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Edison basks in first win over George Washington since 1964

Perennial football powers put on impressive - even record-breaking - displays last week, but a relative newcomer to gridiron glory deserved special recognition for Week 6.

Perennial football powers put on impressive - even record-breaking - displays last week, but a relative newcomer to gridiron glory deserved special recognition for Week 6.

Thomas Edison High, which had not beaten George Washington since 1964, defeated the host Eagles, 6-0, Friday in a win dedicated to a late teammate.

"It was a big boost for [us]," second-year head coach Joe Gifford said. "For years, Edison has had a reputation that we were not competitive and that people who played us could put the 'W' in the win column before the game even started."

Years ago, according to TedSilary.com, two stretches illustrated why that reputation may have existed.

From 1978 to 1982, the Owls went scoreless in 27 consecutive games. Then, from 1984 to 1991 Edison went winless in 58 straight contests.

The soggy success Friday was the first this season for the Owls (1-4).

Tymiir Alls, a 5-foot-5, 147-pound running back and defensive back, scored the game's only touchdown, a 12-yard run through the middle of Washington's defense.

"It felt good," said Alls, a senior who transferred from Roxborough after he and his mother, Monique Burton, moved near Edison. "It was a good feeling, but we should have scored more than once. We made it to the red zone again, but we just didn't score."

Gifford is hoping that Alls' mentality is contagious in the locker room.

"The fact that we were able to beat them," Gifford said, "regardless of the conditions, I think it's a feather in our hats, because we sort of know now that if we play well we can stay with anybody."

Washington, which has favored the pass at times this season, managed just 37 total yards of offense in the quagmire.

"The weather was horrible," Alls said. "It was raining hard and it was cold, but once I fell in that mud one time I was cool."

The weather also slowed Edison's journey, which began late because the bus scheduled to transport them was waiting in the wrong parking lot on the school's Luzerne Street campus.

Not far from that location is where the Owls' teammate, Tyrone Tillman, was struck and killed in a hit-and-run accident as he rode his bike in July.

Before every game, Edison typically brings Tillman's No. 2 jersey with the team for the coin toss. Friday the Owls didn't because they were tardy.

It didn't seem to make the victory any less sweet.

"Some people were happy after the game," Alls said, "but they were also emotional because we won the game for [Tillman]."

Top performers. Imhotep Charter's Mike Waters broke a single-game school record with 264 rushing yards - and needed just six carries - in a 46-0 rout of Mastery North. Waters also added five touchdowns.

Malvern Prep stunned St. Joseph's Prep, 33-21. O'Shaan Allison and Zac Fernandez ran for 163 and 103 yards, respectively. The Prep's D'Andre Swift made five catches for 118 yards.

Prep Charter's Quadir Strothers set a single-game school record with 228 rushing yards in a 34-0 win over KIPP DuBois.

Anthony Russo finished 15 of 18 for 378 yards as Archbishop Wood blanked Archbishop Ryan, 41-0. His teammate, Mark Webb, caught four passes for 139 yards. Martin Luther King's Paul Sanchez caught three passes for 119 yards in a 33-12 loss to Ben Franklin.

cartera@phillynews.com

@AceCarterINQ