Two pick-sixes lead West Philly over Franklin

On the day West Philadelphia High's football team made marvelous history, so did Anthony Johnson.

We just can't be sure how much.

City records in some categories are not completely defined, but let's make a strong guess that not too many players have returned interceptions for touchdowns in the Public League and Catholic League.

Johnson, a 5-10 1/2, 185-pound senior, not only joined the club Friday . . . He had so much fun, he didn't limit his pick-sixes to one.

That's right. From his linebacker spot, Johnson scored on two interception returns - of 8 and 10 yards, 179 seconds apart sandwiching halftime - as visiting West blasted Ben Franklin, 40-13, in Public AAA, thus assuring what is only the school's second 6-0 start since the 1928 squad finished 9-0 in the midst of a 23-game winning streak. (The '84 Speedboys stormed to 8-0, then fell to Frankford in a playoff semifinal.)

When Johnson was asked whether he'd ever scored a touchdown in such fashion, he mentioned how he'd victimized Skyler Mornhinweg, now the star quarterback at St. Joseph's Prep.

In youth ball?

Nope. Turns out he's the same Anthony Johnson who last year played for Roman Catholic. The two parted company over the summer and Johnson enrolled at West because the school - in its splendid new building at 49th and Chestnut, site of the old West Catholic boys - is not too far from his home on Webster Street, near 60th.

"Hey, I'm from West Philly, born and raised, so I have a feel for being here at the neighborhood school," he said. "Roman was a great school and they give you all the help you could possibly need. Negative things shouldn't happen. But sometimes they do. You just have go forward and leap over the hurdles of adversity.

"I wasn't happy about leaving Roman, but West is treating me fine, too. They show the same love for the players."

He smiled. "Plus, West has girls."

Johnson's pick-six vs. The Prep covered about three-quarters of the field and came right before halftime last Nov. 6 in a Catholic AAAA semifinal.

He said he remembered coach Joe McCourt imploring his team to intercept the ball and run it back for a touchdown. And in this one, rookie coach Paul Noon barked out almost the exact same request 76 seconds before halftime after Johnson, briefly replacing starting quarterback Ricardo Streams in a WildSpeedboy formation, lost a fumble.

One big difference from 2010: Franklin would be starting the possession on its 5.

As QB Anwar "Huddy" Mathis stepped back from the line, Johnson dropped back into coverage. The catch and run, which gave West a 12-7 lead, were incredibly easy. The replay, on the third play of the third quarter, was eerily similar. Even happened to the same side, West's defensive left.

Amazingly, the Speedboys tallied on another pick-six 3 minutes later, though Julius Hester needed to cover 42 yards.

"Read and react," Johnson said, simply, when asked to detail his responsibilities. "The balls came right to me. Right place at right time. Once you catch it, you have to do things that can't be coached."

As in?

"Score touchdowns . . . I was surprised how open I was. I was like, 'Is the quarterback at least gonna be there?' "

West most often used a five-man front with nose guard Leander Berry, tackles Brian Davis and Tajah Brooks and ends Jesse Thomas and Joseph Southern. Johnson and Elijah Hardy were the linebackers, Stephan Pressley and Hester played cornerback and the safeties were William Monaghan and Quaseem Brown.

Johnson, who desires a career in criminal justice, began the season as a strong safety, and he's about to backpedal to that spot because Desmond Sams is returning from injury.

"A job's a job," Johnson said. "You play where the team needs you. I do like being further back, then coming up and being aggressive. You can see things better, too."

Um, vision did not appear to be a problem on the interception TDs.

"Yeah, they were right to me," he shot back.

Star receiver Eric "T.O." Leslie scored twice for West on receptions of 52 (first play of game) and 13 yards. Hardy dashed 54 yards for the final score.

Mathis did pass 15-for-31 for 152 yards, but was sacked four times and rarely made an unchallenged throw. The Electrons were missing top rusher Crusito Cruz (foot injury) and replacement Marcus Johnson departed at halftime with knee tightness.

While breaking from defensive huddles, the Speedboys several times chanted, "Let's make history!"

"I'm glad I was a part of this," Johnson said.

"To get a head coaching job at age 25 and start off 6-0; I'm still having trouble comprehending it all," Noon said. "The assistant coaches do everything for us. The alumni has our backs . . .

"But the next game, vs. Gratz, is even bigger and the players and coaches have already started thinking about it."

Well, he hopes they have. Understandably, especially for Anthony Johnson, the glow-basking might extend through the weekend.

IN OTHER GAMES

Ryan Dydak passed 8-for-11 for 123 yards and five TDs, with three to Richard "Tre" Drayton (5-78), as Central blasted Olney, 42-0, in AAAA Silver. David Oliphant and Brandon Rose made interceptions . . . Bok's 34-6 AA triumph over Comm Tech featured a three-TD rushing performance by Shaquil Sammons (30-218). CT's Rolando Ransom posted 146 yards on 34 carries . . . Mark Bowser notched 4 sacks and David Peterson returned one of his team's four interceptions for a TD as Boys' Latin dumped King, 26-6, in AAA. Doug Osborne had two picks. Ben Coulibaly ran 22 times for 146 yards and one TD . . . As Gratz muffled Roxborough, 26-8, in AAA, Davone Cornish passed 8-for-15 for 162 yards and three TDs; two went to Steve Johnson (4-112). Khilil Farrell added 79 yards on 16 carries. For Roxborough, Adrian Johnson-Pope returned a kickoff 79 yards for a score and DeAndre Hariot posted a pick for the third consecutive game (five total) . . .

Frankford topped Fels, 38-8, in AAAA Gold as Tim DiGiorgio passed 9-for-20 for 144 yards and three TDs, two to Renz "Rodeo" Compton (4-85) and one to Savoy Martin (2-41; also a pick) . . . In Catholic AAAA, Roman jolted Judge, 35-14, as Marcus Kelly ran 27 times for 220 yards and two TDs and Michael Keir passed 15-for-22 for 188 yards and two more scores. William Fuller had one, along with two interceptions. Chris Cruz returned a pick for a TD. For Judge, Raul Quinones returned a kickoff for a 91-yard TD.

All three of Jaleel Reed's completions went for TDs to Bruce Mapp (longest: 72 yards) as West Catholic smoked McDevitt, 45-7, in Catholic AA. David Williams added 201 yards and a TD on 20 totes . . .  Germantown beat Northeast, 24-12, in Public AAAA Gold, as Ackeno Robertson (21-161) and Aaron "Snook" Boyd (21-129) ran wild, though the three rushing TDs went to Will Parks. Robertson added an interception.