Finn Whittle, coach Rick Knox, and Tommy Markey
PHILADELPHIA, PA — Finn Whittle looked like he could barely stand, let alone run for over 200 yards and two touchdowns. The Springside Chestnut Hill Academy junior had both ankles taped, a sleeve over his bloody left knee, a bruised right arm, and scratch marks on the back of both arms from defenders chasing him all Saturday afternoon.
And the Blue Devils’ 5-foot-10, 175-pound two-way player is a backup tailback.
Whittle, senior quarterback Tommy Markey, sophomore defensive back Joe Flach, and the Blue Devils’ offensive line of tackles Grayson Scott and Mitch Karp, guards Kyle Knox and Matt McTamney, center Aidan McCann, and tight end Danny Reagan put on a physical show pounding Germantown Academy for 343 yards rushing in a 28-0 Inter-Ac League victory at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy.
More importantly, a culture shift is taking place at Springside Chestnut Hill, a program that went a combined 6-14 the previous two years without winning an Inter-Ac game.
The Blue Devils are 7-0 overall for the first time since 2009 when most of their current players were in diapers, and 2-0 in the rough Inter-Ac, doubling their league victory total of the previous two years.
They are doing it with smash-mouth football, behind one of the best offensive lines in the program’s history, an improvising master for a quarterback, and a hardnosed tailback who was not even considered the team’s No. 1 offensive option at the start of the season.
That distinction still belongs to speedy Jayden Sumpter, who has been out with an injury and is possibly expected back this Saturday under the lights at Springside Chestnut Hill against defending Inter-Ac champion Haverford School.
In the meantime, the Blue Devils keep winning. Whittle is putting his head down and slipping past defenders with his underrated speed, Markey, a huge fan of former Boston College star Doug Flutie, the reason why he wears No. 22, is turning busted plays into big gains, and a punishing offensive line is creating big holes.
Add in Flach, who had two interceptions against GA, and a defensive line that got a nice push from Amari Fallen and McTamney, and it adds up to a far different team that finished a combined 6-14 overall and 0-10 in the Inter-Ac the previous two years.
“Going into the season, we knew we had a senior-heavy team and we knew all summer we felt the locker room was going to be a lot different than it had been in the past,” said Markey, who is going to Fordham for baseball. “We all had a great time out there together. I remember walking off the field after the last game (against Malvern Prep), I felt terrible.
“Before the first game this year, the seniors all talked about that feeling. This game was very physical, and the attitude has been looking for what is ahead of us, that’s Haverford School, a very good team.”
Entering the game, Whittle was banged up. There were times when he limped off the field, and then told Blue Devils’ coach Rick Knox he could go back in for “one more play,” and stay five more plays.
“After losing every Inter-Ac game, being 0-10, this has been great,” Whittle said. “My mentality is I know you can’t back down, and I wasn’t about to fold for my team. I can’t let those guys down. We are taking it a step at a time and that has helped. Our focus now is Haverford.”
Rick Knox is a respected veteran coach who has been at Springside Chestnut Hill for 19 years. It has been a brutal two years, but this year has been a nice payoff.
“The difference came this summer when these guys got together and there is a big camaraderie among this group,” Knox said. “We had four seniors last year. When you have four seniors and you’re going against Malvern Prep, it’s not going to go well. We were competitive last year. This group wanted to do something to turn this around.
“They deserve this. We played without three starters today, and we did it without Jayden, who is our most electric player. This group really cares about each other. All season we have been focusing on what is next.”
The Blue Devils led 14-0 at halftime, added two Whittle touchdowns in the fourth quarter and that was it. The Patriots (5-2, 0-2) have a nice future building around 6-foot-5, 200-pound sophomore quarterback Xavier Stern, but GA could never get anything going offensively.
“They controlled the ball with the ball and Rick is as good as a play designer there is,” Patriots’ coach Mat Dence said. “We didn’t tackle well, we didn’t play well. We got in the red zone twice and we did not score. I’m kicking myself because we should have taken the points, but I want touchdowns. We had beaten them six times in a row before today.
“They wanted this game and they soundly beat us today. Credit to them. There were some throws Xavier wanted back, and I thought he also did some really good things. He’s going to learn and grow with this, and he is going to be back because he is a competitor.”
Whittle finished with 207 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 33 carries, this coming a week after he rushed for 218 yards and four TDs on 26 carries against Penn Charter in the Blue Devils’ Inter-Ac opener. Markey completed six of seven passes and Tyler Roberts added a touchdown and 85 yards on 12 carries.
The first—and only—time Springside Chestnut Hill Academy won the Inter-Ac in football was in 2009.
No one is jumping to that conclusion yet, although right now, the Blue Devils may no longer be the sleeper in the Inter-Ac—and they are just getting healthy.
Scoring Summary
Germantown Academy (5-2, 0-2 Inter-Ac) 0 0 0 0-0
Springside Chestnut Hill Academy (7-0, 2-0) 7 7 0 14-28
1st Quarter
SCH – Tyler Roberts 8 run (Alex Zeka kick), 3:48
2nd Quarter
SCH – Tommy Markey 1 run (Zeka kick), :02
4th Quarter
SCH – Finn Whittle 3 run (Zeka kick), 9:16
SCH – Whittle 8 run (Zeka kick), 4:37
Joseph Santoliquito is a hall-of-fame, award-winning sportswriter who has been covering high school football since 1992 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter @JSantoliquito. Follow EasternPAFootball.com on Twitter @EPAFootball.
