This season, Brian Clancy, a 5-10, 230-pound senior, is the center and he gets to snap the ball to his younger brother, Michael, a 5-11, 170-pound sophomore.

The Haverford High brothers have enjoyed this rare treat, starting as the Fords' battery mates against Marple Newtown, and when Mike isn't taking snaps from his brother, he's the starting tailback, so big-brother Brian gets to create pathways for little-brother Mike.

"You always want your brother to do well," said Brian, who came back from a knee injury earlier this season and suffered a slightly sprained ankle Friday night in Haverford's heartbreaking, 24-21 overtime loss to Lower Merion. "The thing about brothers playing on the same team is that you're always protective of your brother. I'll always be the big brother. It is special playing together like this."

Mike can thank big brother Brian for wedging open gaping holes in the Lower Merion game, when Mike rushed for a career-best 151 yards on 26 carries. But the game left a bittersweet taste. Not only did Haverford lose to fall to 1-5 overall, Mike had to endure losing his brother in the third quarter with the ankle injury.

"It was tough, looking at him down on the field, that's the hard part of playing with your brother," said Mike, who's rotated at tailback and quarterback for the injury-plagued Fords this season. "I knew Brian would be alright, but it did shake me up a little bit. You just have to get past it and keep going."

An even larger challenge faces the Clancy brothers next week, when they have to play Strath Haven, where their father Kevin is the head coach, a team they used to be water boys for when they were young.

"To be honest, the week of the Strath Haven game, my dad is really cool about it," Brian said. "He's in a tough spot, because he cares as much about how we play as he does his own players. Through my dad and playing in the Central League, I know and respect all the coaches in the league. I'd like to think the only difference is that I'll get to talk to the opposing coach at home after the game."

For Mike, playing against his father will be a new experience, since it will be his first time against Strath Haven at the varsity level.

"My focus is winning as many games as we can by the end of the year, not just for Brian, but for all of the seniors," Mike said. "We've been forced to play a lot of younger guys this year because of all the injuries, and a lot of seniors who have been really good to us. The rest of this season is for Brian, and for all the seniors this year."

Stats galore

Consider the following: The teams combined to accumulate 47 first downs, 930 yards of total offense, and 120 total points.

Perhaps the biggest benefactor was Penncrest senior tailback Jerry Boyer, who rushed for four touchdowns, including runs of 52 and 48 yards, and 250 yards on 24 carries. Springfield's Matt Craig picked up 143 yards on 29 carries, including three TDs.

"I did actually play in a game close to that last year, when we lost to Conestoga, 56-40," Boyer said. "But that Springfield game Friday night was pretty crazy, and I suppose an ugly win is better than a pretty loss. It was kind of like a two-hand touch game. We had problems with their spread offense. We weren't being gap-responsible, and in the spread offense, you can cut back anywhere on the line."

The Lions moved to 4-2 overall (with the two losses by a combined five points) and don't have much room for error, if Penncrest intends to qualify for the District 1 Class AAAA playoffs. A huge test comes Friday at 7 p.m. when Delaware County's No. 1-rated Ridley visits the Lions.

"We need to buckle down this week," Boyer said. "This will be our season Friday night. Our goal is to win the Central League title, and we can't do that without beating Ridley. We can't make the same mistakes we did Friday night. I know I have to play better. We've yet to play our best. We can't lose another game, we cannot lose, or we're done. We have to play a perfect game against Ridley, it's the only way we can beat them." *

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