Carey's Corner
FROM THE MALVERN ARCHIVES
A LOOK BACK
June 2020
With the advent of the PIAA playoff system, the tradition of Thanksgiving Day games has slowly been eliminated. PIAA playoff games are usually scheduled for the Friday or Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. This makes playing a TG game virtually impossible. It is disappointing that many traditional rivalries have fallen by the wayside. Historically the Inter-Ac has not had games on their schedule that included a Turkey Day battle. The exception would be Malvern Prep.
Would it surprise you to know that over the years the Friars have played 34 times on Thanksgiving? The first game was 1959 with a win over St. Matthews. However, it took the Friars until 1973 to renew a Turkey Day tradition with a 33-19 win over the Hawks of St. Joes. From 1973 to 2016 the Friars played 33 times. Tradition held strong as MP compiled an overall record of 27-6-1. Their lone tie, 12-12, was to Archbishop Carroll in 1994. In addition to St. Matthew, Malvern has played Carroll 17 times, St. Joe Prep 9 times, Monsignor Bonner 4 times, Cardinal O’Hara 2 times and Avalon from Maryland, once. The records against these Catholic League foes were as follows, Carrol 13-3-1, the Prep 6-3, Bonner 4-0 and O’Hara 2-0. Pretty impressive. Their final game in 2016 was a 30-8 win versus The Avalon School of Maryland.
As you might expect, Malvern’s offense and defense did their job. Over the 34 game span MP averaged 22.5 points while only giving up 12.9. The defense gave up a TD or less in 15 of the 34 contests. This also included 7 shutouts. Offensively, the Friars hit the 30 point mark 13 times with a high of 48 against Bonner in 1980. The top 3 offensive performers were as follows….
RUSHING
Chris Downs- 308 yards- Carroll 1997
Troy Gallen- 250 yards- SJP 2013
Rob Levan- 171 yards- Carroll 1988
PASSING
Billy Conners- 268 yards- SJP 2008
Drew Gunther- 222 yards- Avalon School 2016
Pat Van Horn- 177 yards- O’Hara 1978
Receiving
Joe Price-172 yards-SJP 2008
Ryan Edginton- 121 yards- Carroll 1998
Rich Jones – 99 yards-O’Hara 1978
All these top performances contributed to a Friar victory.
Probably one of the more exciting games recent history was in 2008. It turned out to be Gamp Pellegrini’s last game and certainly one his most exciting wins. I was in attendance and can attest that it was one of the most memorable high school games I have ever watched. Before a packed house and I mean packed house at Villanova stadium, Malvern overcame a 21-0 hole and a 21-7 half time deficit to beat Catholic League power St. Joe Prep, 34-27. If you like offense you would have loved this game. The teams combined for 847 yards of offense and 1,016 yards, if you included returns. The winning score came on a Billy Conners to Joe Price 27 yard TD pass with 37 seconds left on the clock.
Speaking of Billy Conners, he had a game for the ages. Hard to believe with this performance his main sport was lacrosse (Duke). Take a moment to appreciate these stats. For the game, Billy Conners
In addition to Conners, the other offensive stars were Rob McCabe 5 catches for 64 yards and rushers Neil Willis 11-42 yards and James Connelly 13-87 yards. Last but certainly not least, was Price catching 7 balls for 172 yards and 3 clutch TDs.
And since I was a lineman all my life, you don’t compile 440 yards of offense without the big fatties up front. Shout out to Matt Devlin, Dave Umile, Mike McCorkle, Joe DiTroilio, Bobby Panchisin and CJ Mooney at TE.
Great game and a great way to end your high school career. Turkey always tastes better after a win.
More to come……………
June 2020
