For years the Perry Commodores owned City League football. The last few years the Brashear Bulls dominated and were expected to do the same this season but that didn’t happen. Schenley, Oliver and Perry joined them atop of the League, with Schenley surprising everybody by winning their first title since 1950.
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MANASSEH GARNER, JEROME MATHEWS, MARTISE SMITH
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In selecting our third annual All City football team the Courier kept this in mind with the selection of the players. The four top teams dominate the selections as they dominated league play, but all nine schools are represented. Helping us select the players were the coaches of all nine schools in the city, Woody Miller and the men in the booth who call the game and keep the stats, as well as our reporter and photographer who cover the teams. Schenley and Oliver tied for the best record at 7-1, and Perry and Brashear finished right behind them at 6-2. The other five teams finished under .500 with Peabody, Westinghouse and Carrick tied at 3-5, Allderdice 1-7 and Langley 0-8.
The breakdown on the first team’s offense, defense and four special teams players has Schenley and Brashear tied with 8 each, Perry 6, and Oliver 5. The other five teams only placed two players on the first teams. Adding the second teams and honorable mentions, Schenley and Perry led the way with 15 each followed closely by Oliver, 14 and Brashear, 13. Rounding out the teams were Carrick, 10; Westinghouse, 6; Peabody 4; and Allderdice and Langley with 2 each.
Henri Chatman was hands down the best quarterback in the City with everyone picking him to the first team. Then it became hard with Ryan Roeper from Carrick, a pure passer with high numbers and Darrell Cosby of Westinghouse who was an excellent running quarterback with much the same results. The other quarterbacks mentioned were Donte Jeter from Oliver and Greg McGhee from Perry. Beyond Chatman there was a drop off in talent at that position. Even Chatman’s production dropped from last season. He has been one of the top two to three quarterbacks in the City for the past three years.
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JASON BELL
Schenley Head Coach |
At the running back slot Bruce Patterson finished up his career as one of the greatest backs in City League history, with 643 yards on 129 carries even though he missed some games. Joining him in the backfield was Richard Lowry from Perry who continued that rich Commodore tradition by leading the league in rushing with 949 yards on 187 carries and Bruce Matthews from Schenley who had 663 yards on 154 carries despite missing some games. He was Schenley’s best offensive player and may have been the league’s Player of the Year if he hadn’t missed some games. These three were heads and shoulders over the rest.
There wasn’t a whole lot of passing going on in the City which led to the drop off in production by receivers compared to the past few years when there was a rise. However, our Offensive Player of the Year was a receiver, but Manasseh Garner helped his team in so many other ways. He was Chatman’s main target, as a tight end, and wide receiver as well as being an excellent runner out of the backfield. He did whatever it took to help his team win. His major competition was teammate Chatman.
Carrick receivers had the most impressive numbers behind the passing of Roeper with Jujuan Thomas and Travis Lewis being named to the first and second teams. Manny Reed, Brashear, and Martice Smith, Oliver, are the other two starting wide receivers.
The offensive and defensive lines were generally made up of the same players. Much like college and the pros, these guys are the anchors of the teams. They determine if a team is a winner or loser but receive very little credit or publicity.
The best linemen in the City belonged to Schenley, which is why they now hold the championship trophy. Andre Irish, Aaron Manker and Hykeem Moore anchored both the offense and the defense for the Spartans and the All City team. Irish surprisingly was picked as the Defensive Player of the Year. Surprisingly because it’s the first time a lineman has received this award, which generally goes to linebackers and defensive backs. He was clearly the best of the best. Joining Irish and Manker on the offensive line are Matt Dayton, Perry, Shane Phillips, Oliver and Carlos Saunders, Peabody. Joining he and Moore on the defensive line are Ed Mathis, Oliver; and Joshua Weiblinger. Manker is on the second team defense and Moore second team offense.
Even though the Perry defense allowed the fewest points, it was Oliver that dominated the defensive team, placing eight players on the first and second team. Schenley was second with six. Perry only had three players selected. Once again there were an abundance of quality linebackers and defensive backs with Garner heading this list which includes two of the four linebackers being from Oliver and two of the four defensive backs from Schenley.
The special teams were easy picks with kicker Cody Magiocca, Brashear and punter John Dubensky, Perry having practically no competition. Even though there were several excellent kick and punt returners this season D’Andre Black, Schenley, and Manny Reed were easy winners.
The Coach of the Year was a tough pick between Jason Bell from Schenley and Tim Keefer from Oliver. Both did an outstanding job this season taking their teams to surprising 7-1 records in City League play. But the difference was Schenley beat Oliver to win the City League title, their first in 69 years, thus our Coach of the Year is Jason Bell.
Congratulations to all the members of the 2009 New Pittsburgh Courier All City Football Team.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Manasseh Garner, Brashear
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Andre Irish, Schenley
COACH OF THE YEAR
Jason Bell, Schenley
FIRST TEAM ALL-CITY OFFENSE 2009
QB Henri Chatman Brashear
RB Bruce Patterson Brashear
RB Jerome Mathews Schenley
RB Richard Lowry Perry
TE Manasseh Garner Brashear
R Jujuan Thomas Carrick
R Martice Smith Oliver
R Manny Reed Brashear
OL Andre Irish Schenley
OL Aaron Manker Schenley
OL Matt Dayton Perry
OL Shane Phillips Oliver
OL Carlos Saunders Peabody
SECOND TEAM ALL-CITY OFFENSE 2009
QB Ryan Roeper Carrick
QB Darrell Cosby Westinghouse
RB Rasheed McKamey Carrick
RB Tyree Mathis Oliver
RB David Pryor Westinghouse
TE Tyrail Morgan Oliver
R Marcus Falls Westinghouse
R D’ Andre Black Schenley
R Travis Lewis Carrick
OL Hykeem Moore Schenley
OL Keith Goralzick Carrick
OL Saquan Thomas Westinghouse
OL Ronell Moses Peabody
OL Londele Cox Peabody
HONORABLE MENTION
QB Greg McGhee Perry
QB Donté Jeter Oliver
QB Mike Phleger Allderdice
OL Joshua Weiblinger Perry
OL Isiah Moore Westinghouse
OL D. J. Smith Perry
TE Titus Morris Perry
OL Chantz Thomas Brashear
DB Livingston Wright Schenley
R Brian Gray Langley
R Devin Grafoor Perry
R Jaylen Coleman Peabody
FIRST TEAM ALL-CITY DEFENSE 2009
DL Andre Irish Schenley
DL Ed Mathis Oliver
DL Hykeem Moore Schenley
DL Joshua Weiblinger Perry
LB Manasseh Garner Brashear
LB Dion Mathews Perry
LB David Marshall Oliver
LB Tyrek Morgan Oliver
DB Troy Nelson Perry
DB Jeron Grayson Schenley
DB Jerome Mathews Schenley
DB Antwan Bell Brashear
SECOND TEAM ALL-CITY DEFENSE 2009
DL Aaron Manker Schenley
DL Rich Potts Oliver
DL Mike Barron Brashear
DL Chantz Thomas Brashear
LB Shane Phillips Oliver
LB Jaylen Coleman Peabody
LB Dillon Semian Brashear
LB Tyrail Morgan Oliver
DB D’Andre Black Schenley
DB Jehosha Wright Oliver
DB Louis Helms Langley
DB Donté Jeter Oliver
HONORABLE MENTION
LB Taylor Campbell Schenley
LB Tom Means Brashear
DL Jordan Morris Perry
LB Devante Grace Westinghouse
DL Joe Hughes Carrick
DL Frank Kalsek Carrick
DL Kaleeq Anderson Westinghouse
DL Livingston Wright Schenley
DL Phillip Fergurson Oliver
LB Ray Taylor Perry
LB Jayme Thomas Carrick
DL Duke Mulvihill Allderdice
DL Steven Wicks Perry
SPECIAL TEAMS
Kicker Cody Magliocca Brashear
Punter John Dubensky Perry
PR D’ Andre Black Schenley
KR Manny Reed Brashear
City League Stat Leaders
QUARTERBACKS
Completions Attempts Touchdowns Total Yards
Henri Chapman Brashear 83 148 10 1,343
Ryan Roeper Carrick 58 126 14 811
Dante Jeter Oliver 37 99 05 791
Greg McGhee Perry 60 133 06 681
Shawn Smith Langley 56 115 12 608
RECEIVERS
Receptions Yards
Manasseh Garner Brashear 32 561
Jajuan Thomas Carrick 31 456
Brian Gray Langley 24 389
Marcus Falls Westinghouse 21 256
Devin Ghafoor Perry 18 194
RUSHERS
Attempts Yards
Richard Lowry Perry 187 949
Rasheed McKamey Carrick 146 680
Jerome Matthews Schenley 154 663
Bruce Patterson Brashear 129 643
Jaylen Coleman Peabody 79 507
(Information supplied by the City League official scorer and stat man Woody Miller. Numbers only applies to City League play.)
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