PASSING ALONG some city high school football tidbits . . .

Though he no longer holds Bonner's season record for rushing yardage, Jeff Morelli is still a clutch performer.

Last Monday, Morelli received a phone call from a back-to-grade-school buddy, Brian Kearns, who would go on to become, among other things, the St. Joe's Hawk. Kearns told him that Bonner senior Eric Petransky was on the doorstep of breaking his mark.

"I didn't realize I still had it," said Morelli, who rushed for 1,386 yards in 1991. "No idea."

Thanksgiving Eve, there Morelli was, at Radnor, watching Bonner steam past Carroll, 40-15. Afterward, he headed fieldward to meet Petransky, toss him a game ball as the Friars applauded, and pose for some pictures.

"When I broke the record," Morelli said, "it belonged to a guy, Lou Cristinziani [1,277 in '89], I wound up going to college with [Dickinson]. I remember he came down at halftime and gave me a game ball. That was pretty cool.

"I'm not sure how much this meant to Eric - I didn't get to really talk to him - but it was fun for me and I was happy to see him break it. I had it long enough."

Morelli, who played lacrosse at Dickinson, is now a mortgage banker in Washington, D.C. The ride to his parents' house in Drexel Hill, through messy weather, required 5 hours and, accompanied by his dad, Jerry, he scrambled to get Radnor.

"Just as we walked up to the gate, we heard [PA man Barry Kirsch] saying Eric had scored his first touchdown," Morelli said. "He's a good runner. My dad didn't think he wound up with 200 yards. I thought he was well over."

Son knew best. Petransky's 21 carries produced 240 yards and three TDs. That lifted his total to 1,544, well north of Morelli's. Petransky bagged yard No. 83 on an 18-yard run 2.8 seconds before halftime; it raised his total for the night to 87.

"Joking around, I always tell people I ran for more yards than John Cappelletti," Morelli said, referring to the 1970 Bonner grad and Heisman Trophy winner for Penn State in '73. "I don't tell them they probably didn't keep track of stats then."

Northeast's Malik Stokes (308-for-647 for 4,170 yards and 37 TDs) crushed the Public League career mark for passing yardage. Mastbaum's Markies Tavares finished with 3,381 in '04. No other PL guys have reached 3,000 . . . This decade, primary La Salle quarterbacks Gabe Marabella, Brian Donohoe, Joe Winning, Mike Lynch, John Harrison and Drew Loughery have combined to pass for 16,705 yards and 154 TDs . . . Del-Val's Brad Wilson (29.8) and Germantown's Dominique Twiggs (29.5) this season posted similarly outrageous yards-per-catch averages, but Wilson won the TD war, 13-1. Germantown's Akil Stokes (14 in '02, on just 21 catches!) owns the Pub mark. D-V's Sean Williams, Washington's Aaron Wilmer and '95 G-town grad Spencer Whetts now share the TD passes record (21) . . . Furness sophomore Sharif Smith has already rushed for 2,135 career yards . . . Sophomore Skyler Mornhinweg's 39 passes vs. Malvern were the most by a St. Joe's Prep QB since Frank Costa (Miami) launched 43 in back-to-back games in '89 . . . Prep rugby player Max Coar (3.8 GPA, 1540 SAT), who joined the team in Week 5, finished 29-for-29 on PATs . . . Olney's 42 points vs. Fels were its most since '88 (56-6 over Edison) . . . Seven members of the St. Genevieve (Flourtown) CYO team that went 12-0 in '05 this season earned all-league honors: La Salle's Sam Feleccia, Drew Loughery, Matt DiGiacomo and Anthony Cognetti; Penn Charter's Mick Foley and David Martina; Lansdale's Devon Barrett . . . Conwell-Egan's Anthony Singlar this season produced 1,756 yards of rushing (785) and passing (971), along with nine TDs apiece . . . Damond "Smash" Warren is proud that his final Bartram team featured eight players with GPAs of at least 3.0: William Berry (tops at 3.88), Roland Johnson, Kamal Bloodsaw, Eric Edwards, Russell Calloway, Tevin Hernandez, David Burrus and Desmond Carr. *

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