Tag Archives: jalen randolph

View from the desk, Week 4

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Though I had the pleasure of heading out of the office to cover a game, Archbishop Carroll’s ill-fated outing against Archbishop Ryan, I had some time to check out the numbers for the other contests spread across the soggy Delco weekend. Allow me then to tease out some of the more impressive performances.

1: First downs allowed by Ridley in its 27-7 win over Marple Newtown. The Tigers only score came on an 88-yard kick return by Cimirrow Moat, who was limited to 60 yards on the ground.

2: Safeties by Episcopal Academy in the second half of its come-from-behind win over The Hill School, 11-8.

-2: The perplexing amount of yards for Cardinal O’Hara quarterback Dashawn Darden on 5-of-11 passing. Still trying to get my mind around that one.

2:47: Time in the fourth quarter it took for West Catholic to turn a 14-6 deficit into a 18-14 win over Haverford School. The decisive rushing touchdown by quarterback Jaleel Reed came with 26 seconds remaining in the game. Continue reading →

Ridley’s Randolph is no softy

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Jalen Randolph rushed for 270 yards on 31 carries and four touchdowns Friday night.

That was good enough to supplant his dad, Pat Randolph, for the greatest single-game rushing performance in Ridley High history. (So that I’m not confusing any of you longtime fans, it should be noted that the old Ridley Park record is held by Dave Ennis, who accumulated 283 yards in 1957),.

Ridley RB Jalen Randolph had a career performance Friday night against Marple Newtown

Randolph was proud of the accomplishment, which you can read more about in Saturday’s Daily Times.

But Randolph — the super-talented NCAA Division I prospect — wanted to let everyone know one thing:

“We’re tired of people saying that we are the softest Ridley team …”

Saturday’s 27-7 win over visiting Marple Newtown (who had allowed a total of seven points all season prior to Friday) is exactly what the Green Raiders needed. They needed a “they’re baaaaack” kind of game … and Randolph and Co. did just that.

Ridley travels to winless Radnor next Friday.

View from the desk, Week 1

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Friday night, our intrepid beatwriter Matt Smith delivered the highlights of what he saw from the sidelines on the opening week of the season.

Some of us are less fortunate yet more fortunate than he. More, in the sense that while working on the sportsdesk on a football Friday, we have to sift through accounts of all the games with enough detail to tease out the highlights enough to write headlines and references from other pages. Less because, well, have you ever seen a newspaper office?

Anyway, while I can’t offer the insight Matt gleans with his two eyes, I can provide an in-depth look at the outstanding and unusual numbers presented from all the games. So here are some of the highlights:

1 – Career wins for new coaches Todd Fairlie (Episcopal Academy), Joe Powel (Archbishop Carroll) and Tom Kline (Springfield) at their new schools.

-13 – Net rushing yards by Ridley in their come-from-behind win over Malvern Prep. That total includes 11 from starting running back Jalen Randolph on nine carries. Continue reading →

Top 5: Returning Running Backs

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You’ll see right away there are more than five running backs listed. I included a couple tandems for fun. Enjoy.

Damiere Shaw & Jay Watkins, Cardinal O’Hara: Shaw isn’t a prototypical halfback, but the Temple-bound senior is one of the top athletes in the state and could crack the 1,000-yard barrier this season. I think the same could easily be said for his partner-in-crime, Watkins. Shaw and Watkins are awfully similar in size and ability, as both players can make an impact out of the backfield, in the slot or out wide Together, they should make O’Hara very dangerous.

Jalen Randolph, Ridley: Randolph is making another appearance on our “Top 5″ lists. The bruising back was the thunder to Shahaid Smith’s lightning the last couple years, but now he’ll most likely receive the bulk of the workload for coach Dennis Decker. Randolph, who rushed close to 600 yards with nine touchdowns as a junior, will be called upon early and often for the Raiders. Honestly, I feel sorry for certain linebackers and defensive backs that are tasked with trying to stop him.

Kyle Keyser & Justin Pyle, Garnet Valley: Affectionately dubbed “Kyle Pyle” by delcofootball.com,  the seniors have the Jaguars ready to go. They accounted for 10 rushing scores despite battling injuries in 2010. They’re both home-run hitters and will surely be two of first-year starting QB Ryan Corkery’s favorite targets to throw to.

Strath Haven is counting on big production from James Griffin. Photo courtesy delcotimes.com

James Griffin, Strath Haven: The 5-11, 165-pound senior did it all for the Panthers last year in their run to another district title. He thrived at quarterback when called upon midway through the playoffs, mostly running sweeps and plays condusive to his playmaking ability as a RB. Haven has a mulit-dimensional talent at their disposal in Griffin, who rushed for 734 yards (8.0 ypg) as a junior.

Ismir Gibson, Msgr. Bonner: Shifty and slippery smooth, Gibson can hit the hole and take off with the best of them. The diminutive Friars senior found the end zone on seven occasions last year. He didn’t have a tremendously impressive yards-per-carry average (5.5), but with a strong o-line in front of him, I expect some big plays … provided he can stay healthy, which was/is an issue during camp.

Angry that I’m missing someone? Sorry … but please, let me know about it!