Harris is Furness' answer man

Assuming he someday catches the baseball bug, Maurice Harris would be a strong candidate to win a game with a walkoff homer.

He's already 2-for-2 in the other major sports.

Granted, winning a little-guys basketball game with a last-second jumper as he once did is not quite fame-forever material, but high school football is rather lofty and Harris, a 6-foot, 170-pound senior quarterback, enjoyed a very special final moment (among many) Saturday morning at 11th and Bigler as Horace Furness battled Ss. Neumann-Goretti in an all-Downtown non-league classic.

With 2.5 seconds remaining, holding the ball aloft in his right hand, Harris zoomed into the left corner of the end zone to complete a 15-yard scramble and hand the Falcons a 24-23 win.

It was his fourth score total, and his second off a broken play in the last 5 minutes. The other one covered 81 yards.

"The 81-yarder was supposed to be a sweep to the right, but all the running backs went to the left," Harris said. "I was like, 'Oh, man!' Then I saw the middle wide-open and took off. I have respectable speed, but I thought someone was gonna catch me. No one did."

At 1:32, N-G forged ahead, 23-18, on a pair of runs (2-yarder, subsequent conversion) by Justin Rey (16 carries, 104 yards).

"Their people were all happy. Clapping like they had it won," Harris said. "I knew it wasn't over and I was telling my teammates that. I wasn't giving up."

The vintage drive covered 69 yards on eight plays. Harris passed 2-for-5 for 21 yards (completions to Malakiah Hunter and Kevin Hayes) and ate up 33 himself. A personal foul helped immensely, taking the ball from the 30 to 15.

The score came on third-and-10.

"I was looking to throw to the right and hit [Hunter]," Harris said. "But their end came hard from that side and was right in my face. I went the other way and another guy was right there, too. They had so much penetration, they almost got me. I knew I had to take off. I saw a little opening, and went for it.

"Heading to the end zone, I had that brief period, maybe 3 or 4 seconds, where I knew, 'This is gonna be a touchdown!' That's a feeling that you can't explain. All these emotions are swirling."

Harris finished with 11 carries for 145 yards. He also delivered a crunching blow to force a turnover that preceded his 81-yarder. Terrell Mills added 37 yards on 11 rushes.

Like many of coach Anthony Pastore's players, Harris attends Palumbo, which partners with Furness for football. He spends time between his mother's house in East Falls and his dad's place in South Philly and though he also plays basketball (for Palumbo), he figures football would provide better opportunities.

"I can play a lot of positions," he said. "Coach had me learning quarterback last year in case he'd need me this year. No one else was really here, so . . . "

Speaking of absences, Furness went into battle without star rusher Sharif Smith (high ankle sprain), who rushed for 1,205 yards and 12 TDs last fall.

"With Sharif, that would have been a guaranteed win," Harris said. "Now with him coming back, and since I've shown I can add mobility from the pocket . . . I think we're looking at big things."