For West Catholic's Carroll, it's up and good

Passing along some city high school football tidbits...

The kicking world works in mysterious ways.

One possession after bumping aside 2003 St. Joseph's Prep grad Pat Kaiser to claim the city record for career PATs (with No. 158, en route to 162) in a 44-22 win over McDevitt last Saturday, West Catholic's Tim Carroll, a 6-3, 190-pound senior, finally added another weapon to his instepping arsenal: a field goal.

The success came from 25 yards.

"I'd say the field goal was more exciting because I'd never hit one," Carroll said. "I thank coach Fluck for having the confidence to let me try it. That was my third . One was blocked and I left one short."

Carroll, a soccer midfielder, was asked by Fluck to try kicking shortly into the 2007 season, following an injury to the original guy.

"I went home that night and thought it over - my parents said they'd support me - and told coach Fluck 'yes' the next day," he said. "It's fun. I never imagined things would go this far."

Linebacker Bill Tobin, Carroll's cousin, does the snapping. The holder, receiver Jaelen Strong-Rankin, is the son of deceased former West/Drexel basketball star John Rankin.

"I get a thrill out of this," Carroll said. "I know every point is important. I get into the games on the sideline, so I'm not 'just a kicker.' I don't have any yet, but I'm hoping to get some college interest."

Carroll followed the field goal with a kickoff into the end zone.

"Second time this season for that," he said. "The adrenalin must have really been flowing."

Three TD tosses vs. Northeast enabled Washington's Aaron Wilmer to claim the Public League career mark (41). Spencer Whetts (Germantown '95) had 38. Nos. 39 and 40 went to Nate Smith. No. 41 was a 30-yarder (off a screen) to sophomore Hakeem Sillman, now eligible at Washington after last year pacing the Frankford Chargers to a national pound-ball championship. It was Sillman's first official touch. A rush immediately beforehand was negated by holding...Penn Charter junior QB John Loughery, who earlier this season tied the city record for game completions with 27, broke it with 30 Saturday against Germantown Academy. Mick Foley had 12 of those snags. One of Loughery's early tosses resulted in a 1-yard interception TD for two-way lineman Chuck Boddy (hit by Colin McCarthy). Boddy also caught a deflected pass this season...Cullen Rota scored the final TD in Kennedy-Kenrick's history on a pass from freshman Jamel Stinson. QB starter Noah Mascio (neck injury) was unavailable...Bartram coach Damond "Smash" Warren, who's resigning, said he'll pursue his passion for writing poetry and short stories while continuing to convince the School District to upgrade Bartram's field...North Catholic assistant Bill Sytsma, former head man at Neumann-Goretti, leaves in January to coach a pro team in Germany...Bill Gallagher has coached schools in three "100 games": Episcopal last Saturday vs. Haverford School and Penn Charter twice (vs. Germantown Academy in 1986; vs. Episcopal in '89)...Episcopal had no interceptions this season. Gallagher quipped, "Why would anyone throw when you can run for lots of yardage?" The Churchmen often started four freshmen on defense: Dante Addona, Jack Florio, Nick Mead and, prior to injury, Ian Strain...Also, as Gallagher pointed out, the Inter-Ac's triple tie involved the three all-male schools (HS, Malvern, Chestnut Hill)...Frankford assistant Juan Namnun heads this week to California, where he'll appear on "Wheel of Fortune." The episode should air around Christmas...While momentarily filling in for QB Khalil Brown (injured), Michael Mobley ran 25 yards for the only TD in Gratz' 8-2 win over Dobbins for the Pub AAA title. He hadn't rushed since Week 2...Before making three TD catches on consecutive possessions to help University City beat Overbrook in four OTs, Martez Lyles had two snags for the season...North Catholic and Carroll will not make up the nonleague game scrapped Oct. 10 due to a swine flu outbreak at Carroll...Talk about balance: La Salle this season has rushed for 1,695 yards and passed for 1,697.

Send e-mail to silaryt@phillynews.com