Did someone mention dances?
Saturday night, all of the football Pioneers were hopping and jumping and basically bogeying after they claimed the Public AAAA Gold regular-season title. The site was Northeast, the score was 21-20 and the victim was George Washington.
The 6-3, 240-pound Allison, a tight end who sometimes lines up wide, made seven catches for 77 yards. Two of those snags (the best covered 28 yards) came in the final drive, capped with 30 seconds left on a 14-yard pass from junior Tim DiGiorgio to classmate Renz "Rodeo" Compton. Eric Salguero's PAT broke the 20-20 tie.
On that classic advancement, which began at Frankford's 20, DiGiorgio went 8-for-8 while hitting Marquan Scott and Mike Brown in addition to Allison/Compton. In the latter moments, the Pioneers overcame a 15-yard penalty and a 6-yard sack.
"I grew up with Tim," Allison said. "We've been in that situation many times. Really, it felt like the 2-minute drills we do again and again in practice. Sometimes, the coaches even cheat and push us back on purpose. We still get to the end zone.
"We were getting all the clutch catches. We were so calm. Just keeping our continuity and rhythm. Sure, we fussed at each other a little after the penalty and sack, but we still had that confidence. Before that last play, it was, 'Everybody do your assignment. We'll get this done.' "
Allison's 28-yarder occurred on second-and-8 and he made the catch tight to the visiting sideline.
"I was so wide open! What a feeling!" he said. "I sold it as a deep post, then went to the side."
Long plays are not that common for tight ends, of course.
