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Washington’s Sellers now making the right plays

Just because a guy is bright when it comes to academics, don't assume he can't be unwise.

Northeast High quarterback Malik Stokes is upended by Washington High linebacker Simba Sellers for a 3-yard loss in the 2nd quarter. ( Clem Murray / Staff Photographer )
Northeast High quarterback Malik Stokes is upended by Washington High linebacker Simba Sellers for a 3-yard loss in the 2nd quarter. ( Clem Murray / Staff Photographer )Read more

Just because a guy is bright when it comes to academics, don't assume he can't be unwise.

For verification, check with Simba Sellers.

Right now he's riding as high as humanly possible, seeing as how Saturday afternoon he turned in an awesome performance as George Washington High crunched Northeast, 40-0, for the Public League Class AAAA football title at the latter's Charlie Martin Memorial Stadium.

Roughly 3 years ago? He was stuck at subterranean levels.

Sellers, who now boasts a 3.8 GPA, attended Northeast back then and was already performing well in the classroom. As a student. As a clown, too. One day he went too far and the misstep caused an 18-month stretch in a school for students with discliplinary problems.

"Like my dad always tells me, it doesn't matter how good your grades are if you don't know how to behave," Sellers said. "I've always been bright. I didn't always understand how you need to act.

"Getting sent to that place made me change my ways. Made me calm down. If I could have that incident back, I wouldn't want it. The whole process made me who I am today."

Sellers, a 6-foot, 225-pound senior, mostly plays outside linebacker. There were times in this one, though, where he was more like a stand-up defensive end. No matter the spot, he frolicked.

Sellers recorded three solo sacks and half of another, and the losses on those plays totaled 24 yards. He also posted an interception and a fumble recovery.

All of his heroics occurred in the first half, as the Eagles stormed to a 34-0 lead.

"I think about what happened and I have to go, 'Wow!"' Sellers said. "I had the game of my life and I'm getting interviwed. I can't believe it. My teammates are going, 'Where'd that come from?' I'm telling them, 'I don't know and I don't care.' I just know I'm not losing it. There'll be more."

Washington is the Pub's first threepeater since Frankford from 1971 to '73, and coach Ron Cohen now owns the league mark for titles with 11. The late Al Angelo, the boss of those Frankford teams, won 10 crowns.

"You know why this school wins so much?" Sellers said. "You always hear guys say, 'We're like a family.' Well, we are a family. I'm so glad I'm at Washington. It's the best thing that ever happened to me."

Sellers' pick, off a pass batted upward by superstar down lineman Sharrif Floyd, was followed by a 33-yard return to Northeast's 33.

"I could have had an interception one time last season," Sellers said. "I tried to run before I caught it. This time I just waited for it to come down."

He added with a laugh, "My intention was to score. You have to expect a big guy to be caught by a smaller guy, though, right?"

Sellers' recovery came at Northeast's 35. Aaron Wilmer's third TD pass, a 30-yarder to Hakeem Sillman, made it 28-0 four plays later.

"Our coaches always tell us not to go for big hits, to just make sure we wrap," he said. "Well, on that play, I wound up hitting the ball when I wrapped. Then got the recovery, too. Couldn't believe that one."

Wilmer, who missed the Eagles' regular season loss to Northeast (violation of school rule), finished 7-for-8 for 117 yards. His other TD tosses went to Nate Smith and he added nine carries for 35 yards. English Peay (12-45, two TDs) and Vernon Dupree (8-51, one) also experienced rushing fun before the subs took over for the final 18 minutes.

The Eagles' grunts: Hafuz Tahiraj at center, Floyd and James Fowler at guard, Abdel Kanan and Sean Fleet at tackle. Brandon Chudnoff was the tight end.

"It's the best O-line ever invented," Kanan cracked.

Northeast's vaunted passing attack netted just four yards. Malik Stokes went 5-for-17 for 39 and his seven rushes produced 35 in losses.

"We knew we were shutting down their running game. No chance," said Sellers, who lives in the shadows of Cardinal Dougherty. "To stop Malik we had to do the job with our blitzing and drops into coverage. It was, 'Each guy do your job and trust that your teammates will do their jobs.'

"We did that. And look what happened. We made history."