Rick O'Brien: Southeastern Pennsylvania's best multipurpose players on the gridiron

We continue our top 10 football tour with a review of the area's best two-way, multipurpose playmakers in the area.

Our subjective list is based on a player's overall impact to a team, including contributions on offense, defense, and as a special-teams performer. Most in this group have added value because of their kick-returning abilities.

1. Nate Smith, Archbishop Wood, senior, 6-foot, 190 pounds. Since coming over from George Washington, Smith has shined as a wideout, ball-hawking safety, and kick returner. The Division I-A recruit is considering Temple and West Virginia, among others.

2. Will Parks, Germantown, senior, 6-1, 180. On offense, the speedy Pittsburgh recruit serves as a running back, usually when the Bears are near the end zone, and receiver. He posted three touchdowns against Samuel Fels, including an 87-yard interception return.

3. Damiere Shaw, Cardinal O'Hara, senior, 5-10, 170. Shaw, a Temple recruit who has been clocked at 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash, sparks the Lions as a running back, cornerback, and kick returner.

4. Brandon Shippen, Norristown, senior, 5-10, 175. Through six games, the Temple-bound Shippen, who doubles as a lockdown cornerback, had rushed for 803 yards and eight TDs.

5. Sean Coleman, La Salle, junior, 5-9, 160. While his future is in lacrosse, where he is a topflight midfielder, Coleman is also quite a catalyst on the gridiron. He is a major threat as a receiver, cornerback, and kick returner.

6. Raul Quinones, Father Judge, senior, 5-11, 180. Quinones has been a stalwart at tailback and outside linebacker. Against Roman Catholic, he returned a second-half kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown.

7. Brandon Peoples, Archbishop Wood, senior, 5-10, 180. The Temple commit is best known for his abilities as a ballcarrier and blocker for Desmon Peoples, his cousin, but he's also been a force as an outside linebacker/speed-rushing end.

8. Richie Sampson, Unionville, senior, 6-2, 195. At cornerback, Sampson, sidelined last season by a foot injury, has shined against the Ches-Mont League's best wideouts. He entered the weekend with 686 rushing yards and nine TDs.

9. Dan Gevirtz, North Penn, senior, 5-11, 175. In Friday night's 35-0 win over Quakertown, Gevirtz, a crafty wide receiver and cornerback, closed the scoring by returning the second-half kickoff 89 yards.

10. Teron Dobbs, Archbishop Carroll, senior, 5-10, 160. The speedster showed his versatility in Week 6 against Penn Charter. He ran for a 7-yard touchdown, caught a 45-yard TD pass, and returned a punt for a 77-yard score.

Twenty others to watch, listed alphabetically: Kyle Adkins, Archbishop Wood, senior; Myles Brooker, Germantown, senior; Mark Doe, Academy Park, senior; Seth Ehlo, Central Bucks West, senior; William Fuller, Roman Catholic, junior; Mike Gentile, Haverford High, senior; Ronnie Gillespie, Upper Perkiomen, senior; Jim Haley, Monsignor Bonner, junior; Chris Jones, Coatesville, junior; Julian Kaminoff, New Hope-Solebury, senior; Josh Lee, Abington, senior; Eric Medes, St. Joseph's Prep, senior; Bobby Marterella, Neshaminy, senior; Skyler Mornhinweg, St. Joseph's Prep, senior; Jon Neiman, Boyertown, senior; Matt Roberts, Quakertown, senior; Matt Smalley, Father Judge, senior; Taishan Tucker, Roman Catholic, senior; Jay Watkins, Cardinal O'Hara, senior; Javon White, Souderton, senior.

Trivia answer. In last week's column, we asked readers to name the last two Cheltenham players to rush for 1,000 yards in the same season.

In 2003, senior Marcus Fontes and junior Devon Barrett each eclipsed the grand mark while leading the Panthers to a 10-2 record and a three-way share of the Suburban One League Liberty Division title.

Sidelined. Germantown Academy's Keith Corliss, a senior fullback and linebacker, is likely lost for the season with a fractured sternum suffered in a season-opening loss at Upper Dublin.

The 6-2, 210-pound Corliss, who is considering Princeton and Cornell, last saw action in Week 2 against the Hill School.

Week 8 showdowns. In a pivotal Central League contest next Friday, Garnet Valley (6-1 overall, 6-0 league) visits Springfield (Delco) (7-0, 6-0).

Also Friday, in the Ches-Mont League National Conference, Downingtown West (6-1, 2-1) clashes with Downingtown East (6-1, 2-1), and, in a battle between co-leaders, West Chester Henderson (5-2, 3-0) meets Coatesville (6-1, 3-0).

Extra points. In the first quarter of Friday's 20-7 win over Pennsbury, Abington's Josh Lee notched his fifth interception of the season and returned it 46 yards to set up Ray Schreiner's 1-yard TD run. . . . As part of the monthlong "Think Pink" campaign to raise awareness about breast cancer, the Quakertown players wore pink jerseys Friday against visiting North Penn. . . . North Penn quarterback Corey Ernst has completed 86 of 132 passes for 1,262 yards and 17 TDs. . . . In Council Rock South's 41-17 win over Neshaminy, officials ruled that Redskins cornerback Cole Creighton trapped, not intercepted, a Brian Donnelly pass near the sideline. On a video replay, it looked as if Creighton had made the pick.