40 Teams in 40 Days – Day 39 – West Catholic (12) – Small School Team # 1
Written by: David Mika on Thursday, August 28th, 2014. Follow David Mika on Twitter.
Offensive Preview:
The Burrs return their starting quarterback Antwain McCollum who threw for 1,301 yards and 12 touchdowns. This is his third year as a starter.
“He has worked hard on increasing his speed. He’s a lot faster than he was last year. He has a strong arm and throws another deep ball. He’s good at reading the coverage and makes sure everyone is in that right spot during games.”
Going into the season McCollum has passed for 2,890 yards in his career and is currently second all-time passer in West Catholic history. He needs just 398 yards passing to break Curtis Drake record of 3,287 yards career passing.
“He has a really good chance to break the record this year.”
At running back the Burrs will have to try and find a running back(s) to replace Greg White who rushed for over 1,300 yards and 19 touchdowns last year.
West Catholic does return their second leading rusher from last year and his name is Calil Wortham. He rushed for 380 yards and five touchdowns in limited action.
“He’s going to be a sophomore and he started a couple of games for us last year. He has experience and is a hard-nosed runner. He had good speed and great vision down the field.
David Swen is back at running back.
“He didn’t have a lot of carries for us last year. He played a lot of safety for us. He’s a downhill runner with speed.”
Another guy that will get carries this year is Kharee Ruley who transferred from Furness. He rushed for over 1,000 yards and seven touchdowns last year. He has 1,988 yards for his career.
“He was a 1,000-yard rusher their last year and will be a good complement to the backfield. We actually are using five running backs on varsity.”
The other two backs are junior Keshon Farmer and Sharif Fennell.
“Keshon is very quick and has good speed. Sharif runs low to the ground and has good vision. Both these guys will get reps this year.”
West Catholic is the only school in Philadelphia (Public, Catholic and Inter-Ac) in the last 14 years to produce a 1,000-yard rusher every year. The other two schools with the longest current streak are Archbishop Wood and Imhotep Charter with four consecutive years.
On the offensive line they have senior center Steve Wyant back. He’s a three-years starter and is 6-foot, 305-pounds.
“Steve makes sure we are in the right blocking schemes. He’s a very intelligent and hard working kid.”
At right guard is Greg Nathaniel.
“He played defense last year. He worked hard to crack the line up this year. He’s big, strong and has good foot work.”
The left guard is Charles Trabi.
“Charles played some last year. He’s a big kid and good at drive blocking and has good feet.”
The right tackle is Jeromy Reichner. He’s a transfer from Furness.
“He has size and is a smart player. We may have him play both ways. He’s quick off the ball and working hard with his new teammates.”
The other tackle is junior Tymir Oliver.
“He’s our best lineman. As a junior he has several division one offers. He has put the time in the weight room and has gotten bigger and stronger. He’s 6-foot-4, 275-pounds now. He can run block, pull trap block and pass block well. He can do everything.”
Savion Perez and Curtis Fredrick will add depth to the line and rotate in.
At wide receiver they have back Ahkil Crumpton. Last season, Ahkil caught 23 passes for 556 yards and four touchdowns.
“He runs good routes and has good hands. Once he gets the ball he is very elusive in the field. When he catches the ball he can make a move and take it to the distance. Last year against LaSalle, he caught a pass, made a move and went 65 yards for a touchdown. Those are the types of plays he can make.”
The other receiver is Demond Brunache. He was a running back last year.
“Demond really had a good summer for us and has looked good catching the ball. He runs great patterns and is a workhorse out there. He has good speed and he catches the ball. He’s a good blocker.”
They are going to use four or five receivers this year. Jameer Bryson, Craig Jones and backup quarterback Josh Holsopple will rotate in.
Their two H-Backs are Neil Satterwhite and Nasir Haqq.
Defensive Preview:
On the defensive line Jeromy Reichner will play defensive end.
“He’s real strong and we’re working with him on attacking the quarterback this year. We’re excited about him this year.”
At nose guard is Savion Perez.
“He’s strong and very physical at nose guard. He moves well and slides side-to-side.”
Tymir Oliver is the other end.
“I think this is his best position and what colleges are recruiting him for. He’s hard to block and teams are having a tough time doing it.”
Greg Nathaniel will do some nose guard this year as well as Charles Trabi. They will rotate in and add depth. Joshua Bing will get some reps at tackle this year.
At weak middle linebacker is sophomore Marque McDuffy.
“He started since his freshman season. He’s the guy going side-to-side making plays. He’s physical and a good tackler.”
Amir Postley is the other middle linebacker.
“He’s the strong linebacker. He’s a good cover guy for us. We can move him around and can blitz from different spots. He’s very fast to the ball.”
Curtis Fredrick is our outside linebacker as well as Neil Satterwhite.
“Curtis is a cover guy for us and is very aggressive. Neil covers the corner and slot positions.”
Freshman Zymir Cobbs and Demond Brunache will rotate in.
In the secondary Ahkil Crumpton will play in the secondary.
“He’s our lockdown corner. He did a great job playing man-to-man on defense against some of the better receivers we played last year. He is a high-energy kid with great speed. He’s aggressive on defense and likes to battle the bigger receivers.”
The other corner is Craig Jones.
“He’s another guy we could put on the other teams best receiver. He has gotten bigger and stronger.”
The strong safety position is David Swen.
“He has good speed and a guy we have lock on tight ends and slot receivers. He’s very good in zone coverage.”
The other position they have a few guys rotating in. They are Justin Rivers who is starting and Kharee Ruley at safety.
They have two corners that will be helping out this year. They are Sharif Fennell and Ahmad Kent.
Special Teams Preview:
Sharif Fennell will do the kicking and punting duties.
Kick returners are Calil Wortham, David Swen and Keshon Farmer. They have a bunch of guys they can rotate in.
Punt returners are Swen and Ahkil Crumpton.
Long snapper is Neil Satterwhite.
Head Coach: Brian Fluck
2013 Record: 9-3 (4-0 conference)
Key Starters Lost: Greg White, Romeo Gunt, Rae’Quan Williams and Patrick Amara
Offensive Players Returning: (7)
QB Antwain McCollum
RB Calil Wortham
RB David Swen
OL Steve Wyant
OL Charles Trabi
OL Tymir Oliver
WR Ahkil Crumpton
Defensive Players Returning: (7)
DL Tymir Oliver
LB Marque McDuffy
LB Amir Postley
LB Neil Satterwhite
DB Ahkil Crumpton
DB Craig Jones
SS David Swen
Key Newcomers: RB Kharee Ruley, WR Jameer Bryson, DL Jeromy Reichner and NG Savion Perez
Note: They haven’t lost a league game since 2006.
Ed “Huck” Palmer contributed to this article
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August 28th, 2014 at 6:09 pm
looking forward to a good season.. go Burrs
August 28th, 2014 at 9:06 am
RB Calil Wortham is a great kid…I look forward to seeing him play this year!