Malvern Prep gets past Penn Charter

SINCE WHEN HAS Halloween expanded to multiple dates?

Bob Scaramuzza's face and words can provide the answers.

Perhaps you've heard of an oak tree of a lineman from Penn Wood High in Yeadon named Shawn Oakman. He goes 6-9, 245, already has committed to Penn State, and Scaramuzza, for one, is hoping that someday he storms into the NFL.

"That'd be a nice story," Scaramuzza said.

It already is.

While helping visiting Malvern Prep down Penn Charter, 14-3, Friday in an Inter-Ac League opener that very well could have served as the title-decider, Scaramuzza, a 5-9, 215-pound senior fullback, wore a bandage that covered the upper part of his nose and maybe half of his forehead, along with large Band-Aids to each side of his nose. Oh, there were still hints of black-and-blueness, too.

Trick or treat.

"I was running a belly play to the right against Penn Wood [Sept. 25]," Scaramuzza said, "and Oakman came at me unblocked. We had a big collision.

"I had to get four stitches after that game - it was right at the top of my nose - and then it opened up again in a practice, and I had to get seven or eight. A plastic surgeon did it the second time."

At halftime yesterday, Scaramuzza and his offensive teammates darn near needed resuscitation.

Though the high winds admittedly were not conducive to pinball-machine offense, the Friars owned only 31 yards and one first down. At least the defense had managed to hold PC to Shane Carr's 22-yard field goal on the final play before intermission.

"Not too much was said at halftime," Scaramuzza claimed. "I mean, we knew we missed some opportunities, but we weren't crushed by it. We kept our heads. There wasn't much yelling. I just tried to keep everybody's spirits up. I knew we'd bounce back."

How so?

"Because we had to," he said. "We had to match what our defense was doing."

With 40 yards on eight carries, Scaramuzza was the least productive of Malvern's three rushers. But he did barrel his way to a 4-yard touchdown, providing a 7-3 lead with 3 minutes, 1 second left in the third quarter, and he did - downfield even - make a key block on Shawn Wilson's 62-yard scoring dash 1:38 into the fourth.

Wilson, a transfer from now-defunct North Catholic, finished with 133 yards on 16 carries. PJ Finley added 44 on eight; his best effort was an 11-yarder that immediately preceded Scaramuzza's score.

"We have a pretty good 'heavy' package," Scaramuzza said, referring to Malvern's short-yardage alignment. "We move one tackle to the other side and even bring in two more fullbacks. I was pretty confident I'd take it in."

At halftime, Penn Charter was kicking itself for not having scored 21 points. The game's first drive ended with Sean Gordon's interception on the 1. In the final 4 minutes, the Quakers advanced to the 8 and then the 5, but reaped only the three points.

PC managed 220 yards of total offense. John Loughery passed 14-for-31 for 120 and only his last completion, a 25-yarder to Joey Sankey (6-62), went for more than 16 yards. Eric Neefe carried 20 times for 78 yards.

Meanwhile, Malvern's Tommy Rumer, who earlier broke the school record for one-game passing yardage with 317 vs. Roman, settled for none (0-for-3 with an interception, by Tom Monzo).

"We executed on the ground in the second half," Scaramuzza said. "They just couldn't stop us. We kept the momentum going."

A fumble recovery, and 18-yard return, by Sam Schmucker set up Scaramuzza's TD. That loose ball appeared to result from a one-count-too-early snap into Loughery's hands. The second scoring drive - 86 yards, five plays - followed a punt.

As Wilson headed toward PC's sideline, an assistant muttered, "Shoot, he's gonna go."

Though Scaramuzza, who resides in Springfield, Delaware County, also wrestles, he hopes to play football in college, while majoring in business.

Someday, maybe in 10 years, he'll be hanging out in a taproom and Oakman will be devouring folks on "Monday Night Football."

Can't you hear it now?

"See that guy right there . . . You won't believe what he did to me one time." *