Indexed locally for search — headlines, people, teams, and short excerpts from reporting originally published in The Morning Call (1998–2010). Full article text on mcall.com; DRE'S TAKE links out and does not republish Morning Call copy.
The football bowl season is in full swing and several area products will be participating in the college version of the postseason. Robbie Frey, a former all-state running back from Lehighton, is a redshirt freshman running back at Connecticut, who played in a bowl game last…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Back in the 1960s Nazareth High’s football team filled up the school’s trophy case. “Back them we won championships pretty regularly,” said Easton coach Steve Shiffert, a 1969 Nazareth grad. “Nazareth was the big school. We played Wilson, Bangor, East Stroudsburg. “I think…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Shawn Martell, the son of an established local college football coach, began his inevitable climb up the coaching ranks when he was hired as the wide receivers coach at Nazareth last year. The 24-year-old Martell, a 2002 Morning Call all-area wide receiver from Bethlehem…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →All six Lehigh Valley Conference games this weekend have importance, including the Doughnut Bowl Saturday at J. Birney Crum Stadium between Allen and Dieruff. Both those teams are 0-9. All the other games have playoff implications. Central Catholic (8-1, 7-1) and Easton (8-1,…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Easton boiled with emotion and played with unstoppable force on both sides of the ball to thwart Lehigh Valley Conference rival Liberty 28-7 on Senior Night Friday at Cottingham Stadium. Statistically, Liberty outgained Easton, 293-135. But Easton worked on a short field most of…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →I t’s Easton vs. Liberty tonight at Cottingham Stadium in what could be the first of two meetings between the Lehigh Valley Conference powerhouses this season. They could meet again in come in the District 11-2-4 Class 4A subregional playoffs as they did in 2005 and 2006. Easton…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →As the season turned into a rollercoaster ride, Whitehall essentially stared in the mirror and readjusted its goal. Not many teams do that because the mentality is often all-or-nothing. Can’t argue with that, but there probably isn’t a football player in the Lehigh Valley…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Liberty played with punch on both sides of the ball to knock Nazareth out of a much-hyped Lehigh Valley Conference game early in the first quarter Friday night. Ahead 21-0 after the first, Liberty added 14 more points in the second quarter and breezed through the rain and chill…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Trap games do exist in high school football. Emmaus, Easton and Liberty will try to avoid them tonight in Lehigh Valley Conference matchups that have District 11-2-4 Class 4A subregional playoff implications. Next week is the traditional rivalry showdowns, featuring Emmaus…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →In Lehighton, where he saw familiar faces everywhere, former high school football star Robbie Frey was never faced with a situation like the one he has experienced this week. One of Frey’s University of Connecticut teammates, Jasper Howard, was stabbed to death early Sunday…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Following six straight seasons of three wins or less, Nazareth’s football team is displaying a new mental and physical toughness this season. Already a winner of four games in 2009, Nazareth is playing tougher football because second-year coach Rob Melosky has refused to listen…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Easton deflated Freedom’s defense with a 19-play, 66-yard scoring drive that took up most of the fourth quarter Friday night at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium. Then the Red Rovers clinched a 14-10 Lehigh Valley Conference victory because of their own rugged defense.…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The intensity level in the Easton vs. Freedom Lehigh Valley Conference matchup tonight at Bethlehem Area school District Stadium will be so high that a lot of players may be very sore when they wake up Saturday morning. “When Bethlehem [schools] and Easton get together the kids…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The top two playmakers, Liberty seniors Anthony Gonzalez and Jarrod West, had already made their share of standout plays in their final homecoming game Friday night at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium. Senior kicker Jordan Roman then joined in the fun when he booted a…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Central Catholic’s bid for the perfect season continues Saturday night at J. Birney Crum Stadium. The Vikings (5-0, 4-0) are the lone undefeated Lehigh Valley Conference team and will rely on sophomore quarterback Brendan Nosovitch, a threat running and passing, to try to topple…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Freedom senior tailback Darrius Webb is always only one missed tackle at the line of scrimmage from going the distance. That’s because trying to tackle the speedy, elusive Webb is tough once he gets into the open field. He displayed his talents over the previous two seasons at…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →It was 48 minutes of grueling, smashmouth, hard-hitting football for Emmaus. And it was at Cottingham Stadium, where the ghosts of storied years past are not supposed to turn against Easton. Not when the Red Rovers are first-and-goal inside the 5-yard line. Actually, Easton…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →It’s Allentown vs. Bethlehem weekend and contender or pretender night in Orefield. There are also Lehigh Valley Conference matchups in Easton and Northampton that figure to be highly competitive. Easton (3-0 overall, 2-0 LVC), Central Catholic (3-0, 2-0), Nazareth (3-0, 2-0) and…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Easton has a chip on its shoulder. Blame it on Parkland, Emmaus and Liberty. All three Lehigh Valley Conference opponents beat the then-inexperienced, mistake-prone Red Rovers by a combined 89-0 margin last season. The chip is still there, despite Easton holding Parkland to 98…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →In the previous two seasons, Easton was not a serious contender for the Lehigh Valley Conference title. Last season, without four-year starter and four-year Morning Call all-area defensive back Jarred Holley — now a redshirt freshman at Pittsburgh — Easton didn’t even post a…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Parkland backup defensive back Dan Castillo has been called nicknames that no football player wants to be called. “I get it all,” he said. “Tiny, midget, munchkin.” Well, he is only 5 feet, 5 inches tall. But he probably felt taller than the PPL building in Allentown after…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Rich Sniscak listened in amazement as one inspiring story after another was told. Then Sniscak, the former star Dieruff High football-player-turned-Parkland High football coach/administrator, got his chance to tell stories Friday night at the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →It’s Brown and White against Maroon and White. It’s Bethlehem against Easton. For the first time since 1997, it’s Lehigh against Lafayette for the Patriot League women’s basketball tournament title at 6 tonight at Stabler Arena. It seemed like an unlikely showdown when the…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The drive from Hellertown to East Stroudsburg University never seems that long to Warriors coach Jeff Wilson. It’s something he has enjoyed. “I’ve found whether it’s going to work or coming home from work it’s a good time to get some reflection done,” said Wilson, who’s in his…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →John Bedics wants one more graduation gift. Bedics, a starting offensive lineman for the North Carolina State Wolfpack and former Bethlehem Catholic standout, plays his final college game Monday night. North Carolina (6-6) meets Rutgers (7-5) in the PapaJohns.com Bowl in…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Freedom fans may find it interesting that an alumnus of the school is leading rival Liberty in its greatest football era. Tim Moncman, a 1987 Freedom graduate, is 80-29 in nine seasons as Liberty’s coach and led the Hurricanes to PIAA Class 4A runner-up finishes in 2005 and…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The Lehigh Valley Conference’s version of boxing’s “Main Event” takes place Saturday afternoon at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium. That’s when Liberty (8-1, 8-0) and Freedom (8-1, 7-1) clash on the Frank Banko Field turf. “As everybody knows, there’s a lot at stake,…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The Lehigh Valley Conference’s version of boxing’s “Main Event” takes place Saturday afternoon at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium. That’s when Liberty (8-1, 8-0) and Freedom (8-1, 7-1) clash on the Frank Banko Field turf. “As everybody knows, there’s a lot at stake,…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Two regular season games remain and Easton and Parkland are both trying to avoid something that has not happened since 1994. And that’s the District 11 playoffs being held without either of them being involved. But the traditionally strong Lehigh Valley Conference teams still…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The scoreboard operator at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium figures to be busy tonight. That’s because high-scoring city rivals Freedom (31.4 ppg) and Bethlehem Catholic (29 ppg) meet in a Lehigh Valley Conference matchup that has playoff implications with just three…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Freedom senior tailback Eddie Mateo ran for season highs of 198 yards and four touchdowns last week. He ran rampant on synthetic turf against a Northampton defense that’s one of the Lehigh Valley Conference’s best. Now Mateo, who transferred from Bethlehem Catholic during the…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Dieruff coach Keith Brader has a question for all other Lehigh Valley Conference coaches, excluding Chris Kinane at Allen, who is 0-6 in his first season and facing a tough battle trying to make the Canaries competitive. Do you want to trade places? “We probably would not have…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The Lehigh Valley Conference is a tough conference and will be even tougher once Nazareth starts posting winning seasons on a consistent basis. Winning the LVC title probably won’t happen anytime soon because the Blue Eagles do not draw from a talent pool that’s similar to the…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Freedom snapped a 12-game losing streak against Parkland last week, which raised the Patriots’ confidence level entering tonight’s Lehigh Valley Conference showdown against Northampton at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium. Both teams are 4-1, 3-1 in conference play, but…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The mark of a good coach is not only winning and making the playoffs on a consistent basis, but how well he teaches and develops other men to become just as successful as he is when they’re in charge of their own programs. Emmaus coach Joe Bottiglieri is a frontrunner in that…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →No longer overlooked, Northampton is excited to welcome Emmaus to Al Erdosy Field tonight for a showdown between undefeated teams battling for first place in the Lehigh Valley Conference. Both teams are 4-0 overall, 3-0 in league play. “This is certainly a big game for us,”…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →In terms of taking steps forward, Freedom football coach Jason Roeder has no complaints. His teams did just that in each of his first three years, going from 2-8 to 5-5 to 9-3 and winning the Eastern Conference Class 4A title last season. Last season marked a school record for…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Surprise, surprise, that’s what Northampton (4-0, 3-0 LVC) has been in posting a perfect record out of the gate to remain tied with Emmaus (4-0, 3-0) for first-place in the Lehigh Valley Conference entering their showdown Friday at Al Erdosy Field. Elsewhere in the conference,…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Something disturbingly different happened to Easton last week against Parkland. It wasn’t the lopsided score of Parkland 26, Easton 0. Every team gets crushed once in a while, but Easton coach Steve Shiffert wasn’t as concerned about the final score as he was about the way his…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Something new in Week 3 of the Lehigh Valley Conference: Neither Liberty, Parkland nor Easton is involved in the top game. Easton (2-0, 1-0) opens its home schedule against Parkland (0-2, 0-1) at 7 tonight at Cottingham Stadium, and it promises to be a festive atmosphere as the…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Easton has played two teams it was supposed to crush. The Red Rovers did just that, beating Stroudsburg by 27 points and Dieruff by 35. Now Easton (2-0, 1-0) hosts two-time defending Lehigh Valley Conference champion Parkland on Friday night at Cottingham Stadium. It’s Easton’s…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →It’s a Week 2 matchup that would have even more hype had it been scheduled for later in the season with the Lehigh Valley Conference title and possibly the No. 1 seed in the district playoffs on the line. But after not playing the last two seasons, Liberty and Parkland are…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The wait is over for Freedom. Tonight, the defending Eastern Conference Class 4A champion will try to extend its winning streak in season openers under coach Jason Roeder to four games. “There is not a whole lot of room for error,” said Roeder, whose Patriots open at Central…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →ALLEN Coach: Chris Kinane (first year) Last year: 0-10 (0-9, LVC) Impact players: QB Justin Quaye, sr.; QB Nick Rhodes, jr.; WR Matt Wingler, sr.; WR Nik Davis, sr.; WR/RB David Gibbs, sr.; WR Siddiq Shabazz, sr.; OL Lance Troxell, sr.; OL Eddy Torres, sr.; RB/LB Luciano…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →ALLEN Coach: Chris Kinane (first year) Last year: 0-10 (0-9, LVC) Impact players: QB Justin Quaye, sr.; QB Nick Rhodes, jr.; WR Matt Wingler, sr.; WR Nik Davis, sr.; WR/RB David Gibbs, sr.; WR Siddiq Shabazz, sr.; OL Lance Troxell, sr.; OL Eddy Torres, sr.; RB/LB Luciano…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →His nickname is “Tiny,” but East Penn Sting owner Paul Hamsher is a 6-foot-6, 325-pound offensive lineman. Not all that tiny, huh? Well, by the end of this afternoon’s inaugural semi-pro Allentown Bowl between the East Penn Sting and Lehigh Valley Steelers at Mountainville…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →If you are a local player, have game and can’t seem to obtain a Division I scholarship, don’t worry. East Stroudsburg coach Jeff Wilson can probably find a spot for you on his Division II team. And not just to work hard in practice and then ride the bench on game night. No,…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Hike the football quickly, Parkland wideout Jaleel Clark is matched up one-on-one with a defensive back. Throw it deep, and Clark promises to make something good happen. “I’m mostly going to win because I have moves to make on them,” Clark said. At 6-4, he also has the height to…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Parkland coach Jim Morgans has been speechless all week, despite requests seeking comment about the dominance of the 2007 Trojans, who are 11-0 and have posted seven straight shutouts. The Trojans’ 17-0 win over Emmaus in the District 11-2 Class 4A subregional quarterfinals…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →How many Lehigh Valley Conference teams already have a wish list for next season? Five teams are still playing — Liberty and Parkland in the District 11-2 Class 4A playoffs; Freedom and Whitehall in the Eastern Conference 4A title game Friday night. Easton lost to Hazleton,…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →A player from Freedom High apparently said something that offended players from Liberty. “This is the first time that we’re the underdogs in a game, which is pretty surprising, but let the best team win,” said Liberty senior linebacker Brendan Beal, who verbally committed to the…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The Lehigh Valley Conference all-star team won’t be announced until the regular season ends, but I don’t have to wait that long to make my selections. The final regular season games won’t prove who’s the best because anybody can have a really good game. But the best do it week…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →All 12 Lehigh Valley Conference teams have something important to play for in the final regular season games Friday and Saturday. In alphabetical order: Allen (0-9, 0-8): The Canaries, who’ve scored just 18 points all season, will try to get out of the last place by beating…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The intensity level among certain teams figures to exceed that of any other Friday night of the season. The increased shift in adrenaline is because of showdowns between rival Lehigh Valley Conference teams. Pick a game: Parkland (8-0, 7-0 LVC) at Emmaus (6-2, 5-2) or Liberty…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Next week’s final regular-season games in the Lehigh Valley Conference will have even more suspense, if certain things happen this Friday. And the No. 1 if? If Parkland (8-0, 7-0) beats Emmaus in the battle between Cedar Crest Boulevard teams Friday, then the Trojans can clinch…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Every coach is judged by wins and losses, but Allen first-year coach Andy Polony should be judged on his character, which is stronger than you might expect for a coach who is 0-for-his career. Allen (0-7) has scored just 12 points, a Lehigh Valley Conference low, and the…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Parkland coach Jim Morgans doesn’t want to hear any talk about his team being unbeatable. Some people thought that of Liberty, which unraveled on both sides of the ball in losing 28-14 to Bethlehem Catholic last Friday night. “We don’t concern ourselves with other teams, except…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Pius X is still the little guy — still hoping that the Colonial League will give it an invitation to join and still hoping that it will, one day, not have to drive all the way across the state just to find an opponent. But, despite all the people that may “player hate” against…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Liberty seniors Ahkeem Smith and Justin Rivera have been haunted for the last 364 days over what happened the last time they played city rival Bethlehem Catholic. Terrell Dobbins ran for 162 yards and Kyle John blocked an extra point attempt in helping Bethlehem Catholic…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The punishment for skipping a class at Liberty for the average student is nothing more than a detention for a first-time offender. But Liberty coach Tim Moncman enforced a much harsher punishment on seniors Brendan Beal, Ahkeem Smith, Michael Fritz, Justin Rivera and junior…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →One week after losing its first game, Easton seeks redemption. But the Red Rovers have to beat Central Catholic to achieve it. It won’t be easy. Central Catholic has been one of the top early-season success stories in the Lehigh Valley Conference, helped by a strong…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Bethlehem Catholic is not about to wave the white flag just because it has three losses and cannot afford to lose another game. Not if it wants to keep alive hopes of making the District 11 Class 3A playoffs. There are many reasons why the Golden Hawks (1-3, 1-2) are in this…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The high school football season reaches its midway point this weekend and the Lehigh Valley Conference has its share of teams with questions yet to be answered. The No. 1 question, of course, is who’s going to win the conference title? Liberty (4-0, 3-0) and Parkland (4-0, 3-0)…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Emmaus can forget about being overlooked by high-powered Liberty in their Lehigh Valley Conference matchup tonight at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium. That’s because one loss could be detrimental to the Hurricanes’ chances of earning the No. 1 seed and homefield advantage…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Over the last four years Freedom’s football team has produced three Division I players. Ryan Ehrie is a redshirt sophomore offensive lineman at Syracuse, Colin Neely a redshirt freshman at Michigan State, and Jeremy Kametz is in his final season at Delaware. The three of them…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Central Catholic’s Michael Milano went up the middle with power on most runs, dashed and sprinted away on others. On defense, he also smothered Bethlehem Catholic’s wideouts. He was making plays everywhere on a Saturday night in which he cramped up five times and had to briefly…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →What happened in Emmaus last Friday night is not being be dwelled on. That’s because of the request Green Hornets coach Joe Bottiglieri made to his players. Bottiglieri, who’s in his sixth season at Emmaus, tells his players to only concentrate on the current challenge and not…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →There’s no such thing as meaningless games for District 11 Class 4A teams anymore, considering the complicated points system used to determine qualifiers for the PIAA subregional playoffs. But some Lehigh Valley Conference teams aren’t worried about matters they can not control…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Michael Vick may be in prison by the end of the year, may never play in the NFL nor receive a million-dollar endorsement deal again, and it’s all because of what he termed, “immature acts.” “I need to grow up,” Vick said during a press conference in Richmond, Va. on Monday, not…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Liberty is bent on trying to make it back to Hershey and finally win the PIAA Class 4A title, but first must earn its stripes against Easton and other tough Lehigh Valley Conference opponents. That’s because the LVC season figures to be another series of weekly dogfights.…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Mike Hartenstine was an All-American defensive lineman at Penn State and a starter on the Chicago Bears’ 1985 Super Bowl team. He said both experiences were unbelievable. For years, Hartenstine, who lives in Chicago, also savored the area shot put record of 62 feet, 11 3/4…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The chase is on again for Bethlehem Catholic standout thrower Joe Kovacs. Kovacs, a senior, will attempt to break the area shot put record of 62-113/4 in the District 11 Track and Field Championships. The two-day event begins at 3 p.m. today at J. Birney Crum Stadium in…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The finish line was 100 meters away and Liberty junior Trevor VanAckeren was determined to make it there first Wednesday at J. Birney Crum Stadium. His legs were heavy, he was fatigued, and he was being pushed to the limit in the finals of the 800 run at the Lehigh Valley…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Dieruff has not had a top-notch boys track and field athlete since Andrew Battle nine years ago and not a standout sprinter since Stacy McCarthy won the District 11 Class 3A title in the 100- and 200-meter dashes in 1996. There have been a lot of downs since then, but first-year…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →It’s tough to succeed in track and field without having confidence to go along with talent. Fortuntely for him, Whitehall High senior standout thrower Andy Fahringer definitely has both. He also has posted early-season results in the discus and javelin that validate him as a…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Jackie Adamshick was in no rush to say goodbye Monday night. But when the moment came, the Villanova senior did not shed a tear. That’s because she kept her emotions bottled up inside in her final game at The Pavilion. Adamshick, a former Central Catholic star, received a…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Going head-to-head with Villanova coach Jay Wright or any other Division I coach for a recruit would not appear to be all that enjoyable for Kutztown University coach Bernie Driscoll. After all, Kutztown is a Division II school, while Villanova competes in the Big East…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Parkland can complete it’s first 10-0 regular season since 1996 by beating rival Whitehall tonight. Even better, Parkland (9-0, 8-0 LVC) will clinch its first outright Lehigh Valley Conference title since 2002, the year the Trojans also won the PIAA Class 4A championship.…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →It’s no secret that Easton and Liberty want to hit each other hard. It’s still great hearing them say it. It will be even better seeing them do it when Easton (8-0, 7-0 LVC) and Liberty (7-1, 6-1) meet in the much-anticipated Lehigh Valley Conference showdown at 7 tonight at…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Two weeks ago, Bethlehem Catholic senior Kyle John bulldozed through Liberty offensive linemen with the most fierce pass rush of his life. It was overtime, his Golden Hawks were ahead by a point, and it was loud inside Bethlehem Area School District Stadium. It became even…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →It’s time for the 20-some remaining players on Dieruff’s football team to walk the hallways, the cafeteria line, and maybe even the streets of East Allentown to ask the former players who abandoned them if they’re happy about the Huskies’ 18-game losing streak, which dates back…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →You can win in basketball by having two really good, exciting players, especially if one is a 7-footer and the other a McDonald’s All-American guard. Not so in football. If that were the case, then Allen wouldn’t be 0-7 and looking at 0-7 Dieruff as possibly the only team it can…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Andres Morales, Andrew Lee, Rich Jarnagin and Mike McClarin, all big playmakers with voices that carry on the sidelines and in the locker room, are not around to fire up their teammates at Liberty High, anymore. They graduated in June, but somebody else better try and find a way…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →No longer does Matt Rice have to worry about playing time. Like all good players, he wants to be on the field all the time. He didn’t get his wish at Bethlehem Catholic, but he transferred to Liberty after last fall and is now a two-way starter for the Hurricanes. “I was over…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Northampton coach Teko Johnson hasn’t flashed back to the last time he was in the heat of battle with Parkland. That was last Sept. 16 at Parkland Stadium in Orefield, when Johnson suddenly felt faint and short of breath. His left side became numb, and he felt pain in his upper…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Want bulletin board material, Parkland? Forget about it. The Bethlehem Catholic coaches and players have too much respect for the Trojans. So the Golden Hawks are saying all the right things. Maybe it’s because Bethlehem Catholic coach Tarik Haddad and his offensive coordinator,…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Easton, Liberty and Parkland are coming off 41-, 42- and 48-point victories. Just as telling is the fact that their opponents did not score. So, after three weeks, the “Big Three” have established themselves as the teams to beat in the Lehigh Valley Conference. Bethlehem…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →You cannot be considered a winner until you’ve done it on a consistent basis. Like year-after-year. And against elite opponents. The latter is why, despite starting 2-0, Freedom doesn’t have many jumping on its bandwagon just yet. The Patriots started last season by routing two…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →There might be a traffic jam around Emmaus High tonight. Perennial Lehigh Valley Conference powerhouse Easton, led by star defensive back Jarred Holley and hard-hitting linebacker Ryan Hartzell, will be playing in Emmaus for the first time since Sept. 26, 1997. “It’s a big game…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Every down of every game, one thought will be running through the minds of Nazareth players. “Nobody will give up on the guy next to him,” said senior Shawn Sylvainus. “We’ll never give up.” It was not that way last season, which opened with the Blue Eagles losing 9-0 to Blue…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The stadium lights will be on tonight from Allentown to Easton as Lehigh Valley Conference teams begin play. What should be expected? “I’ll let you know around 9:30,” Easton coach Steve Shiffert said a few days ago. “It’s a lot different when you have 3,000 fans out there,” said…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Nobody is going to overlook Whitehall this season. The Zephyrs have too much size to be ignored as a contender for the Lehigh Valley Conference title, along with Liberty, Easton and Parkland. “We think we have kids who can be competitive and that are powerful,” said Whitehall…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Star quarterback Alex Atiyeh may have thrown his final high school pass. Atiyeh, a junior quarterback at Bethlehem Catholic last year, has transferred to Allen and had hoped to take over in the Canaries’ wide-open offensive set this season. But the District 11 Athletic Committee…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Amy Heffner ignited the Parkland girls rally from an eight-point deficit with steals, deft passes and the type of all-around hustle that could help her get on the radar screen of Division I scouts. Her Trojans teammate, Erin Anthony, has already received D-I offers, and the 6-0…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Chris Blount is no longer a coach for all sports. That doesn’t mean he’s less busy. Blount, a 1986 Dieruff High graduate, was hard at work coaching the Southern Lehigh girls basketball team at SportsFest X Friday at Cedar Beach. He was hired as the Spartans’ head coach on June…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Parkland senior John Carelli made the high jump and triple jump seem like routine business Tuesday at the Lehigh Valley Conference Track & Field Championships. It seemed that way because Carelli won both jumping events for the third straight year. He tied his personal best in…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Villanova senior Allan Ray found out more about the New York City streets than he wanted to Friday night. He didn’t like it. Not even close, and the thing about it is he wasn’t driving. Instead, he was a passenger in an ambulance that was transporting him to St. Vincent Hospital…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Jay Wright is now the top coach, and his star senior guard, Randy Foye, the best player in the Big East Conference. That was revealed Tuesday night in New York City, when Wright, following a 24-3 regular season that included going 14-2 in conference play, was named the coach of…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Lehigh coach Billy Taylor hopes his season isn’t over, that the Mountain Hawks’ 19-12 record puts them in contention for a National Invitational Tournament bid. It’s nice to hope and it would certainly be a major boost for the Patriot League’s profile if Lehigh received a…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →There’s little doubt that Lehigh and Bucknell have a heated rivalry, especially since six of the last eight meetings have been decided by five points or less. You’d expect the fans, those who are loyal, to be more jacked up than normal when the two Patriot League teams meet. The…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →This is the week that college basketball players dream about, and it’s when coaches really earn their pay. This is a week for all fans to enjoy, at the Division I, II and III levels. On of the biggest games will involve the area’s hottest men’s team. Lehigh (18-9, 11-1) will try…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Sandwiched between Allan Ray 3-pointers was Will Sheridan sinking baseline jumpers, clawing inside for putbacks, and playing the best 10-minute stretch of his life on Monday night. “It’s the Big East, the best conference in the nation,” Sheridan said. Two of the best teams were…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →“February Madness” has arrived for local teams at DeSales, Moravian and Muhlenberg. That’s because playoff seeds and berths are on the line. The DeSales women (14-9, 8-4) will have their chance to punch a Freedom Conference playoff ticket with a road victory over Delaware Valley…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The only way to earn respect is to ante up and get on with it, which is what Lafayette women’s basketball coach Tammy Smith finally decided to do entering her 27th year of coaching. She stopped worrying about matters out of her control, like Lafayette not offering any…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Lehigh University coach Billy Taylor is contending for his third Patriot League coach of the year honor in four years. That’s because Lehigh is once again contending for the league title, entering this week 7-1 in league play, just 11/2 games behind Bucknell. Taylor does not…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Lehigh men will get another shot at Bucknell Feb. 22 in Lewisburg, and that could be for a first-place tie in the Patriot League. Bucknell finished the first-half of league play 7-0 — with Lehigh at 6-1 and wishing that shots had fallen a different way when the Bison visited…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Lehigh’s student fans have a chance to prove that they are more loyal than fairweather Wednesday night. They have a chance to get rowdy and become a more effective “sixth man.” They have chance to prove that Stabler Arena is a place you need to bring earplugs to rather than a…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Bruce Hall’s talent as a scorer wasn’t being maximized at Cheyney University, so he transferred to Kutztown and is now having a high-scoring senior season. His passion for the game remained high even after he averaged just 10.6 points and 3.0 rebounds in two seasons at Cheyney,…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Muhlenberg coach Dave Madeira knows a Division I player when he sees one, and his eyes lit up when he first saw Lehigh junior guard Jose Olivero catch the ball, turn and bury a 3-pointer with such ease on Wednesday night. Not just once, not just twice but five times in Lehigh’s…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →When Tim Frisby’s life story is depicted on the silver screen, the Allentown native wouldn’t mind playing a cameo role in the movie. But Frisby, a 40-year-old backup wide receiver at the University of South Carolina, won’t consider any motion picture deal until after the…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →A jury trying to decide what type of team Lehigh will be once Patriot League play begins next month would probably end up hung. It’s hard to tell, because senior guard Joe Knight, a solid scorer, passer and defender, won’t make his season debut until a Jan. 11 game against Navy…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →COLLEGES DELAWARE 6-5, 3-5 (Atlantic 10) Season completed Jeremy Kametz (Freedom) So. DL, 6-4, 243. Season: Five solo tackles, two for losses, four assists, two pass break ups, two sacks. DUQUESNE 7-3, 4-0 (MAAC) Season completed Travis Decker (Parkland) So. DL, 6-2, 225.…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →COLLEGES DELAWARE 6-5, 3-5 (Atlantic 10) Beat Villanova 38-13 Jeremy Kametz (Freedom) So. DL, 6-4, 243. Game: One assisted tackle. Season: Five solo tackles, two for losses, four assists, two pass break ups, two sacks. DUQUESNE 7-3, 4-0 (MAAC) Beat Saint Francis 44-17 Travis…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →COLLEGES DELAWARE 5-5, 2-5 (Atlantic 10) Beat William & Mary 22-21 Jeremy Kametz (Freedom) So. DL, 6-4, 243. Season: Five solo tackles, two for losses, three assists, two pass break ups, two sacks. DUQUESNE 6-3, 4-0 (MAAC) Bye Travis Decker (Parkland) So. DL, 6-2, 225. Season:…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →COLLEGES DELAWARE 4-5, 1-5 (Atlantic 10) Lost to Massachusetts 35-7 Jeremy Kametz (Freedom) So. DL, 6-4, 243. Game: One assisted tackle. Season: Five solo tackles, two for losses, three assists, two pass break ups, two sacks. DUQUESNE 6-3, 4-0 (MAAC) Beat La Salle 56-14 Travis…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Whitehall has won eight straight games, but may need to extend that streak to nine to secure a District 11/Sub-Regional Class 3A playoff spot. “It’s something the way things fell,” said Zephyrs coach Bob Panny. “After eight conference games we have a chance.” A chance to return…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →COLLEGES BRIGHAM YOUNG 4-4, 3-2 (Mountain West) Beat Air Force 62-41 Joe Semanoff (Lehighton) So. RB, 5-10, 215. Season: One carry, 6 yards; two catches, 25 yards, one TD. DELAWARE 4-4, 1-4 (Atlantic 10) Lost to Maine 25-15 Jeremy Kametz (Freedom) So. DL, 6-4, 243. Game: One…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →First-year Dieruff coach Jake Williams didn’t think he’d contend for the Lehigh Valley Conference title this season. He didn’t figure on finishing last, either, but that will be the harsh reality if Dieruff (0-8 overall, 0-6 LVC) doesn’t pull off an upset over the next two…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Getting mentally up for Dieruff on Sept. 16 at J. Birney Crum Stadium was no problem at all for Liberty, even though the Hurricanes knew they had major advantages on both sides of the ball. Liberty played Dieruff with the same tenacity it expects to have against Easton (5-2,…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →COLLEGES BRIGHAM YOUNG 3-4, 2-2 (Mountain West) Lost to Notre Dame 49-23 Joe Semanoff (Lehighton) So. RB, 5-10, 215. Season: One carry, 6 yards; two catches, 25 yards, one touchdown. DELAWARE 4-3, 1-3 (Atlantic 10) Beat James Madison 34-28 Jeremy Kametz (Freedom) So. DL, 6-4,…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Emmaus stopped making mistakes and excuses, and stopped losing after its embarrassing Week 4 loss to Nazareth. Maybe it was hard to walk the school hallways after losing 28-7 to Nazareth, a team that had not won a game entering that Lehigh Valley Conference matchup on Sept. 23.…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →COLLEGES BRIGHAM YOUNG 3-3, 2-2 (Mountain West) Beat Colorado State 24-14 Joe Semanoff (Lehighton) So. RB, 5-10, 215. Season: One carry, 6 yards; two catches, 25 yards, one touchdown. DELAWARE 3-3, 0-3 (Atlantic 10) Lost to Richmond 20-10 Jeremy Kametz (Freedom) So. DL, 6-4,…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Liberty, Easton and Whitheall control their PIAA sub-regional playoff destinies with four regular-season games remaining. All each has to do is win, though somebody will lose when Liberty (6-0, 4-0) and Easton (5-1, 3-1) meet Oct. 28 at Cottingham Stadium. Whitehall (5-1, 4-0)…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →COLLEGES DELAWARE 2-3, 0-2 (Atlantic 10) Lost to Hofstra 10-6 Jeremy Kametz (Freedom) So. DL, 6-4, 243. Season: Four solo tackles, two for losses, one assisted, two pass break ups. DUQUESNE 2-3, 0-0 (MAAC) Lost to Georgetown 10-7 Travis Decker (Parkland) So. DL, 6-2, 225.…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Nobody is going to silence Rich Jarnagin, Liberty’s bullish tight end and linebacker. And he is particularly loud and animated when expressing his feelings about Bethlehem Catholic. The 6-1, 213-pound Jarnagin has had plenty to say this week because Liberty (5-0, 3-0) and…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →COLLEGES DELAWARE 3-1, 0-1 (Atl. 10) Lost to Towson 35-31 Jeremy Kametz (Freedom) Soph. DL, 6-4, 243. Season: Three solo tackles, two for losses, one assisted, two pass break-ups. DUQUESNE 2-2, 0-0 (MAAC) Bye Travis Decker (Parkland) Soph. DL, 6-2, 225. Season: Five solo…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Jonathan Mill, the Liberty kicker whose 37-yard field-goal with 4.9 seconds left in regulation glanced off the goal post and through the crossbar to force overtime, stood motionless on the sidelines. “I’m still shaking,” he said. But at least he was standing to see the finish.…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The game that will likely decide the Bethlehem city championship is a week away. But Bethlehem Catholic and Liberty must first contend with tough Lehigh Valley Conference opponents before worrying about their showdown at BethlehemArea School District Stadium next Friday night.…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The Lehigh Valley Conference has become more interesting thanks to Allen’s resurgence with consecutive victories over Freedom and Bethlehem Catholic. However, the Canaries (2-2) are in an uphill battle to advance to the PIAA Class 4A sub-regional playoffs because it’s difficult…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Liberty hopes to blow out Parkland in the same fashion it has its first three opponents. But it might not satisfy at least one Liberty High teacher. “One of my teachers said, “Can you make the games more interesting,’ but I said interesting games are usually the bad ones. The…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →COLLEGES BRIGHAM YOUNG 1-1, 0-0 (Mountain West) Bye Joe Semanoff (Lehighton) So. RB, 5-10, 215. DELAWARE 2-0, 0-0 (Atlantic 10) Beat West Chester 42-21 Jeremy Kametz (Freedom) So. DL, 6-4, 243. Game: Did not play. Season: Three solo tackles, two for losses, two pass breakups.…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Central Catholic seeks validation. Beating defending Lehigh Valley Conference champion Easton at 7 p.m. Saturday at J. Birney Crum Stadium would help validate the Vikings as a conference contender. “I don’t have to get them pumped up,” said Central Catholic coach Donnie Roberts.…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Jason Roeder’s hiring was heavily opposed by most Freedom players in February when he was chosen to succeed Jim Morgans as football coach. Roeder, 30, had never been a head coach and most of the players had developed a closeness to Michael Heimbach, who had been an assistant on…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Bob Stem returns to coaching tonight against a man who admires him, but who’s also yet to beat him. That doesn’t mean that Northampton coach Teko Johnson has already conceded. It’s quite the opposite because Johnson’s Konkrete Kids, led by the multi-talented and dangerous Josh…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Central Catholic will never be just an average football program, because the coaching staffs and players dressed in Vikings gear will always think they’re as good, if not better, than everybody else. Even if the victories don’t equal the always-high expectations. The fact is…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →He did not sleep with his helmet Thursday night and will not walk around school today with a football. But chances are Bethlehem Catholic quarterback Alex Atiyeh won’t take too long to get dressed in his brown and gold uniform for a Lehigh Valley Conference season-opener against…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Liberty has “Hoagie,” which is what they call star senior linebacker Andres Morales, who’s being recruited by N.C. State, Duke and other Division I schools. It also has junior quarterback Dan Persa, an accurate passer and slick runner who’s healthy again and can pick apart…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Haldeman Ford’s adult men’s basketball team is not expected to have a big advantage on the Roosevelt Park blacktop this weekend like it did last summer. That’s because Haldeman won’t have 7-foot center Aaron Gray to depend on as it tries to repeat as Adult Mid-Summer Basketball…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Darryl Dawkins is going across the ocean and Iraqi lines, where more than 1,600 American soldiers have died since President Bush deployed troops there in March of 2003. Dawkins is going there to crack jokes, raise spirits, and lace up his super-sized sneakers to conduct clinics.…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Bob Goffredo was on the sidelines waiting to be transported to the hospital in his last high school football game, an all-star classic at Catasauqua in 1982. But he was cognizant enough to know the outcome. “Yeah, we won,” said Goffredo, now the Pius X football coach. “The boys…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Erika Smith is a former Miss Pennsylvania contestant, but don’t let her astonishing looks fool you. She’s more than just glamorous. When her school day as an English teacher at Dieruff ends, she prefers to tie up her hair, throw on sweats and head across town to J. Birney Crum…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Most minor league basketball players pray for an invitation to an NBA training camp. Allentown’s Sammy Barona just hoped for an opportunity to play for the Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs of the United States Basketball League. He’s finally on the roster and more excited than ever…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Allen High junior Rushane Scott stunned his coach, Erika Smith, when he finished the 100-meter dash in 10.9 seconds on March 31. But Smith was stunned even more on April 14 when Scott clocked a 10.7 in a dual meet against Parkland. She won’t be surprised by anything else Scott…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The United States Basketball League has paid its rent at Dieruff High through seven games, guaranteeing that the Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs will have a home gymnasium until at least late May. That may be good news for more than just the defending ValleyDawgs, who are being funded…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs’ potential new owner from Kentucky has backed out, and the navy blue and golden yellow uniforms the team wore the previous six seasons have disappeared. And are you ready for this? The 12 players who suited up in the ‘Dawgs’ United States Basketball…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →In with the new — and the old. The Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs are under new ownership for the third time in their six-year existence as businesswoman Valerie McQueen from Newport, Ky., completed all transactions with the league late Tuesday. And Darryl Dawkins will remain as head…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs may have finally secured financial backing to survive at least another season and are expected to open defense of their United States Basketball League championship Friday night at Dieruff High School. Service Electric Cable president John Walson…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Billy Taylor insists that he was not interested in the no-longer-available UNC-Greensboro job and that he’s not going to pursue any other vacancy. He’s excited about building for his fourth season, one that figures to be his most challenging as the Mountain Hawks try to rebound…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →This time of the college basketball season, opinions on teams can vary from week-to-week, depending on how those teams play. Good teams don’t falter, suspect ones do. Last week, I touted Lafayette for having won two straight games. Then the Leopards got wiped out by a 71-33…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Teams that make postseason runs in March usually start to play harder and smarter and win more convincingly at this time of the season. Lafayette has done that in its last two Patriot League games. Teams that have short runs in March usually do what Lehigh has done over its last…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Saint Joseph’s is making another run at the NCAA Tournament. And the Hawks don’t even control Philadelphia. But that’s the beauty of college basketball because rankings and computers do not determine a team’s fate. Saint Joe’s (12-9) can advance to the “Big Dance” for the third…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Bucknell coach Pat Flannery did not allow his spirits to be dampened after losing to Lehigh 57-54 on a Joe Knight 3-pointer at the buzzer Sunday at Stabler Arena. Flannery had missed three games because of an undisclosed medical condition. He hated being out, hated not having to…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Drexel University senior Danny Hinds is not about to let a fractured left wrist keep him out of the Dragons’ starting lineup. He’s worked too hard to get into it, so he’s not about to let discomfort in his non-shooting hand spoil his last season. Besides, Drexel coach Bruiser…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Villanova’s non-league schedule had been nothing to boast about, except for games against Big 5 rivals Temple and Pennsylvania. But Saturday, the Wildcats took a break from from the Big East to play second-ranked Kansas at the Wachovia Center. There wasn’t supposed to be…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Lehigh’s Patriot League opponents are not having many good nights trying to contain Mountain Hawks junior guard Joe Knight. The 6-1 transfer from High Point University has turned into a clutch late-game performer, hitting the game-winning shot with 25.4 seconds left in a 56-53…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The excitement is slowly returning to Navy basketball. Though the Midshipmen’s 4-9 start has included a 75-69 loss to Division III Gettysburg on Dec. 18 in Annapolis, first-year coach Billy Lange is not discouraged. A stale offense was the main reason the Midshipmen compiled a…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The opponents hit hard. Easton just hit harder. The opponents were often bigger. Easton never buckled. For 13 straight games, Easton just won, mostly with smashmouth offense and punishing defense, and by taking advantage of some turnover opportunities in the playoffs during…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →COLLEGE BUCKNELL 7-4, 4-2 (Patriot) Beat Duquesne 30-20 Mike Cangelosi (Nazareth) Sr. 6-0, 197. Season: 14 carries, 93 yards, 1 TD; 6 catches, 62 yards, TD. DELAWARE 6-3, 6-1 (Atl. 10) Beat Richmond 23-14 Sean Bleiler (Parkland) Sr. 6-0, 220. Season: 66 carries, 333 yards, 2…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →COLLEGE BUCKNELL 6-4, 4-2 (Patriot) Beat Colgate 42-7 Mike Cangelosi (Nazareth) Sr. 6-0, 197. Game: One catch, four yards. Season: 14 carries, 93 yards, TD; six catches, 62 yards, TD. DELAWARE 6-3, 6-1 (Atl. 10) Beat Richmond 23-14 Sean Bleiler (Parkland) Sr. 6-0, 220. Season:…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →An area high school football coach, who showed little mercy when it came to an opponent, was just a fan Saturday afternoon watching the District 11 Class 4A subregional playoff game between Easton and Emmaus at Cottingham Stadium. But former Bethlehem Catholic High coach Bob…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The Parkland High football team will look to rebound from a disappointing 3-7 season without the coach who, two years ago, led it to the PIAA Class 4A championship. The Parkland High School administration announced in a press release Friday that Rob Melosky will not be retained…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →COLLEGE BUCKNELL 5-4, 3-2 (Patriot) Beat Fordham 21-20 Mike Cangelosi (Nazareth) Sr. 6-0, 197. Game: Two catches, 25 yards, TD. Season: 13 carries, 89 yards, TD; six catches, 62 yards, TD. DELAWARE 6-3, 5-1 (Atl. 10) Lost 20-13 to James Madison Sean Bleiler (Parkland) Sr. 6-0,…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Easton is 8-0 and has already clinched the No. 1 spot in the PIAA Class 4A sub-regional playoffs, but the Red Rovers still have as much pressure on them as Emmaus and Liberty have entering the Lehigh Valley Conference’s final weekend. Liberty (8-1, 6-1) and Emmaus (8-1, 6-1)…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →COLLEGE BUCKNELL 4-4, 2-2 (Patriot) Beat Holy Cross 42-27 Mike Cangelosi (Nazareth) Sr. 6-0, 197. Season: 13 carries, 89 yards, TD; 4 catches, 37 yards. DELAWARE 6-2, 5-0 (Atl. 10) Lost 34-20 to Navy Sean Bleiler (Parkland) Sr. 6-0, 220. Season: 66 carries, 333 yards, 2 TD; 5…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Liberty and Easton tuned up for the “Battle of the Unbeatens” by smashing their opponents last Friday night. Liberty beat Nazareth 22-0 and Easton rolled over Northampton 45-14. Liberty (8-0, 6-0) did not play its best game, but still proved merciless, holding Nazareth to just…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →COLLEGE BUCKNELL 3-4, 1-2 (Patriot) Lost 40-17 to Lehigh Mike Cangelosi (Nazareth) Sr. 6-0, 197. Game: Three carries, 11 yards. Season: 13 carries, 89 yards, TD; four catches, 37 yards. DELAWARE 6-1, 5-0 (Atl. 10) Beat William & Mary 31-28 Sean Bleiler (Parkland) Sr. 6-0, 220.…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Emmaus could finish the season 9-1 and not make the PIAA Class 4A sub-regional playoffs. It’s not a joke. It’s just the harsh reality of the new playoff system, which has combined Districts 11, 2 and 4. Just four teams will qualify for the playoffs. Currently, Easton (6-0),…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →COLLEGE BUCKNELL 3-3, 1-1 (Patriot) Lost 14-13 to Lafayette Mike Cangelosi (Nazareth) Sr. 6-0, 197. Game: Three carries, 19 yards; one catch, 24 yards. Season: 10 carries, 69 yards, TD; four catches, 37 yards. DELAWARE 5-1, 4-0 (Atl. 10) Beat Hofstra 20-19 Sean Bleiler…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Games that resembled Mud Bowls were played throughout the Lehigh Valley Friday night. Dieruff may have enjoyed slopping around more than any other team its 21-7 victory over Whitehall. The Huskies snapped a 15-game losing streak that dated back to Sept. 6 of last year. But the…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Easton and Liberty are still undefeated in the Lehigh Valley Conference, but will probably have to battle hard tonight to stay that way. And again next week. Then, on Oct. 29, Easton (5-0) and Liberty (6-0) will meet each other at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium, but will…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Liberty had been outplayed and trailed rival Bethlehem Catholic 10-0 at halftime of their Lehigh Valley Conference matchup Saturday night. But the Hurricanes were not chewed out in the locker room by coach Tim Moncman. That’s the natural assumption. “We didn’t do any yelling or…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →COLLEGE BUCKNELL 3-2, 1-0 (Patriot) Lost 32-25 to Penn (2OT) Mike Cangelosi (Nazareth) Sr. 6-0, 197. Game: seven carries, 50 yards, one touchdown. Season: seven carries, 50 yards, one TD; three catches, 13 yards. DELAWARE 4-1, 3-1 (Atlantic 10) Bye Sean Bleiler (Parkland) Sr.…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Liberty is now the talk of Bethlehem. That’s what happens when you’re 5-0 and ranked No. 9 in the state in Class 4A by the Harrisburg Patriot-News. The Hurricanes also still have bragging rights because they swept city rivals Freedom and Bethlehem Catholic last season. Until…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Although Allen started the season 0-4 before beating Nazareth 10-7 Friday night at J. Birney Crum Stadium, the Canaries never lost confidence. “We weren’t stressing,” said Allen coach Kevin Ronalds. “We knew that were were going to get some wins.” Three of the Canaries’ games…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Emmaus and Whitehall are no longer being overlooked by other Lehigh Valley Conference teams. “That’s too bad,” said Emmaus coach Bottiglieri. “We need them to overlook us a little bit.” Neither Emmaus (3-1, 1-1 LVC) nor Whitehall (3-1, 2-0) will get breaks tonight, next week or…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Lehigh Valley Conference teams have to be on their own Hurricane watch, but it has nothing to do with high winds and heavy rains. “Watch out for Liberty,” Easton coach Steve Shiffert said before Liberty went to Parkland Stadium Friday night and throttled the Trojans defensively…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The improved accuracy of sophomore quarterback Alex Atiyeh and Bethlehem Catholic’s overpowering size in the trenches helped the Golden Hawks gain a 37-14 victory in a Lehigh Valley Conference matchup Saturday in Bethlehem. Atiyeh, a transfer from Dieruff, rolled up 139 yards on…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Dieruff High senior linebacker Nick Davis has racked up 275 tackles the last three seasons and is on pace for another 100-plus-tackle season. “The kid gets crazy, crazy out there,” said Dieruff coach Keith Brader. “They just can’t stop him. “He is so hard-nosed. He is the best…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Easton’s highly-touted band figures to rock in the stands as the Red Rovers football team goes after the 700th win in school history against Dieruff at 7 tonight at J. Birney Crum Stadium. It’s big. Maybe, the biggest storyline in the LVC in Week 3, but in an unusual twist, it…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Potential thrillers lie in wait as Lehigh Valley Conference play opens tonight. Who will be surprise winners? Well, the LVC is so balanced that most games tonight and Saturday could be decided late. Who’s feeling the pressure? It’s heaviest for Bethlehem Catholic (0-2), Allen…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →North Penn, the defending PIAA Class 4A champion, and Mount Carmel, a Class 2A powerhouse with five PIAA titles since 1994, will both be playing in the Lehigh Valley Saturday night. Whether that’s good news or bad for the Lehigh Valley Conference teams they are playing remains…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Andrew Battle, a Dieruff High graduate, has agreed to provide a daily diary to The Morning Call chronicling his quest of going from a once-troubled youth to perhaps making the Detroit Lions’ roster. Battle had two tackles — one for a loss — in the Lions’ last preseason game…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Must-win games will begin the second week of the season for Lehigh Valley Conference teams after they lose their season-openers. That’s because of the PIAA’s new sub-regional playoff format that has combined District 11 with District 2 and District 4 teams in a chase to secure…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Andrew Battle used to knock people down out of anger, and occasionally get suspended from school as a result. He was ultimately labeled a trouble maker. But now Battle, 23, is a rookie free agent linebacker with the Detroit Lions. “Now I get paid to clean clocks,” he said…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Blowing out the field and breaking school records would not have been as special to Northern Lehigh senior Bob Sutjak had his team not won the meets. The success of the team means more to Sutjak than his personal triumphs. Lately, he’s been able to enjoy both. Last Thursday in a…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →American University advanced to its third straight Patriot League Tournament championship game with a victory 65-55 over Colgate on Sunday. But the Eagles would have felt cheated had Lehigh not also won. That’s because the Eagles’ two regular-season losses to Lehigh remain sore…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Danny Hinds was one of the many Drexel players disappointed with Saturday’s 76-64 loss at Delaware, which prevented the Dragons from clinching first place in the Colonial Athletic Conference. But Hinds, a 6-6 junior forward from Central Catholic, also knows how to look past the…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Temple assistant coach Mark Macon and college basketball analyst Digger Phelps, a former coach at Notre Dame, both need to get up to speed with what Saint Joseph’s has done this season. That would help keep both from putting their feet in their mouths as the No. 2-ranked Hawks…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →It must have been destiny that rivals East Stroudsburg and Kutztown would play two buzzer-to-buzzer games decided by a combined six points. Sole possession of fourth place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division was on the line when they met Wednesday night…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Lafayette College coach Fran O’Hanlon couldn’t have been more correct Saturday when he said, “We haven’t won anything yet.” O’Hanlon was responding to Holy Cross coach Ralph Willard’s statement that he had picked Lafayette to win the Patriot League title. Lafayette (18-5) beat…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Lafayette College’s bid for a 14-0 regular-season record in the Patriot League ended with the Leopards’ 85-77 loss to Colgate on Friday in Hamilton, N.Y. But the the Leopards’ hope to win the league’s regular-season and tournament titles remains alive. Even if Lafayette coach…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Andrew Koefer was no star at Allentown Central Catholic and may never experience more than a few minutes playing time in college. But he will not complain. In fact, he believes that he is living out a dream as a freshman walk-on at No. 3-ranked Saint Joseph’s. His dream world,…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →There are arenas that are great because of their style, seating capacity, or crowd noise. Lafayette College’s Kirby Sports Center is not exactly a state-of-the-art facility. It lacks the pizzazz of other venues because of its lack of theater-type seating and has a seating…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Lehigh University now has a fun-and-gun offense, led by guards Austen Rowland and Jose Olivero, that is entertaining and producing winning results. Maybe it’s a taste of what’s to come in future years under Billy Taylor, the second-year coach who now sports a 25-18 record after…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →He takes at least two insulin shots a day to help control his diabetes. Sometimes he’s woozy and so fatigued that he could just skip a practice or a game without anybody complaining. But the fire within Lafayette College senior forward Mike Farrell burns too much. He scores,…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The University of Connecticut is no longer No. 1 in all major polls today, but the Huskies will still be the best team Lehigh will play this season. And one of the toughest ever. Lehigh did play Georgetown and Patrick Ewing in the 1985 NCAA Tournament, losing, 68-43, and the…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The picture painted of the Lafayette College women’s basketball program over the last two seasons has been ugly. The images of back-to-back 3-25 seasons will do that. It was a devastating experience for coach Tammy Smith, who had never endured a losing season before coming to…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Northampton had already been out of playoff contention by the time October rolled around and the leaves had changed colors over the past few years. Not so this fall. But how much longer will Northampton’s football season last? The Konkrete Kids (7-3) qualified for the District…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →For the fifth straight year, Easton and Bethlehem Catholic will meet in a meaningful game. But it’s more meaningful for Easton. The Red Rovers (7-1, 4-0) can clinch the Lehigh Valley Conference Northampton Division title outright and the No. 1 spot and homefield advantage in the…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Bethlehem Catholic is still alive and making a strong run at qualifying for the District 11 Class 4A playoffs for the sixth straight year. Parkland is just hours away from proving it is the best team holding residence on Cedar Crest Boulevard, and the Trojans (6-2) visit Emmaus…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The wake-up call Easton apparently needed came on Sept. 26 when the Red Rovers were smashed 40-20 by Altoona at Cottingham Stadium. It was the Red Rovers’ first loss and it was devastating. Gone, along with Easton’s aura of invincibility, was the No. 1 ranking in The Morning…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →It didn’t matter that the Parkland High offense stumbled for most of its Lehigh Valley Conference game against Central Catholic because the Trojans’ defense gave a bone-crushing performance Saturday night at J. Birney Crum Stadium. Led by defensive end Travis Decker, the Trojans…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Compelling questions about Freedom (5-1) and Easton (4-1) will be answered when they meet in a Lehigh Valley Conference Northampton Division game at 7 tonight at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium. Who’s tougher? Who can run the ball better? And, of course, who’s No. 1? With…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Opportunity to beat an elite team knocks for Liberty when the Hurricanes play Bethlehem Catholic at 7 tonight at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium. “It knocks too many times,” said Liberty coach Tim Moncman, which isn’t exactly a joke considering that the Hurricanes (3-2)…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Easton was expected to be a top contender for the Lehigh Valley Conference title and a top District 11 Class 4A playoff spot. Emmaus and Northampton did not have the same expectations, but all three teams enter the fifth week of the season with stronger possibilities for…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →A year ago, Bethlehem Catholic and Parkland played two games that were like the Super Bowls of Lehigh Valley football. Bethlehem Catholic won the first meeting, 29-28 in overtime. Parkland prevailed in the second game, 14-11 to win the District 11 Class 4A title en route to…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →One more chance. “This is my fourth year,” said Central Catholic High senior quarterback Josh Hinkle. “I’ve got to get one.” Just one victory over Bethlehem Catholic, the arch rival that has bombarded Central Catholic by a 126-31 margin in their last three meetings. Hinkle has…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Liberty High survived last week, beating Pleasant Valley 35-28 in double overtime. Now comes a bigger team, a bigger task. Parkland’s visit to Bethlehem Area School District Stadium to play Liberty at 7 p.m. Saturday will be the Hurricanes’ biggest home game in years. Parkland…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The stadium lights will be turned on and the blocking, tackling, passing, punishing and juking between the lines will commence throughout the Lehigh Valley this weekend as the high school football season kicks off. Lehigh Valley Conference powers Parkland, Bethlehem Catholic and…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →So much for the Gold team all-stars’ speed and the hope of it being unleashed in a mighty way. The Red team all-stars, led by a defensive backs that blanketed wideouts and defensive linemen that created havoc, dampened the aspirations of fans looking for a shootout in the 33rd…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Like all the players in the McDonald’s Football Classic, Bethlehem Catholic quarterback Adam Bednarik will wear his school’s helmet for the final time at 7 tonight at Nazareth High. It just won’t be the same Golden Hawks helmet he wore during the season, the one that was loaded…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →He was in the middle of a game with Emmaus High when his helmet clamped down awkwardly, resulting in a nasty gash on his face. “It was painful,” said Parkland High senior Nick Pinchek. But Pinchek finished the game and continued to play through the discomfort of the gash until…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The veins in Parkland senior Ryan Kleintop’s neck seemed as if they would burst through his skin each time he sprinted down the straightaway leading to the jumping pit. “I just try to get as pumped up for each jump as I can,” Kleintop said. He jumped farther and higher than…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →In the next four weeks league, district and state champions will be crowned in track and field. May is designed for that. April is supposed to be about building speed, strength, distance and mental toughness. Unfortunately, April was also a misleading month for far too many area…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Chilly and windy weather conditions hardly bothered Emmaus batters and pitchers Wednesday afternoon in Lower Macungie. Emmaus was efficient in both departments in beating Liberty 13-6 in a Lehigh Valley Conference game that bolstered the Green Hornets’ confidence. They had lost…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Bethlehem Catholic senior quarterback Adam Bednarik seemed to almost faint when told that he had been selected to the Associated Press Big School (Classes 4A/3A) All-State team. “That’s awesome,” Bednarik said, pausing on the phone before becoming even more exhilarated over his…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The sight of Parkland tailback Austin Scott warming up his throwing arm on the sidelines in the fourth quarter might have seemed odd at the time, but it sure looked sweet when he actually did it in the game Friday night at Cottingham Stadium. Scott lofted a spiral, landing…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Allen, Easton or Freedom will have their District 11 Class 4A football playoff hopes spoiled this weekend. Delivering the boot could be Dieruff, Parkland or Liberty. Could there be a more interesting climax to the final week of the first Lehigh Valley Conference regular season?…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →No team in the first-year Lehigh Valley Conference has suffered as much heartbreak with no time left on the clock as Freedom. But the Patriots have become mentally tougher after losing 25-24 to Dieruff on a Brian School 20-yard field-goal on Sept. 20, and 22-21 to Easton on a…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →And Rob Hauke scored. And again. And again. And the Central Catholic tailback scored four more times, the last on a 60-yard punt return in the fourth quarter, for the final exclamation mark in the Vikings’ 49-0 nonleague victory over host Crestwood of District 2 Saturday…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Oh mercy! Dieruff could have cried or shouted it out because it was obvious by late in the second quarter that Bethlehem Catholic was not going to take its foot off the gas pedal Saturday night. Instead, the Golden Hawks just kept flooring Dieruff behind an offense that clicked…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →With its crunching tackles, the Parkland defense seemed to break the spirit of Liberty about as much as Trojans tailback Austin Scott’s elusive running did Friday night in Orefield. But it was only the same devastating double-dose that the Trojans have used to beat every…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Dieruff and Liberty are playing “Survivor” this weekend, both going against powerhouse Lehigh Valley Conference teams that are among the best in the state. The chances both have of qualifying for the District 11 Class 4A playoffs may depend on the outcome of Liberty’s visit to…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The Easton Red Rovers are going on a shopping spree at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium for the second week in a row when they play the Liberty Hurricanes in a Lehigh Valley Conference matchup at 7 tonight. And the thing the Red Rovers (3-2, 3-1) will be looking for most…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →All that counts to Parkland High senior Nick Pinchek is that he’s happy and the Trojans are winning. Never mind the fact that Pinchek won’t come anywhere close to the 1,321 yards he rushed for last season as the Trojans’ featured tailback. Never mind that he was moved to…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →And now the Lehigh Valley Conference race thickens. No more easy games, at least on paper. Though powerhouse Bethlehem Catholic and Austin Scott-led Parkland appear headed for Dream Match II in the District 11 Class 4A playoffs, Allen, Freedom and Liberty each have a 4-1 overall…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →A soft pillow should have been among the requirements for players signing up for the Pius X football team this season. It would have been put to good use. The Royals, a Class 1A school in Roseto, will log 2,500 miles on six away games. On Friday they traveled to Shamokin, losing…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The Liberty defense was being attacked by air and surrendered a first down to Dieruff on fourth-and-11 with less than two minutes to go at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium. Pop, pop, another first down for Dieruff. But junior defensive back Jeremy Kittek intercepted…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Last week, the Allentown public schools had Bethlehem’s number on the football field. In one game, Dieruff rallied from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to edge Freedom, 25-24 on a Brian Scholl 20-yard field goal with time expiring at J. Birney Crum Stadium. In Bethlehem, Allen…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Bethlehem Catholic quarterback Adam Bednarik notices the passing statistics of all the area’s other top quarterbacks. He was impressed by Friday night’s air shows of 258 yards yards by Allen’s Michael Bernhard against Liberty and the 269 yards Dieruff’s Richard Ocelus torched…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The Liberty Hurricanes know they’re not facing a cupcake in the Allen Canaries, who visit Liberty for a Lehigh Valley Conference game tonight at 7. But the Hurricanes aren’t buckling at the knees. They want to prove their mettle against a good team. “As long as everybody plays…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The immediate future of Easton football should be fine, as long as underclassmen Ovid Goulbourne and Brad Piperata get their hands on the ball. The Red Rovers’ defense is always strong and stingy. All were effective in Easton’s 14-7 Lehigh Valley Conference victory over Dieruff…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The mind games started as early as 4 a.m. when Dieruff wide receiver Joel Rupp’s father had him running 40-yard sprints. “I tell him you have got to be ready to run whenever the coaches ask you,” said Rupp Sr. The mind games also extended from 20 feet away when Rupp’s father…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Parkland tailback Austin Scott helped cure all that had been aching the Trojans the best way he knows Friday night in Orefield. Scott’s way was to just break loose, tire, frustrate and outslick the defense. He seemed to get better with each carry, confounding Central Catholic…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Division I recruiters have been looking at Bethlehem Catholic quarterback Adam Bednarik since last season, probably drooling over his beautiful spirals and the distance he can throw. Shouldn’t they also be looking at Allen quarterback Michael Bernhard and Dieruff QB Richard…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The swagger is still there, though the players who figure to be leading the Bethlehem Catholic charge are different. The speed is also there, maybe more so than in the past. Look out for a junior named Brandon Carter. There is a new team leader, senior quarterback Adam Bednarik,…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Kevin Easterling was selected to play in the 1984 Big 33 Football Classic after rushing for nearly 1,200 yards his senior year at Dieruff, and he believes his son could have similar success at the Colonial League school he currently attends. But Easterling is worried that the…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →They are all back together in competition, old rivals, longtime friends, fans who want to engage in rah-rah chants, and coaches who want to outfox other coaches by any means possible. Most of them have been separated for four calender school years, leaving Allen deprived of a…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Bethlehem Catholic’s Eddie Scipio, Fred Rice, Brandon Carter and Maurice Simmons have memories from the 108th Penn Relays they will be able to savor the rest of their lives. And for good reason. They ran faster than any team in The Morning Call’s circulation area has ever run in…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →While others are posting times in sprint and distance events that are impressive, none of them has what Easton High senior D.J. Williams has going for himself. Williams, unlike the rest, was a District 11 and PIAA track and field title contender in the long jump before the…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Too much has been wrong with the Dieruff High boys basketball program since 1996, starting with apparent neglect of academics for student/athlete and, of course, the continuing number of losses on the court. Tim Geiger, in his first year as the school’s athletic director, is not…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Some players have shown up at the Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs tryout camps the last two weeks with a support team which has included girlfriends, wives and family members. Juwan Justice, a 6-4 guard from East Stroudsburg University, has traveled to Lehigh Carbon Community College…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →That 25-0 record the Parkland Trojans posted in the regular season has been playing on the mind of Emmaus center Aaron Gray. Now more than ever, following Gray’s dominating performance in Emmaus’ 56-47 victory over Freedom in the District 11 Class 4A boys basketball preliminary…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The noise level is more boisterous and the atmosphere more lively at the University of Pennsylvania’s Palestra than at any other college gymnasium in Philadelphia, especially in matchups between Big 5 teams. “This is a great place to play when it is filled,” Penn junior Ugonna…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Billy McCaffrey should get out his notepad and scribble down a few things from Kort Wickenheiser, mostly about details of how to move up in the college basketball coaching ranks as an assistant coach before becoming the man in charge. Sometimes the game really is about paying…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →As the 2002 part of the college basketball season rolls in, let’s take a capsule look at what has gone on and what is expected of Division I teams in the Lehigh Valley/Philadelphia/University Park areas. Lehigh — Playing against weaker teams has enabled the Engineers (3-8) to…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Mark Borda has turned into pure adrenaline, taking pretty much what he wants on the hardwood in all but one game for Bethlehem Catholic this season. It’s helping the senior make amends for a football season that was cut short because of a night of drinking., which was in…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Bewilderment rocked the Penn State campus two weeks ago when Yale beat the Nittany Lions on the basketball court. It has happened before. It’s just that nobody on the current Nittany Lions roster or head coach Jerry Dunn was even born when the Bulldogs beat Penn State 33-31 in…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Lafayette has been close. Really close to Miami of the Big East in the second half on Saturday. The Leopards also led Penn State by 13 points in the first half last Wednesday. The two road games ended in defeats, 75-66 to Penn State and 79-69 to Miami. Lafayette beat Albany,…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →One Danny rested in a hotel room Saturday night in Greensboro, N.C., another in his dorm room at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Neither player will be suiting up in a college uniform anytime soon, Hinds because he is in a cast and out at least another six weeks with a high…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Discussions of football and war have been persistent at the house of East Stroudsburg University coach Denny Douds. Especially this week. America is striking back for the terrorists attacks of Sept. 11 and Douds and his coaching staff are preparing the Warriors for a key…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Central Catholic entered homecoming Saturday with a 1-3 record and riding on the District 11 playoff bubble. One more loss would have put the Vikings in serious jeopardy of not qualifying for the playoffs. Opponents of CCHS may be in a rush for that to happen, but the Vikings’…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Calvin Robinson Jr. saw the opening and took advantage quickly, cheers almost guiding him as he dribbled toward the basket at Allentown’s Roosevelt Park two Sundays ago. It had been four years since he had people rooting for him so loudly. But with the game clock winding down in…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →News that the Black Heritage Tournament and Festival would not be contested this summer stunned Chuck Rockmore a month ago. Not long after hearing that bad news, Rockmore heard speculation that the Stellar Construction adult tournament, widely considered the granddaddy of…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The father of the star player began jumping and waving his arm in the stands at Reading High’s Geigle Complex with a little under two minutes remaining, and the frenzied Central Catholic student body began shouting, “We smell Hershey.” For Kenny Hinds, the father of Vikings…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Central Catholic seniors Daniel Hinds and Andrew Guman handled the ending with poise — not celebrating too much — just walking off the court slowly following the Vikings’ 59-41 victory over Blue Mountain in a District 11 Class 3A quarterfinal Friday at Dieruff High. Whitehall…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The Bethlehem Catholic defensive scheme is to force its opponent to wilt from its 1-3-1 trapping zone, and then lure that opponent to sleep with its patient offense. If you are Allen and you like to run and rely on your athleticism to carry you to victory, then you are in…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Ray Barbosa was the creator and Jon Brown the finisher. Get used to it because they have more years to go, more games in which to dominate, more dramatic finishes to enjoy. They are the foundation of the Allen boys basketball team — Barbosa the sophomore guard and Brown the…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Dieruff could have picked any one of 10 players on the Central Catholic roster that have played significant minutes, and it’s unlikely the Huskies would have figured Jim Birkhead to be the one to bust them up. In fact, most Central Catholic opponents would probably think the…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →You are Dieruff High and you are riding a 17-game losing streak. The last thing you need is two fumbles on the opening kickoff. The Huskies recovered the fumble both times, but rebounding from the slump they’ve been in for two seasons seemingly evaporated as soon as they fumbled…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →An end to futility had to come for one of the East Penn Conference cellar dwellers Friday night in Emmaus. It would not come without a price. ‘I got punched in the face one time,’ said Emmaus defensive lineman Kevin Short. But Short did a lot more hitting than receiving in…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Johnny Santiago has run the ball one way since he began playing competitive football for the Bethlehem Saints at age 6. ‘When I get the ball I look for the hole,” said Santiago, a senior tailback at Freedom. ‘I just want to run through (the defender ), right through his back.…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Former Dieruff and NFL player Mark McCants and Dieruff alumnus Jamie Smith have joined Geraldine Ross in an effort to help give former Dieruff star Anthony Ross an athletic and academic life past high school. All Ross, the slick 6-foot-1 guard who completed high school at…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The idea in scholastic athletics is to provide an arena, playing field or surface where a student-athlete can look to achieve maximum results. Personal or for the team. But an athlete can not experience thrills or disappointments without tough competition — at least something on…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Every year, Emmaus or Parkland — many times both teams — seem to have a swimmer that’s All-Water, that is someone able to swim many events extremely well. This high school swim season it’s Parkland junior Chris Johnson, a key member on the Trojans’ 200 and 400-yard relay’s that…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →