English speaks up for George Washington in win over Frankford

One would not be off base to call English Peay football's version of a relief pitcher.

And his father would probably love the reference.

Peay, a 5-11, 155-pound junior, is a quickly blossoming running back for George Washington High. His dad, also named English but more commonly known by his childhood nickname "Wine," so attached because he loved long-ago Phillies shortstop Bobby Wine, was a standout fireballer in the semi-pro Fairmount Park A League.

In the summer of 1981, as major leaguers struck, the Thomas Edison High product even served as the face of that league as folks looked to fill the diamond void.

"My dad is always talking about baseball. He loves it," English Jr. said. "I like watching it and it's fun to play, but I don't know that I'm interested enough to play for real on a team.

"Does my dad drive me nuts with baseball talk? Not at all. I love listening to him because he really knows what he's talking about."

Right about now, Dad is probably babbling to his buddies, "You should see my son play football."

Saturday night, in a Public AAAA Red game at Northeast, Peay (pronounce it P-A, yes, like the abbreviation for this state), rushed 12 times for 58 yards and three touchdowns as the Eagles bested Frankford, 28-6.

He also caught a 10-yard pass and recovered a teammate's fumble on the second-half kickoff. Frankford trailed by only 14-6 at the time and would have gotten possession on Washington's 37.

From there the Eagles rolled downfield in 10 plays and Peay scored his third TD on an 8-yard burst.

Peay has experienced quite the grid ascent. At this time a year ago, he was still playing pound ball for the North Philly Aztecs. Wheels then began turning and they still haven't stopped.

They started when the projected star runner, Kessan Christopher, transferred to Downingtown West. Well, ultimately.

"He left, then came back, then left again," Peay said. "The second time I heard about it, in the offseason, it was like, 'Oh, he really left? Time for me to step up.'

"Off our summertime 7-on-7 stuff, I thought I was going to be a wide receiver, actually. But then the coaches started working me at running back. I had a couple good runs and two good punt returns last week against Northeast and then got a bigger chance tonight because the guy in front of me was unavailable . I stepped up.

"It didn't bother me last year to play another year of pound ball because so many guys would have been ahead of me at Washington anyway. I just came out this year trying my best. I didn't think it would go this nice this fast."

Star quarterback Aaron Wilmer, sidelined vs. Northeast by his own school issue, was spectacular. Working largely out of a Wildcat set, he ran 16 times for 85 yards and passed 8-for-10 for 82 more. Included was a 5-yard TD to Brandon Chudnoff.

Though Frankford scored first on Zaire "Bam" Anderson's 1-yard run (Jeffione Thomas' 56-yard, third-play burst set it up), it struggled mightily thereafter. The Pioneers suffered four interceptions (by Jamear Seals, Elliot Leonard, Seals again and Daquan Cooper) and lost a fumble (recovery by Abdel Kanan).

The previous Friday, Washington (to Northeast) and Frankford (to John Bartram) lost Pub games in the same week for the first time since 1968. Now, Frankford (1-5 overall) is off to its worst start since the 1929 season, which opened with a scoreless tie that was followed by seven losses and then a last-game win.

As Peay, who lives near 7th and Erie, talked about the Eagles' performance, someone walked past and whispered, "Don't forget your linemen."

He smiled and quickly added, "I couldn't do it without my line."

Hey, given a belt-high, nothing-special fastball, even a football player can knock it out of the park.