WEST CATHOLIC 56, BEN FRANKLIN 6

D-1/D-12 Subregional Playoff

Nov. 14th, 2008

Burrs Set Sights on State Playoff Run

     At the beginning of the season one of the goals of the West Catholic football team was to advance to the class AA state playoffs. Well, after knocking off Ben Franklin this past Friday night, the Burrs have succeeded in meeting this goal. The Burrs convincingly bested the Electrons, 56-6, to win the District-1/District-12 subregional playoff. Now, they can set their sights on an even loftier goal, a win in the first round of the state playoffs. This quest will begin Saturday afternoon versus District-11’s Palisades (9-3). The game will be played at 1 o’clock, at Salisbury High School in Allentown.

     Against the Electrons, the Burrs wasted little time creating havoc when they had the ball. In the first half, West only ran 10 plays to Ben Franklin’s 35. No problem! Those ten plays produced a gaudy 305 yards in offense and four touchdowns. Even the defense got into the act with an end zone visit, and with that, West built an insurmountable 35-0 lead by the intermission. For the seventh straight game and ninth time in twelve outings, West instituted the mercy rule on an opponent.

     Senior running back Rob Hollomon got things rolling for the Burrs on just their second play on offense. Like he has done on so many other occasions this season, the speedy back went through the right-side of the line untouched, and then outran the rest of the Franklin defense for a 58-yard touchdown.

     When the Electrons got the ball it was the defense’s turn to make a statement, as junior defensive tackle John Ruppert sacked the Franklin quarterback near the shadows of his own end zone. During the play the ball squirted free and senior defensive end Chris Williams calmly scooped it up and scurried in 5 yards for the score.

     Later in the second quarter, the Burr offense would explode for three touchdowns in the last 5:37 of the half. Providing much of the highlights was senior quarterback Curtis Drake, as he toyed with the Franklin defense.

     First, he connected with sophomore tight end Jim Lynch for 15 yards and a 21-0 West lead. This was preceded by long runs by Drake (39 yards) and R. Hollomon (35 yards), as the Burrs marched 89 yards in a blink of an eye.

     Senior running back Raymond Maples scored the fourth Burr touchdown on a 10-yard rumble. This score was set-up by a 48-yard pass hook-up between Drake and senior wide receiver Eric Young.

     Later, the Burrs showed why an opposing defense can never relaxed as long as some time remains on the clock. R. Hollomon returned a punt 22 yards with 27 seconds left on the clock, but the Burrs were still 60 yards from the Electron end zone. Not for long! On the very next play, Drake found speedy sophomore wide receiver Quran Kent streaking across the middle of the field. The play ended up gaining 50 yards to the Franklin 5-yard line. Then, as time expired, Drake slipped in for the fifth West score of the half.

     In the second half the Burrs would score three more times. R. Hollomon scored twice; (5-yard run) and (77-yard kickoff return), while Maples added his second score of the game on an 11-yard burst.

    Rob Hollomon’s three touchdowns gave him 33 on the season. He accumulated 214 yards on just seven total touches, including 115 yards rushing on 5 carries.

     Drake added 263 total yards of passing and rushing. He was 5-of-6 for 169 yards throwing and rushed 3 times for 94 yards. These totals put both his passing and rushing totals over a 1,000 for the season. A feat no other city quarterback has ever accomplished.

     All total, the Burr offense soared for 432 yards on a just 23 plays from scrimmage. Also chipping in was Maples with 37 yards on 7 carries. Senior fullback Juan Rozier (2-17) did a great job blocking, while the front six of junior Jake Zuzek, senior’s Paul Murtagh, Covisia Wilson, Victor McNair, Austin Peters, and Lynch at tight end were their usual dominant selves.

     Defensively, junior linebacker Dante Dickens led with 8 tackles, including 7 solos and 3 TFL’s. Senior defensive end Artis Carroll (3 TFL’s) registered a sack and added a total of seven tackles. Williams (seven) and Ruppert (five) were instrumental in disrupting things. Senior linebacker Jordan Culbreath, senior defensive tackle Dwayne Shaw, defensive tackle Wilson, and senior linebacker Devir Moody all made four stops apiece. Senior wide receiver Saeed Briscoe made four solo tackles on kickoff returns.

     At the moment the Burrs are just one of sixteen class AA teams still playing across the state. The team would love to see a lot of people brave some cold weather and a little travel to cheer them on this coming weekend. This team is explosive and fun to watch, so make sure you catch a glimpse before the season ends. We hope that’s not for a few more weeks!