Malvern Prep edges St. Joseph’s Prep

Your older brother is the starting quarterback for a Big East school, plus your cousin occupies a spot on the roster.

We're guessing the procurement of tickets is not an issue. We're guessing Carl Nassib has just about lived at Syracuse this fall.

"I haven't seen one game yet," he said, pleasantly.

The kid has his own life, thank you. Aside from being a member of Malvern Prep's football team - yes, that's where his brother, Ryan, first earned quarterbacking stardom - Carl Nassib is also immersed in school activities.

He fills a leadership role (event chairman) with the student council and belongs to a service group for seniors - Malvernians for Encountering Christians and Others - that goes away for long weekends three times each school year.

"Every senior at Malvern really looks forward to that," Nassib said. "We've had two of those weekends already."

The 6-6, 220-pound Nassib lines up at defensive end for coach Kevin Pellegrini . . . eventually. Though he's not a starter, he certainly finished his scholastic career in style Thursday morning.

In rain/sleet/snow at Plymouth-Whitemarsh, Nassib contributed five tackles and broke up a pass as the Friars edged St. Joseph's Prep, 14-13.

Malvern leads on Thanksgiving, 3-1, and overall, 4-1. It has won these last two meetings by one point apiece and in '08 rallied from a 21-0 deficit.

Sixty percent of Nassib's stops stood out in bold relief. They were part of 2 1/2 sacks, which were good for 35 yards.

"I've always wanted to become a starter. It just hasn't worked out that way," said Nassib, who figured he saw action Thursday for six defensive series. "When I do get out there, I just try my best.

"This was such a fun game. It was my last time playing football with all my Malvern friends, and I just had a blast."

While perched along the sideline, Nassib nixed checking out pretty girls in the stands.

"I noticed on pass plays that their linemen stood straight up," he said. "If you made the right push-pull moves, you could get around them. It wasn't like they backed up and gave ground with the idea of setting up the pocket."

The Prep's quarterback, Skyler Mornhinweg, son of the Eagles' offensive coordinator, Marty, finished 10-for-22 for 97 yards. His 14 rushes, counting sacks, went backward 13 yards.

"He's very good," Nassib said. "It's not easy trying to run him down."

The touchdowns did not come in back-and-forth order. Malvern's PJ Finley (8 yards) and Bob Scaramuzza (15, 18-105 total) posted Nos. 1 and 4, while Mornhinweg (16-yard run) and Jim Hurley (16-yard return of a blocked punt) provided the meat for the sandwich. Connor Mahoney blocked the PAT after Hurley's score, and Frank Santo's blocked punt set up Mornhinweg's.

SJ Prep had the final meaningful possession. With 13 seconds left, Ed Morris (10 tackles; Joe Nilan was right behind with nine) and Sean Gordon (an interception) combined to bat down a pass at the Prep's 25.

Mornhinweg totaled 10 tackles and forced a fumble.

For Carl Nassib, the connection to big-bro Ryan is strong. (The cousin on Syracuse's roster is Joe Nassib, a product of Haverford School.)

"Ryan gives me a lot of advice. And since it's always good, I take it," Carl said. "It's really cool that he's playing for a D-I school. It's great for Malvern, too, because it shows that we're capable of producing players like that."

Might Carl be thinking of attending Syracuse?

"I don't know if they could handle three Nassibs up there," he cracked.

Ah, but get this . . . Syracuse's football team hosts Boston College Saturday, and Carl might be in attendance.

"I have to show up for basketball practice [Friday]," he said. "I would like to see that, definitely, but I'm not sure what our coaches would think about me missing practice. I guess I'll ask them. We'll keep our fingers crossed."