University City receiver Lyles stands tall at 5-7, 127 pounds

PASSING along some city high school football tidbits . . .

Marcus Lyles will never forget the night of Nov. 12, 2009.

His brother, Martez, then a junior at University City, arrived home from starring in a four-overtime game and reported he'd made touchdown catches in three of those extra sessions.

Mindful that Martez had entered that game with only two snags for the season, Marcus told him, "I don't believe you. You're lyin'."

Martez persisted.

"The more he told me, the closer I came to believing him," Marcus said. "I was like, 'I guess it could be true.' I wound up believing him 75 percent. I figured I'd get the other 25 percent in school the next morning, if everyone was talking about it . . . They were."

Flash forward to 2011. Marcus, a 5-7, 127-pound senior (yes, 127) for UC, leads the city in receiving yards per game. He boasts 46 catches for 778 yards (No. 2 effort in Pub history) and nine TDs, and he'll need 84 yards Thanksgiving Eve vs. Mastbaum (6 o'clock at Northeast) to claim the No. 1 spot from West Philadelphia's Eric "T.O." Leslie (861 in '10.)

In '09, he was only a spectator.

"I played in middle school," Marcus said, "but when I got to high school, football just wasn't in my mind. It was go to school, go home. Coach [Lorrel] McCook talked me into playing last year [he wound up at quarterback] and now I'm having lots of fun at wideout. I always knew I had enough talent. Just had to show it.

"I got along great with Karim [Karamoko, original quarterback] and now I get along great with Joshua [[Fenwick; midseason replacement]. They're my young boys. The ball keeps coming to me."

Marcus said that his favorite pattern is an out and up, and that his diminutive size is rarely a worry.

"I'm pretty fast," he said. "I can usually get a couple steps on the defensive guys. I don't get too many hard hits. Guys just try to catch me, grab my jersey and bring me down that way."

Martez is a constant at UC's games.

"Now, all he talks about is me," Marcus said, laughing.

Far cry from 2 years ago.

Meanwhile, the Pub record for passing yardage, set in 2010 by Fels' Tyree "Bam" Rucker (1,994), didn't last 12 full months. Frankford junior Tim DiGiorgio, a lefty, broke it Saturday in the AAAA title game loss to Washington. He now has 2,053 and yard No. 1,995 was the first of an 8-yard catch by halfback Kelly Johnson with 4 minutes remaining . . . With 11 TD catches this season, Central's Richard "Tre" Drayton now owns his family's record. Dad Rich, the Lancers' coach, had 10 in '85 . . . Future NFL Hall of Fame wideout Marvin Harrison (Roman '91) watched his alma mater play La Salle in the Catholic AAAA final. And Frankford all-time rusher Eddie Gaskins ('98), who's getting into officiating, was part of the chain crew for Frankford-Washington . . . While crushing Germantown Academy, 54-7, Penn Charter needed only 13 plays on seven scoring drives. There were four one-play "drives" - runs of 66 and 65 yards for Eric Berger, and 76 and 53 for Eric Neefe. The longest play was an 87-yard TD pass from Kevin Murphy to John Moderski, who played part of this season with casts on both hands . . . Episcopal's Quinn Hager finished with more field goals (eight) than PAT (six) . . .

La Salle's Sean Coleman last year made 33 catches for 539 yards. Current totals for 2011: 33 for 541 . . . If some Catholic schools close, don't be surprised if there's a Catholic/Public merger next season at the Class AA level . . . Apologies to Malvern d-back Blake Gunther, whose name was incorrect on our D-I prospects list. Chase is his older brother . . . There was a wild conversion sequence in Lincoln-Northeast. Lincoln holder Sincere Merced completed a pass to James Baldere, but kicker Amir Albarouki was called for a chop block at the 12. From the 27, a pass from QB Miguel Sanchez was intercepted by Missiah Mason, but that play was negated by roughing the passer. From the 13, Albarouki was a shade right with a 30-yard kick . . . Though Ryan's Nick Le Van and Mike Palmer have racked up 388 receiving yards apiece, Palmer has done so on half the catches (14) . . . Former coaches Rich Yankowitz (Dobbins basketball) and Mike Capriotti (Frankford football) handled PA duties at the Pub's AAA and AAAA finals . . . Communications Tech's James Brunson boasts eight interceptions this season and 13 over the last two . . . La Salle is 110-30 (.786) in Drew Gordon's 11-season connection to the program. He's 61-17 in six as the head coach and the Explorers were 49-13 when he assisted Joe Colistra from 1994-97 and again in '05. Title yield: seven, including five as the head man . . . O'Hara will host Haverford School on Thursday at 2:30 to make up for the game scrapped Sept. 10 by a teachers' strike.