Restless Ryan takes it out on GW

CAN THE TEAM that fights together win together?

Sure thing.

Twenty days after dropping a Catholic AAAA football semifinal to St. Joseph's Prep, Archbishop Ryan returned to action Thursday against its Far Northeast Thanksgiving rival, George Washington, and pounded its way to a 13-7 victory.

So, how did the Raiders spend their down time?

"The first week, we only practiced on Tuesday and Thursday," said Brian Robbins, a 6-1, 250-pound senior who serves as a guard and part-time defensive tackle. "Last week we went Monday to Friday and we practiced every day this week, too.

"We had some fighting going on among our people. Nothing serious. You just get aggravated hitting the same people day after day. You just want to hit somebody else."

When Robbins was asked whether he'd been involved in a fracas or two, he laughed and said, "Nah, but I had to break up a couple."

In upping its edge in the series to 26-9-1 on Thanksgiving, and 28-9-1 overall, Ryan stuck mostly with a ground attack.

That meant a major workload for senior tailback Jeremiah Agrio and big dependence on center Ed Bier, guards Robbins and Fabi Hoxha, tackles Joe Hansbury and Billy Dykan and tight end John Liguori. In certain sets, Sean Boylan played tight end on the other side.

Against the Eagles' quite-big front four, headlined by national-profile prospect Justin Moody, Agrio turned 28 carries into 130 yards and touchdowns of 4 and 30 yards.

Those came on Ryan's first two possessions, and thereafter the goal was ball control.

"It was only in the last week that the coaches said we wouldn't be passing too much, and that we'd really be running a lot," Robbins said. "They kept saying, 'You win your block, we'll win the game!'

"I didn't feel like that put pressure on us. It made us excited because the game was going to be in our hands. You've gotta love that. Jeremiah and Mark [Ostaszewski, the quarterback] kept telling us that we were doing a good job. On plays where we didn't, they'd tell us that, too. Joe Hansbury and I would also speak up."

Brian Robbins and line play go way back. And he doesn't mind in the least.

"When you see Jeremiah scoring, or you get to bat down a pass on defense, that gives you a great feeling," he said. "It's all the glory I need. I'm not one of those guys who's seeking attention."

Also starring for Ryan was Bobby Romano, who caught three passes for 48 yards, returned four kicks for 70 and blocked a punt.

Romano was the receiver on a fake-punt pass from Connor Golden that enabled the Raiders to keep the ball away from the Eagles toward the end of the fourth quarter. By the time the drive petered out, just 1:23 remained and four incompletions followed.

Marquis Edwards ran 14 times for 79 yards and one TD for the Public League AAAA finalist. Dave Gavrilov passed 9-for-25 for 103 yards, and was picked off once apiece by Boylan and Jason Dones.

Robbins, who lives on Hickory Hill Road, not far off Knights Road in Chalfont, figures he's headed for Shippensburg. He wants to major in physical therapy . . . And there's a specific reason.

"Last year I broke my right ankle against Roman [in mid-October] and missed the rest of the season," he said. "A helmet hit against my ankle and the bone snapped. It was pretty loud.

"I got to see how those people really help you, and that's a career I'd like to pursue."

High school sports online at www.philly.com/rally