Gratz Charter's Hunt dedicates big game to slain cousin

PASSING ALONG some city high school football tidbits . . .

If ever Gratz Charter linebacker Curt Hunt wanted to perform in spectacular fashion, it was Friday vs. Franklin.

The site was 29th Street Stadium, and Hunt, who goes 6-2, 190, lives moments away at 27th and Cambria. Right beyond the field's west end zone is the cemetery where Curt's cousin, Charles Britten, was buried last May after being shot to death.

"Of all my relatives, he supported me the most. Came to all my games," Hunt said. "He was like my older brother, really. I always feel like he's with me, but for that game . . . Anytime I needed more inspiration, I just looked toward that graveyard.

"Plus, all my friends from around my way were there to support me, so the whole afternoon was pretty exciting."

As Gratz triumphed, 22-6, thus claiming a Public AAA playoff spot, Hunt made two interceptions, forced/recovered a fumble and involved himself in eight tackles (two for losses; one for a safety).

Oh, did we mention he's playing with a broken left wrist?

He suffered the injury in a late-August scrimmage when he jumped for a pass and used his hand, as he put it, "to break my fall." Don't you hate it when bodies take commands too literally?

"Just looking at it, I could see it was was broken," said Hunt, who's also a part-time fullback, mostly for impassioned blocking. "The doctor said I should miss the season, but my grandmom, and me, was telling him how much football means to me. We convinced him to let me play with a sports cast. It still hurts a little, but not as bad as before.

"If this happened to my right hand, it'd be harder. But I'm getting by. I guess you could say I made those interceptions one-and-a-half-handed."

Overall, the fumble sequence surprised Hunt the most.

"The cast forced that one," he said, laughing. "I didn't feel me hitting the ball. But I was on the ground and there it was, right next to me."

Soccer player Matt DiFlorio, whose father, Bob, former basketball coach at Neumann, Conwell-Egan and Northeast, died last month, was crowned Wood's Homecoming king at halftime of the win over Bonner . . . Frankford High product Zaire "Bam" Anderson, now starring at linebacker for Riverside (Calif.) CC, has made an oral commitment to Nebraska . . . As Lincoln's 40-12 win over Mastbaum wound down, coach Ed McGettigan allowed linemen with 7 total years of starting experience to run the ball. Miguel Torres bulled for 3 yards. Steve "Sluggo" Torres (no relation) managed two. Damien Chin-Lock matched their total with five. Cleo Kennedy would have been next. McGettigan: "Time ran out, but he said he would have broken one." As S. Torres rumbled, McGettigan said a Railsplitter blurted, "How can Steve run so high? He's only 5-foot-2" . . . With two field goals and seven PAT vs. Germantown Academy, Haverford School's Aron Morgan came oh-so-close to tying the city record for kicking points in one game (14 by GA's Greg Davis in '97) . . . Three Neumann-Goretti players missed the 39-0 loss to West Catholic to attend the school's ring dance . . . Comm Tech's defense includes twins Tommy and Bernard Godwin and brothers James and Devon Brunson. Kicker/backup rusher Losseni Karamoko is also a twin, but his sibling, Lacina, attends Philadelphia Military-Elverson and plays on Franklin's JV . . .

Edison's 14-6 win over Olney, featuring TD runs by Xavier Cornish and David Bennett, snapped a 17-game losing streak and a 34-of-35 skid. Umpire Dan Solis-Cohen claims to be the Owls' good-luck charm; he also worked the previous win (18-14 over Boys' Latin to end the 2009 season) . . . Furness' Sharif Smith is up to 4,056 career rushing yards (679 carries) . . . Fels receiver Nijay Kelly needs 10 yards to reach 1,000 (56 catches) . . . After being dumped for a 3-yard loss by Johnny Leach on his first carry vs. Frankford, Washington franchise Hakeem Sillman stood up, faced Frankford's stands and applauded the play by slapping his hand against the football multiple times . . . Thanks to David Williams (1,030), West Catholic boasts a 1,000-yard rusher for the 12th consecutive season . . . O'Hara scored 37 points in the first 6:41 vs. Carroll. Defensive end Shane Johnson had two TDs in the span (1-yard return of a punt he blocked; 28-yard return of a stolen ball, right before a handoff would have been made, only two plays later) . . . Carroll's Teron Dobbs made five catches for 178 yards, breaking Mike Saksa's 1974 school record (176, in title game vs. Wood) . . . Though Prep Charter frosh Vion Dolo passed 0-for-8 vs. Del-Val, he kicked a 20-yard field goal to win it, 3-0.