Philly.com High School Sports
7/25/2009 3:01:00 AM
Tom Savage has been part of the Rutgers football program for what seems like a long time. But now comes the next step - taking part in an official practice and competing for the seemingly up-for-grabs quarterback spot.
7/25/2009 3:01:00 AM
MECHANICSBURG - There will be no change in the structure of high school football in Pennsylvania for the next three seasons.
7/24/2009 7:52:55 AM
In a sign that college football recruiting efforts have become more aggressive than ever, St. Joseph's Prep sophomore Skyler Mornhinweg has, according to some reports, already orally committed to play for Stanford.
7/24/2009 6:30:24 AM
A PIAA planning committee voted last night to recommend to the board that it reject two proposals that would alter the football season and change the state playoff picture.
8/27/2009 3:01:00 AM
PENN WOOD HIGH has not won a Del-Val League title in football since 1994. That year, the Patriots went undefeated and had one of the best teams in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Since then, Penn Wood has undergone a swirling carousel of coaching changes and a program that sank into a dormant state, at one stretch going 1-11 for 4 straight years.
8/27/2009 3:01:00 AM
Each week, Daily News sports writer Joseph Santoliquito will rank the top seven Delaware County football teams playing in the Delco leagues. Here is his preseason look:
8/28/2009 3:01:00 AM
PAUL GRAHAM HAS been waiting for this group. Waiting for a few years now. It's like any coach who cultivates what he thinks is something special, and the Penncrest High coach is no different.
8/28/2009 3:01:00 AM
PAUL GRAHAM HAS been waiting for this group. Waiting for a few years now. It's like any coach who cultivates what he thinks is something special, and the Penncrest High coach is no different.
8/31/2009 3:01:00 AM
Here are 15 more Philly leagues products projected to make strong impacts this season for out-of-town schools with Division I-A and I-AA football programs . . .
8/31/2009 3:01:00 AM
EVEN ON A DAY when there is the stirring of a cool breeze at the South Philadelphia Athletic Super Site, Edward W. Bok Technical High School head football coach Tom DeFelice is scared of what could happen. While the heat index has not been so unbearable this summer that it has forced the cancellation of practice, there have been a few times when he has gone home at the end of the day and wondered how some of his heavier players were able to cope with the conditions.
8/31/2009 3:01:00 AM
EVEN ON A DAY when there is the stirring of a cool breeze at the South Philadelphia Athletic Super Site, Edward W. Bok Technical High School head football coach Tom DeFelice is scared of what could happen. While the heat index has not been so unbearable this summer that it has forced the cancellation of practice, there have been a few times when he has gone home at the end of the day and wondered how some of his heavier players were able to cope with the conditions.
9/2/2009 3:01:00 AM
GREG DiCOCCO needed some reassurance, lying there in a hospital bed after being taken off the field by an ambulance during just his third varsity football game. The Radnor center suffered a broken femur in his left leg against Upper Darby earlier in the night, and had just been admitted to a local hospital when a nurse came up to DiCocco's mother and said, "So it looks like you'll never let him play football again."
9/3/2009 3:01:00 AM
JOHN "WHITEY" Sullivan did more than win numerous games during his wildly successful career as Father Judge High's football coach.
9/4/2009 3:01:00 AM
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - When Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick chooses the adjective important to describe his football program's 2009 season, and when he's asked to elaborate on that choice, it kind of begets another question.
9/4/2009 3:01:00 AM
Practice is in full swing, and the South Jersey football season opens next Friday.
That means it's also time for The Inquirer's annual Football Preview.
9/4/2009 3:01:00 AM
In a possible opening-night preview of a later-round PIAA District 1 Class AAAA playoff game, Downingtown West visits Penncrest at 7 tonight in Media.
9/4/2009 3:01:00 AM
Here's a look at today's players most deserving of comparison to some of football's legends:
Four Horsemen The driving force behind Notre Dame's 1924 national championship squad was its spectacular backfield. Legendary coach Knute Rockne designed a backfield - quarterback Harry Stuhldreher, halfbacks Jim Crowley and Don Miller and fullback Elmer
9/4/2009 3:01:00 AM
As far as season-opening football weekends go, this lineup cannot get much better.
North Penn will host defending PIAA Class AAAA state champion Bethlehem Liberty. A pair of Inquirer preseason top-10 squads, No. 5 Downingtown West and No. 8 Penncrest, square off. St. Joseph's Prep will be in Wheeling, W.Va., to tussle with WPIAL power McKeesport. And there are three games, all between Catholic League members, at the Jersey Shore.
9/4/2009 3:01:00 AM
One and done and not much fun.
For now, at least, that's the Public League football legacy for Esperanza Academy, a charter school at 3rd and Hunting Park.
9/4/2009 3:01:00 AM
Here is Rick O'Brien's preseason all-Southeastern Pennsylvania football team. Check back in December to see whether the players made the cut:
9/4/2009 3:01:00 AM
Around the Leagues Welcome mat. The Bicentennial Athletic League is expected to add three teams for the 2010 season, raising the number of member schools for football to eight.
9/4/2009 3:01:00 AM
Keep an Eye On: Jordan Harris Avon Grove, 6-2, 210, RB
Halfway through the 2008 season, Avon Grove coach Marvin Dooley decided he had to give Harris more opportunities with the football. So he moved Harris from wide receiver to running back.
9/4/2009 3:01:00 AM
Mark Mayson became the football coach at Lower Moreland High in 1982, making him one of the longest-serving coaches in the area. He wears multiple hats as a coach, assistant principal, and athletic director - and he wouldn't want it any other way.
9/4/2009 7:56:26 AM
The Bicentennial Athletic League is expected to add three teams for the 2010 season, raising the number of member schools for football to eight.
9/4/2009 3:01:00 AM
The Academy Park football team's recipe for its sudden 2008 success featured two main ingredients - off-season preparation and senior leadership. So this year's Knights already are adding heavier doses of both.
9/4/2009 3:01:00 AM
In its first year as a full-fledged member of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, the Catholic League, thanks to stalwart efforts by West Catholic and Archbishop Wood, gained respect from Philly all the way to Erie.
9/4/2009 3:01:00 AM
Tim Sorber, Abington's head coach and a health and physical education teacher, regularly sees the 1989 Suburban One League Colonial Division football championship banner that hangs from the rafters of the school's gymnasium.
9/4/2009 7:38:16 AM
New Coatesville coach Matt Ortega was looking for something to stir enthusiasm, so he borrowed a page from college basketball by staging a "Midnight Madness" for the team's first practice.
9/4/2009 7:40:35 AM
It's no fluke that Dennis Decker was named Ridley's football coach in the spring. As the quarterback of the 1990 Green Raiders team that went to the PIAA championship game before losing to North Allegheny, he is aware of the pressure that goes with coaching there.
9/4/2009 3:01:00 AM
In the last three seasons, the Garnet Valley football team has won 36 of 41 games, capturing a pair of PIAA District 1 Class AAA championships in 2006 and 2007 and walking off with the Central League title in 2008, its first year in the league.
9/5/2009 3:01:00 AM
The Rutgers football team won't even pretend that the seven-game winning streak it ended 2008 with has any positive bearing on the start this season.
9/5/2009 3:01:00 AM
Practice is in full swing, and the South Jersey football season opens Friday.
That means it's also time for The Inquirer's annual Football Preview.
9/5/2009 3:01:00 AM
Here is a list of some of the South Jersey plyers who are competing in Division I-A football this season.
9/5/2009 3:01:00 AM
Curtis Wortham's high school football career was given a big-time boost three years ago when coaches at Northeast High flat-out told him that he was too small to make any impact at running back.
9/5/2009 3:01:00 AM
Yesterday's Results Football NONLEAGUE
Bok 36, Southern 0
Bishop McDevitt 23, Lower Moreland 6
Dobbins 12, Lincoln 7
9/5/2009 3:01:00 AM
In a battle of two area football powers that had never played each other before, Ridley used a pair of second-quarter touchdowns as a springboard to a 21-6 victory over Coatesville in the season opener for both schools last night.
9/5/2009 3:01:00 AM
CITY DETAILS
Episcopal 28, Furness 6: The Churchmen cruised to victory, thus overshadowing an outstanding performance by the Falcons' Sharif Smith. Smith ran 11 times for 65 yards, caught four passes for 38, notched 129 on returns -- included was a 85-yard scoring sca
9/5/2009 3:01:00 AM
GARY JACKSON doesn't do roller-coasters. And you'll never find him perched atop some ferris wheel, waving to his buddies.
With that in mind, the football coaches at Edward Bok Tech might want to rethink the exaggerated roster size listed for Jackson.
9/5/2009 3:01:00 AM
FOR HIS first act of Monsignor Bonner High's 2009 football season, Eric Petransky caught a kickoff and zoomed 93 yards for a touchdown.
9/4/2009 11:24:04 PM
FOR HIS first act of Monsignor Bonner High's 2009 football season, Eric Petransky caught a kickoff and zoomed 93 yards for a touchdown.
9/5/2009 3:01:00 AM
Episcopal 28, Furness 6: The Churchmen cruised to victory, thus overshadowing an outstanding performance by the Falcons' Sharif Smith. Smith ran 11 times for 65 yards, caught four passes for 38, notched 129 on returns -- included was a 85-yard scoring sca
9/7/2009 3:01:00 AM
FOOTBALL Team Record
Last week's rankings in parentheses.
1. La Salle (1) 1-0
2. St. Joseph's Prep (3) 1-0
9/6/2009 3:01:00 AM
Football Results Yesterday NONLEAGUE
Hatboro-Horsham 7, Frankford 0
Cardinal O'Hara 35, Archbishop Wood 14
Chestnut Hill 21, North Catholic 13
9/6/2009 3:01:00 AM
St. Joseph's Prep rallied from 12 points down in the fourth quarter to open its football season with a 27-26 nonleague thriller over McKeesport yesterday in Wheeling, W.Va.
9/6/2009 3:01:00 AM
Football towns have vibrant youth programs and storied traditions at the high school.
They have trophy cases stuffed with painted footballs and retired jerseys. They have generations of gridiron athletes with their own collections of leather-sleeved championship jackets.
9/8/2009 3:01:00 AM
New Ridley football coach Dennis Decker wasn't sure who was more nervous before Friday night's opener against Coatesville: his players or himself.
9/7/2009 3:01:00 AM
FOOTBALL Team Record
Last week's rankings in parentheses.
1. La Salle (1) 1-0
2. St. Joseph's Prep (3) 1-0
9/9/2009 3:01:00 AM
THUS FAR, coach Drew Gordon has seen no signs of Fat Cat Syndrome in his La Salle High football players.
9/9/2009 7:02:12 AM
RETURNING ALL-LEAGUE PLAYERS (Selected by Daily News)
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
Linemen: Seth Betancourt, SJ Prep; Jake Zuzek, West.
Receiver: Sam Feleccia, La Salle.
9/10/2009 3:01:00 AM
PRESEASON FOOTBALL Team Last Season's Record
Last season's final rank in parentheses.
1. Camden Catholic (4) 9-2
Underrated WR Terrence Casper is part of the area's most explosive passing attack for the defending Burlco/Olympic National champs.
9/10/2009 3:01:00 AM
Goodbye, Burlco/Olympic American.
Goodbye, Tri-County Royal.
Hello, West Jersey Football League.
Hello, superconference.
This season marks the end of an era in South Jersey football. Next season, teams from the Burlco/Olympic, Tri-County, and Mercer County-based Colonial Valley will join together to form the West Jersey Football League.
9/10/2009 3:01:00 AM
About eight years ago, Sal Marchese was watching two speedy little kids run around with the Delsea Knights midget football team.
9/10/2009 3:01:00 AM
Soccer is a different sport on artificial turf.
That's clear.
Field hockey is a different sport on artificial turf.
That's obvious.
9/10/2009 3:01:00 AM
My, how time flies, with this being the final year of the first decade of the 2000s. That means one more season for a school to promote its candidacy as South Jersey's football team of the decade.
9/10/2009 3:01:00 AM
Timber Creek football coach Rob Hinson is a better coach than he is an actor. Hinson acted stunned when it was suggested that Timber Creek could be the team to beat in one of South Jersey's most competitive conference, the Burlco/Olympic Liberty.
9/10/2009 3:01:00 AM
Night football was a regular event in Gloucester in the 1940s and 1950s at the old Charles Street Stadium.
But the Lions have been a Saturday morning team since the new high school was opened at the corner of Market Street and Route 130 in 1962.
9/10/2009 3:01:00 AM
This year, Shawnee finally has a chance to meet Mainland in the playoffs. It's a development that has come a year too late.
9/10/2009 3:01:00 AM
Inter-Ac LEAGUE football no longer has Gaspare "Gamp" Pellegrini to get kicked around by. At least not directly.
After producing 219 wins and 20 championships (16 outright) in his 31 seasons at Malvern Prep, Pellegrini has retired. But the school has entrusted the program to his son, Kevin, a 1990 grad and longtime assistant.
9/11/2009 3:01:00 AM
On the football field, they are head coach, assistant head coach, and player.
Off the field, they are grandfather, father, and son.
9/11/2009 3:01:00 AM
STATE FOOTBALL Team Record
With last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Bishop McDevit (2) 1-0
2. La Salle (3) 1-0
9/11/2009 3:01:00 AM
Olney's football staff will be counting on Eric Barrow to gain yards in chunks this fall. But it was two yards covered by Barrow that made all the difference in a nonleague game yesterday.
9/11/2009 3:01:00 AM
Yesterday's Results Football NONLEAGUE
University City 0 0 0 8 - 8
Bok 10 6 14 8 - 38
9/11/2009 3:01:00 AM
For high school football players who get discouraged when the scholarship offers aren't flowing in as quickly as anticipated, Jonathan Grimes should be a source of inspiration.
9/11/2009 3:01:00 AM
There are so many key games to open the high school football season that we should call this Toss-Up Friday. Every game is important, especially for teams that could be on that always dangerous bubble when it comes to qualifying for the postseason.
9/11/2009 3:01:00 AM
For the fourth year in a row, Shawnee and Cherokee will kick off the football season facing one another in a tone-setter for South Jersey football.
9/11/2009 3:01:00 AM
WHEN FRANK DELANO took the football coaching job at Haddonfield High, then-fourth-grader Phil Bhaya presented a paper to the coach titled "The Characteristics of a Good Quarterback."
9/11/2009 3:01:00 AM
EXCEPT FOR very scattered raindrops, the promised water never made an appearance yesterday afternoon at Southern High's football field.
Similarly, on Wednesday night, the recommended amount of H2O never passed through Eric Barrow's lips en route to his stomach.
9/11/2009 3:01:00 AM
NONLEAGUE
Bok 38, University City 8: Khalil Neal carried 22 times for 129 yards and two TDs while Gary Jackson turned two of his four scrimmage touches into scores (33 reception, 12 run). Josh Garnett recorded a safety by blocking a punt through the end zone, Shaquil Sammons posted a pick and Chris Sherrod notched two fumble recoveries along with six tackles. UC's score came on a 50-yard pass from Michael Adens to Tariq "Pop Tart" Gordon.
9/12/2009 3:01:00 AM
Host Bridgeton opened the Cape-Atlantic League football season with a bang last night, ending a two-decade-long losing streak against National Conference power St. Joseph, 14-6.
9/12/2009 3:01:00 AM
Yesterday's Results Football BURLCO/OLYMPIC AMERICAN
Lenape 33, Cherry Hill East 7
BURLCO/OLYMPIC FREEDOM
Maple Shade 22, Florence 7
9/12/2009 3:01:00 AM
Score another one for an opening-day classic between two rivals. Cherokee and Shawnee have shown a recent pattern of playing opening football games that don't lack hitting or suspense.
9/12/2009 3:01:00 AM
MATT DiGIACOMO first made his mark as a La Salle High varsity football player as a defensive tackle.
But deep down, perhaps everyone should have figured he'd also become a darn important contributor on the offensive side of the ball.
9/12/2009 3:01:00 AM
Yesterday's Results Football BICENTENNIAL LEAGUE
Bristol 28, New Hope-Solebury 14
CENTRAL LEAGUE
Ridley 39, Lower Merion 0
9/12/2009 3:01:00 AM
West Phila. 20, Future 14: Robert Andrews carried 26 times for 166 yards and two TDs for the Speedboys, who built a 20-12 first quarter lead. Facing 4th and 13 with 1:50 left, West called for a reverse to Christian Southern. He responded with a salt-it-away, 18-yard gain. His brother, Joseph, had two returns for 103 yards. For Future, Khalil Hobson (21-175) and Sterling Taylor (11-40) ran for TDs and Naeem Brogdon made a tackle for a safety.
9/13/2009 3:01:00 AM
Football Results Yesterday BURLCO/OLYMPIC FREEDOM
Burlington City 34, New Egypt 12
BURLCO/OLYMPIC PATRIOT
Paul VI 28, Woodrow Wilson 7
9/13/2009 3:01:00 AM
It's a pattern that has become familiar but never easy for the opponent to digest. Paulsboro's football season usually begins the year with a vanilla-flavored offense, just enough not to get in the way of the defense.
9/13/2009 3:01:00 AM
Denzel Satterfield intercepted the football and looked up.
In front of him was 97 yards of open field.
And an upset for the ages.
9/13/2009 3:01:00 AM
With his starting fullback sitting on the bench, injured, Haddon Township football coach Nelson Epley had no idea how a converted guard would do at the position against host Overbrook yesterday in a Colonial Conference interdivisional opener for both teams.
9/13/2009 3:01:00 AM
Yesterday's Results Football NONLEAGUE
Chester 36, Sun Valley 0
Norristown 40, Ben Franklin 0
Washington 36, Truman 15
9/13/2009 3:01:00 AM
Junior tailback Brian Ruditys capped off a remarkable day by scoring a touchdown in the second overtime as host Episcopal Academy survived Del-Val Charter, 27-20, in a nonleague football game yesterday.
9/12/2009 4:42:11 PM
Denzel Satterfield intercepted the football and looked up.
9/14/2009 3:01:00 AM
Now that Corey Brown has watched the Ohio State Buckeyes, he wants to help 'em.
Brown, a star senior football player - rusher, receiver, d-back, returner, anything else you want? - at Cardinal O'Hara High, has made an oral commitment after spending a memorable weekend on campus.
9/14/2009 3:01:00 AM
FOOTBALL Team Record
Last week's rankings in parentheses.
1. Williamstown (2) 0-0
2. Delsea (3) 1-0
3. Cherokee (4) 1-0
9/14/2009 3:01:00 AM
In a wild first week of South Jersey football, the biggest winners were a female kicker and Group 2. After a number of upsets, this question must be asked: Were they really surprises or simply the product of lousy predicting by sportswriters?
9/14/2009 3:01:00 AM
Cardinal O'Hara standout Corey Brown has orally committed to play for Ohio State, according to Lions coach Danny Algeo.
During the weekend, Brown made an unofficial visit to the school, where he watched the Buckeyes take on Southern Cal before a record crowd of 106,033.
9/14/2009 3:01:00 AM
Sophomore quarterback Skyler Mornhinweg directed St. Joseph's Prep to 26 straight second-half points and rallied the Hawks to a 40-28 nonleague football win over St. Peter's Prep of Jersey City yesterday at Rutgers University.
9/14/2009 3:01:00 AM
FOOTBALL Team Record
Last week's rankings in parentheses.
1. La Salle (1) 2-0
2. North Penn (2) 2-0
9/14/2009 3:01:00 AM
College football: Fresh off Saturday's 28-7 win over Syracuse, Penn State moved up two spots in the Associated Press poll yesterday, climbing from seventh to a tie for fifth with Mississippi.
9/16/2009 3:01:00 AM
JASON VOSHESKI is seeing tangible proof of the goals he envisioned for the Academy Park football program when he took over in 2005. For one, the Knights, who experienced their first winning season since 2001 last year when they went 7-5, have a feeder program, something they have not had since 1999. Another is that the success of the football program is generating more interest in the sport at Academy Park, which had 66 kids come out this year.
9/16/2009 3:01:00 AM
It all started with a power-puff football game and evolved into something much bigger for Samantha Dimitri.
The Deptford senior made history in Saturday's 21-17 loss to Pennsville in an interdivisional Tri-County football game.
9/17/2009 3:01:00 AM
IS IT FAIR to hold a party and invite just three guests?
Because let's face it, the only schools with a shot at winning the Public League's glamour football championship, in Class AAAA, are George Washington, Frankford and Northeast.
9/17/2009 3:01:00 AM
IT DIDN'T MATTER that the opposition was considered by many as the best in South Jersey and ranked as high as third in the state. All coach Durwin Pearson wanted his Camden High football players to do was win the first game.
9/17/2009 3:01:00 AM
What a wild first week of high school football, with upsets galore. Most teams opened last week, and there are a few things we learned, including there is no such thing as a sure pick.
9/17/2009 3:01:00 AM
When Jim Scerbo says Trevor Loveland provides a spark for the Cherry Hill West football team, the coach means it.
9/17/2009 3:01:00 AM
The Timber Creek football team realizes how difficult it is to be the front-runner. Favored to win the Burlco/Olympic Liberty Division, Timber Creek barely escaped with a 20-17 overtime win over Seneca last week.
9/17/2009 3:01:00 AM
For most area football teams, Week No. 3 marks the end of the nonleague slate. That said, it's the last chance for fine-tuning before the race for a league title kicks off.
Philly.com Sports
7/26/2009 3:01:00 AM
If Philadelphia had a United Football League team, would you be a fan?
1. Yes.
2. No.
7/27/2009 3:01:00 AM
The Philadelphia Liberty Belles - of the Women's Football Alliance semipro tackle league - squandered a fourth-quarter lead and fell to the Western Michigan Mayhem, 28-21, in the National Conference championship game in Kalamazoo, Mich., on Saturday.
7/28/2009 3:01:00 AM
CHICAGO - Penn State's Daryll Clark might be the reigning all-Big Ten quarterback, but it was Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor who was selected the conference's preseason offensive player of the year at the league's media day yesterday.
7/29/2009 3:01:00 AM
BETHLEHEM - A glowing red sun set behind the clouds here on the day that Jim Johnson died. The football fields at Lehigh University, green and pristine, stretched out for acres in the valley. The Eagles players, most of them unscarred rookies, the youngest of the young, were probably eating or napping or getting ready for a meeting when they announced the news.
7/29/2009 3:01:00 AM
CHICAGO - When you are Joe Paterno, you can do these types of things.
The legendary Penn State coach was asked about college football's collective movement toward the spread offense.
7/29/2009 3:01:00 AM
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Jim Johnson found his true football home at the very end of his long and distinguished career, at the very end of a life that ended all too soon yesterday.
7/29/2009 3:01:00 AM
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Jim Johnson was a football lifer who made a dozen stops along the coaching thoroughfare.
He started in college, leaving an indelible imprint, and eventually moved on to the United States Football League. But it was in the NFL where he made his mark - and affected lives.
7/29/2009 3:01:00 AM
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The University of Alabama formally asked the NCAA to restore 21 vacated wins to the football program in a 29-page appeal yesterday.
7/29/2009 3:01:00 AM
THE NFL AND and point spreads go together like Sarah Palin and a David Letterman Top 10 list.
In 1973, former Daily News columnist and sports editor Larry Merchant wrote a book, "The National Football Lottery," that took an irreverent and humorous look at America's sports-gambling obsession, centering on the league where point-spread handicappers now have the traction of minor rock stars.
7/30/2009 3:01:00 AM
BALTIMORE - With great expectations comes a great responsibility to perform.
That's just fine with Villanova football head coach Andy Talley.
7/30/2009 3:01:00 AM
CHICAGO - It might have been the worst-ever afternoon of college football at Beaver Stadium, a 6-4 loss to Iowa on Penn State's 2004 homecoming weekend, a game that redefined offensive ineptitude.
7/30/2009 3:01:00 AM
BALTIMORE - When the Colonial Athletic Association's preseason rankings were unveiled yesterday at the league's football media day, Villanova was listed as a cofavorite to take the title along with the defending NCAA Division I-AA champion, Richmond.
7/30/2009 3:01:00 AM
Rich "Moose'' Carfagno, a longtime assistant at schools on the high school and college levels, is the new football coach at Ss. Neumann-Goretti High. He replaces Bill Sytsma, who resigned last month. Carfagno spent 5 years apiece at the old St. John Neumann and John Bartram as the defensive coordinator.
7/31/2009 3:01:00 AM
Michael Vick, the former Atlanta Falcons star who completed a 23-month sentence for running a dogfighting ring, said yesterday he is getting close to signing with a pro football team.
8/1/2009 3:01:00 AM
DETROIT - It won't take long for Al Golden to see exactly where his rising Temple team is going this fall.
8/1/2009 3:01:00 AM
Temple football coach Al Golden said yesterday he hopes a greater sense of team unity translates into a better record for his team this season.
8/1/2009 3:01:00 AM
Hawaii football coach Greg McMackin was suspended for 30 days without pay and has volunteered to take an additional 7 percent cut from his $1.1 million salary for using a homosexual slur while describing Notre Dame's dance before last year's Hawaii Bowl.
8/2/2009 3:01:00 AM
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Tonight at Lincoln Financial Field, there will be fireworks, cheerleaders, giveaways, player introductions, a pep band, and a highlight show. Oh, and there will be some football, too.
8/4/2009 3:01:00 AM
Florida football coach Urban Meyer has two national championships in the last three years and the same number of raises.
8/4/2009 3:01:00 AM
Editor's note: These excerpts are not edited for grammar or spelling:
Getting defensive While the loss of Brian Dawkins hurt the fans, the Eagles at least made moves to fill the void on the field: Quintin Demps has talent all over the place and Sean Jones, by all accounts, can play some damn fine football. Jim Johnson's bat
8/4/2009 3:01:00 AM
The Arena Football League appears to be about to fold.
A number of media outlets are reporting the league's imminent demise, including the Albany, N.Y., Times-Union, which noted that Tampa Bay president Jim Borghesi posted on his Facebook page, "The AFL will be having a press conference to announce that the league will not be returning."
8/5/2009 3:01:00 AM
Football is all about controlling the line of scrimmage. On their own, Mike Patterson and Brodrick Bunkley haven't turned into dominating players who frequently penetrate offensive lines and make plays in the backfield. Together though, t
8/5/2009 3:01:00 AM
More and more it seems likely the Philadelphia Soul will hold the distinction of being the final champions of the Arena Football League.
8/6/2009 3:01:00 AM
The Arena Football League has shut down, this time indefinitely.
The league, which previously called off play for the 2009 season but had said it planned to return in 2010, sent a terse, one-paragraph statement to its teams late Tuesday announcing it had suspended operations.
8/7/2009 3:01:00 AM
Year 4 of the Al Golden era on North Broad Street begins today when his Temple football team (105 players strong) opens training camp at the program's on-campus facility.
8/8/2009 3:01:00 AM
THEY memorialized Jim Johnson in a football stadium yesterday, which certainly was appropriate, given how much of Johnson's life was spent in such places.
8/8/2009 3:01:00 AM
This is the USA Today preseason Top 25 football coaches' poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, teams' 2008 records, total points based on 25 points for first place through one point for 25th, and final 2008 poll ranking:
8/8/2009 3:01:00 AM
Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson has invited nearly everybody who has ever worked for him to share in his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction. Bruce Smith has about 450 people on his guest list.
8/9/2009 3:01:00 AM
He enters the 2009 football season with a new three-year contract, a new hip, and the same old passion to mold a bunch of young men into a team that will compel the experts to add its name to the national championship conversation.
8/9/2009 3:01:00 AM
Seven years after his death and 34 years after the end of his career, Bob Hayes was inducted yesterday into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
8/10/2009 3:01:00 AM
Which former Eagle most deserves to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
1. Cris Carter 2. Bill Bergey 3. Randall Cunningham
8/12/2009 3:01:00 AM
BETHLEHEM - The National Football League doesn't do fairy tales, not very often, not anymore. It is too big, and has been for a long time. The players and the money are enormous now, so formidable and still growing, that the dreamers and the longshots occupy a smaller and smaller place in the landscape.
8/12/2009 3:01:00 AM
THIS SHOULD be a glorious time for Chris Wynn. Should be.
The senior is entering his final season with sky-high hopes fueled by national recognition for his play at cornerback. He will be one of the captains for a Penn team that has a shot to win the Ivy League crown. And he is ready to reap the reward of allowing himself - in his words - to get beat up all summer long by a personal trainer. He's even threatening one of Chuck Bednarik's school records.
8/12/2009 3:01:00 AM
After being picked to finish fourth in the Ivy League last year and finishing third, the Penn football team will enter the 2009 season rated behind only favored Harvard and with its sights on the Quakers' first title since 2003.
8/13/2009 3:01:00 AM
What I know about readying a football team for an NFL season is roughly equivalent to what I know about Titian, the 16th-century painter
8/15/2009 8:39:26 AM
By now people know the new lyrics to the Eagles' fight song:
"Die, Fido, die . . ."
Or they've read other updated versions. Sarcastic verses are popping up on the Internet. And those are among the milder responses to the home team's signing of perhaps the most vilified athlete in pro football, Michael Vick.
8/15/2009 3:01:00 AM
THEY SHARE a bond beyond being highly successful coaches in the National Football League.
Tony Dungy, who became the first African-American head coach to win a Super Bowl, and Eagles coach Andy Reid have had their own personal battles through the years that are far more important than any they've faced on the field.
8/15/2009 8:39:25 AM
The Eagles' most prominent fan, Gov. Rendell, had nothing but positive words for the team's signing of Michael Vick. And the governor didn't mention football, only dogs.
8/16/2009 3:01:00 AM
Michael Vick has a unique opportunity.
It's an opportunity that does not involve running or throwing a football for the Eagles, although his abilities with each should only boost his influence.
8/16/2009 8:36:01 AM
As predictably as my puggle, Angel, does her business in the morning, animal activists lined up outside the NovaCare Complex on Friday to welcome Michael Vick to Philadelphia.
8/17/2009 6:00:07 AM
HOLDING A NO. 7 green football jersey against his chest for the newest - and most notorious - Eagles player, Michael Vick, Baptist pastor Edgar Edwards said yesterday: "I believe in forgiveness."
8/18/2009 3:01:00 AM
When they were burned out of their residence at 40th and Spruce early Aug. 9, seven members of the Penn football team were wondering what to do next.
8/19/2009 3:01:00 AM
Three years ago, Temple's starting running back was done with football.
Fed up with going through the pains of a coaching change and a redshirt freshman season at Syracuse, Lamar McPherson was just looking for somewhere to take classes. He spent a week each at Arizona Western and Mississippi Northwest. Too far from home. And he just wasn't having fun.
8/19/2009 3:01:00 AM
A grand jury in Louisville, Ky., has reindicted a former Kentucky high school football coach on an additional charge in the case of a player who collapsed at practice and later died.
8/19/2009 3:01:00 AM
Former Duke point guard Greg Paulus is the starting quarterback at Syracuse.
He won the job after transferring and getting an NCAA waiver to play football as a graduate student at the Newhouse School of Public Communications. Paulus was a Parade All-American as a recordsetting quarterback in high school in Syracuse.
8/19/2009 3:01:00 AM
Three years ago, Temple's starting running back was done with football.
Fed up with going through the pains of a coaching change and a redshirt freshman season at Syracuse, Lamar McPherson was just looking for somewhere to take classes. He spent a week each at Arizona Western and Mississippi Northwest. Too far from home. And he just wasn't having fun.
8/20/2009 3:01:00 AM
STATE COLLEGE - Some major college football coaches apparently contract the same eye disease that distorts the vision of so many of their NFL counterparts.
8/20/2009 3:01:00 AM
When Al Golden was hired as the Temple football coach in December 2005, one of the first things on his to-do list was to initiate talks with Villanova about beginning a new rivalry between the teams.
8/20/2009 3:01:00 AM
Villanova lost only two Football Championship Subdivision games last season, both to James Madison. The first, when JMU was ranked No. 1, came on a Hail Mary pass on the last play. The second, in a national quarterfinal on the road, came on a touchdown in the final 2 minutes.
8/21/2009 3:01:00 AM
INDIANAPOLIS - Exhibition football under normal circumstances is something less to be savored than it is to be endured. Exhibition football when you are missing a dozen players is something less to be endured than it is to be ignored.
8/21/2009 3:01:00 AM
INDIANAPOLIS - It's a good thing these preseason games give NFL coaching staffs a better idea of who should make their football teams, because they provide no clue as to what to expect when the games start to count in a few weeks.
8/21/2009 3:01:00 AM
Air Force Sep. 5 Nicholls St.
Sep. 12 at Minnesota
Sep. 19 at New Mexico
Sep. 26 San Diego St.
8/23/2009 3:01:00 AM
SHELBYVILLE, Ky. - Buddy Ryan's whistle pierced the Kentucky morning.
"Yo," Ryan called across the back pasture, larger than a football field. "Come on. Come on."
8/23/2009 3:01:00 AM
All the mystery surrounding Michael Vick, the football player, has allowed even coach Andy Reid to have some fun.
8/23/2009 3:01:00 AM
Buddy Ryan's twin sons, just out of college, had been ball boys and ballplayers. They had worked as hot-tar roofers and loaded planes at Philadelphia International Airport. They had sowed wild oats. They wanted to be football coaches.
8/23/2009 3:01:00 AM
While Florida is ranked No. 1, Penn State will start the 2009 season the way it ended 2008 - among the top 10 teams in the AP college football poll.
8/23/2009 3:01:00 AM
The top 25 teams in the Associated Press preseason football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, 2008 records, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and final ranking:
8/24/2009 3:01:00 AM
Even though the Detroit Lions were embarrassingly bad as they made their way through the only 0-16 record in NFL history, there were bright spots. Unfortunately for the Lions, those few sunny moments came mostly in the imaginary game of fantasy football.
8/25/2009 3:01:00 AM
STATE COLLEGE - To much of the nation, Penn State's football image is as old school as old school can be.
8/26/2009 3:01:00 AM
Junior Vaughn Charlton will start at quarterback Sept. 3 when the Temple football team opens the season against Villanova at Lincoln Financial Field.
8/26/2009 3:01:00 AM
Jon Runyan is ready to play football again. Now he just needs somebody to offer him a contract.
The 35-year-old free-agent offensive tackle, who had microfracture surgery on his right knee in February, was cleared for full contact Monday by Dr. James Andrews, the Birmingham, Ala., orthopedist who operated on him.
8/27/2009 3:01:00 AM
PENN WOOD HIGH has not won a Del-Val League title in football since 1994. That year, the Patriots went undefeated and had one of the best teams in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Since then, Penn Wood has undergone a swirling carousel of coaching changes and a program that sank into a dormant state, at one stretch going 1-11 for 4 straight years.
8/27/2009 3:01:00 AM
Donovan McNabb can't take over Brian Dawkins' leadership role on the Eagles' defense, but the quarterback is assuming the mantle for Dawkins in one area that McNabb thinks is important.
8/27/2009 3:01:00 AM
Shawn Andrews insists that the people who think he doesn't really want to play football - and yes, that includes me - are full of it.
8/27/2009 3:01:00 AM
Some people outside the locker room of the West Chester University football team may not have heard of Joe Wright.
8/27/2009 3:01:00 AM
There is no pressing football reason for Michael Vick to take part in the Eagles' preseason game tonight.
Vick will be tied up in a bankruptcy hearing most of the day. He will not, according to coach Andy Reid, run the offense after Donovan McNabb leaves the game. On top of that, under the terms of Vick's suspension, he almost certainly will be ineligible to play at the beginning of the regular season. Nothing he does tonight will carry over to October, when he's allowed to play again.
8/27/2009 3:01:00 AM
Nominations are being accepted for deserving high school football players for the Donovan McNabb/Daily News award. If you are a high school coach and wish to have a player considered, please send an e-mail to Daily News assistant sports editor Chuck Bausman at bausmac@phillynews.com. Please include information about the players' academic and athletic achievements, and contact information for us to reach him. Nominations will only be accepted from coaches.
8/27/2009 3:01:00 AM
Academy Park
Coach: Jason Vosheski (Fifth season: 13-31).
Last year: 7-5.
Key players: Kabongo Bukasa (Sr. WR/DB, 6-2, 190), Marquis Bey (Sr. WR/DB, 6-0, 160), Joe Richburg (Jr. RB/LB, 5-8, 180), Brian McDonald (Sr. QB/DB, 6-0, 160), Darius Hines (Sr. OL/DL, 5-11, 255).
8/27/2009 3:01:00 AM
Each week, Daily News sports writer Joseph Santoliquito will rank the top seven Delaware County football teams playing in the Delco leagues. Here is his preseason look:
8/28/2009 3:01:00 AM
ANDY REID gave the rest of the National Football League its first glimpse of his plans for Michael Vick last night. Judging by the results, it's safe to say none of the league's defensive coordinators went rushing to the medicine cabinet for a Xanax.
8/28/2009 3:01:00 AM
As with everything else that has transpired since the Eagles signed quarterback Michael Vick two weeks ago, even his first step onto the football field last night was the subject of disagreement.
8/28/2009 3:01:00 AM
PAUL GRAHAM HAS been waiting for this group. Waiting for a few years now. It's like any coach who cultivates what he thinks is something special, and the Penncrest High coach is no different.
8/28/2009 3:01:00 AM
Garnet Valley
Coach: Mike Ricci (23rd season: 133-98-1)
Last year: 12-1. Reached the PIAA District 1 Class AAAA semifinals, losing to Neshaminy, 21-14.
8/29/2009 3:01:00 AM
Reality bites.
It bit Donovan McNabb and the Eagles right about the time the quarterback seemed to signal with a wave of his hand "enough with the gimmicks, let's get back to football."
8/29/2009 3:01:00 AM
The Cheyney University football team's goal is to shed its losing image.
Lincoln University talks of building off last season, its first football campaign since 1960.
8/29/2009 3:01:00 AM
PARKERSBURG, Iowa - An Iowa high school football team ran onto the field yesterday for its first game since coach Ed Thomas was killed. They ran through a tunnel formed by hundreds of Thomas' former players that stretched more than 75 yards.
8/30/2009 3:01:00 AM
Two historically black universities and longtime rivals began what they hope will be much improved football seasons when they met yesterday in the Wade Wilson Classic.
8/30/2009 3:01:00 AM
They sat down for a meeting during the summer, the old-school 82-year-old head football coach and the 21-year-old linebacker who had experienced so much adversity in his life and once told a judge that he hated to go home during breaks from school because of how rough things were in his old neighborhood.
8/30/2009 3:01:00 AM
The Inquirer will publish its high school football preview section for Southeastern Pennsylvania on Friday and its South Jersey football preview section Sept. 10.
8/31/2009 3:01:00 AM
Here are 15 more Philly leagues products projected to make strong impacts this season for out-of-town schools with Division I-A and I-AA football programs . . .
8/31/2009 3:01:00 AM
There's no question about the success USC's football program has had in the Pete Carroll era.
8/31/2009 3:01:00 AM
The University of Michigan announced yesterday that it has launched an investigation into allegations that its football program regularly violates NCAA rules limiting how much time players can spend on training and practice.
8/31/2009 3:01:00 AM
NOT ONLY WILL this report tell you who Brian White is, it also will tell you what he's about to do for the first time in nearly 2 years.
8/31/2009 3:01:00 AM
EVEN ON A DAY when there is the stirring of a cool breeze at the South Philadelphia Athletic Super Site, Edward W. Bok Technical High School head football coach Tom DeFelice is scared of what could happen. While the heat index has not been so unbearable this summer that it has forced the cancellation of practice, there have been a few times when he has gone home at the end of the day and wondered how some of his heavier players were able to cope with the conditions.
8/31/2009 3:01:00 AM
The 2009 college football season is sure to be the Year of the Quarterback. That's not to say all the quarterbacks mentioned below will move on to the NFL to rival the draft class of 1983 (Dan Marino, John Elway, Jim Kelly) or 2004 (Ben Roethlisberger and Eli Manning and three combined Super Bowl wins), but they have a chance to make a serious impact now and in the future.
8/31/2009 3:01:00 AM
The Daily News previews the college football season all week:
TODAY
* 50 things about College Football
* City Leaguers in college
8/31/2009 3:01:00 AM
EVEN ON A DAY when there is the stirring of a cool breeze at the South Philadelphia Athletic Super Site, Edward W. Bok Technical High School head football coach Tom DeFelice is scared of what could happen. While the heat index has not been so unbearable this summer that it has forced the cancellation of practice, there have been a few times when he has gone home at the end of the day and wondered how some of his heavier players were able to cope with the conditions.
8/31/2009 12:49:00 PM
A federal appeals court today limited Delaware's plans for a new sports betting lottery to parlay bets on professional football games only.
9/1/2009 3:01:00 AM
When the Temple football team opens up Thursday night against visiting Villanova in the inaugural Mayor's Cup at Lincoln Financial Field, what Owls fans will see when their team lines up on offense is a front line that is bigger and deeper than Temple has gone to battle with in many a year.
9/1/2009 3:01:00 AM
It is no secret the NFL preseason is among the most flagrant examples of consumer fraud perpetrated upon the American public. That has been true ever since the league's owners hit upon the brilliant idea of forcing customers who want to see eight games to pay full price for 10 games.
9/1/2009 3:01:00 AM
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said yesterday that his football program has abided by NCAA rules, despite allegations from anonymous players and former players who say the team has practiced far beyond the time allowed.
9/1/2009 3:01:00 AM
A federal appeals court yesterday limited Delaware's plans for a new sports betting lottery to parlay bets on professional football games only - similar to what the state offered in 1976 with limited success.
9/1/2009 3:01:00 AM
JEROME HAYES claims to have put it all out of his mind: the months of grueling rehabilitation, the frustration of watching his teammates play when he could not, the anxiety of wondering whether he ever would be made whole again, or at least whole enough to again become a contributing member of the Penn State football team.
9/1/2009 3:01:00 AM
COLT McCOY (3-1): Senior quarterback, Texas. Maybe it's just his turn.
TIM TEBOW (4-1): Senior quarterback, Florida. Whoever wins, he's the best player.
9/1/2009 3:01:00 AM
Ed Barkowitz
1. Texas
2. Florida
3. Penn State
4. Oklahoma
5. Mississippi
While it feels a bit like tugging on Superman's cape by not picking Florida, I'm going with Texas to redeem last year's snub.
9/1/2009 3:01:00 AM
A three-judge panel of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia filed a 23-page opinion yesterday, citing its reasons for not permitting Delaware to implement single-game sports betting on all major professional and college sports. The judges ruled on Aug. 24 that the new sports betting proposal violated a 1992 federal law that bans sports betting. They said Delaware's new sports betting must be limited to multigame, or "parlay," bets on pro football games only.
9/2/2009 3:01:00 AM
GREG DiCOCCO needed some reassurance, lying there in a hospital bed after being taken off the field by an ambulance during just his third varsity football game. The Radnor center suffered a broken femur in his left leg against Upper Darby earlier in the night, and had just been admitted to a local hospital when a nurse came up to DiCocco's mother and said, "So it looks like you'll never let him play football again."
9/2/2009 3:01:00 AM
WITH 40 VICTORIES over the past four seasons, including three bowl wins in four tries, it's fairly evident Penn State football is back to the elite status it has held during most of coach Joe Paterno's legendary regime.
9/2/2009 3:01:00 AM
Temple named its six captains yesterday - three on offense, three on defense - as voted by the players.
Senior tight end Steve Maneri, senior offensive tackle Devin Tyler and junior quarterback Vaughn Charlton were chosen on offense. Senior nose tackle Andre Neblett, senior linebacker Alex Joseph and senior safety Dominique Harris represent the defense.
9/2/2009 3:01:00 AM
Each week, Daily News sports writer Joseph Santoliquito ranks the top seven Delaware County football teams playing in the Delco leagues. His preseason look:
9/2/2009 3:01:00 AM
The Inquirer will publish its high school football preview section for Southeastern Pennsylvania on Friday, and its South Jersey football preview section Thursday, Sept. 10.
9/2/2009 3:01:00 AM
With its 2009 football opener against visiting Villanova set for tomorrow night, Temple yesterday named the team captains.
In a player vote, tight end Steve Maneri, offensive tackle Devin Tyler, quarterback Vaughn Charlton, defensive tackle Andre Neblett, linebacker Alex Joseph, and safety Dominique Harris were selected. All but Charlton are seniors; he is a redshirt junior.
9/3/2009 3:01:00 AM
JOHN "WHITEY" Sullivan did more than win numerous games during his wildly successful career as Father Judge High's football coach.
9/3/2009 3:01:00 AM
IF VILLANOVA football coach Andy Talley were running the program on North Broad Street, he's not so sure an inaugural Mayor's Cup game would be taking place tonight at Lincoln Financial Field.
9/3/2009 3:01:00 AM
The Inquirer will publish its high school football preview section for Southeastern Pennsylvania tomorrow and its South Jersey football preview section next Thursday.
9/3/2009 3:01:00 AM
With Temple and Villanova opening their football seasons in the inaugural Mayor's Cup tonight at Lincoln Financial Field, two questions will be answered by the time the game is over.
9/3/2009 3:01:00 AM
Jerome Hayes could have said goodbye to Penn State football, and no one could blame him if he had. Two grueling rehabilitations over the last two years from torn anterior cruciate knee ligaments, first in his right knee, then his left, would have been enough for anyone to say, "Thanks. It's been fun."
9/4/2009 3:01:00 AM
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - It was a draw between Wildcat Vick and Quarterback Vick.
In his first game back at quarterback after dogfighting charges drove him out of the NFL, Michael Vick showed the sort of rust you might have expected after a 21/2-year exile from football.
9/4/2009 3:01:00 AM
Six years ago, Villanova and Temple played the first college football game at Lincoln Financial Field, in their first meeting since 1980. The Wildcats won by a field goal in double-overtime. Probably not what the Division I-A program had in mind when it was scheduled. But stuff happens. Just ask Michigan.
9/4/2009 3:01:00 AM
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - When Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick chooses the adjective important to describe his football program's 2009 season, and when he's asked to elaborate on that choice, it kind of begets another question.
9/4/2009 3:01:00 AM
Practice is in full swing, and the South Jersey football season opens next Friday.
That means it's also time for The Inquirer's annual Football Preview.
9/4/2009 3:01:00 AM
In a possible opening-night preview of a later-round PIAA District 1 Class AAAA playoff game, Downingtown West visits Penncrest at 7 tonight in Media.
9/4/2009 3:01:00 AM
Here's a look at today's players most deserving of comparison to some of football's legends:
Four Horsemen The driving force behind Notre Dame's 1924 national championship squad was its spectacular backfield. Legendary coach Knute Rockne designed a backfield - quarterback Harry Stuhldreher, halfbacks Jim Crowley and Don Miller and fullback Elmer
9/4/2009 3:01:00 AM
Piecing together a nonconference schedule for a major college football program such as Penn State can be a tricky business.
9/4/2009 3:01:00 AM
As far as season-opening football weekends go, this lineup cannot get much better.
North Penn will host defending PIAA Class AAAA state champion Bethlehem Liberty. A pair of Inquirer preseason top-10 squads, No. 5 Downingtown West and No. 8 Penncrest, square off. St. Joseph's Prep will be in Wheeling, W.Va., to tussle with WPIAL power McKeesport. And there are three games, all between Catholic League members, at the Jersey Shore.
9/4/2009 3:01:00 AM
One and done and not much fun.
For now, at least, that's the Public League football legacy for Esperanza Academy, a charter school at 3rd and Hunting Park.
9/3/2009 3:53:16 PM
Tim Sorber, Abington's head coach and a health and physical education teacher, regularly sees the 1989 Suburban One League Colonial Division football championship banner that hangs from the rafters of the school's gymnasium.
9/4/2009 7:38:16 AM
New Coatesville coach Matt Ortega was looking for something to stir enthusiasm, so he borrowed a page from college basketball by staging a "Midnight Madness" for the team's first practice.
9/4/2009 7:03:00 AM
It's no fluke that Dennis Decker was named Ridley's football coach in the spring. As the quarterback of the 1990 Green Raiders team that went to the PIAA championship game before losing to North Allegheny, he is aware of the pressure that goes with coaching there.
9/3/2009 3:49:40 PM
Mark Mayson became the football coach at Lower Moreland High in 1982, making him one of the longest-serving coaches in the area. He wears multiple hats as a coach, assistant principal, and athletic director - and he wouldn't want it any other way.
9/4/2009 7:02:00 AM
The Bicentennial Athletic League is expected to add three teams for the 2010 season, raising the number of member schools for football to eight.
9/3/2009 3:52:03 PM
The Academy Park football team's recipe for its sudden 2008 success featured two main ingredients - off-season preparation and senior leadership. So this year's Knights already are adding heavier doses of both.
9/3/2009 8:14:52 PM
In its first year as a full-fledged member of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, the Catholic League, thanks to stalwart efforts by West Catholic and Archbishop Wood, gained respect from Philly all the way to Erie.
9/3/2009 3:52:43 PM
In the last three seasons, the Garnet Valley football team has won 36 of 41 games, capturing a pair of PIAA District 1 Class AAA championships in 2006 and 2007 and walking off with the Central League title in 2008, its first year in the league.
9/5/2009 3:01:00 AM
The Rutgers football team won't even pretend that the seven-game winning streak it ended 2008 with has any positive bearing on the start this season.
9/5/2009 3:01:00 AM
Here is a list of some of the South Jersey plyers who are competing in Division I-A football this season.
9/5/2009 3:01:00 AM
Practice is in full swing, and the South Jersey football season opens Friday.
That means it's also time for The Inquirer's annual Football Preview.
9/5/2009 3:01:00 AM
Yesterday's Results Football NONLEAGUE
Bok 36, Southern 0
Bishop McDevitt 23, Lower Moreland 6
Dobbins 12, Lincoln 7
9/5/2009 3:01:00 AM
Curtis Wortham's high school football career was given a big-time boost three years ago when coaches at Northeast High flat-out told him that he was too small to make any impact at running back.
9/5/2009 3:01:00 AM
In a battle of two area football powers that had never played each other before, Ridley used a pair of second-quarter touchdowns as a springboard to a 21-6 victory over Coatesville in the season opener for both schools last night.
9/5/2009 3:01:00 AM
CITY DETAILS
Episcopal 28, Furness 6: The Churchmen cruised to victory, thus overshadowing an outstanding performance by the Falcons' Sharif Smith. Smith ran 11 times for 65 yards, caught four passes for 38, notched 129 on returns -- included was a 85-yard scoring sca
9/5/2009 3:01:00 AM
NEWARK, Del. - Their campuses aren't far from each other, so there's always excitement when Delaware meets West Chester on the football field.
9/5/2009 3:01:00 AM
GARY JACKSON doesn't do roller-coasters. And you'll never find him perched atop some ferris wheel, waving to his buddies.
With that in mind, the football coaches at Edward Bok Tech might want to rethink the exaggerated roster size listed for Jackson.
9/5/2009 3:01:00 AM
FOR HIS first act of Monsignor Bonner High's 2009 football season, Eric Petransky caught a kickoff and zoomed 93 yards for a touchdown.
9/5/2009 3:01:00 AM
Michelle Crockett dabbed her eyes. Her voice cracked.
A year after her 15-year-old son, Max Gilpin, died from complications of heat stroke suffered at football practice, it's still a struggle to recall the way her son looked when she arrived at Pleasure Ridge Park High in Louisville, Ky., on that muggy August evening.
9/5/2009 3:01:00 AM
Episcopal 28, Furness 6: The Churchmen cruised to victory, thus overshadowing an outstanding performance by the Falcons' Sharif Smith. Smith ran 11 times for 65 yards, caught four passes for 38, notched 129 on returns -- included was a 85-yard scoring sca
9/4/2009 11:20:52 PM
FOR HIS first act of Monsignor Bonner High's 2009 football season, Eric Petransky caught a kickoff and zoomed 93 yards for a touchdown.
9/7/2009 3:01:00 AM
FOOTBALL Team Record
Last week's rankings in parentheses.
1. La Salle (1) 1-0
2. St. Joseph's Prep (3) 1-0
9/8/2009 3:01:00 AM
When Shawn Andrews takes the field Sunday at Carolina, exactly 363 days will have elapsed since he last appeared in a football game. Andrews will line up at right tackle, where his most recent "live" work came 6 years ago, at Arkansas.
9/8/2009 3:01:00 AM
New Ridley football coach Dennis Decker wasn't sure who was more nervous before Friday night's opener against Coatesville: his players or himself.
9/9/2009 3:01:00 AM
IT PRETTY MUCH started with $5,000, a dump truck and some behind-the-scenes finagling, but now the Rowan football program is among the nation's elite in Division III. The Profs will open their 50th season when they travel to Lycoming on Saturday, and many of the players who will wear the brown and gold know some of the rich history they represent.
9/9/2009 3:01:00 AM
THUS FAR, coach Drew Gordon has seen no signs of Fat Cat Syndrome in his La Salle High football players.
9/9/2009 3:01:00 AM
Dan Connor was that fine blend of everything on a football field.
Speed. Power. Grace. Raw determination, mixed in with that uncanny prescience that all special players possess, reacting to things before they occur. Playing football always came so easily.
9/9/2009 3:01:00 AM
It began as a suggestion. One that Greg Paulus, initially, didn't take seriously.
While a senior point guard at Duke University this past basketball season, someone approached him about still having a year of college football eligibility.
9/9/2009 3:01:00 AM
RETURNING ALL-LEAGUE PLAYERS (Selected by Daily News)
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
Linemen: Seth Betancourt, SJ Prep; Jake Zuzek, West.
Receiver: Sam Feleccia, La Salle.
9/9/2009 3:01:00 AM
RETURNING ALL-LEAGUE PLAYERS (Selected by Daily News)
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
Linemen: Seth Betancourt, SJ Prep; Jake Zuzek, West.
Receiver: Sam Feleccia, La Salle.
9/10/2009 7:16:19 AM
DAILY NEWS pro football writer Paul Domowitch asked two NFL pro personnel people to break down the Eagles. Their position-by-position assessments:
9/10/2009 3:01:00 AM
IF THE TOPIC this season is change, nobody on the Eagles seems more changed than Donovan McNabb.
No one knows if it will matter, of course - such is the beauty of the mystery of a National Football League season. How an alteration in public personality might affect a person's play on the field is debatable, at best. A personal guess is that it will b
9/10/2009 3:01:00 AM
You had your draft. You've named your team. Now Clubber Lang has the prediction. Pain.
Fantasy football is a powerless, vulnerable mind job. There are times you'd rather take a cheese grater to your head. Others when you'll have less control than the woman in the "Oops I Crapped My Pants" commercial.
9/10/2009 3:01:00 AM
Inter-Ac LEAGUE football no longer has Gaspare "Gamp" Pellegrini to get kicked around by. At least not directly.
After producing 219 wins and 20 championships (16 outright) in his 31 seasons at Malvern Prep, Pellegrini has retired. But the school has entrusted the program to his son, Kevin, a 1990 grad and longtime assistant.
9/9/2009 10:22:43 PM
Goodbye, Burlco/Olympic American.
Goodbye, Tri-County Royal.
Hello, West Jersey Football League.
Hello, superconference.
This season marks the end of an era in South Jersey football. Next season, teams from the Burlco/Olympic, Tri-County, and Mercer County-based Colonial Valley will join together to form the West Jersey Football League.
9/9/2009 10:14:08 PM
About eight years ago, Sal Marchese was watching two speedy little kids run around with the Delsea Knights midget football team.
9/9/2009 10:27:07 PM
PRESEASON FOOTBALL Team Last Season's Record
Last season's final rank in parentheses.
1. Camden Catholic (4) 9-2
Underrated WR Terrence Casper is part of the area's most explosive passing attack for the defending Burlco/Olympic National champs.
9/10/2009 3:01:00 AM
Soccer is a different sport on artificial turf.
That's clear.
Field hockey is a different sport on artificial turf.
That's obvious.
9/10/2009 3:01:00 AM
My, how time flies, with this being the final year of the first decade of the 2000s. That means one more season for a school to promote its candidacy as South Jersey's football team of the decade.
9/9/2009 10:12:30 PM
Night football was a regular event in Gloucester in the 1940s and 1950s at the old Charles Street Stadium.
But the Lions have been a Saturday morning team since the new high school was opened at the corner of Market Street and Route 130 in 1962.
9/9/2009 10:21:35 PM
Timber Creek football coach Rob Hinson is a better coach than he is an actor. Hinson acted stunned when it was suggested that Timber Creek could be the team to beat in one of South Jersey's most competitive conference, the Burlco/Olympic Liberty.
9/9/2009 10:12:53 PM
This year, Shawnee finally has a chance to meet Mainland in the playoffs. It's a development that has come a year too late.
9/9/2009 10:14:25 PM
Kevin Johnson has the quick feet and elusive moves of some of the best quarterbacks in Paulsboro football history.
He has something else, too: Extra motivation.
9/9/2009 10:11:45 PM
Keep an Eye On: Nick Conquest Haddonfield, 6-3, 275, OL-DL
Nick Conquest is a heavyweight wrestler and a two-way tackle on the football field.
9/9/2009 10:14:48 PM
Jimmy Owens was a rare freshman.
Now he's a typical senior.
Three years ago, Owens was that most unusual of high school athletes. He was an impact player on the varsity football field from his first game as a ninth grader.
9/9/2009 10:12:17 PM
Like most young football stars, Clinton Tabb always wanted to play in the NFL.
But he had another dream, too. He wanted to coach at his alma mater.
9/9/2009 10:13:38 PM
Change is coming to Gloucester High football as the Lions will play home games under the lights on Friday nights for the first time since the school on the corner of Market Street and Route 130 opened in 1962.
9/10/2009 3:01:00 AM
It was impossible not to notice Chris Gocong when he played college football at Cal-Poly. He was the guy constantly planting the opposing quarterback into the ground.
9/10/2009 3:01:00 AM
So much is new and different about the Eagles' offense that sometimes we forget that the old - 30-year-old Brian Westbrook, to be more precise - probably will dictate the success or failure of this football team.
9/10/2009 3:01:00 AM
The following is a partial transcript of yesterday's fantasy football chat with columnist John Gonzalez on Philly.com.
[Comment From PJ]
9/10/2009 3:01:00 AM
Professional football coaches have had their look at defensive end Jason Babin for five seasons now and most of them have come away saying, "Nice player, but not a defensive end."
9/11/2009 3:01:00 AM
On the football field, they are head coach, assistant head coach, and player.
Off the field, they are grandfather, father, and son.
9/11/2009 3:01:00 AM
Call them the miniature giants of college football.
Despite standing only 5-foot-7 or shorter, these athletes have made lasting impressions.
9/11/2009 3:01:00 AM
Olney's football staff will be counting on Eric Barrow to gain yards in chunks this fall. But it was two yards covered by Barrow that made all the difference in a nonleague game yesterday.
9/11/2009 3:01:00 AM
STATE FOOTBALL Team Record
With last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Bishop McDevit (2) 1-0
2. La Salle (3) 1-0
9/11/2009 3:01:00 AM
Yesterday's Results Football NONLEAGUE
University City 0 0 0 8 - 8
Bok 10 6 14 8 - 38
9/11/2009 6:43:17 AM
There are so many key games to open the high school football season that we should call this Toss-Up Friday. Every game is important, especially for teams that could be on that always dangerous bubble when it comes to qualifying for the postseason.
9/11/2009 3:01:00 AM
For high school football players who get discouraged when the scholarship offers aren't flowing in as quickly as anticipated, Jonathan Grimes should be a source of inspiration.
9/11/2009 3:01:00 AM
For the fourth year in a row, Shawnee and Cherokee will kick off the football season facing one another in a tone-setter for South Jersey football.
9/11/2009 3:01:00 AM
WHEN FRANK DELANO took the football coaching job at Haddonfield High, then-fourth-grader Phil Bhaya presented a paper to the coach titled "The Characteristics of a Good Quarterback."
9/11/2009 6:43:17 AM
SOMETIMES, many times, pro football players can't see the forest for the trees. Six years ago, Duce Staley couldn't.
He was a 29-year-old running back with 1,651 touches on his career odometer. He had just come off the "three-headed monster" season of 2003 that saw him combine with Brian Westbrook and Correll Buckhalter for an impressive 2,465 yards from scrimmage.
9/11/2009 3:01:00 AM
STANTON, Del. - Chuck Rudd got his 15 minutes and $20 worth of fame yesterday at Delaware Park, while the cameras whirred and the flashbulbs flickered like fireflies. Got to make the very first legal parlay bet on pro football since 1976 east of the Rocky Mountains.
9/12/2009 3:01:00 AM
1. Losing the East
With Penn State taking on Syracuse - a once traditional rival - today, thoughts go back to the 1980s, when Joe Paterno tried to create an Eastern conference in all sports but lost out to Dave Gavitt and the Big East.
9/12/2009 3:01:00 AM
Host Bridgeton opened the Cape-Atlantic League football season with a bang last night, ending a two-decade-long losing streak against National Conference power St. Joseph, 14-6.
9/12/2009 3:01:00 AM
Score another one for an opening-day classic between two rivals. Cherokee and Shawnee have shown a recent pattern of playing opening football games that don't lack hitting or suspense.
9/12/2009 3:01:00 AM
Yesterday's Results Football BURLCO/OLYMPIC AMERICAN
Lenape 33, Cherry Hill East 7
BURLCO/OLYMPIC FREEDOM
Maple Shade 22, Florence 7
9/12/2009 3:01:00 AM
MATT DiGIACOMO first made his mark as a La Salle High varsity football player as a defensive tackle.
But deep down, perhaps everyone should have figured he'd also become a darn important contributor on the offensive side of the ball.
9/12/2009 3:01:00 AM
Yesterday's Results Football BICENTENNIAL LEAGUE
Bristol 28, New Hope-Solebury 14
CENTRAL LEAGUE
Ridley 39, Lower Merion 0
9/13/2009 3:01:00 AM
It's September, and in baseball that means the pennant races have heated up, and the magic numbers are going down. In football, it's only the beginning. Lose your opener today, and you still have 15 games to play.
9/13/2009 3:01:00 AM
The job description is defensive coordinator, which around here conjures images of a crusty old football coach devising schemes meant to confuse and obliterate opposing offenses.
9/13/2009 3:01:00 AM
From: Gonzalez, John
To: Ford, Bob; Fox, Ashley
Subject: Ready for some football?
After a long, crazy off-season full of injuries, trades, controversy, and unexpected free-agent signings, the Eagles will finally begin playing games that matter. What should we expect from the Birds today?
9/13/2009 3:01:00 AM
Football Results Yesterday BURLCO/OLYMPIC FREEDOM
Burlington City 34, New Egypt 12
BURLCO/OLYMPIC PATRIOT
Paul VI 28, Woodrow Wilson 7
9/13/2009 3:01:00 AM
It's a pattern that has become familiar but never easy for the opponent to digest. Paulsboro's football season usually begins the year with a vanilla-flavored offense, just enough not to get in the way of the defense.
9/13/2009 3:01:00 AM
With his starting fullback sitting on the bench, injured, Haddon Township football coach Nelson Epley had no idea how a converted guard would do at the position against host Overbrook yesterday in a Colonial Conference interdivisional opener for both teams.
9/13/2009 3:01:00 AM
Denzel Satterfield intercepted the football and looked up.
In front of him was 97 yards of open field.
And an upset for the ages.
9/13/2009 3:01:00 AM
Yesterday's Results Football NONLEAGUE
Chester 36, Sun Valley 0
Norristown 40, Ben Franklin 0
Washington 36, Truman 15
9/13/2009 3:01:00 AM
Junior tailback Brian Ruditys capped off a remarkable day by scoring a touchdown in the second overtime as host Episcopal Academy survived Del-Val Charter, 27-20, in a nonleague football game yesterday.
9/13/2009 3:01:00 AM
NEWARK, Del. - For Pat Devlin, Delaware's win over West Chester last week was the equivalent of a pop quiz. Yesterday's Colonial Athletic Association opener against Richmond, the top-ranked team in the Football Championship Subdivision, was the real test.
9/14/2009 3:01:00 AM
Now that Corey Brown has watched the Ohio State Buckeyes, he wants to help 'em.
Brown, a star senior football player - rusher, receiver, d-back, returner, anything else you want? - at Cardinal O'Hara High, has made an oral commitment after spending a memorable weekend on campus.
9/14/2009 3:01:00 AM
WILMINGTON - Patrick Schafferman waited 20 minutes in line yesterday morning to place a $40 bet. For the first NFL Sunday since 1976, gambling on football games was legal in Delaware, and Schafferman, who has come to Delaware Park since he was a kid, said he wasn't going to miss out.
9/14/2009 6:06:08 AM
Dan LeFevour has accomplished quite a bit in his college football career, producing more total offense than any player in the history of the Mid-American Conference and leading his team to three straight bowl games and two conference championships.
9/14/2009 3:01:00 AM
FOOTBALL Team Record
Last week's rankings in parentheses.
1. Williamstown (2) 0-0
2. Delsea (3) 1-0
3. Cherokee (4) 1-0
9/14/2009 3:01:00 AM
In a wild first week of South Jersey football, the biggest winners were a female kicker and Group 2. After a number of upsets, this question must be asked: Were they really surprises or simply the product of lousy predicting by sportswriters?
9/14/2009 3:01:00 AM
Players of the weekend
National
Lots of quarterbacks put up impressive statistics that don't necessarily mean much. (See Texas Tech's Taylor Potts, who threw for 456 yards and seven touchdowns as the Red Raiders abused poor Rice, 55-10.) But Houston junior Case Keenum made every throw c
9/14/2009 3:01:00 AM
CHARLOTTE - It is not often that a National Football League team sends reporters a statistical note like the one the Eagles sent out yesterday: "[Victor] Abiamiri's touchdown was the first of his life."
9/14/2009 3:01:00 AM
Cardinal O'Hara standout Corey Brown has orally committed to play for Ohio State, according to Lions coach Danny Algeo.
During the weekend, Brown made an unofficial visit to the school, where he watched the Buckeyes take on Southern Cal before a record crowd of 106,033.
9/14/2009 3:01:00 AM
Each week, Daily News football writer Paul Domowitch will tell you the things he will be keeping his eyes on during that week's game. Here is how things panned out in yesterday's game:
9/14/2009 6:06:08 AM
College football: Fresh off Saturday's 28-7 win over Syracuse, Penn State moved up two spots in the Associated Press poll yesterday, climbing from seventh to a tie for fifth with Mississippi.
9/16/2009 3:01:00 AM
JASON VOSHESKI is seeing tangible proof of the goals he envisioned for the Academy Park football program when he took over in 2005. For one, the Knights, who experienced their first winning season since 2001 last year when they went 7-5, have a feeder program, something they have not had since 1999. Another is that the success of the football program is generating more interest in the sport at Academy Park, which had 66 kids come out this year.
9/16/2009 3:01:00 AM
It all started with a power-puff football game and evolved into something much bigger for Samantha Dimitri.
The Deptford senior made history in Saturday's 21-17 loss to Pennsville in an interdivisional Tri-County football game.
9/17/2009 3:01:00 AM
IS IT FAIR to hold a party and invite just three guests?
Because let's face it, the only schools with a shot at winning the Public League's glamour football championship, in Class AAAA, are George Washington, Frankford and Northeast.
9/17/2009 3:01:00 AM
IT DIDN'T MATTER that the opposition was considered by many as the best in South Jersey and ranked as high as third in the state. All coach Durwin Pearson wanted his Camden High football players to do was win the first game.
9/17/2009 3:01:00 AM
Wesley College is the nation's fifth-ranked NCAA Division III team, according to D3football.com.
The Wolverines' offense has been unstoppable. And their defense has surrendered just three points through two games. But . . .