Abuhillo, Washington roll past Roxborough
Yousef Abuhillo knows exactly what will keep his bread buttered later in life, and it likely won't be chasing after a football.
Yousef Abuhillo knows exactly what will keep his bread buttered later in life, and it likely won't be chasing after a football.
It will, however, be what's housed underneath his helmet.
The 5-foot-11, 181-pound George Washington linebacker took last season off to focus primarily on his studies. His first appearance on the honor roll was the result.
Just don't mistake his willingness to walk away as a lack of enthusiasm for the game.
On Thursday against Roxborough, his passion nearly made him run afoul of first-year head coach William "Skip" Singletary after Abuhillo returned an interception for a touchdown during the Eagles' 44-0 triumph at home.
"I almost got in trouble because I took my helmet off," Abuhillo said, laughing. "It was my first big play of the year. I got so excited."
The first-quarter play came courtesy of Nadir Smith, the Washington linebacker who hit Roxborough quarterback Jeff Mannings as he threw near his own goal line.
The ball flew almost a yard forward from Mannings' hand before Abuhillo leaped and caught it about one yard from the end zone.
The touchdown gave Washington (2-1) a 16-0 lead on Roxborough (1-2).
A Smith safety and a 29-yard touchdown pass from Cameron Gontek (6 of 8 for 156 yards) to Jeffrey Davis (four catches for 155 yards) started the scoring.
Nigel Sealey finished with 111 yards on seven carries (15.8 per attempt). He also scored three touchdowns.
It turns out that adding up touchdowns helped Abuhillo with arithmetic as a child.
"Whenever I had to do math when I was younger," he said, "my dad said, 'One touchdown plus another touchdown is really seven times two, and that's 14.' "
The Abuhillos, who live in Somerton, are a Philadelphia Eagles household.
"Watching the Birds with us on Sunday night, how could he not get into football?" Mohammod Abuhillo, Yousef's father, said in a phone interview.
Yousef said his mother, Safa Abuhillo, and father always expressed the importance of academics.
"I think he might have taken those words to heart," Mohammod said.
So after playing junior varsity at Washington as a freshman and then playing exclusively for his neighborhood youth league team, the Bustleton Bengals, as a sophomore, Abuhillo sat out.
Now, he's eyeing Drexel for sports management.
"Colleges look at your grades before they look at your sports," he said, "so I had to make sure that was straight before I could come out here and do what I love to do."
Roxborough 0 0 0 0 - 0
Washington 16 22 6 0 - 44
W: Safety
W: Jeffrey Davis 29 pass from Cameron Gontek (Chris Schlegel kick)
W: Yousef Abuhillo 1 interception return (Schlegel kick)
W: Nigel Sealey 6 run (Davis run)
W: Sealey 18 run (Schlegel kick)
W: Gontek 7 run (Schlegel kick)
W: Sealey 44 run (pass failed)