here, he spent a short period of time atop the press box and his umbrella got shredded. Somehow he was amazed by that. Also in our wing of the press box was N-G assistant Andrew Miller, who's also Bartram's baseball coach. No doubt he'll be telling Puck stories for weeks. Maybe months. Or years. After Reid made one of his good plays, Puck roared, "Yo, how big a scwamble they gonna be for dat guy? Evwee school be aftah him foh next yeaw!"

OCT. 17
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Haverford School 47, Gtn. Academy 12
  Well, it appears there’s more than one upstart with designs on winning an Inter-Ac title. Chestnut Hill, which yesterday pounded Episcopal, 49-0, has a good excuse for a drought that has lasted literally forever -- as in NO titles. After debuting in 1923, it wasn’t part of the league for football in 1934 and again from 1936-71 and AGAIN from 1973-2005.  The Fords have watched others celebrate since 1971 and many of the interim seasons, truthfully, have been mildly poor to wickedly bad. Not anymore. Fifth-year coach Michael Murphy has been making little by little progress and now, here the Fords are, feeling good about themselves for legitimate reasons. The first quarter featured a very entertaining play. Thanks to a fumble recovery by soph LB Keith Corliss, GA gained possession on the Fords’ 40. Six plays later the ball was on the 13 when shared-time jr. QB Keith Braccia passed one over the middle. Sr. DB AJ Jones deflected it. Then sr. LB Wyatt Benson deflected it. Then jr. LB Joe McCallion caught it! Jr. RB Carl Walrath followed immediately with a 94-yard TD burst. Was GA disheartened? Apparently not. Soph Ryan Dolan answered by taking the kickoff for an 88-yard TD. The drama would soon disappear, however. Jr. Nick Craig uncorked a 30-yard run to help HS’ next possession cover 69 yards in six plays (with an interference call to jump-start things) and Walrath scored from the 2. Walrath collected 184 yards and two TDs on 20 carries and, like Malvern’s Bobby Hill, he shows the classic footwork of a lacrosse headliner. Because he is. Walrath also turned a tipped pass into a 73-yard interception return for a score. The Temple-bound Benson, Donovan McNabb’s new best friend (check out Monday’s paper; our company could REALLY use the 75 cents – smile), was his usual block-like-a-madman self and had a score on a 13-yard run. He also tallied on a 15-yard shovel pass from jr. QB Matt Lengel, showing tremendous effort to get to the end zone. Aside from defenders, Benson also had to dealt with cramping on his journey. Jr. WR Michael Washington added a 74-yard score on a pass from Lengel. Benson made four tackles behind the line. GA coach Luke Harris is alternating Braccia with sr. Austin Kevitch. The guys did combine for 12 completions in 26 attempts, but the yield was only 66 yards. There often was not enough time to hope for deep balls. One of the catches went to soph lineman Chuck Boddy, off a deflection. I’m not sure what happened on this play because linemen of course are not allowed to make catches. But Boddy wound up with the ball 2 yards beyond the line of scrimmage and the refs then walked off a 15-yard penalty, placing the ball 17 yards beyond the original line of scrimmage. So, Boddy gets the yardage, baby, and grunts everywhere are thrilled for him (smile). Jr. Lamont Jackson posted GA’s other score on a 12-yard run. The Patriots’ roster includes just eight seniors and 30 guys in all. I watched this mostly rainy one from the wrestling room, which overlooks the field at a very good angle. Assorted students hung out for various periods of time and it was great to see two former Ford basketball coaches, Don McBride and son Brian. Among the students were managers Andrew Landolfi (baseball player) and James Chakey, who take turns writing down plays/calls/results/etc. for the offensive and defensive assistants.   

OCT. 16
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Chestnut Hill 49, Episcopal 0
  Chestnut Hill Academy’s name should have been switched to Downhill Academy for this one. Almost every time the Blue Devils possessed the ball, the field appeared to tilt. That can happen when your squad features a running back as talented as sr. Ibraheim “Ibs” (or just “Ib”) Campbell, and his motivated blockers. First play? Sixty-yard TD. Within the game’s first 14 minutes, 17 seconds? TD dashes of 70 and 68 yards. Even though I only went to Penn Charter (smile), I can tell you that’s 198 yards on just three carries without breaking out the calculator. Phew! Before heading to a weekend visit to Boston College, Campbell added a fourth TD on a 7-yard run and finished with 266 yards on just 12 rushes. Only one of those carries came after halftime. TD No. three went to sr. FB Tom Devlin, the subject of the DN story and also a play-for-keeps LB, on a 23-yard guard trap and that play immediately followed a 43-yard pass from jr. QB Danny “Norristown!!” Gallagher to sr. WR Jon "Baseball Rules!!" McAllister. This is CHA’s fourth season back in the Inter-Ac for football and, after some near misses, these guys are dead serious about winning the title. Haverford School, Malvern and PC (alphabetical order, no favoritism – smile) have other ideas, but the mere presence of Campbell makes CHA most folks’ favorite. This game was scheduled for CHA, but the field there is grass and dirt and the schools agreed to move it to EA’s turf facility. That played right into Campbell’s speedy hands, er, feet. The grunts were C Chris Howard, Gs Colin Kelly and Brendan Spearing, and tackles Will Emery (final version -- Emory is incorrect) and Matt Levin. McAllister also made some key downfield blocks and Devlin was his always passionate self in trying to get things started out of the Blue Devils’ classic I formation. With first teamers still involved, CHA’s other TD was a 25-yard pass from Gallagher to sr. Pat Connaghan, who has collected so many kicking points these last three seasons and now can tell his buddies, “Yo, I have scoring versatility.” No. 27, who was not on the roster, represented for the subs with a 30-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. Sorry we can’t use your name, buddy. Just kidding. Since we heard a fan yell out, “Way to run, Cedric,” and since guys named Cedric are not exactly plentiful, we deduced it was the guy listed as No. 32, Cedric Madden. Assistant Jack Plunkett noted that Cedric recently lost his jersey. Madden “ced” the same thing when I spoke with him briefly in the parking lot after the game as the Blue Devils were walking back to their locker room. If this guy becomes a star, should we call him Cedric “Video Game” Madden? (smile) Meanwhile, you have to feel for Episcopal. Two of the four captains – sr. FB-LB Brian Taylor and sr. T-LB Jake Butts – are out with injuries and the effectiveness of leading rusher Brian Ruditys was extremely limited due to an obvious ding he was favoring. He tried to tough things out. Jr. QB Taylor Wright had early problems delivering the slippery ball and never could find a rhythm. Jr. RB Khalid Jones did manage 42 yards on 14 carries and provided the lone Churchmen highlight, honestly, with a 48-yard kickoff return. CHA finished with 465 yards of offense on 38 plays (12.2 average). Campbell also had an interception. The game’s one oddity was the fact that EA jr. Carl Lampe punted five times just in the first quarter. His best in that span was No. 5, a 39-yarder, and he wound up punting eight times total for 260 yards. Watched this one from the press box with scoreboard operator Jim King. PC scouts Rick Mellor and Ed Foley were also in attendance, but they’d seen enough by halftime.

OCT. 15
PUBLIC AAAA BLUE
Southern 40, Fels 0
  It’s hard to imagine anyone would have predicted this in a doubleheader at the South Philly Super Site – a more comfortable win for Southern than Bok. The Rams won their third straight -- since they returned sr. Shaquille Gaskins to QB, his position in '08 -- and captured the division title with one week remaining. Bok then bested Franklin in the 6 o’clock tilt to finish an eighth consecutive season with a perfect division record (4-0 this time) and extend its amazing streak to 42 games. Southern slapped together a nice overall performance. The offense was balanced thanks to running by many and clutch passing by Gaskins and the defense even showed equal-opportunity traits by posting two fumble recoveries (by sr. NG Richard White and jr. DB Ken Johnson) and the same number of interceptions (by jr. DB Daniel Williams and sr. DB Lamar Williams, who returned his for a 53-yard TD). Gaskins, one of the Pub’s best FB athletes (interest from James Madison; also a strong basketball contributor), passed 4-for-7 for 56 yards and two scores – a 26-yarder to sr. Desmond Thomas (the ball was deflected en route) and a 9-yarder to this season’s original QB starter, sr. WR Mac Stokes (also a basketball player). Gaskins added 49 yards and two more TDs on nine carries. More yardage came from sr. RB Sean Allen (12-57)and jr. FB Izeem Sims (9-42) while sr. RB Andrew Auer converted his only carry into an 11-yard TD. The grunts were White at C, srs. Dorrell Wise and Tyree Parks at G and srs. Anthony Mitchell and Pereze Guions at T. Fels struggled mightily, generating minus-1 yard of offense (ouch). Of 24 plays, just 10 gained yardage and the longest was a 16-yard pass from one of the three QBs, frosh Marc Prompt, to jr. WR Kevin Burton. White had two sacks for Southern. In the third quarter, frosh DE Wayne Brunson, Parks (earlier TFL) and Sims registered sacks totaling 24 yards on consecutive plays. Sr. DL Akeem Small (6-1, 220) was the lone force on the defensive side of the ball for Fels. He registered two TFLs among many stops. Due to the wicked weather, I watched this one from the press box with clock operator Bob Dillon and, at various times, N-G AD Pat DiPilla, N-G coach Rich “Moose” Carfagno and assistant Ray DeJohn, a ’95 Neumann grad. This is Southern’s first division title since 1997 (in the ol’ D grouping). The one before that was in 1989.

OCT. 11
CATHOLIC AAAA
O'Hara 13, Roman 0
  Was it cold today? And very windy? And did the calendar read late November or even early December? Coulda fooled me. This was the kind of game you usually see later in the season -- dominated by defense and rather drab. Some great games used to be played on Sundays back in the day. A few more like this one and no one will ever play on Sunday again (smile). How unusual is this? Roman did not snap the ball one time in O'Hara's territory. Yet it did have a play that ended beyond midfield. Huh? Well, in the third quarter, shortly after the Cahillites fiiiiiiinally showed some life with a 22-yard pass from sr. QB Kevin Regan to soph WR Darryl "Breath" Mintz, jr. RB Dennis Regan ripped off a 10-yard gain, thus advancing the ball to the Lions' 48. But . . . another Roman wideout was guilty of a dead-ball infraction nowhere near the play (what was THAT about, young man?) and the penalty placed the pigskin back on the 37. Sufficiently rocked, the Cahillites lost a total of 16 yards on their next three plays. Aside from playing great defense -- Roman was held to four first downs and 75 yards on 35 plays -- O'Hara never coughed up the ball. It did suffer a loss, though, and only time will reveal the severity. Star sr. RB-DB-KR-P Corey Brown, who recently committed to Ohio State, suffered a ding to his right knee while trying to block on an unsuccessful, short-yardage play early in the fourth quarter. He was down for a while and had to be shoulder-carried off and the place got VERY quiet. The concern mushroomed when Brown left the bench area and headed for the locker room. But three minutes later, presto, there he was, walking back to the bench with only a hint of a limp. It's at least a strain and here's hoping the MRI/X-ray trail reveals nothing serious. Brown finished with 13 carries for 79 yards and one TD while adding four catches for 72. His score was a 4-yard jaunt that capped a 106-yard drive. Huh again? Well, the Lions took over at the 24, but they had to cover 106 due to four procedures and a hold. By the last flag in that sequence, coach Danny Algeo's face was as red as a Phillies' batting helmet. The Lions also scored on their first possession of the second half. Sr. TE (and LB) Mike Huf, the recipient of DN ink (Navy is a strong possibility), provided a great spark with a full, layout catch for a 19-yard gain. Two plays later Brown took a quick screen from jr. QB Ryan Laughlin for a 44-yard gain and sr. RB Dan "Cardinal" O'Hara then scored from the 2. K. Regan was running for his life all game long. Sometimes, the Lions made such quick penetration he didn't even have a chance TO run for his life. Sr. DL Matt Williams and sr. DE Brendan "Brendo" O'Callaghan made six and five stops, respectively, while jr. LB Drew "Countertop" Formica added six of his own. Soph DB Demiere Shaw had a leaping pick on Roman's final play. O'Hara managed 236 yards and, overall, Roman was excellent on defense, especially considering the offense's lack of cooperation in keeping it off the field at least a little while every so often. Jr. DL Corey Bronson was quite quick off the ball while making seven stops. He posted two sacks and two other TFLs. Linemate Gary Masino, a sr., was also a stalwart with six stops. (That number comes from Puck, who charted tackles from the press box. I could have sworn he had more -- smile.) It was nice conversing every so often with former McDevitt/Dougherty/O'Hara coach George Stratts, now O'Hara's principal, and then after the game . . . wow, what a shock! Walking over to speak with Danny Algeo was Roman product Scott Paxson, who last year was a member of the World Champion Pittsburgh Steelers. Paxson is best buddies with Roman coach Joe McCourt and both starred there with Algeo as their coach. Scott hung out for a while and was nice enough to have a conversation with Matt Williams. While going through the game pics, I noticed Scott cheering in Roman's stands as the Cahillites notched a sack. Here's that pic. See if you can find him. (He's not going as nuts as ex-Roman coach Jim Murphy -- ha ha.)

OCT. 10
PUBLIC AAAA RED
Washington 28, Frankford 6
  A shade after 6 o'clock, I was camped out in the press box, processing the pictures from the Del-Val/Future game when the Frankford squad came out onto the field. Down below, on the landing area behind the back of the stands, I heard someone yell toward the Pioneers' coaches, "Are they ready?!" Someone must have responded with a yelled response or a nod of the head. The guy continued, still in yelling mode, "I don't knowwww! I didn't see any fire coming out of that locker room!" When the game finally started at 7, the Pioneers roared downfield to a quick TD. On the third play, jr. RB Jeffione Thomas exploded for 56 yards to the 3. First down: Thomas was dropped for a 1-yard loss by sr. James Fowler. Second: sr. Peace McClain picked up 2 yards (stop by sr. LB Vernon Dupree). Third: jr. QB Keone Berry, who has dislodged classmate Michael McGroarty, now a DE, for the starting job, picked up 1 yard on a wedge. Fourth: the call was a left-side pitchout to sr. Zaire "Bam" Anderson, and he did steamed into the left corner for a TD. After that? Disaster. In brief, Frankford pretty much did nothing. Washington did everything. Just eight days earlier, these squads had suffered Pub setbacks in the same week (Fkd to Bartram, Wash to NE) for the first time since Nov. 14, 1968! Phew! Washington's had come with an asterisk, you could say, due to the absence of star sr. QB Aaron Wilmer (school issue). What a difference this guy makes (and that's not to say fill-in Jamear Seals, a jr., played poorly as Aaron stood on the sideline). Wilmer has advanced from athletic to VERY athletic and he gave Frankford footwork/vision fits all night while mostly operating out of a wildcat formation. He ran 16 times for 85 yards and passed 8-for-10 for 82 yards and TD No. 4, a 5-yarder to jr. TE Brandon Chudnoff. We received word a couple weeks ago that Wilmer had earned an offer from Fordham. Others will assuredly come, if they haven't already. (He did lose a pair of fumbles, but those messups can mostly be overlooked when you win by 22 points -- smile.) DN ink will be going to jr. RB English Peay, whose dad, English "Wine" Peay, was a fireballing pitcher for Edison and then in the semi-pro Fairmount Park A League. In '81, as major leaguers struck, other segments of baseball received attention as people tried to fill the void. I wound up doing a story on "Wine" -- he grew up very close to the old Connie Mack Stadium and was quite a fan of shortstop Bobby Wine -- as someone who hoped to draw the attention of scouts and get a shot at the pros. Anyway, English Jr. ran 12 times for 58 yards and three TDs. He was a receiver as the season began, but has quickly emerged as a factor. He was especially needed tonight as the Eagles had to go without sr. RB Wilder Polycarpe (school issue). As the second quarter wound down, jr. DL Brandon Russell stripped Wilmer and sr. DE Tyrell Allen recovered on the 18. Another TD there would have been a killer. As the third quarter opened, Washington fumbled the kickoff and there it was, loose on GW's 37. A Frankford recovery could have changed the entire complexion of the game. Peay was there to do the pouncing, though, and the Eagles drove 63 yards in 10 plays. The capper was Peay's 8-yard run. As for the Pioneers, well, they were guilty of five turnovers. Seals had two interceptions while sr. DB Elliot Leonard and jr. DB Daquan Cooper posted one apiece. A fumble recovery went to sr. DT Abdel Kanan (also two tackles behind the line). The night's best tackle was posted by nationally renowned sr. DT Sharrif Floyd, who exploded across the line and engulfed a Frankford ballcarrier for a 9-yard loss. Meanwhile, Floyd is no longer the largest Eagle. Making a late appearance was Carlton Sinclair, a recent arrival from Brooklyn. He goes all of 6-8, 340. Amauro yelled out to little-guy ref Ernie Gallagher, "Four of you could fit in him, Ernie!" One of the other refs, Frank, then added, "He could crap you, Ernie!" The ever-entertaining and self-effacing Ernie must have had a great response because all nearby were laughing like crazy. I was still laughing too hard from Frank's line to hear what Ernie shot back (smile).

OCT. 3
CATHOLIC AAAA
Roman 24, Bonner 20
  Here's hoping this "On the Trail" weekend will be matched again and again. Northeast-Washington, Wood-West and this one were HIGHLY enjoyable and even the first tilt of my four-pack, Del-Val/Comm. Tech, was respectable even though it resulted in a shutout. Others also made major contributions, of course, but Roman's win featured the Regan stamp in bold relief. The brothers played a role in 320 of the Cahillites' 364 yards and all three TDs. Kevin, the sr. QB, passed 11-for-16 for 186 and two scores and scraped out 26 yards on 13 carries. Dennis, the jr. RB, totaled 108 yards on 18 rushes and posted one of the TD catches, a 17-yarder. Also, Dennis hustled for an interception, followed by a 25-yard return to the 2, that set up his rushing TD. That score from the 2 occurred with 4:04 left in the third quarter and the kick by jr. Kyle Haber provided a 17-13 lead. Less than two minutes earlier, Haber had hammered a 22-yard field goal after Bonner held at its 5. The tackles on the final three plays preceding the field goal were made by sr. LB Matt English, sr. LB Pat Flynn and jr. LB Brendon Garrison (in tandem), and sr. DE Greg Wilent. Big plays on Roman's drive had been turned in by jr. WR Kawaun Chavis (catches for 25 and 19 yards) and D. Regan (run for 27). We roll forward to the fourth . . . Bonner took over on its 25 with 7:31 left and immediately lost five yards. Ugh. A no-gain and a delay penalty followed. Hey, is that any way to try to win the game? (smile) Well, the Friars must have been playing possum because, man, did they come to life exactly when they needed to. The catalyst was sr. WR Jack Wichmann. Not the biggest guy, Wichmann nevertheless made two great catch-runs over the high-traffic middle for 31 and 25 yards, respectively, and they sandwiched an 18-yarder by soph John McGilligan and, whoa, there the Friars were, with first and goal on the 10. McGilligan gained two yards on a jet sweep. As the Friars faced Citizens Bank Park at the South Philly Super Site, Wichmann lined up to the left. He made a quick burst toward the middle, planting the slant seed, then halted on a quarter (I'm not a fan of dimes -- smile) and shot back toward the corner. The pass from sr. QB Sean Quarterman was perfect, with just the right combination of zip and lift, and a TD resulted. The kick by sr. Dan Vanderslice made it 20-17 at 3:09. Would Roman answer? Indeed. The Cahillites marched 61 yards in nine plays and K. Regan ran or threw on all but one (a 14-yard dive by jr. FB Christian Seagrave). Kevin is a lefty and every play went to that side. A gigantic moment came at 52.9 on a play starting at Bonner's 28. Regan did a left-side keeper and wound up along Roman's sideline. He got clocked while out of bounds and the gain, plus a half-the-distance personal foul, put the ball on the 11. KR again rolled to his you-know-what. Waiting at the 3 was soph WR Darryl "Breath" Mintz. KR delivered the ball, Mintz made the catch and then a bee-line on an angle toward the goalposts. There was traffic, of course, but he stretched out the ball as he was getting hammered toward the turf and it barely broke the plane. Great effort! Bonner got to Roman's 47 on its final answer, but the final play produced a leaping interception at the 10 by sr. DB Baron "Young Man" Rivers. Look at the stats and it's kind of hard to believe Bonner almost triumphed. While Roman generated 364 yards, Bonner managed just 174. Short fields helped immensely. The first scoring drive needed to cover just 22 yards after an interception (and 23-yard return) by jr. DB Mike Ianovale. And moments into the third quarter, KR bobbled a snap (that was a persistent issue) and English recovered on the 15. Quarterman scored on a left-side keeper from the 3 on the third play; sr. workhorse Eric Petransky posted the earlier TD. It was nice seeing everyone associated with both schools' coaching staffs. It was NOT nice being unable to enjoy the always fine PA work of Roman's Dan Hoban, also the school's golf coach. The sound system broke down early and The Danster was not a happy man. Meanwhile, I'm guessing the Bonner fans were not pleased about having to sit in the west side stands with the Roman folks. What's with that? It costs more than $2,000 per game to rent a super site, and the full stadium is not available? Grrrrrrrrrrr.

OCT. 1
PUBLIC A
Del-Val 14, Comm. Tech 0
  Coach Barry Thomas was quite stern with his players after this one. Even lit into them a bit, truth be told. Such a mind-set should not have surprised. Size-wise, this one had the look of a varsity vs. a JV and Thomas had every right to believe his team had coasted to some degree, and he knows a much better effort will be needed if the Warriors hope to not only win this division but make any noise around the state. DN ink went to sr. Ameer Selden, a VERY impressive linebacker with that perfect combination of skill and savvy. Oh, and he's ornery, too. In the third quarter, Selden picked up one 15-yard penalty for a late hit out of bounds and another for a horse-collar tackle. Not good, of course, but I didn't sense he was purposely being dirty either time and we'd rather see aggression than the opposite, right? Illinois, Miami and Texas Tech are poking around and the interest in Selden should only mushroom. Scouts will also like the fact he's coordinated enough to serve as DV's punter. Oh, and he completed a pass off a fake. Selden made 10 tackles, with three of them producing 17 yards in losses. He twice made TFLs on CT possessions that immediately preceded very short scoring drives -- 19 and six yards. Jr. TB Markeese Walker had the first TD en route to a 23-carry, 157-yard afternoon. Jr. WR Brad Wilson netted the second on a pass from sr. QB Sean Williams. The speedy Wilson had greatly helped his ballclub moments earlier with a 26-yard punt return (and he would later make an interception). DV's roster does not include heights and weights, but there are some gigantic guys, especially for the Class A level. The headliner is two-way tackle Fred Ruff, who's maybe 6-6, 290? Not sure, but if somebody wants to send us his legit size, we'll post it here. Ruff also plays basketball and shows some agility and his potential will be limitless once he receives the proper college-level guidance and makes sure to take care of everything on his end. By the way, Selden and Ruff are former West Catholic Burrs. The other grunts: sr. C Reggie Andrus, jr. G Markeith Minnick, sr. G Nate Myers (who sometimes lines up at FB, wearing No. 66), jr. T Darrin Miller and Ruff. When Myers is at FB, soph Jaquil Peterson plays G. Sr. LB Brian Murray and jr. DB Ishmial Bernard also had some good moments for DV's defense. CT, the '08 A champ (and twice a winner in state playoffs), was hit hard by graduation. Now the injury bug is biting this very young squad. Frosh QB Zaki Jameson has been lost to a broken ankle. The new QB, Shaneal Lovett, departed with an injury to his left hand. Also, before that even happened, star soph RB Rolando Ransom had to sit down with lower-back woes. First-year coach John Gossett put another RB, jr. Gameel "Pepsi" Strange, at QB and had him take direct snaps in a wildphoenix formation. Strange, who goes 5-6 1/2, 135 pounds, was terrific! He kept scooting and getting crunched and shaking it off to scoot some more. He finished with 130 yards on 23 carries and posted bursts for 26, 19 and 16 yards on CT's final possession, which carried all the way to the 9. He was exhausted and earlier had to depart momentarily due to cramps; Ransom briefly returned to action. On the game's final play, frosh WR Terrance Brown was called upon to throw pass. It was broken up in the end zone. Sr. William Bates had some dominant moments along the DL for CT. He's one of those guys with extremely strong upper legs and a thick trunk and he is damn hard to move (smile). Late, jr. LB Eric Dickerson, another slight kid, sprinted across the line to record a pair of sacks. He had three total. Soph DT Christopher Miller, yet another small guy, bagged 12 yards worth of losses on back-to-back plays in the third quarter. Oh, Strange also had a leaping interception.