Carey's Corner
FROM THE MALVERN ARCHIVES
A LOOK BACK
October 2020
I wrote an article titled “30 for 30” which highlighted teams that averaged 30 points a game in a season. That is some decent scoring. So is 40 points in a game. Since 1950 (www.tedsilary.com) MP has reached 30 points in a game 94 times and 40 points almost as many times at 85. 40 points means your team scores six or 7 times in the game. However, reaching 50 and even 60 points in a game is what I would call rarified air. In a total of 820 games, (yes, I did review the scores of them all) it has only happened 14 times. That is less than 2% of all games. I think it could have happened more if the MP coaches were game stat stuffers when the game was in hand, but thankfully they were not. Because it happened so infrequently, here is the list of games. Hoping it brings back some memories for guys on these teams. Kudos to the 2008 team who hit the number 3 times. Big congrats go out to the 1951 and 1954 teams who walloped The Saints. “Back in the day” teams were certainly not spread, air it out, up tempo, throw the ball a ton kind of teams. Scoring 50 in the 50’s took some doing! If anyone has any additional information on the 1951 and 1954 games please send to Rcarey5171@aol.com.
50 POINT OUTBURST
60 POINT OUTBURST
OTHER NOTES OF INTEREST
The 1972 win over the Prep sealed Malvern’s first undefeated season. In the game Mike Cappelletti scored four times and Carl Friedel caught three TD passes.
MP is 19-6 all-time versus CHA in League play. All 6 losses came prior to 1969. After leaving the league for football in 1973 CHA loaded up with some stud players and came back into the league in 2006. From 2006 to 2012 there were many tightly fought contests between Malvern and the Hillers. The average score was 20-10. Three of the seven games were decided by 2 points or less. In the six years from 2013 to 2018 there must have been something in the water. MP scored 60 points once, 50 points once and hit the 40 mark 4 times. The average score was 48-28. Things came back to normality in 2019 with a 28-7 win.
In an incredible 14 year stretch from 1995 to 2008 MP averaged almost 43 points a game versus Haverford School. The only time they didn’t hit at least 30 points was a 1999, 28-6 win. They hit the 40 mark 7 times and 50 twice. In the 2002 game 7 different players scored with TJ Cascio getting 2.
MP spread the wealth with six guys hitting paydirt in 2011 against Penn Wood. Eric Purnell and Joe Nilan led the way with two each. Dan Riordan added a defensive pick 6 to the barrage of offense.
In the 2008 trifecta deluge of points, Billy Conners accounted for 7 TDs- 4 run and 3 pass, Neil Willis 7 scores, James Connelly 5 rushing TDs and Joe Price catching all 3 of Conners’ TDs.
MP throttled EA in 1973. All 9 scores were rushing TDs. Joe Sheridan led the way with runs of 51, 12 and 2 yards. Brian Maguire hit paydirt twice on runs of 31 and 14 yards. Ironically the score was 26-18 at half. The locker room speech by Coach McGuinn must have been a good one as the Friars came out and scored 36 unanswered points.
And last, but certainly not least, was the Friars 63-50 win over CHA in 2013. So much to talk about in this game so let’s get started. The 113 points set a record for the highest scoring game in City League History (Public, Catholic and Inter-Ac leagues). Counting return yards both teams combined for an astounding 1,312 yards and 16 TDs. And if you can believe it, both teams punted twice. Malvern led 7-6 after the 1st quarter. The first score of the game did not come until there was 1:12 left on the clock. Then the floodgates opened. CHA led at half 28-27. Malvern outscored the Hillers 36-22 in the 2nd half to pull away. The Friars led 57-35 at the end of 3rd and 63-35 late. Malvern pulled their starters and CHA tacked on the last two scores.
Some game, huh? That is not even the best part of the story. The story is Troy Gallen. There is a set up to this, so hang in there. The previous week Troy rushed 25 times for a SCHOOL RECORD 372 yards and 5 TDs in a 49-21 win against Episcopal. Most guys would be happy with that and would call it a season, right? In the CHA game Troy ONLY rushed 18 times for 333 yards and 6 TDs. His TD runs were 65,69,13,22,5 and 15 yards. His average per carry was an amazing 18.5 yards. What is more amazing was that average was second on the team that day. Matt Brown carried 3 times for 104 yards or 34.6 yards per touch. Matt scored on runs of 89 and 21 yards. The teams’ lone completed pass that day happened to be a 49-yard scoring toss from Alex Hornibrook to Hunter Paulus. Of course, it had to be for a TD! When you rush for 442 yards a team really doesn’t need to throw. Go Big Fatties up front! Now to complete the Troy Gallen story. The following week he rushed 31 times for 225 yards and caught 3 passes for 90 yards against St. Joe Prep. The 3-game total of 955 yards rushing is a City record. If you truly want to be entertained, YouTube Troy’s senior highlight film. It was an incredible 3 game stretch of excellence and a great year for Troy.
And lastly, I would be remiss, if I did not mention kicking. For the Friars Jon Dollfus kicked 7 extra points in the CHA game. This would be the fourth time on the year that Jon kicked 7 extra points in a game. He also managed 6 extra points in two other games. If you wonder why Jon was so busy in 2013, the team averaged 36 points a game.
Malvern rarely gets involved in shoot-outs but this was one for the history books.
More to come……………
10.13.20
