Malvern Prep vs The Haverford School

History Lesson

Carey's Corner

FROM THE MALVERN ARCHIVES

A LOOK BACK

CARRYING THE LOAD

March 2025

In today’s spread offense that relies on more of a passing game, it is very rare when you come across a player or players who carry the rock 30 times or more in a game. The old “ground and pound” and “3 yards and a cloud of dust mentality ” has drastically been reduced from many high school offensive game plans. Empty, trips, and doubles formations, while throwing it early and often, can be more entertaining for public consumption. However, there are just some times when you just turn around and hand it off to your stud RB

As a fan of high school football and of course, the Inter-Ac I have had the pleasure of watching many, very good running backs. In Careys Corner (Along Came Chris Downs June 2021) I wrote about the best RB in in MP history and how he compared to the other career 3000 yard rushers in IA history. Chris was no stranger to carrying the load. He is the all-time leader in career rushing yards in the IA but not in career carries or in carries in a game. My take is Chris did more with less, because he was THAT good. In the Inter-Ac, the leader in the clubhouse for career carries was GA’s Alex Holcombe with a very healthy 686 totes. He also has the season total at 329 carries and the game total at 53 in 2006 vs Chestnut Hill. Saw Alex in his prime. He was 195 pounds of tough. On his team that year the next closest player was 53 carries and that was the QB. Give the ball to Alex and get out of the way.

Chris carried the ball 30x or more 4 times in his career. BUT, he isn’t the only RB to accomplish this example of endurance. I know you are sitting there with your coffee and asking out loud, “who else, who else?”. Brian Kolmer was a long time leader with 40 carries against St. Pius X way back in 1970. It was a MP 14-0 win under Jack “Shark McGuinn. I have said it before, I would stack Brian up against any fullbackMP has ever had. It took a half century before Brian was topped by Isaiah Wright in 2021. Isaiah carried the ball 48x for 244 yards in a same score 14-0 win against CHA.

Well, here you go. And it is quite the list of MP stud running backs. If I missed anyone please let me know.

The list below will also be added to Tops in Running Back under the MP history tab.

OF NOTE….

Isaiah Wright is right behind Chris Downs by hitting the list 3 times. In 2021 Isaiah carried the ball 207 times. The next closest RB carried it 62 times. He was “the man” that year. Isaiah started the year very quietly and then finished the year with a kaboom. He warmed up for his 30+ performances against Penn Charter where he carried the ball 23 times. Then came the explosion. There is a saying about timing is everything and Isaiah’s timing was impeccable as MP defeated HS 24-13, EA 17-7 and CHA 14-0. In these three games Isaiah scored 30 of the teams 55 points and had 552 yards. And yes MP won the league title.

Zac Fernandez missed 3 games in 2014. Prior to his 37 carry performance his season high total was 19 versus Episcopal in the prior game. Didn’t prevent him for finishing 4th all-time career rusher.

Wally Shields performance came in the 1972 undefeated Inter-Ac season. Wally also scored 4 times in that game, a 25-6 win. I blocked for Wally. He always made you look good.

O’Shaan’s 2016 and 2017 seasons were back to back 1000 yarders. ONLY had 28 rushing TDs in those years. 2nd all-time leading rusher in MP history behind “that guy”- Chris Downs. O’Shaan was a talent and a half!

Troy has been highlighted and mentioned in previous stats and stories. The 31 carries came on the tail end of a 3 game 74- 955 yards and 14 TD explosion. Prior to this chart topping performance he had carried the ball just 10x for 52 yards against Penn Charter. Then… wowser.

Brian Gallagher hit the 30 mark twice and to the best of my knowledge leads all running backs in rushing carries in a season with 277. Brian was a grind it out, wear you down until you quit kind of RB. A lot of teams quit.

Coached “The Bobby Hill”, as I called him. A lax 1st guy. I think his body was held together by spit and duct tape in the 2009 season. Saved his best for the CHA game, a 16-14 squeaker of a win that prevented Chestnut Hill from having an undefeated season. Led the team with 15TDs and a ton of heart. Bobby had a big one.

It is amazing when you think, with all the stud running backs that MP has had over the years, that Brian Kolmer held the record for an incredible 51 years. Brian was a fullback but was even better on the defensive side of the ball. If I had to pick an “All Shark” I would have a tough time deciding which side of the ball to put him on.

In the above 18 games, carrying the load must have been pretty effective as Malvern went 16-2 against the opponents. MP fell short against Chester 14-3 in 1997 and East 28-6 in 1991. That said, a majority of coaches would take 16 wins against 2 losses every day of the week.

** I might have missed a player or to on this list as I have not fully researched the late 1970s and 1980s and 1990’s. My goal is to have a Team page from 1940 through to the present. As you might imagine that involves some labor intensive digging. If I find additional players during my research I will add them to the Tops In Running Backs under the Football History tab.

More to come....