Fels puts win over Franklin in the record books

BEN FRANKLIN High posted 20-yard passing touchdowns on its first two plays!

One problem: They occurred in the scrimmage that followed the game.

Weird led to weirder yesterday as Franklin, the host, and Samuel Fels convened at 29th Street Stadium to complete their nonleague football game that had been halted by darkness last Friday with 3:21 remaining and 94 points already on the scoreboard.

After Fels tallied eight more points to complete its victory, at 56-46, and create a tie for the record for most total points scored in a game involving Public League teams (Fels had fallen to Simon Gratz, 66-36, in its 2010 opener), the teams gathered at the west end of the field for an extended scrimmage.

Only in the Pub. In a good way.

"We're pretending we're Dobbins for them and they're being Frankford for us," said Fels coach Bill Harrigan, referring to Thanksgiving matchups. "Our buses can't come back to get us until 4:30 anyway."

One extra variable: Dobbins' players, though not in pads, were at the east end of the field, preparing for their game tomorrow vs. Archbishop Wood for the Class AAA City Title. They'd watched the Fels-Franklin resumption, which began at 2:30 and lasted 24 minutes, from the stands.

How did it end?

With a 99-yard touchdown! . . . Almost.

From Fels' 10, Franklin's Anwar "Huddy" Mathis tried to hit Jonathan Parker on a quick post. Linebacker John Counts intercepted at the 1 and began to rumble downfield.

If he'd scored, the point total would have been 108, breaking the city record (103) set in 2002 when West Catholic topped St. John Neumann, 55-48, in a Catholic League playoff.

Counts made it to the 14. Mathis (mostly) and running back Crusito Cruz (somewhat) combined for the tackle.

"I ran and ran," Counts said. "I did pretty good, for not being that fast. No one was behind me at first. I kept thinking, 'I've got green [grass]. Keep runnin'. Don't fumble.' I knew they'd be trying to strip the ball."

When Mathis was told his hustle had prevented the final score from reaching epic proportions, he looked disappointed.

"Ah, man," he said. "It did mean a lot to make that tackle, though. I don't usually do that. Only my second tackle of the year. That's a milestone, right there. Once I caught up to him, I was thinking, 'Let me try to get this ball.' But he's pretty strong."

The game was terminated last Friday right after Dontae Bacon led a gaggle of Fels' tacklers in stopping Willie Battle on a conversion run.

"We couldn't see anything," Harrigan said. "That's what Dontae's saying. A couple of his teammates have corroborated that, though."

At the Daily News' suggestion, Pub sports czar Robert Coleman, mindful of its already-legendary status, agreed to let the teams finish the game.

Franklin's Charlie Mills hammered the kickoff high and deep, but the Electrons were called for offsides. A delay followed as Bill Shank, the clock operator, had trouble resetting the time at 3:21 (32 minutes, 10 seconds, would have been great for those hoping to see many more points) and referee Bill Hall kept pointing/waving while saying, "Hold on, that's not right."

Fels quarterback Tyree "Bam" Rucker had already thrown for 324 yards and six TDs, the most in Pub history. Would he immediately go up top and try for No. 7, the city record set in '02 by Germantown Academy's Sean Grieve?

"We had a play called 'recordbreaker' - Bam to Nijay Kelly - ready to go for second down," Harrigan said. "But we only were going to use that if the kickoff had us really backed up. Our No. 1 goal was to win. We wanted to keep the ball and work the clock."

Counts churned for 8 yards on first down. Terry "Dark" Brown managed 1, then Rucker was stopped for no gain. Fourth-and-1. No punt. Brown powered to the right side and wound up with a 61-yard TD at 1:22.

Alas, there had been a hold by Counts at the 20. With no timeouts remaining, Franklin coach Desmin Daniels allowed the score to stand and hoped his squad could thwart the conversion, keeping the deficit at eight. However, Brown added two more points on a left-side rumble on which he broke one tackle right away and two more as he neared the corner.

"They tricked us with their running," said Alphonso Poindexter, a Franklin assistant. "We thought they'd go for the passing record."

"The line did the job," Brown said of his TD.

Standing nearby was grunt Imeen Bass.

"That hole opened like the Red Sea!" Bass crowed.

Added Brown: "If we'd lost this game, it would have been terrible. I'm not cocky, but I'm confident. I knew we would win. We played with pride."

Said Counts: "Coming down here and losing this game never entered my mind."

Cruz managed a 20-yard kickoff return for Franklin, then Mathis went 3-for-9 for 29 yards to Parker (2-25) and Michael Edwards (1-14). That last possession included three 5-yard penalties for Fels and one for Franklin. On the next-to-last snap, Parker made a tremendous, diving-backward catch just beyond the right corner of the end zone.

Counting yesterday's 99, the game produced 972 yards from scrimmage. Fels also won that ch-ching contest, 576-396. Rucker remained 14-for-28 for 324 yards and the six TDs, three to Kelly (4-143), two to Jared Hines (4-51) and one to Jamiel Hines, Jared's younger brother. Brown (16-152) and Rucker (11-104) halved two rushing scores.

For Franklin, Mathis passed 11-for-26 for 198 yards and four six-pointers, three to Parker (6-135) and one to Chris Sullivan. Parker also had an interception. Cruz (15-126) and Mathis (15-84, two TDs) led the rushers.

As the players and coaches eased through the postgame handshake line, Harrigan let out a sigh of relief and said to Daniels, "That was more nerve-wracking than a full game would have been." *