Del Val Charter's Davis scores new nickname in win over U. City

IT'S NOT often a kid's nickname gets multiplied by three.

Now, at Delaware Valley Charter High, Rob Davis is praying to the football gods that'll happen.

If Davis' name rings any kind of bell - hey, even a faint, wind-chime sound will do - applaud yourself for being an expert on off-the-wall, city-leagues' occurrences. In the 2010 season, the then-junior running back was part of an all-timer.

This was the record he set: Most points scored by a running back over a 2-week period . . . with no yards gained!

In Weeks 5 and 6 combined, Davis carried just one time for zero yards. But he ran for two conversions in 5 and three more in 6 for 10 total points. (The catch: Conversion plays do not count in stats).

Once the word of his goofy feat spread, Davis became known as "Two-Point Rob" to everyone at Del-Val.

"Now," he said yesterday, "hopefully they'll be calling me 'Six-Point Rob.' "

As part of a vintage "Only in the Pub" afternoon (more on that later), Davis carried 10 times for 59 yards and his first career touchdown, a 15-yarder, as D-V blanked visiting University City, 34-0.

Afterward, coach Shelton Farmer singled out Davis and said he'd be getting the game ball. Six-Point's teammates deserved 100 points for the enthusiasm they displayed when that announcement was made.

And later, Farmer found it hard not to gush.

"If I had 40 Rob Davises, kids who don't complain and do what they're asked, we'd be having a winning season," Farmer said. "We're down to 25 kids, from 40, and he has stuck it out. He makes every practice. Every conditioning session. He does everything with a smile. I really appreciate a kid like him."

Davis' scoring run, posted on the first play of the fourth quarter, was a classic. He ran for roughly 10 yards, then kept pumping his legs in a dozen-body pile, minimum, that surged little by little by little across the goal line.

A UC defender protested vehemently that Davis fumbled. Rob acknowledged dropping the ball, but said he did so knowingly only after he was sure he'd crossed the goal line.

"I could see where I was the whole time," he said. "The goal-line marker was over there on the sideline. My guys kept blocking. I kept moving my feet. I only let the ball go after I heard one of the refs say, 'Play is over!' "

Davis, who lives on Woodstock Street near Church Lane, not far from La Salle University, said he never asked the Warriors' previous coach, Barry Thomas, why he evolved into a conversion-play specialist; his career total stands at 11 (eight last year; three this year). He said he did receive semi-assurances he would be afforded more regular chances, but . . . Didn't happen. He entered this season hoping to become a ball-carrying mainstay. Also didn't happen.

To his everlasting credit, he did not vamoose.

"I love football. That's why I never quit," he said. "I talked to my mom [Braetici DeLoach]. She said to keep my head in the game and when my number got called, just go in there and do a good job.

"At the beginning of the year, being a senior, I thought I was going to get the ball a lot . . . You get down sometimes, sure. But you have to keep thinking, 'I'm a team player.' "

Now, for the Pubness . . .

This game was scheduled for Germantown's Benjamin Johnston Memorial Stadium in Mt. Airy, but a field hockey playoff bumped it to D-V's practice field, Stenton Park, at 16th and Courtland in Logan.

The refs were already at Johnston when they got the word. UC coach Lorrel McCook said he didn't learn of the change until 2:20, before either of his team's two buses showed up. The Jaguars' main bus didn't reach SP until 3:17 and the opening kickoff didn't take place until 3:48.

In dreary, sometimes-rainy weather, head ref Brian McMahon, having been told the field had to be cleared by 5:30, limited the first two quarters to 10 minutes. The game moved along, however, and the second half lasted the usual 24 minutes. It finished at 5:40; an expected youth group with dibs on the field did not materialize.

Mud was everywhere and the extremely faint yard lines were 10 yards apart, instead of the usual 5.

Afterward, speaking of the entire scene, UC coach Lorrel McCook said again and again, "This is horrible."

Said Davis, smiling: "This place is [a mess], but we should play here every week."

Quarterback Nate Barnes ran for the first two scores. Siyiff McLeod returned a fumble 29 yards for No. 4 and Rasheed "Twin Two" Cade caught a 10-yard pass from Barnes for the final score. (Rashan "Twin One" McCade, the former QB, is now a receiver.)

McLeod's was the Warriors' first defensive TD of the season.

"Jamal Allen forced the fumble, then I picked it up and scored," McLeod said. "Then I did a little celebration and jumped into the fence [chain-link, right behind the back of the end zone]. And got a penalty."

McLeod said he didn't mind all the waiting around.

"Just gave me more time to get ready," he said.

Today, maybe McLeod will lead the way in spreading the news about Rob Davis' new nickname.