Communications Tech's Brunson knows how to pick'em

Passing along some city high school football tidbits . . .

Quite the bright-light neophyte, that James Brunson.

Though he played no organized football before 2010, the 5-8, 155-pound Communications Tech d-back finished his career with 14 interceptions and a city-leading nine as a senior.

In a 36-0 Thanksgiving win over Olney, Brunson added one pick to three catches for 84 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

"When I'm on defense and there's an opportunity to make a play on the ball, I have to go do it. Just like on offense," Brunson said. "Ball's there. Go catch it. That's how I feel.

"Though I feel I'm more of an offensive player, I still want the ball in my hands no matter what position I'm playing. And I have that knack for getting it.

"Last year we played man-to-man a whole lot. This year was more of a zone. No matter [the alignment]. I had to escalate my game. Take it to another level. You always want to get better each year."

In CT's first five seasons, passing was mostly a rumor (1,352 total yards). This season, as nagging injuries curtailed the explosiveness of franchise rusher Rolando "Ro-Ro" Ransom, junior Zaki Jamison was given the chance to blossom and finished 41-for-102 for 897 yards and 11 TDs. Brunson was his leading receiver (20-451-five).

When asked which variety of catches he prefers, Brunson said, "Hmm . . . I guess the ones on defense because they give the offense another chance to score. Offense is really what I like best and I want to play wideout in college. Hopefully at California, Pa. I've seen their games on the Internet and I like how much they pass."

Also on CT's squad this season was Devon Brunson a soph and James' brother.

Does Devon have a chance to be as good as James?

"Of course!" James gushed. "I'm on him 24/7. My teammates holler at me because I holler at him so much. I feel, most definitely, that he has a chance to be even better than me ."

Devon already owns one pick.

Ransom (4,116, sixth) placed right behind Furness' Sharif Smith (4,457, fifth) on the city's career rushing yardage list. SJ Prep's Skyler Mornhinweg claimed the No. 5 spot on the passing list (4,859). Pretty sure Smith was the first player in city history to have his number retired as his career concluded. If not, speak up . . . In the season TD-passes category, Frankford junior lefty Tim DiGiorgio is tied for No. 2 in city history with 30, matching La Salle's John Harrison in '06. La Salle's Brett Gordon (33 in '97) is still No. 1  . . . Michael Pronzato should have received credit for snapping the pic of Wood kicker Nick Visco that appeared with last week's notes . . . Will someone at Roxborough please show brass and terminate the Thanksgiving series with Roman? Roman has won the last 19 by an average score of 36-9. Roman could then play Frankford. Or maybe Judge-Lincoln (also quite one-sided) should consider a shutdown? Then we could have Judge-Frankford (and Lincoln could play Fels) . . . On his first catch vs. Northeast, Central's Richard "Tre" Drayton (en route to 644) broke the school record (600) set in 1985 by his father/coach, Rich . . . Bartram and Washington halved 18 interceptions this season. Only Totey Boley (Bartram) and Hakeem Sillman (Washington) had two . . . Three Pub quarterbacks played for different teams this season: Yvon Dessus (Bok/Overbrook), Marc Prompt (Northeast/Fels) and Chris Pollard (Bartram/Southern) . . . Bok is 66-10 over the last seven seasons . . . The Thanksgiving result for Dobbins-Franklin matched what happened in the teams' regular-season meeting. Dobbins won, 20-12 . . . Gratz has extended its city record for holiday foes to 11: North Catholic, Overbrook, La Salle, Olney (two stints), Mastbaum, West Philly, Germantown, Edison, Chester, FitzSimons and Mastery North . . . Neumann-Goretti's Sharif Custis made 11 catches (for 289 yards) this season and seven went for TDs . . . Michael Washington had the TD catch for Bartram in its win over Del-Val. The transfer from Academy Park needed just three games to lead the Braves in receiving yardage for the season (168) . . . Bartram's William Berry (rushing score vs D-V) is the younger brother of West Philly star Leander "Lee" Berry . . . Despite its loss to St. Joe's Prep, Malvern still boasts an amazing holiday winning percentage (.808, 21-5) . . . University City scored 24 TDs. Fifteen through the air, seven on returns and just two on rushes (one apiece by Robert Hall and John Casey) . . . Myles Brooker broke Germantown's season receiving record (666) with 692 and teammate Will Parks fell just short (665) . . . At Lincoln, Joshua McClam totaled 700 rushing yards while Marquise "Marty" McFarland carried 100 times.

Online high school coverage at philly.com/rally.