Philadelphia High School Football
A Look at
the Germantown-King
Thanksgiving Series (and Overall) . . .
Germantown High, which closed in June 2013, played Martin Luther King, also
located in
Germantown, 36 times on Thanksgiving from 1976 through 2012. (The 1989 game was
called off due to heavy snow and was not rescheduled.) Germantown won the
Thanksgiving
series,
24-10-2, and the overall series, 25-14-2.
This page includes results, stories, special lists and boxscores for
all 36 games on
Thanksgiving and the other five (very bottom of page).
Return to TedSilary.com Home Page
 The senior members of Germantown's final team in 2012. Front, L to R -- Brandon Thornton, Tyron Blackwell, Kevin Norris, Raheem Henry (sitting), Aaron Adams, Karon Hill, Andre Elliott, Mykita Murphy. Back, L to R -- Avion Plummer, Antwain Kitt, Chris Rone, captains Donavin Winckler and Darnell Baldwin, Gregory Miller, Darius Hinton. |
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Germantown-King By Ted Silary
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This story was written in 1979 after King prevailed on a last-second field goal . . .
By Ted Silary
First, let us tell you that Martin Luther King High shocked Germantown,
27-25, thus gaining its first victory in the
four-year series that is rapidly becoming a staple in the Northwest part of
the city to rival the S bus, or the L bus,
or a shopping trip to E.J. Korvette's.
Now, for the hard part, we're gonna ask you to guess the ultimate hero
and nix all thoughts that it might have been
Victor Moore, who scored three touchdowns, rushed for 126 yards on 15
carries and caught three passes for 101.
Listen, unless you were there, you might as well give up.
The name is Tony Singleton, best known till yesterday as merely "kick
failed." But with no time on the clock and
the Cougars down by one, the man who'd booted only four of 14 extra points
for the season -- flubbing his last eight
of nine -- calmly pounded a 31-yard field goal through the uprights.
Remember, that's 11 yards farther than the normal extra point.
"The first thing that went through my head was, 'I GOT to make it,' "
Singleton said. " I was really doubtful when
I still had my head down. When I looked up, I said, 'That's it. ' I could
not believe it myself. I'd never kicked a field
goal before.
"I had a feeling the whole season that there'd be a game for me to win
for our team. In fact, I'd dream about it. I'd
wake up and say, 'I wonder when Ferber's gonna let me win a game with a
field goal.' This week it went through
my mind - 'If it's gonna happen, Germantown's gonna be the game. The last
game. '"
While the teams traded touchdowns to set up Singleton's kick, Coach Bob
Ferber not once went for one. If he had
realized that Tony was 4-for-14 on PATs, maybe he would not have gone for
the field goal , either.
The last minute was unbelievably hectic. Germantown 's Ken Coffin,
playing with a broken left thumb, completed
his final three passes: to Wendell Thomas for 19 yards, to George Phillips
for 12, to John Sutton for seven and a
score. Only 44 seconds remained, Coffin had improved his stats to 12-for-20
for 271 yards with Thomas snatching
seven for 171 and, as you can imagine, the G-town sideline was nearly
ablaze.
King's answer started as John Jackson returned the kickoff 16 yards to
the 30. In order, Ronald Wilson (7-for-12,
159) passed 13 yards to Moore, tossed a pair of incompletions, ran left for
17 and passed right to Gregory Jay for
25, which placed the ball on the Bears' 15 with the clock stopped at 0:01.
"THE FACT IS," said Ferber, "Tony hadn't been kicking the ball too well
in the past few games. Against
Roxborough, he missed one extra point and barely kicked one over. The first
field goal in King history wins the
game. Holy mackerel!
"There is no better feeling in the world than to beat Germantown - nobody
we'd rather beat. A lot of teams would
have quit to go down with 44 seconds to go. I can tell you one thing: we
don't have all the most talented players that
are in our school, but we do have the ones with class and character.
"This is the best win I have ever had. This game's being built into one
of the best rivalries that there is in the city.
We go over there for rallies and they come over our place. We've got a
trophy that goes back and forth . . . Hey,
ow that I think about it, we're gonna get that trophy for the very first
time!"
GERMANTOWN 'S FIRST three TDs had come on flips of 31 yards to Sheffield
and 53 to Thomas, along with
Mike Strothers' four-yard run. Moore scored on runs of 52 and 10 and caught
a 73-yard pass for another. Wilson
passed 10 yards to William Harris for the second touchdown. After each TD,
the Cougars sought two points.
"I was scared," noted Moore, who finished the year with 1,196 yards
rushing on 163 carries, plus 17 TDs. " I
thought we were gonna lose. I was prayin' for Tony before that kick."
And afterward, Moore joined in the enormous celebration.
"My back is sore," Singleton later complained. "They beat my back to
death."
Hey, Mr. Clutch, that's just part of being a hero.
This story was written in 2007 after
a kid named Cerdan was a Thorn in
King's side . . .
By Ted Silary
If you want to see Thorn Cerdan dance, you'll have to attend a family
party.
The ones where Cerdan and his cousins perform various steps in
I'm-better-than-you fashion and decide the winner
by which person draws the biggest reaction.
"They're all excellent dancers, but I do win my share," Cerdan said.
Football with Germantown High? Well, in this just-finished season, he did
not win his share.
But yesterday, in their own Ben Johnston Memorial Stadium, the Bears
jumped to a 14-point lead over Martin
Luther King , sagged into a five-point deficit and then, with Cerdan, a 6-1,
175-pound senior wideout providing a
26-yard touchdown on a pass from Ramadan Abdullah, rolled onward to a 34-19
win.
End zones are made for dancing, baby.
"I would if I could," Cerdan said, laughing. "Didn't want to get a
penalty. I kept myself under control. Just handed
the ball to the ref and trotted to the sideline. "
Cerdan finished with just that one catch as Abdullah, a promising
sophomore who's still feeling his way, went
2-for-10 for 42 yards. The other completion, a 14-yarder to Brent West,
provided the final TD. West, another
sophomore, mostly impressed with his rushing (27-206, TD) and Cerdan lent
assistance with some monstrous
blocks.
G-town leads the series on Thanksgiving, 20-10-2, and overall, 21-13-2.
"I love blocking for Brent West and Tramelle McKie," he said. "When you
knock somebody down and you hear
the crowd cheering, it amps you up. I like sending a message to my
teammates, 'Time to play ball.' "
Cerdan scored on a post-corner.
"The guy stickin' me bit on the post, so when I made my move to the
corner, I was wide open," he said.
"Abdullah made a perfect throw. I wish we could be together in future
seasons."
McKie finished with 55 yards and two scores on 11 carries. He also had an
interception, as did Shahid Bundy
(12 tackles). Sophomore Joseph Montouth ran 19 times for 112 yards and all
three King TDs.
The win was Germantown's second of the season, not counting a forfeit
over Frankford.
"I came to Germantown from the Mount Airy Bantams, so I wasn't used to
losing," said Cerdan, who lives near
Germantown and Sharpnack in Dogtown, and hopes to major in sports
management. "It was real hard. At least
we hung in there and went out with a win."
This story was written in 2003 after Marcus Walton proved to be all business . . .
By Ted Silary
Marcus Walton wants to major in business in part because his mother, Kim
Spruill, is investigating the possibility
of opening one.
Here's his plan: Learn enough to keep the books, even while in college.
If Mom's place succeeds, he could open
a branch, or three, and do pretty darn well himself.
The focus, for the moment, is on a gas station or laundry.
Which would Marcus prefer?
"Gas station," he said quickly. "All cars need gas, right? Nobody has
their gas own station. Lots of people have a
washer and dryer, though."
Smart kid, this Marcus Walton. Pretty decent football player, too.
Walton is a 5-6, 145-pound senior running back for Germantown High, and
yesterday he concluded his career in
style. He carried 27 times for 159 yards and a touchdown as the Bears downed
Martin Luther King , 25-14.
G-town leads on Thanksgiving, 18-8-2, and overall, 19-11-2. It last lost
on the holiday in 1991. Oddly, it did lose
since then to King in early-season meetings in '92 and '95 and in a '97
quarterfinal.
The Bears exploded for 25 points in the second quarter. Walton got things
rolling with a 29-yard run. The next
three scores came on Brandon Cuff's 26-yard pass to Christen Johnson, a
1-yard run by Robert Fisher and a
71-yard fumble return by Dustin Hardy-Moore.
King sandwiched the outburst with a pair of passing TDs, Jeff Campbell to
Danny Smith (six receptions for 78
yards).
The Bears entered the game not sure what to expect. They'd lost three
front-line starters and a key sub in the
aftermath of a brawl that took place after last week's win over University
City. Also, they were concerned by a
comparative score. They lost to Central in the regular season, 45-0. King
played Central within 15-8 in a quarterfinal.
"The guys we lost affected us greatly," Walton said. "But 'Hawk' [coach
Mike Hawkins] told us to forget who
wasn't here and for those who still were to come together and step it up.
"When we saw what King did with Central, it gave us kind of a shaky
feeling. We did our best, though."
Despite his lack of size, Walton was often a workhorse this season.
"The linemen were springing me through some good holes," he said. "I know
I'm not real big, but I look at it like,
'Hey, I'm skilled.' "
Walton, who lives near 12th and Susquehanna, attends G-town's Lankenau
campus in Andorra. He has worked
part time in a supermarket and last summer, as part of Upward Bound, he
served an internship with a community
organization.
"I'm working hard to get into a nice college," he said. "That comes
before football."
Walton's mother and stepfather, Leonard Webster, were in attendance
yesterday.
On Marcus' TD run, both were impressed when he stepped on the gas.
--
Boxscores From
Thanksgiving
Meetings . . .
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Boxscores
. . .
1976 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 |
Longest
Scores, by category . . . Run: 97, Rashad Razzaaq, Gtn, 1997 Catch: 82, Jeffrey Best, Gtn, pass from Ramadan Abdullah, 2008 Kickoff: 88, Darryl Taylor, King, 1980 Interception: 34, Omar McDonnaugh, Gtn, 2002 Fumble: 71, Dustin Hardy-Moore, Gtn, 2003 Field goal: 35, Darnell Muse, Gtn, 1980 1996 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 |
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Boxscores From
Other Meetings
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Playoffs . . .
1994 1997 |
Non-League . . . 1989 King 28, Germantown 8 M.L. King 8 6 14 0 -- 28 Germantown 0 0 0 0 -- 8 K: Jimmy Harris 3 run (David Hughes run) K: Harris 42 run (run failed) K: William Kent 77 kickoff return (James Williams run) K: Jermaine Robinson 12 fumble return (kick failed) G: Jeffery Coles 27 pass from Andre Thomas (Andre McCall run) 1992 1995 |
