NOV. 25
THANKSGIVING RIVALRY
Dobbins 22, Franklin 6
  After a scoreless first half the Electrons created the first spark when SE Jonathan Parker snagged a quick hitch from QB Anwar Mathis and raced 55 yards down the left sideline to open the scoring. The PAT run failed but Franklin led 6-0 with 10:21 still showing on the third quarter clock. The Mustangs answered right back marching 60 yards on 10 plays capped off by Terrance Stafford’s 5 yard TD run. The PAT run failed and the score was knotted at 6 at the 3:14 mark of the third stanza. Stafford broke the tie early in the fourth bursting 18 yards for the go ahead TD. Kevin Butler’s conversion pass to Antwain Kitt gave Dobbins the lead for good at 14-6. Stafford who was voted the game MVP for Dobbins rushed for 167 yards on 25 carries giving him 1,345 yards for the season to become the new single season rushing leader in Dobbins history. The Electron MVP was DT Richard Underwood who registered 9 tackles. The Mustangs closed the scoring with exactly 2 minutes showing on the fourth quarter clock as Butler connected with Jamil Williams on a 9 yard TD pass. Aaron Walker ran for the PAT to halt the arithmetic. Williams caught 3 passes for 34 yards. Butler completed 4 of 6 for 40 yards. Walker caught 1 for 6 yards. Kevin Gransby impressed, rushing just 3 times but for a very economical 60 yards. His runs were 23, 11 and 26 yards. He also returned 2 balls for 43 yards giving him 5 touches for 103 yards.  The stingy Dobbins defense limited the Electrons to just 29 rushing yards on 16 runs. Mathis passed 2-8 for 65 yards. Chris Sullivan was the recipient of the other heave. Amazingly Franklin ran only 24 offensive plays. Kairi Mace returned 2 balls for 59 yards for BF.  Along with Underwood, Akeem Jenkins also had 9 tackles. Sullivan numbered 6-4-TFL, while Parker totaled 5. Jerry Singleton, Willie Battle and Andre Fulton all had TFL’s. Dillon Hood topped the Mustang tackle list with 5. Walker made 2 behind the line of scrimmage. Clarence Murphy had a TFL while Stafford and Hood recovered fumbles and Sharquill Farmer grabbed an interception.
Good luck to West Catholic, Archbishop Wood and La Salle in their pursuit of a state championship. They are all just 3 wins away from their goal. Also, here’s hoping the people in South Philly can rectify whatever the problem is and allow the kids to play at night in 2011. I know there are more problems in that area when the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers and Sixers play than when the kids play. I have friends and relatives who live in that area who can attest to that fact.
  HAVE A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY SEASON!!!

NOV. 24
THANKSGIVING RIVALRY
Furness 14 Comm. Tech. 12 [OT]
  They say it’s not how you start but how you finish. However in the case of Sharif Smith it was: how you start and finish. The Furness RB carried the ball 9 times accounting for 56 yards on the Falcons' game opening drive. His ninth carry of 7 yards put him in the end zone for the game's first score. The rest of regulation time wasn’t so enjoyable for the highly touted Smith. He would carry the ball 13 more times for a measly 22 yards ending his day with 22 rushes for 78 yards. Tech’s Zaki Jamison tied the game in the third quarter when he scored on a one yard keeper. Jamison would put his squad on top in OT when he bolted to payturf from six yards out. The conversion run by Rolando Ransom, 29-97, fell inches short and it was now the Falcons' turn with the pigskin. With starting QB Maurice Harris unable to play because of a separated shoulder the duties went to Dante Barkley. On Barkley’s last pass attempt in regulation he broke one of his fingers and wasn’t available for the overtime session. Enter Smith as the back up to the back up. On the Falcons' first play in OT Smith took the snap out of the shotgun and immediately was pressured by the Phoenix defense. The right handed Smith rolled to his left and was headed towards the sidelines when he cleverly flicked the ball underhanded before he crossed the line of scrimmage. The double-play, turnover-style, end-over-end toss went into the hands of Kevin Hayes, who grabbed the ball at the 3 and crossed the goal line untouched. I later asked Smith how he did it and he said that he saw the pros do it on TV. Smith’s work wasn’t done yet. He took the PAT snap and quickly ran to his right with no intention of throwing and ended the game registering the final two points.  Hayes led the Falcon defense with 11 tackles. He notched 4 behind the line of scrimmage for 19 yards worth of Tech losses. Aaron Cooper and Devin Walker each had 8. Dontay Holder 7-TFL Nadim Harris 6-TFL, Terrell Mills 6, Kyle Smithson 5-TFL and Lewis Martinez 4 solo and 2 sacks stood out. Smith had a TFL and Barkley had an interception.  For the Phoenix Ransom caught 2 passes for 20 yards. Tech’s defensive numbers looked as such. Rasheed Brown and Diquan Gilbert both with 7-TFL. Others included Shaneal Lovett 6-TFL, Abdur Saaba 5-TFL, Darrius Sanders, Kareem Robinson 5 and Tylik Guilford 4-TFL. Vernon Pollitt recovered a fumble. Furness Athletic Director Dave Connelly says that Smith a junior is being heavily recruited. Among those interested include Pitt, UCLA and Rutgers.                     

NOV. 13
D-1/12 AA SUBREGIONAL
Bok 46, Comm. Tech 7
  In the last meeting between the two squads the Phoenix prevailed by the score of 14-0. Hard To Believe Harry! In that contest CT’s Rolando Ransom ran 30 times for 210 yards and a TD. Also Bok turned the ball over 4 times while Tech lost it just once. This time Ransom ran 23-77 and Bok won the turnover war 3-2. The Wildcats Shaquil Sammons once again led the Bok ground attack, 13-133, and set the tone of the game rather early when he blasted 52 yards for a the games first score. He would add the conversion run and the Wildcats led 8-0 with 10:11 still showing on the first quarter clock. Sammons would later score on runs of 1 and 2 yards and would also run for 2 additional 2 point conversions. The Junior running back also returned 2 balls for 98 yards and grabbed a 6 yard pass from QB Marquise Brown giving him 237 all purpose yards for the game. FB/LB Khalil Neal rushed for 70 yards and 1 TD on 7 totes. He also caught 3 passes for 64 yards making his APY number 134. Brown passed 5 -9-74. He threw a 4 yard TD to Omar Bashir. Brown also had a 1 yard QB sneak TD. Faison Perry ran 2 yards for Bok’s final TD and back up QB Yvon “Lefty” Dessus ran for the conversion. Walravens Daniel booted 2 PAT kicks. The Phoenix scored late in the fourth quarter when QB Zaki Jamison connected with James Brunson on a 27 yard strike. K/P Losseni Karamoko, who hails from the Ivory Coast of Africa, kicked the PAT. Karamoko who is a sprinter on the Comm. Tech track squad ran the 100 meter dash in 11.7 seconds placing him 8th in District 12 last spring. He said he expects to run the ball more next year. Interestingly all of the PAT kicks or runs were converted after the 7 TD’S.  Perry led the Bok defense with 9 tackles and 2 TFL’s. Jabril Keal impressed with 7 and 2 sacks. Neal pitched in with 7-5-3. Jihad Ward numbered 6-4-2 while Michael Riley and Vittorio “Vito” Goggins each numbered 5-3-1.  Bashir made 2 tackles behind the line and recovered a fumble for the Wildcats. Christen Lilly and John Richardson had interceptions. Joshua Thompson paced the Phoenix defense with 8-5. Trailing were Abdur Saaba 6-3, Erik Dickerson 6-4-1, Rasheed Brown 6-4-2-sack, Ransom 5-3 and Brunson 5-3-int. Christopher Stanley and Diquan Gilbert had TFL’s. Joseph Saylor recovered a fumble.
TEAM STATS:
First Downs: CT-9, Bok-13. Rushes-yds: CT 35-60, Bok 33-238. Passing yds; CT-29, Bok-74. Total Offense: CT-89, Bok -312. Comp-Att-Int: CT 2-8-2, Bok-5-9-1 Return yds: CT-60, Bok 124. Punts-Avg: CT- 3-36.6, Bok-none. Fumbles lost: CT-1, Bok-1. Penalties-yds: CT-4-30, Bok- 6-45.

NOV. 12
NON-LEAGUE
Southern 6, Future 0
  The Southern offense which has been struggling all season continued its’ woeful ways numbering just 31 yards of total offense. The Ram offense was able to penetrate Firebird territory just once in 6 possessions. And that was only to the Future 46. Future, mostly on the running of Jr. RB/DB Hakim McCain 30-160, patrolled to the South Philly 13 or closer on 3 occasions. However all three times DB/RB Daniel Wallace made impacting plays. In the first quarter he tipped QB Christopher Batts’s pass near the goal line on fourth down. In the second stanza he made it difficult for Jermaine Kirby to snatch a pass at the goal line and in the third frame Wallace knocked the ball from Kirby in the end zone which would have broke a scoreless tie late in that quarter. The biggest play came at the 2:22 mark of the fourth quarter when RB/DB Ken Johnson picked off a Batts pass at the Southern 17 and returned it 79 yards to the Firebird 4. Two plays later William Patterson ran it in from the 3 for the games only score. Johnson’s interception was his second of the game. He returned that one 41 yards giving him 120 on the day. The Ram defense was led by Donavan Wilson who posted 8 tackles, 4 solo, 1 for a loss and a pass defended. Others included Henry Anhalt 7-4-2, Rudy King 6-3-force fumble, Sandy Little, a late blooming Junior DT that the Southern staff really likes, 6-3-1. Pitching in with 5 tackles apiece were Juwan Bennett and Johnson. Johnson also had a tackle behind the line of scrimmage. Bryce Hicks recovered a fumble for the Rams and Patterson punted 4 times for an average of 44 yards. Kirby made the only 2 Firebird receptions for 29 yards. On defense he forced a fumble that was recovered by Calvin McCoy. The tackle board leaders were: Qaadir James 7-4-sack, Xavia Witherspoon 7-3, Shaquille Johnson 6-2-1 and Derrick Williams 5 solo-2 sacks and a TFL. Khalil Hall and Jahreeson Caines bagged TFL’s.
  Note: Great job by the Future Jazz Band under the direction of Mister Frank Machos. They came with keyboards and amplification and were a pleasure to listen to throughout the contest. They were also shown on CBS 3’s Friday Night High School Highlight Show.

NOV. 6
CATHOLIC AAA SEMIFINAL
Cardinal O’Hara 31, Monsignor Bonner 20
  It looked like the Friars would light up the scoreboard first after beginning the games first drive from their own 29 yard line. On the first play from scrimmage QB Sean Quarterman passed 20 yards to John McGilligan. Gains of 19 and 14 on runs by Quarterman and Jamie Juisti soon had the Bonner boys on the Lion 10 yard line. On first down and goal Juisti ran for an apparent 10 yard TD but it was negated by a 10 yard holding penalty. The spot of the foul was at the 9 so the Friars were looking at a first and goal now at the 19. Quarterman ran for 5 yards to the 14. On second down Bonner tried a little trickery when James Haley came from the left side to take handoff from Quarterman, presumably to throw a pass. Unfortunately the exchange between the two didn’t come off swiftly and the ball was fumbled and recovered by O’Hara’s Shawn Driggins at the 20. Just can’t figure out why that play was called when the drive was moving rather nicely other than the penalty. Well, I’m not the coach, but that’s something I’ll never understand and it seems to happen too many times with other teams including those at the college and professional levels. The first quarter was scoreless but it took the Lions just 48 seconds in the second period to score as Jay Watkins [10-70] ran in from the 3 yard line and Steve Weyler booted the PAT for the 7-0 lead. It got to 14-0 at the 6:17 mark when Brendan McLaughlin [20-56] punished in from the 7. Bonner closed the gap to 7 when Quarterman scored from 1 yard and Mathew Hudash added the PAT kick but a 32 yard Weyler field goal as time expired had the Lions ahead at the half 17-7. O’Hara began the second half with a 63 yard 14 play drive that was capped off by a Ryan Laughlin [14-23-146] 4 yard TD pass to Watkins.  The march featured a run of 15 yards by Watkins and a pass of 13 yards from Laughlin to Drew Formica. The Friars closed to within 10 again at the 1:22 mark of the third quarter on a 21 yard TD scamper by Ismir Gibson. A fumble recovery by Laughlin at the Bonner 31 midway through fourth period set up the Lions final TD, a 2 yard run my McLaughlin. Quarterman closed with a 5 yard keeper at the 3 minute mark of the fourth quarter. Quarterman passed 6-9-85 and ran 16-49. McGilligan caught 4 passes for 52 yards. James Murphy and Marcus Collins both numbered 9 tackles. Other contributors were: Daniel Lutes 8, Michael Ianovale, Tyler Ramirez 7 and James Haley, Anthony Jackson with 6. Collins and Lutes both made stops behind the line.  Watkins caught 6 balls for 42 O’Hara yards. McLaughlin snagged 3 for 30. Tyler Gallen registered 2-30 and Adam Dempsey had 2-31. Dempsey also rushed 11-53. Formica led the defense with 10 tackles. Brandon Chatman 8- 2 TFL’S, Gallen 7, Driggins 6 and Tom Familetti 5 aided.
Team Stats:
First Downs: Bonn 12 O’H 18, Rushes-Yds: Bonn 29-127 O’H 45-187, Passing Yds; Bonn 85 O’H 146, Total Offense: Bonn 212 O’H 333, Comp-Att-Int: Bonn 6-11-0 O’H 14-23-0, Return Yds: Bonn 20 O’H 9, Punts-Avg: Bonn 3-24.6 O’H 2-23.0 Fumbles Lost: Bonn 2 O’H 0, Penalties-Yds: Bonn 3-25 O’H 6-60

NOV. 5
CATHOLIC AAAA SEMIFINAL
La Salle 34, Father Judge 7
  Yes my first Catholic League game of the year and my stat partner is none other than Tom “Hockey Puck” McKenna. “Don’t worry Frog, I got Judge,” he said. "You take care of La Salle. I know all of the Judge guys." OK Puck, whatever you say. Later in the game when number 52 for Judge made the tackle we noticed that there wasn’t a 52 listed on the roster.  “Who is 52," I asked. "I don’t know." he replied. "I thought you knew the entire Judge squad,” I said. “Well, I don’t know if they ever had a 52 before." he said. Yes, they indeed had a 52 and his name is Eric Condron. Mister Condron notched 6 tackles for the Crusaders. The Explorers were just too big, too strong and too fast for the boys from Northeast Philly. Mike Piscopo set the tempo early when he intercepted a Brian Hennessey [2-10-22] pass at the 8:46 mark of the first quarter. He returned the pigskin 31 yards for the game's initial TD. Ryan Winslow added the PAT kick for the 7-0 lead. QB Kevin Forster [10-103] showed deceptive speed and good vision sprinting 52 and 46 yards for the Explorers' next 2 TDs, closing out the first half scoring. Winslow added both PATs for a 21-0 La Salle advantage at the half.   Sean Coleman returned a punt 64 yards for the Explorers' fourth score and Jamal Abdur-Rahman [8-87] raced 50 yards for the final LaSalle TD. Winslow would fail on the last PAT. Nick Myers [10-53] scored the only Crusader TD on a 1 yard plunge in the fourth quarter. Connor Foley added the PAT boot. Making most of the Crusader noise was Jr. Tim Mills. Mills caught 4 passes for 69 yards and returned 6 balls for 74 yards. His 10 touches generated 143 yards. Mills who is listed at 6’0” - 172 (I think he fibs a little) is not afraid of contact. He was a tough bring-down for the Explorers and his pad-to-pad pops could be heard up in the press box. Oh, I just love watching stuff like that and listening too. Sorry, I got a little carried away. No, I didn't. That kid deserves it. Way to go Timmy. Bob Daniels passed 6-14-87 for Judge. Shawn Hartigan 7-5-1 and John Donohoe 7-4-sack led the Crusader defense. Raul Quinones along with Condron made 6 tackles. Ryan Bernard made a tackle behind the line. The Explorer offensive line featured center Ryan Geiger, guards Matt Maginnis , Shamus McGowan, tackles Dan Ezzo , Cameron Cappo and tight ends Piscopo and Jon Naji. LaSalle rushed 38-250. Geiger numbered 8-6-2 on defense. Connor Daly added 7-4-1. Forster had and interception and 3 passes defended. Connor Reilly also had an interception for the Preparatory High School.
Team Stats:
First Downs: FJ 8 LS 10. Rushes-Yds: FJ 29-78 LS 38-250, Passing Yds: FJ 109 LS 67 Total Offense: FJ 187 LS 317. Comp-Att-Int: FJ 8-24-3 LS 4-9-0. Return Yds: FJ 77 LS 168. Punts-Avg: FJ 4-30.7 LS 3-37.3. Fumbles Lost: FJ 0 LS 0. Penalties-Yds. FJ 6-35 LS 5-44

NOV. 4
NON-LEAGUE
Comm. Tech 26, Ben Franklin 20
  About 15 minutes prior to the start of the game I approached Comm. Tech’s star running back Rolando Ransom [24-154] and asked him a question in reference to the sloppy playing conditions. I said, “Do you think you’ll be able to run in this mess?” His response was; “Do you think they can tackle me?” Well for the first 5 minutes and 2 seconds the answer was no. That’s how long it took Ransom to score the game's first 2 TDs. The elusive back ran for scores of 65 and 13 yards giving his squad the early lead. The Electrons answered back with a 12 yard Anwar Mathis pass to Willie Battle. Emmanuel Eubanks ran for the 2 point PAT cutting the lead to 12-8. The Phoenix scored again early in the second quarter when QB Zaki Jamison connected with Tikir Trent on a 29 yard strike. Franklin closed the first half scoring when Crusito Cruz [28-151] ran for a 12 yard score with 46.8 seconds showing on the second quarter clock. The Electrons jumped ahead 20-18 in the third stanza when Mathis hit Chris Sullivan on an 11 yard scoring toss with 5:27 to go in the third quarter. Ransom closed the scoring on a 5 yard burst at the 7:02 mark of the final stanza. Jamison ran for the PAT and the scoreboard read 26-20 in favor of the Phoenix. Ben Franklin threatened in the end but all hope was lost when James Brunson intercepted a Mathis pass at the Phoenix 20 yard line with just 21.5 seconds left on the game clock. Despite the bad conditions both teams passed the ball well. Jamison heaved 5-9-127, while Mathis tossed 6-9-67.  Brunson caught 3 balls for 76 yards and Shaneal Lovett grabbed 1 for 22 for Tech. Franklin’s Battle snatched 3 for 30 and Sullivan numbered 3 for 37. Although Ransom and Cruz both went over the century mark in rushing yardage, it would have been interesting to see what kind of numbers they would have had in better conditions. Trent and Diquan Gilbert led the Phoenix in tackles with 8 apiece. Abdur Saaba and Eric Dickerson each had 6 while Lovett and Joshua Thompson registered 5. Gilbert, Trent, Ransom and Aasim Ragin-Nickson made tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Vernon Pollitt recorded a sack. Dickerson, Ransom, Saaba and Thompson all recovered fumbles for CT. Battle led the Electrons in tackles with 8 followed by Kairi Mace with 6. Demetrius Town had a TFL. Also a number 32, not on roster, made 2 behind the line of scrimmage for Franklin. Eubanks had an interception and Mace recovered a fumble.

OCT. 30
PUBLIC AA FINAL
Bok 41, Imhotep 0
  Too much Shaquil Sammons -- 16-154-4 TD’S, all but 23 yards in the first half -- as the Wildcats revenged an earlier defeat. The Panthers started the game with an onsides kick but the ball went out of bounds and Bok took over near midfield at their 48 yard line. On the first play from scrimmage Sammons scooted 27 yards to the Panther 25. After a gain of just one yard on the next play Sammons ran for 20 more to the Panther 4. The Wildcats would score three plays later when QB Marquise Brown sneaked in from the one. Walravens Daniel added the PAT kick for a 7-0 Bok lead. The Imhotep squad became a little disheartened when their star RB Maurice Palmer 6-28, was injured on his first carry. Palmer would make cameo appearances but it would be nowhere near enough in this lopsided contest. Bok forced a Panther punt after its first possession and once again lit up the scoreboard when Sammons topped off a 10 play 75 yard march with a 28 yard scamper to the end zone. Midway through the drive Bok was going to punt on a fourth and six from their own 42. However a 5 yard penalty against the Panthers had Wildcat head coach Tom DeFelice reconsidering and ordering his offense back onto the field. Needing one yard for the first down RB/LB Khalil Neal got two and Bok was on their way. Daniel’s PAT boot failed leaving the Panthers trailing 13-0 with 42 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Ever exciting return man Devin Sanders juiced the Panther crowd with a spectacular 83 yard kick return before being brought down by Bok’s John Richardson at the 10. The stingy Bok defense held the Panthers for three downs forcing a fourth and goal from the 9. On fourth down QB Christopher Lewis threw the ball into the end zone for Shakur Nesmith. The intended receiver was covered by Jihad Ward and Richardson. The ball was tipped and then fell towards the ground where it hit the foot of Richardson and bounced back up towards Ward’s knee where he clamped the ball with his huge hands. Ward then took off from 2 yards deep in the end zone. A brief tweet of a whistle was heard but the officials didn’t stop play and Ward kept running 102 yards to the opposite end zone. DeFelice quickly ordered his PAT team onto the field as the officials gathered for a decision. They would finally rule an inadvertent whistle, after the pick by Ward, resulting into a touchback with Bok taking over from their own 20 yard line. DeFelice went crazy on the sideline, pleading, “No, no. How can a call like that be made in a Championship game”?  I believe as did most of those on the sideline that the official who blew the whistle anticipated that the ball would hit the ground after the tip. Figuring they had dodged a huge bullet the Panthers never expected what happened next. The Wildcats, who pass as often as senior citizen drivers on I-95, stunned everyone with a play action pass to a very wide open Ward for a gain of 60 yards advancing the pigskin the Panther 20. The next play Sammons registered the final 20 with his second TD and that my friend was the ballgame. Just for fun Sammons ran 16 yard for another TD as the half closed 28-0. Freshman Michael Riley would return an interception 15 yards for a third quarter score and Sammons ran one more for 23 yards. Sammons would also add a PAT run to his resume’ while Daniel would notch 2 kicks. Lewis passed 7-17-60 but had 4 of his passes picked off. In addition to Ward and Riley, Richardson and Sammons made picks. The Wildcats defense limited Imhotep to just 35 yards rushing on 22 carries. Sophomore DT/FLK Vittorio Goggins excelled on defense for Bok with 9 tackles- 6 solo -3 for losses including sack. His behind the line damage amounted to 25 yards. Faison Perry 8-6-1, Neal 7-5-1, Jabril Keal 6-4-2 and Omar Bashir 5-4 aided Goggins. Antoine Whitney recovered a fumble while Perry and Gregory DeSesso forced one. DeSesso and Maurice T-Toe added TFL’S. The Panthers Jeraal Boone led all receivers with 5-48. Sanders numbered 3-23. Imhotep calculated 171 return yards with Sanders leading the way with 3-123. Eerin Young registered 2-48.  Nicholas Johnson led in tackles with 6. Others included Shaquil Ryder 5, Damean Riley 5 and Kyle Hambright 4-1TFL ½ sacks. Maurice Howard pieced the other half. Byron Cooper had a TFL and Legend Whitfield forced a fumble.
Additional Stats:
First downs: Bok 12 Imho 5.  Rushes-Yards: Bok 30-193. Imho 22-35. Passing Yards: Bok 77 Imho 71. Total Offense: Bok 270 Imho 106. Comp-Att-Int: Bok 2-3-0. Imho 8-18-4. Return yards: Bok 19 Imho 171. Punts-Avg. Bok 1-35.0 Imho 3-36.0. Fumbles lost: Bok 1 Imho 1. Penalties –Yds: Bok 0-0 Imho 9-93.

OCT. 29
NON-LEAGUE
Prep Charter 29, Mastbaum 22
  “Pistol Jet Left, Quarterback Flea Flicker”! That’s the Huskies terminology for the play that was called with 13.7 seconds left and the scored tied at 22. Prep Charter lined up at the Mastbaum 17 after calling their final timeout. A direct snap to WR Charles Barber followed by a quick pitch to WB Tariq Reid then a reverse handoff to QB Troy Johnson ended with Anthony Wyche standing all alone in the end zone and catching the game winning TD with 7 seconds showing on the fourth quarter clock. According to the Huskies coaching staff the victory gave them their first ever three game win streak and first four game win total for season since the inception of their football program. The contest appeared headed towards overtime when the Panthers knotted the score on a 28 yard TD pass from Lawrence Clark to WR Jacob Lockley followed by a Tyree Walker PAT run. That score came with just 2:10 left in the final frame. The game winning drive totaled 64 yards with Johnson completing four passes prior to his final toss. Mastbaum scored first when Tyree Stone-Davis raced 51 yards for an early score. The Panthers initial scoring drive was set up after Tyrin Stone-Davis intercepted a Johnson pass. PC would be ahead at halftime as a result of a 41 yard TD fumble return by Joseph Lind and a 1 yard Barber TD run. The Huskies converted PAT’S, a Barber pass to Quadeem Starkes and a Barber kick. The arithmetic at the break read PC 15  Mastbaum 6. A Walker 4 yard TD run followed by a Sean Hubert conversion run put the Panthers within one point at 15-14. A Johnson sneak followed by a Barber boot added to the advantage before the excitement in the final minutes. Johnson led the Huskies attack passing 13-26-150. In addition to Wyche’s catch the other recipients included; Barber 5-65, Lind 4-33 and Starkes 3-35. In a rather unusual occurrence the Huskies Mark McLean had an interception on two consecutive plays. He picked off a Clark pass at the Huskies 18 but fumbled the ball after a return of 6 yards giving the ball right back to Mastbaum. On the next play McLean intercepted again this time at the 14 and returned it 19 yards to the 33. McLean’s grabs had both the officials and Prep coaching staff saying things like; “Hey, I’ll bet you’ll never see anything like that again.”  Well probably not folks. The elapsed time between both plays was 8 seconds. Wyche rushed 19 times for 62 yards and returned 2 balls for 52 yards. Barber led in tackles with 6 followed by Joe Fontanazza and Ronald Jones both with 5. Starkes and Lind made tackles behind the line of scrimmage and Kendall Edwards recovered a fumble. Clark passed 4-12-56 for the Panthers. Davis led the rush brigade with 5-58 and Tyrin Stone-Davis returned 2 balls totaling 82 yards. Walker and Markeith Fuggs both numbered 10 tackles. Trailing behind were Hubert 7 and Ayoola Openibo 6.  The Stone-Davis twins and Kamau Taylor all had 5. Adalberto Velez and Christopher Fortson-Linton had TFL’S. Forston-Linton also had an interception.  Barber, McLean and Fortanazza all arrived late. Head coach Tony Beaty said that the threesome attend CCP class on Fridays. The Huskies normally have a 6 PM start time on Fridays, so there is usually no. inconvenience.

OCT. 28
NON-LEAGUE
Germantown 32, Southern 8
  Early in the first quarter Germantown’s  Myles Booker intercepted a Shakor McClery pass at the Southern 41 and returned it 7 yards to the 34. Eight plays later RB Ackeno Robertson ran in from the 6 to give the Bears a 6-0 lead. The Rams would go three and out on their next possession and after a 16 yard punt Germantown would take over on their own 40 yard line. Facing a fourth and seven from the Southern 44, the Bears would net 10 yards when Booker snatched a pass from QB Jerrell Saunders and a G’town first down. Hey, that sounds cool. A 27 yard run by Robinson moved the ball to the Ram one yard line. After a 5 yard penalty placed the ball at the 6, Robinson ran for 3 yards to the 3. On second down William Parks barreled to the one and on third down Saunders finished for a one yard TD. Saunders added the conversion run making the score 14-0. After a safety gave the Bears 2 points they added 8 more when Booker caught a 70 yard bomb from Saunders and Parks ran for the PAT points as the half ended 24-0. Neither team would score in the third stanza, but Southern blinked the scoreboard when RB/LB Wayne Brunson tackled Parks in his own end zone for 2 points. The Rams got a quick 6 when Donavan Wilson caught a 16 yard TD pass from McClery. Southern recovered the ensuing onsides kick but gave the ball right back when Booker recovered a fumble and returned it 29 yards to the South Philly 25. Parks closed the scoring on the next play bursting 25 yards for a Germantown TD. Ibrahim Abdul-Malik would add the PAT run.  For Germantown Robertson rushed 11-71, while Parks numbered 11-53. Brunson totaled 22-72 for Southern. Rahshawn Bradshaw and Aaron Boyd both made 8 tackles for the Bears. Booker 6, Alfredo Williams and Parks both had 5. Bradshaw 2, Williams sack and Parks all made tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Corey Hinson and Williams both recovered fumbles and Williams forced one. Hinson also blocked a punt. Daniel Wallace paced the Southern defense with 7 tackles. Right behind were Henry Anhalt and Brunson with 6 – 2 TFL’s and a sack. . Wilson had 5. Chris Coffie had an interception.

OCT. 22
PUBLIC AA SEMIFINAL
Bok 35, Del-Val 14
  In Bok’s 2 losses of the 2010 season, turnovers played a major factor. Well at the outset of this contest Bok Coach Tom DeFelice must have been experiencing flashbacks. On the Wildcats first possession QB Marquise Brown [3-6-45] threw an interception which set up the Warriors first score, an Aaron Baker [7-44] 8 yard TD run. Baker would also add the conversion run for an 8-0 DV lead. On Bok’s second ball opportunity RB/LB Khalil Neal [15-72-2TD’s] fumbled the ball and the “Oh no, here we go again” song was heard on the visitor sideline. Fortunately for the Men of Mifflin Street the Warriors didn’t capitalize. From that point on it was all Wildcats. They went on to score 35 unanswered points. The Wildcats knotted the score at 8 when they marched 61 yards on 15 plays which ended when Neal scored from the 2. Shaquil Sammons [27-106-TD] ran for the PAT points. On the patrol Neal carried 5 times for 26 yards picking up a huge first down on a fourth and one from the Del Val 7 yard line. Brown also contributed on the drive passing 2 of 2 to SE Jihad Ward totaling 17 yards. Another Brown completion of 28 yards to Neal set up Bok’s second score, a 16 yard Sammons run. The Wildcats went into their locker-room leading 14-6. It looked like the Warriors would make some noise at the start of the second half. Taking control at their 35 after an out of bounds kickoff Baker quickly raced 24 yards to the Bok 41. But a holding penalty and great pass defense by Bok’s DB Omar Bashir on TE Heleaince Gates forced an incompletion and a Warrior punt. The Wildcats then pounded 55 yards on 10 plays, capped off by a Neal 13 yard power burst. From there on interceptions and penalties [12-110] would haunt the Warriors. Christen Lilly picked 2 off for Bok, one of which he returned 77 yards for a TD. Bok’s John Richardson scored on a 6 yard reverse for the ‘Cats final TD. Del Val QB Keith Page would throw 5-14-93. He would connect with WR/DB Rashaan Walker on a 41 yard TD strike late in the game. WR Brad Wilson [2-15] appeared to have tied the city record for most career TD grabs, but his 32 yard score at the 10:12 fourth quarter mark was negated because of a penalty. Bok’s defense limited the Warriors to 60 rushing yards on 27 attempts.  Bashir led the Wildcat’s defense with an impressive 10 tackles, 6 solo-3 for losses including 2 sacks. Neal contributed 8-6 and DE Jabril Keal numbered 7-4. Vittorio Goggins, Maurice T-Toe, Sammons and Dominique Winfield all were in on sacks. For DV Walker led with 8-5 followed by DE Darren Miller 7-4-1 and Tariq Lovelace 6-3-2 pass defended. Jerell Clements threw in a TFL. Nates Barnes had an interception and Amir Bandy-May recovered a fumble. The Warriors returned 7 balls for 124 yards. Baker and Gates both totaled 2-33.   

OCT. 16
PUBLIC AA
Del-Val 28, Comm. Tech 0
  Brad Wilson caught 2 TD passes [4-19] from Keith Page 8-13-75-4TD, but it was number 3 that he was looking for to tie the city record for most TD receptions in a career. Page tried to accommodate but was unsuccessful late in the game. A strong rush at the Phoenix 10 by Rolando Ransom forced an incompletion. A sack by Eric Dickerson and a pass break up at the one yard line by Shaneal Lovett along with an overthrow by Page had the DV people looking ahead to next week’s playoff game against Bok. Page’s other TD tosses were to Rashaan Walker 13 yards and Heleaince Gates 20 yards. Aaron Baker rushed 5-76, returned 2-35 and caught 2-8. He also had an interception. Donte Walker led in tackles with 8. Following him were Ishmael Bernard, Aaron Williams 6 and Darren Miller 5. Bernard also made a pick. Baker, Siyiff McLeod, Anthony Williams and Lance Guyton all had TFL’S. Miller and McLeod both recovered fumbles. Ransom rushed 22-65 for Comm. Tech. James Brunson returned 3-39. Dickerson 8-5-2-sack, Ransom 7-5- sack and Lovett 6 paced the Phoenix defense. Ransom recovered a fumble while Brunson and Tikir Trent both had interceptions.

OCT. 15
PUBLIC AA
Bok 45, FitzSimons 0
  If anyone was near the Bok sideline during the first half of this game they couldn’t help but hear a constant chatter. “Yeah Vito, Way to go Vito, Good hit Vito”. Why all the noise? Introducing you to Sophomore DT Vittorio “Vito” Goggins. Goggins numbered 8 tackles, 6 solo and 3.5 sacks, all  in the first half. The stingy Bok defense held the Rams to minus 3 yards rushing. Rams QB Richard Williams was able to pass 3-7-60. His big strike was a 40 yarder to Nature "Nate" Boyer. Bok’s Faison Perry 6-4-2 and Jabril Keal tackled FitzSimons punter Jordan Skinner in the end zone for a safety. Maurice T-Toe did the same. Shaquil Sammons rushed  12-90-2TD’s and returned a kickoff 53 yards for a score. Kicker Walravens Daniel was 5 for 6 on PAT kicks. Bok head coach Tom DeFelice inserted 6’5” 245 SE Jihad Ward at fullback. Ward ran 3 yards for the Wildcats final TD. T-Toe and Khalil Neal both numbered 7 tackles. Sammons and Keal recovered fumbles. The FizSimons defense was led by Jack Burris 7-4-1. Skinner, Randy Harris and Joseph Gainer each totaled 6-3.

OCT. 14
PUBLIC AAAA SILVER
Furness 41, Southern 0
  Early in the first quarter Furness offensive coordinator Rob Quarterman called for a quarterback sneak on first down at the Southern 41. QB Maurice Harris stood behind center Nadeem Harris and took the snap. Typically on such a play a rugby style scrum will develop and 22 players will bunch together until the whistle blows and the play stops for a gain of a few yards. Not this time. Harris looked like he was driving a snow plow with the offensive line serving as the plow blade. Straight ahead blocking pushed the Southern defense for about 15 yards until a seamed developed and then Harris raced untouched to the end zone. From that point on Furness head man Anthony Pastore and the rest of his staff knew his game plan would be effective. Run, run and run some more. Run so much that there’s no need to throw a pass the entire game. The Falcons ran 25 times for 304 yards with Sharif Smith 16-246-4TD’s leading the march. Along with Nadeem Harris the offensive line featured guards Jason Proietto and Andrew Scott. Tackles Kyle Smithson and Sirea Boone and tight ends Kevin Hayes and Devin Walker. LB Aaron Cooper paced the Furness defense with 9 tackles, 6 solo and a TFL. DT Nadeem Harris numbered 7-4-1. Walker, Lewis Martinez 2, Jonathan Fisher and Dontay Holder all had TFL’S and Eric Drain recovered a fumble. For Southern RB Daniel Wallace rushed 14-67 and returned 3-75. QB Shakor McClery passed 5-13-45. His leading receiver was Chris Coffie 2-23. LB Henry Anhalt led in tackles with 10-4-2. Omar Ballan and Juwan Bennett each numbered 6 with a TFL. Jared Hutton also registered a TFL.

OCT. 8
PUBLIC AA
Comm. Tech 14, Bok 0
  Yes, most people around the South Philadelphia Super Site were expecting Jr. RB/DB Rolando Ransom to put up some impressive rushing totals for the Phoenix. Not quite sure if 36-210 was something they had in mind. What they weren’t expecting was the physical beating Comm. Tech put on the Wildcats. They hit hard, real hard, and they hit often. The Tech Men forced 4 fumbles and an interception. After a scoreless first half Ransom made his first real impact. Early in the third quarter he took a direct snap from his own 18 and flew all the way to the Wildcat 3 yard line for a beautiful 79 yard run. A couple of penalties and some nice stops on Ransom runs by Jihad Ward and Khalil Neal had the Phoenix looking at a fourth and goal from the 9. Bok’s Faison Perry then broke up QB Zaki Jamison’s pass in the end zone as Tech turned the ball over on downs. Shaquil Sammons [12-71] ran 1 yard on first down for Bok, but on second down Neal fumbled the ball and it was recovered by Comm. Tech’s Diquan Gilbert [2 recoveries]  at the Wildcat 15. Ransom took care of business from there raking in all of the 15 yards on 4 carries capped off by a 3 yard TD run with 3:09 left in the quarter. Ransom ran for the conversion giving his squad an 8-0 advantage. Bok’s game would go downhill from there as Ward fumbled the ensuing kickoff at his own 38. Tech couldn’t capitalize as Bok held them on fourth down when Perry and Vincent Jones stopped Ransom short of a first down at the Bok 24. Two plays later the ‘Cats gave the ball right back to Tech when Abdur Saaba hit QB Marquis Brown forcing a fumble which was recovered by Joshua Thompson at the Bok 36. The Wildcats again held the Phoenix taking over possession at their own 36. The Wildcats missed an ideal opportunity to score on first down. Brown dropped back to pass and had plenty of time in the pocket when he spotted a very wide open Christen Lilly at the Tech 40. Unfortunately Brown overthrew his target, negating perhaps the tying touchdown. Bok went backwards from there and was forced to punt from the 30. Tech’s James Brunson fielded Walravens Daniel punt at his 37 yard line and scooted 63 yards for the TD to ice the game for the Phoenix with 9:05 showing on the fourth quarter clock.  Sabba was the tackle leader for CT with 8 and a TFL. Thomas Goodwin 6, Ransom and Gilbert 5 and Thompson’s 4 with a sack contributed. Saaba also recovered a fumble and Shaneal Lovett forced another.  Perry paced the Wildcat defense with 10 tackles- 5 solo and a TFL. Neal 9, Ward and Vittorio Goggins 8 – 2 TFL’s  , Jones 7-2 TFL’s Michael Riley and Maurice T-Toe 6, Omar Bashir 2-TFL’s-sack   and Jabril Keal 5 and Lilly 4 aided Perry.         

OCT. 7
PUBLIC AAAA
Furness 21 Mastbaum 0
  The Mastbaum Panthers had the ball for 13 series. The end result for all of them wasn’t too pretty.   The stingy Furness defense held the Panthers to just 93 yards [55 passing, 38 rushing] of total offense. The unlucky 13 calculated into 4 punts, 6 interceptions, 2 fumbles and a 2 point safety. The Panthers would enter Falcon territory [39 yard line] on just one occasion. The Pick Parade featured Dontay Holder, Sharif Smith, Devin Walker, Maurice Harris, Terrell Mills and Dante Barkley. Holder and Tamarik Wilkes both recovered fumbles. Lewis Martinez accounted for the safety when he tackled Panther punter Tyree Stone-Davis in the end zone. Smith made all of the noise on offense scoring on runs of 6, 19 and 3 yards. For the day he rushed 28 times for 142 yards. Nadim Harris led the tackle category with 8, he also forced a fumble. Walker totaled 6 as did Martinez. The all around headliner for the Panthers was Jacob Lockley. Lockley caught 3 passes for 40 yards and returned 2 balls for 26. He also recovered a fumble and made 6 tackles. Christopher Fortson-Linton produced 9 tackles, 6 solo with 2 sacks. Sean Hubert and Anthony Ortega both notched 7 tackles while Shaquan Shockley and Tyree Walker both numbered 6. Markeith Fuggs and Roscoe Ezell had TFL’S.

OCT. 1
PUBLIC AA
Imhotep 30, Prep Charter 8
  Following a theme from the earlier game when Southern was unable to kick in the TD scoring door after penetrating deep into Fels territory, Prep Charter appeared to get on the board early. The Huskies Charles Barber scooped up a fumble at his own 20 returned it 59 yards to the Panther 21. However PC couldn’t capitalize as Zamir Bell made his first of 2 fumble recoveries at the Imhotep 29. After the turnover the Panthers proceeded to march 71 yards on 13 plays. The big plays of the drive were runs of 17 yards by QB Christopher Lewis and runs of 11 and two 10s by Maurice Palmer. All of the runs produced first downs. Lewis capped the march with a 4 yard TD toss to Jeraal Boone. The conversion pass failed [the Panthers failed on all 5 PAT’S] and the Panthers led 6-0 at the 1:14 mark of the first quarter. After Mark McLean returned the ensuing kickoff 23 yards to his own 44 the Huskies began a nice drive of their own. They patrolled all the way to the Imhotep 7 yard line. However, the ever tiny Fr Kyon Anderson who picked up 16 yards on the previous play fumbled on the next at the Panther 8 yard line. The pigskin was recovered by Maurice Howard. Six plays after the turnover So. RB Eerin Young sprinted for an 8 yard TD and a 12-0 lead with 4:37 left before halftime. The Panthers forced the Prep to punt on their next possession and it didn’t take long for the next scoring change. Sanders ran 57 yards to set up a James "Corey" Stroud 2 yard TD plunge. A 62 yard fumble return to pay dirt by Legend Whitfield closed out the first half scoring giving his squad a 24 to zip lead at the break. Charter’s only TD came early in the third quarter when Anthony Wyche ran 18 yards to the end zone.  Barber’s pass to Quadeem Starkes registered a conversion cutting the advantage to 24-8. Imhotep’s final score was a 20 yard Lewis to Devin Sanders TD strike midway through the fourth quarter. Sanders rushed for 93 yards on 8 carries and Lewis passed [6-11-50]. Sloane Thomas caught 2 passes for 18 yards.  Kyle Hambright notched 7 tackles. Right behind were Bell and Sanders both with 6. Freshman DE Tyrone Barge recorded 5 with 2 sacks. Prep’s So QB Troy Johnson threw [6-12-47]. Barber caught 2 balls for 19 yards while Marquan Middleton grabbed a single for 22 yards. McLean had 3 returns for 47 while Anderson numbered 2-43. Sr DB/ WR Joseph Lind was the defensive leader for Prep with 8 tackles, 2 for losses a sack and 3 passes defended.  Barber had 6 tackles and Danny Hernandez recorded a sack.

OCT. 1
PUBLIC AAAA
Fels 34, Southern 6
  Despite turning the ball over seven times -- 6 fumbles and an interception -- the Panthers still managed to prevail rather handily. Southern took advantage of only one of the mishaps when Wayne Brunson returned a fumble 40 yards for the Rams' only score. Southern threatened to score several times, but were denied by big plays made by the Panthers. Early in the first quarter SP’s Ken Johnson ran 45 yards putting the Rams in good field position. However the Panthers' Lamar Tinsley forced QB Donavan Wilson into an incomplete pass on a fourth and five from the Panther 15. Trailing 18-0 midway through the third quarter the Rams were facing a fourth and nine from the Panther 10. This time Fels’ John “That” Counts sacked Wilson for a 10-yard loss, turning the ball over to the Panthers at their own 20. Later in the same stanza, after Wilson recovered a fumble at the Fels 13, the Panthers once again held the Rams as Dontae Bacon forced Wilson to overthrow Juwan Bennett in the end zone on fourth down from the 7. Fels QB Tyree Rucker passed 5-10-1-150 - 2 TD’S and rushed 14-111. Both of his TD passes were to Jared Hines; a 25 yarder in the first quarter and a 64 yarder in the second. Hines would also run for a 40 yard TD. Terry Brown 14- 157, scored on a 3 yard run. Counts paced the Fels defense with 8 tackles, including 3 for losses. Morgan Willingham 6 and Jamiel Hines 5 also contributed. Nafis Salaam, Isaiah Lawrence and Dezhuante White all had TFL’s. Rodney Drayton, Misael Perez and Demetrius Reynolds recovered fumbles for Fels. Counts forced a fumble and Perez added an interception. Daniel Wallace led Southern on defense with 8 tackles and a TFL. Johnson 7, Henry Anhalt and William Patterson 5, pitched in. Patterson also forced 2 fumbles and had an interception. Along with Brunson, Jarred Hutton, Wilson, Daniel Wallace and Antwain Purnell recovered fumbles. There was another fumble recovery but I didn’t get the number. Sorry boys.         

SEPT. 24|
PUBLIC AA
Comm. Tech 18 Prep Charter 12 [3 OTs] 
  Big plays on defense by both squads highlighted the 0-0 regulation time affair. Comm. Tech’s Shaneal Lovett twice intercepted Troy Johnson passes on the Phoenix 10 yard line in the first quarter. In the second quarter Prep Charter’s Joe Fontanazza stopped Rolando Ransom on a fourth and goal play from the 5. Later in the period on a fourth an inches from the Huskies 8 Ronald Jones pushed Ransom back for a 2 yard loss. Early in the fourth stanza Jones put the initial hit on Ransom and others joined the tackle brigade stopping the sensational Ransom just short of the goal on fourth down. Prep almost made a miraculous march to end the game in regulation but Terrence Brown spoiled the party when he intercepted a Johnson pass in the end zone with 2.5 seconds showing thus sending the game into overtime. Oh, by the way, when regulation time expired Ransom had rushed 35 times for 196 yards. You just knew that he would have an impact in the extra frames. The Phoenix started the OT and Ransom woke up the scorekeeper when he scored from 6 yards out on second down. A high snap from center on the conversion play gave CT no shot at their 2 point play. Trailing 6-0 it was now Prep’s turn. Facing a third and 14 Johnson escaped from the pocket, found a seam and raced untouched to tie the game at 6. The Huskies brought on Charles Barber to attempt the winning PAT boot, but his kick was just a little wide to the right. In fact it took awhile for the officials to indicate that it was no good. The striped men standing behind the goal post both glanced over at each other to make sure they were on the same page before ruling the kick no good. Ransom didn’t disappoint in the second OT scoring on fourth down from the one yard line. Tech tried their kicking game but the verdict was the same when Losseni Karamoko’s kick sailed wide to the right. Prep Charter knotted the score at 12 when Johnson sneaked in from the one. Barber again came on to attempt the PAT but this time Brown blocked it sending the game into a third overtime period. It would be Ransom again, this time from 8 yards out to climax his evening with 3 TD’S and 218 yards on 42 rushes. Brown finished his defensive Hat Trick when he stopped Jovan Matthews on fourth down at the one yard line to end the very entertaining game. Helping Ransom was Christopher Miller who rushed 11-55. Miller didn’t appear in the overtime because of cramping. The Phoenix defense was paced by Diquan Gilbert who tabbed 9 tackles, 7 solo, 3 sacks and another for a loss. He also recovered a fumble. Eric Dickerson 8-5, Vernon Pollitt 7-4-2 and Brown 6-5 pitched in.  Jones led the Huskies defense with 10-7-1. Others of significance were Barber 8-4-1, Tommy Tann 8-5-sack, Keith Jenkins 7-5-1, Fontanazza 6-4-sack and Joseph Lind 6-4. Mark Wilmer recorded a TFL.

SEPT. 24
PUBLIC AAAA GOLD
Frankford 33, Bartram 8
  Kudos to the Pioneers offensive line who gave QB Mike McGroarty plenty of time while he stood in the pocket.  McGroarty completed 8 passes for 179 yards. The big boys up front included Center Lydell Weeks, Guards Brandon Russell and Edwin Burgos, Tackles Dajuan Franks and Corey Young and Tight End Aaron Allison.  Allison was a recipient of 3 passes for 49 yards. Others included Quinyon Speller 1-10-TD, Marc Price 2-3 and Savoy Martin 2-117. Martin snatched an 80 yarder right before halftime and crossed the goal line with just 10 seconds showing on the clock. McGroarty also ran 6 yards for a score and Price pranced in from 5. Brandon Russell returned an interception 75 yards for a Frankford TD. The Braves scored late in the game on a 71 yard Adrese Perkins pass to Russell Calloway. The Frankford defense forced Perkins into 4 interceptions. Besides Russell, Martin had 2 and Geoffrey Phillippe picked 1. Burgos and Marquan Scott recovered fumbles for the Pioneers.  Anthony Graham and Franks 2, Troy Clarke and Keone Berry all had TFL’S. Wendell Compton bagged a sack. The Braves tackle leaders included Lamar Richards 10- fumble recovery; Donivan Northington 8 and Calloway 7- fumble recovery. Michael Burton recorded a sack.
  Note: Hope all is well with back judge K. C. Gallagher who had to leave the game in the second quarter because of an illness.

SEPT. 23
PUBLIC AA
Bok 43, Future 0
  Covering numerous high school football games throughout a season, there will no doubt be a few laughers that result in some uneventful contests. What I try to do at times is pick out something that transpired during the game and use it as a sidebar in the report. Well watching Future QB Christopher Batts, who stands at just 5’9 trying to avoid Bok’s DE Jihad Ward as Ward put pressure on Batts all evening was quite a site. Ward listed at 6’5, 245 chased Batts and forced 5 hurried attempts. Perhaps the last laugh was on Ward though as Batts was sacked just once by Ward. It seemed that Ward was just a little late or slow getting to the elusive Batts. Ward and the Wildcats defense did however force Batts into passing just 3-16- 48. Bok’s Shaquil Sammons rushed for 4 TD’S on his way to 103 yards on 18 carries. The offensive headliner for the Firebirds was Hakim McCain who registered 156 yards on 27 rushes. The games longest play form scrimmage was a 41 yard TD burst by Olutoby Lediju. Khalil Neal [9-32] rushed 4 yards for Bok’s other TD. Neal also led the Wildcats defense with 7 tackles and 2 TFL’S. Marqui “Thank You for Being” Alfriend notched 6. Vincent Jones, Omar Bashir , Maurice T-Toe and Ward all numbered 5. Jones had 2 TFL’S while T-Toe and Jabril Keal each had one. Neal and Bashir both forced fumbles while Dominique Winfield and Wayne Fioravanti recovered them. Qaadir James paced Future with 8 tackles. Shaquille Johnson 7-TFL, Calvin McCoy 6 and Xavia Witherspoon 6-TFL aided James. Jermaine Kirby and Shahiyd Wilson both had interceptions and James recovered a fumble. Kirby also returned 2 balls for 53 yards and caught 2 passes for 45 yards.

SEPT. 17
PUBLIC AA
Prep Charter 34 Future 0
  Led by their strong armed QB Troy Johnson, the Huskies entered this game averaging 35 pass attempts per game while running an average of 21 times. Having lost their first 2 contests head coach Tom Beaty figured it was time to run the ball more.  His decision was a good one. Prep ran 48 times for 219 yards, while Johnson passed just 15 times, completing 8 for 75 yards. Anthony Wyche 17- 85- TD and Jovan Matthews 21-85 led the ground attack. Pint sized sprinter Kyon Anderson inserted late in the game handled his only chance running 37 yards for a score. Johnson squeezed into the end zone twice on one yard keepers. Johnson also tossed an 11 yard TD to Charles Barber. Barber caught 4 balls for a total of 38 yards. The Huskies tackle leaders were Keith Jenkins and Michael Sandofor with 7 apiece. Barber totaled 6 also recovered a fumble as did Marquan Middleton. Tommy Tann forced a fumble along with Joseph Fontanazza. Fontanazza also had 2 tackles for losses. Wyche had an interception. The Future offensive leader was Hakim McCain who rushed 14 times for 72 yards. The other side of the ball featured LB Qaadir James who made 13 tackles, 9 solo and 2 TFL’S. Xavia Witherspoon and Naeem Brogdon each had 10. Shaquille Johnson threw in 8 and Jermaine Kirby had an INT.

SEPT. 17
PUBLIC AA
Comm. Tech. 36, FitzSimons 8
  I asked Comm. Tech head man John Gossett if he runs a Wildcat offense. He said that he doesn’t use the popular term, but calls his a Zone Read. Well if that’s the case then he has the Evelyn Wood of offense with Rolando Ransom. The speed reader or runner raced for 160 yards on 19 carries and 2 TDs.  Ransom also had a 55 yard kick return after FitzSimons scored early in the second quarter to bring the Rams within 6 points at 14-8. Two plays after the return Eric Dickerson caught a 21 yard pass from Zaki Jamison setting up the Phoenix’s third score, a Christopher Miller 2 yard plunge. FitzSimons competed with just 19 players but played hard on every down. Their lone score was a 27 yard TD pass from QB Richard Williams to WR Steven Pruitt. Williams also returned 3 balls for 79 yards. The Rams totaled 5-119 on the afternoon. Pruitt also had an interception. Victor Jainlett led with 8 tackles. Nature Boyer and No. 51 (sorry not on roster) each had 7. Joseph Gainer recovered a fumble. Thomas Goodwin 10- 2 sacks, Dickerson and Diquan Gilbert both with 9- 2 sacks were the defensive leaders for Tech. Shaneal Lovett and Darius Sanders recovered fumbles. Sanders returned his 12 yards for a TD.  Aasim Ragin-Nickson blocked a punt for the Phoenix.

SEPT. 16
PUBLIC AAAA
Olney 28 Southern 0 
  Led by RBs Chris Fountain 17-137- 2 TD’S and Erike Taggart 3- 79- TD along with QB Jaron “Snoop” Turner 10- 97- TD the Trojans pounded the ground for 326 yards. The Olney line featured Center Clint Walker, Guards Samuel Fortune and Daquan Cunningham, Tackles Naeem Alston and Philemon Gladden and TE Joseph Bryant. Alston’s brother Nasir paced the defense with 8 tackles including 2.5 sacks totaling 36 yards. Naeem was a close second with 7 and 2 TFL’S. Turner and Julius Broughton each had a pick for Olney. The Rams once again struggled on offense but showed some second half life when Donavan Wilson replaced Shakor McClery at QB. Although the Rams didn’t score, Offensive Coordinator Fran Mackin spread the field with Wilson at the helm indicating that this style may be more conducive for Southern. Daniel Wallace was the South Philly leader on defense with 10 tackles. Wilson and Henry Anhalt each registered 8. Wallace also had an interception. Wayne Brunson, Saquan Ausborne and Anhalt all recovered fumbles for the Rams.

SEPT. 10
PUBLIC AA
Bok 46 Prep Charter 12
  Bok’s Shaquil Sammons [10-106-TD] got the score rolling quickly, when he took the game's first handoff 65 yards giving the Wildcats a 6-0 advantage after just 17 seconds of play. The Huskies tried to answer with the strong arm of QB Troy Johnson [18-31-2TD]. Johnson completed 3 of 4 passes on the initial PC drive, the big one being a 15 yarder to Mark McLean that put the ball on the Wildcat 31. The penetration would cease as Bok’s Khalil Neal along with Vincent Jones, Jabril Keal and Maurice T-Toe pressured Johnson into three incompletions. The series ended when Jones and Keal sacked Johnson on fourth down at the Bok 36. The ‘Cats would score again on a 1 yard sneak by QB Marquis Brown.  The big play on the 64 yard drive was a 42 yard burst by Neal. Neal would run for the 2 point conversion giving his squad a 14-0 lead with just over 6 minutes showing on the first quarter clock. The Huskies would make the contest interesting when Johnson tossed a 5 yard scoring pass to Joseph Lind [6-46] early in the second stanza. Now trailing 14-6 PC once again held Bok on downs forcing the Wildcats to punt. The Men from Mifflin Street caught a break when Sammons’ line drive punt rolled favorably to the Huskies' 4 yard line. On first down Prep’s Dennis Josephus ran for 6 yards but on second down he fumbled the ball which he recovered on the 7. After an incomplete pass on third down it was now the Huskies turn to punt. With Prep punter Eric Taylor Jr. standing in his end zone and the Bok coaching staff yelling; “Go get him”, Taylor took the snap. The task became easier for the ‘Cats since there were only 10 men on the field for PC. Keal found a wide open gap and blocked the punt which went directly into the hands of T-Toe for a Bok touchdown and the rout was on. Bok would score two more times before the half ended and entered their locker room at halftime with a 38-6 lead. The TD’s were passes from Brown to Jihad Ward 21 yards and to Christen Lilly 8 yards. Sammons and Yvon “Lefty” Dessus both ran for conversions while Lilly caught a pass from Brown on the three scores. Bok’s John Richardson intercepted a Johnson pass and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown and Brown ran for the PAT ending the Wildcats scoring. The Huskies closed the scoring on a Johnson to Charles Barber 17 yard strike. Barber snatched 7 balls on the evening for 91 yards. Barber and Curan Simmons each made 8 tackles for the Huskies. Mike Sandefur, Ronald Jones Jr. and Quadeem Starkes all had 6. Starkes also recorded a sack. The Wildcats were led by Neal on defense. The 6’0 225 FB/LB who rushed 4 for 59, registered 9 tackles and also chased Johnson and covered receivers when needed all night. This kid can play. He is definitely a D1 prospect and the way he punishes people both when he runs the ball or tackles and defends , reminds me of Starth Haven’s Dan Connor.  Helping Neal on defense was: Keal 8-5-2 sacks, Jones 6-4-1-sack and Gregory DeSesso 6-4-1. Sean Burris, T-Toe, Carlton Geiger, Amin Brickle and Wayne Foirvante all were in on sacks.      

SEPT. 10
NON-LEAGUE
Roxborough 35, Southern 0
  When a team fumbles the ball 8 times and loses 4 and its starting quarterback Donavan Wilson is unable to play do to an eye injury and their starting FB/LB Izeem Sims separates his shoulder in the opening minutes of play you don’t have to be Knute Rockne to know that it can’t be a good thing.  That’s what happened to the Rams on the way to this 35-0 route by the Indians. Back up QB Shakor McClary had difficulty all afternoon with the exchange of the football with his center Rudy King. The Southern offense was non-existent so there’s no need for further details, the only thing positive was the play of Sr. OT/LB Henry Anhalt who made 10 tackles, 7 solo and 1 for a loss. The Indians were paced by Vince Bennett who ran 15 times for 112 yards and 2 TD’s.  Dre’von Williams returned a punt 60 yards for a score and also scampered in from 7 yards for a TD. Josh Anderson blocked a South Philly punt in the end zone for a Safety and QB Nick Butts scored on a 2 yard keeper. LB Jeremiah Kenderick led the Roxborough defense with 6 tackles including 2 sacks while LB Adrian Johnson-Pope numbered 5 and 1 for a loss. Rasheed Bailey 2, Ramir Handy, Josh Anderson, Bernard Avery, Justin Johnson, Tymere Blue, Dante Huggins, Ben Chapman and Eric Laws-Baron all made tackles for losses. Bailey, Johnson, Anderson and Johnson-Pope recovered fumbles. Quanzure Harris had an Indian pick. Wayne Brunson, Simone Mitchell, Nathaniel Robinson, Lamont Lomax and King all had TFL’s for the Rams. Dan Chiev had an interception.
  NOTE:  Special acknowledgment to Southern’s super sports team manager, Kesheena Mitchell. She does a great job on the sideline for the Rams and records all the plays for offensive coordinator Fran Macklin. Head coach Stosh Tunney says that Kesheena attends every practice and showed up last week even though she wasn’t feeling too well. She also serves as manager for the baseball and basketball teams and hopes to continue on with her sports work while in college. YOU GO, GIRLl!! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!

SEPT. 3
PUBLIC AA
Del-Val 26, Prep Charter 6
  Welcome to the Troy Johnson and Charles Barber show. Yes they provided most of the entertainment during this 3-hour marathon, but sometime it’s nice to play second fiddle which the Warriors did on their way to this triumph. Johnson, a sophomore QB, threw an amazing 36 times, completing 18 for 233 yards and a TD. Barber was his primary target catching 10 for 137 yards including a 19 yarder for a touchdown which came at the 4:44 mark of the fourth quarter and prevented the Warriors from pitching a shutout. Rashan Walker [3-74] started the scoring for Del Val when he caught a 20 yard TD pass from QB Keith Page [6-14-94] early in the first period. It appeared that PC had at least tied the game in the second quarter when Joe Lind [2-17] snagged a short 8 yard fourth and goal toss from Johnson but the officials ruled that Lind’s knee was down at the one yard line. Taking over at their own 1 yard line the Warriors struck quickly. On first down Markeese Walker [9-118] burst for 13 yards and then on the next play raced 86 yards for a 12-0 DV advantage. The Warriors would score 2 more TD’s, both coming in the final stanza. Page escaped from the pocket and ran 45 yards to the end zone. Markeese Walker would later run in from 6 yards to complete the Del Val scoring. It was also a good day for anyone named Aaron. DV’s version Aaron Baker and Aaron Williams stood out for the Warriors. Baker rushed for 80 yards on 11 carries and made 7 tackles, 4 solo with sack. While Williams freelanced his way to 12 tackles, 8 of the solo variety including a sack a 3 passes defended. Rashee Cade 8-4-pass def, Ishmail Bernard 6-3 and how’s this for a name; Heleaince Gates notched 5-3. Charles Edwards recovered a fumble.  For PC Tyrone Cleveland caught 4 passes for 61 yards. On the other side of the ball, Jovan Matthews 8-6-3-sack, Keith Jenkins 7-5-2 sacks and a hurry, Devon Ward 5-3 and Marquan Middleton 5-3-sack headed the leader board. Jenkins forced a fumble while Jahmarley Samuels recovered one.

SEPT. 3
NON-LEAGUE
Bok 37 Southern 6
  Bok’s Shaquil Sammons rushed for 106 first quarter yards and finished with 164 and 3 TD’s [5, 17 and 6] on 16 carries. All of his yards came in the first half as he ran the ball just one time in the third quarter for no gain. The Wildcat defense was too tough for the Ram offense as Southern rushed for a total of 10 yards on 30 attempts. Southern QB Donavan Wilson, when not being chased by the Bok defense was quite effective passing 6 for 7 for 50 yards. Southern’s lone TD came on the games final play, a 14 yard Wilson pass to TE Juwan Bennett. The Wildcat’s other scores were on a safety when Jabril Keal tackled the Rams Daniel Wallace in the end zone near the end of the first quarter. Khalil Neal grabbed a 41 yard TD pass from third string QB Marquise Brown, 3-8 -1- 57 yds who started in place of injured hurlers Andre Frazier and back up Quadir Robinson. Fourth stringer, Yvon Dessus even contributed running 10 yards for the ‘Cats final score. Bok was successful on 3 of their conversions. [Neal run, Walravens Daniel kick and a Daniel run after a bad snap from center on a PAT kick attempt]. The Rams did a nice job of returning the football mounting 147 yards on 6 returns. Bennett led the Southern defense with 8 tackles, 6 solo, 2 for losses including a sack. Henry Anhalt, 7-4, Izeem Sims 6-4, Wayne Brunson 6-5-2-sack and Omar Ballan 5-3 aided Bennett. Eric Johnson had an interception while Ken Johnson and Dan Chiev recovered fumbles. Chiev and Anhalt also forced fumbles. Neal who rushed 7 for 60 paced the Bok defense with 8-6-1. He was helped by Keal 7-5-3- 2 sacks, Naryan Banks 6-4-3- sack, Marqui Alfriend 6-4-1 sack and Gregory DeSesso 5-3-2. Mark Webb, Dominique Winfield, Christian Norton and Dessus had TFL’s. Layquan Mc Cracken recovered a fumble for Bok.  The Rams hurt themselves with 12 penalties for 106 costly yards.