Malvern, Haverford teams to beat in Inter-Ac

September 06, 2011|BY TED SILARY, silaryt@phillynews.com

IT'S NOT TOO OFTEN an Inter-Ac League school sends two football players to Division I-A programs in 1 year, let alone has that number commit even before their senior seasons.

The guy over there not turning cartwheels is Kevin Pellegrini, and, please, don't hold it against him.

"It's nice to hear, but it really doesn't get you anywhere," he said. "We have a long way to go as a team."

Pellegrini is the coach at Malvern Prep, and his spoken-for studs are linemen Connor Mahoney (Northwestern) and Mike Mooney (Virginia). The Friars also return a 1,000-yard rusher in Shawn Wilson (he played for North Catholic's final team in 2009) and a sniffed-1,000-yard passer in Tommy Rumer. Plus, linebacker Joe Nilan is well known for rattling teeth.

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Alas, the season opener yielded a 21-20 loss to Ridley.

"We're 0-1 and it's still a building process," Pellegrini said. "We hope it's going to be a special season. We'll see."

Not inclined to wither is Haverford School, which last year overcame an 0-6 nonleague record to seize its first outright title since 1971.

"When you finish 5-6, that means you left some things on the table," coach Michael Murphy said. "We're reminding the kids to keep the hunter mentality; not to see themselves as being hunted."

Of the others, Penn Charter figures to push the hardest. Its conversation piece, junior man-child Mike McGlinchey (6-8, 290), is yet another cousin of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan.

There is one new coach, Episcopal Academy's Todd Fairlie.

RETURNING ALL-LEAGUE PLAYERS

(Selected by coaches)

FIRST TEAM OFFENSE

Linemen: Connor Mahoney and Mike Mooney, MP; Lou Moeller, HS.

Receiver: Daryl Worley, PC.

Running back: Cedric Madden, CH.

Kicker-punter: Aron Morgan, HS.

FIRST TEAM DEFENSE

Linemen: Connor Mahoney, MP; Tyler Hightower, CH; Grant Jamgochian, HS.

Linebackers: Keith Corliss, GA; Joe Nilan, MP; Matt Galambos, HS.

SECOND TEAM OFFENSE