The ball's in Sammons' good hands
Shaquil Sammons can laugh about his old nickname now, but that doesn’t mean he forgets the circumstances that led to its creation. The handle was likely the worst one — except for Mr. Softie, perhaps — that a running back would ever want to hear.
Shaquil Sammons can laugh about his old nickname now, but that doesn't mean he forgets the circumstances that led to its creation.
The handle was likely the worst one — except for Mr. Softie, perhaps — that a running back would ever want to hear.
"They called me Mr. Fumble-itis," Sammons said. "Everybody did. My teammates. The coaches. Even my teachers. It was around the whole school."
Sammons is now a 5-9, 190-pound halfback at Edward Bok Tech, and Friday he turned 15 carries into 173 yards and three touchdowns as the Wildcats wilted Delaware Valley Charter, 40-0, in a Public AA game at Germantown's Benjamin Johnston Memorial Stadium.
Every time quarterback Marquise Brown slipped the ball into Sammons' hands, that was where it stayed.
Far cry from that JV game vs. Ben Franklin in the 2008 season …
"I fumbled the ball 10 times. No lie. Ten times," Sammons said. "That was when one of the guys started calling me Mr. Fumbleitis.
"It's kind of a big jump going from Pop Warner football to high school ball. I guess I wasn't ready. I wasn't carrying the ball right. Guys were knocking it out pretty easy. Mr. D [DeFelice, former Bok varsity coach; now retired] got a hold of me and taught me the right way to carry. I keep that ball tucked."
Funny that Sammons mentioned "got a hold of me."
Early in this clash, he thrashed his way to a respectable gain and came up with a look on his face that was simultaneously bewildered and bemused.
He then explained what had happened to his coach, Frank "Roscoe" Natale, and several others along Bok's sideline. In a pile, a D-V defender grabbed his ankle and gave it several twists.
"He was trying to break it, I guess," Sammons quipped. "That's cool. Coach Natale told me not to worry about it, and to be the bigger man. So I left it alone. Just kept running.
"When the guy did it, I didn't say anything. Just gave him the look."
On a later run, however, Sammons did some chirping.
When three defensive backs had trouble bringing him down, Sammons barked at them, "No, you can't. Y'all too damn little."
He said of that moment, "Ah, I always do a little talkin.' Puts a little fear in their hearts. Nothing major, though. I'm not an ignorant player."
Sammons was effusive in his praise of his offensive line, which included center Tahree Snead, guards Ramir Jones and Marqui Alfriend, tackles Eric Thompson and Marcus Owens and tight end Wayne Fioravanti. Then, if given a chance, he would have talked forever about fullback Vittorio Goggins and wideout Jihad Ward.
"Those guys all work so hard," Sammons said. "Nothing good happens if not for them.
"It's not like I'm everything I want to be. I'm always trying to get better. I'm constantly trying to improve my speed and making sure I run hard."
Turnovers played a large role in Bok's dominance. Touchdowns followed fumble recoveries by Omar Bashir and Robert Kralle, and interceptions by John Richardson and Antoine Whitney. Also, Whitney recovered a late squib kick with Bok ahead, 33-0.
"No way we would do an onsides there," Natale said. "We like squibs because sometimes we have trouble covering regular kickoffs. It was just luck that we recovered it."
Sammons then followed with his best run, a 42-yarder for a TD. Early, he appeared to have no chance to reach the corner, let alone turn it.
Quarterback Marquise Brown notched two TDs on keepers and passed 8 yards for one more to Fioravanti.
For D-V, the only true enjoyment came in the waning moments as sub Rob Davis reeled off bursts for 12, 24 and 10 yards.
Sammons, who lives on the 1100 block of S. Peach Street (not far from 53rd and Florence) in Southwest Philly, is beginning to receive college interest, and he's hoping things can work out with VMI.
His uncle, Emery Sammons, was a star basketball guard for long-gone St. Thomas More ('73) and then-Philadelphia Textile. But his cousins, Emery and Marcellus Sammons, who starred at Willingboro (N.J.) High and Northeast, respectively, crafted their reps in football, and the former advancing to Arena ball.
"I've always loved football. Especially running," Sammons said.
Oh, and his buddies no longer run their mouths with the goofy nickname.
"I have no fumbles this year," he said. "And I only had four all last year."
In PL afternoon games
* Tim DiGiorgio passed 14-for-15 for 279 yards and six TDs, tying the Pub record, as Frankford rolled past Overbrook, 36-8. He directed two scores apiece, in succession, to Renz Compton (2-37), then Marquan Scott (4-72), then Savoy Martin (4-103) ... Ben Coulibaly ran 18 times for 175 yards and the first TD in Boys' Latin's 27-0 win over University City ... Lincoln quieted Olney, 33-0, as Marquise "Marty" McFarland (also an interception)ran for two scores and caught a pass from Miguel Sanchez for another ... Comm Tech thumped Bracetti, 36-0. Aasim Ragin-Nickson, a 307-pounder who's now a running back after returning a stolen ball 53 yards for a TD last week, rushed for a score and a conversion. Fighting halted the game with 8 minutes left.