The Morning Call from Allentown, Pennsylvania • 35

THE MORNING CALL WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2008 C3 LOCAL SPORTS High school and collegiate athletics i Imvfi 1 1- Mm' CABLE Tirojaiiis edge determined (ids Bulldogs' Silfies is all the way back 1 i be over. Northampton might still get a District 11 home playoff game, though it's unlikely. "It was like a totally different team this time," said Parkland's Gerrick. Northampton fans and -parent vendors packed away their six crock pots of meals as seniors cried already-nostalgic tears. Seniors like Ashley Yanek and Lauren Hawk, both returning from injuries to play their first fall game in weeks, looked back on a 1-0 lead and then ahead to Friday night's game at Nazareth.

"I think Parkland was just more aggressive in the second half," said Northampton coach Kelly Augustine. "I thought we played them a lot better than the last time at Parkland. We had several scoring opportunities that we didn't convert." Sophomore Jordan Martin's go-ahead goal did not hold up on Tuesday. A year ago, the Kid veterans will remind you, Martin's goal provided the difference in a district playoff victory over Allen. A spot of hope.

Parklafid looks ahead to a playoff berth amid its best season in years. Parkland 02-2 Northampton 10-1 GOALS: P-Kayla Walczer, Jacque Gerrick. N-Jor-dan Martin. ASSISTS: P-Emily Schneider. N-Leigh Gumlock Silfies.

SHOTS: 12-1 1. CORNERS: 7-6. SAVES: Parkland's Megan Keen Northampton's Ann Marie Dalton 7. Rich Schultz Special to The Morning Call NORTHAMPTON'S NICOLE LEO (right) moves the ball past Parkland's Emily Schneider during their LVC showdown. Parkland scores twice in second half for a 2-1 LVC victory.

By Bradley A. Huebner Special to The Morning Call Northampton High's Senior Night began perfectly Tuesday. The Konkrete Kids scored the only first-half 'goal to jump ahead of Parkland in a must-win Lehigh Valley Conference North Division showdown. They needed to beat first-place Parkland to stay amid the leaders in the four-team race. The two teams, along with Nazareth and Whitehall, began the day within two games of each other.

The positive omens continued for Northampton once the game started. At halftime, the field hockey booster club president and mother of senior Janel Pauk-ovits won a raffle drawing. Then she won another one. Parkland could sense the desperation early in the second half, so coach Donna Hibshman called a timeout with 17 minutes, 12 seconds remaining. Just 17 seconds after the timeout, Parkland's Kayla Walczer carried the ball into the Northampton circle and got off three quick shots.

The last one crossed the goal line to tie the game for Walczer's eighth of the year. "We just needed a momentum swing," said Hibshman. "We said, 'Look, we just have to get the job done. Time was wasting With 9:17 remaining, Parkland junior Emily Schneider blasted a long hit. into the circle to classmate Jacque Gerrick, who turned and fired an acute-angle rocket just inside the near post for the 2-1 lead and consequent victory.

Said Schneider: "It was from a really weird angle. I didn't think she could make it from there." Northampton managed two more strong attacks but could not tie the score. White works to earn his spots school part time. He attended two of Northern Lehigh's four blocks a day. By Christmas break, though, he'd had enough.

He wanted to be in school for a full day. "I was so overwhelmed with everytJhing," Troy admitted. "I had so much school work to do. I was falling behind and really-wanted to go back to school. Then, when I got home from school, I would work for hours on end." By February, Troy had his last therapy session.

He was looking and sounding more like himself every day. Except for one thing. There was an emptiness inside him. When his teammates started talking about summer football workouts, Troy, who played offensive guard and middle linebacker, was left wondering if he'd ever play again. After all, he had had several other concussions while playing, including one a few years back that rendered him unconscious and forced him to leave in an ambulance.

Then, on his last visit to his neurologist in August, he was cleared to play. But his parents weren't convinced. "She recommended that he not play, but told us he had come so far, she couldn't medically forbid him to Cathy said. "My husband and I discussed it and said we weren't going to let him play. But we decided to get a second opinion and went to another neurologist.

He said, 'When you look at his medical records, do you realize how far he's Then he said, 'There's no reason he can't play, but I can't guarantee he won't get After special-ordering a new helmet with a gel padding and spring-like face-mask and talking to Tout and Troy, the Silfies decided to let their son play. "I hold my breath every game," Cathy said. Those days are over for Troy. He admitted he was nervous to make that first hit, but his jittery feelings have subsided. "I was so scared to hit someone at first.

I didn't know how my brain would take it," said Troy, who is back manning his old positions. "But my new helmet is great. The impact when I get hit is so much better than the old one. All the other years I'd get hit and get a headache. Now I don't have that." Troy admits he would have been bummed had he not been allowed to play football again.

But the accident, he said, gave him a new perspective. "It was my motto no one could ever take me off the football field," Troy said. "Sitting in the hospital, I realized I had my whole life ahead of me. The car crash injured me, but if I go back to football and get hurt again, I don't want my life to end at 16. 1 realized that there's lot more ahead of me than just football." The result left Parkland (12-4, 11-4 LVC) comfortably atop the division heading into Thursday night's final home game against Whitehall.

The, Kids (9-7-1, 7-5-1) must hope to remain mathematically able to catch Allen (12-4, 9-3), which isn't likely, for the wild card in the four-team LVC playoff hunt. Even if the teams tie, Allen holds the head-to-head tiebreaker advantage. All of that leaves satisfied that it has improved greatly from the early-season 3-1 loss at Parkland but sad the home careers of most of the seniors could A' sidelines and you begin to analyze. Is there something I'm not doing right? What's going on? But when you look at the film, you see we had a lot of opportunities to score but didn't execute. We pretty much shot ourselves in the foot." White, at only 5-8 and 205 pounds, said, "When people look at me, they feel I can't move.

I'm not the fastest, but I take pride in my quickness. I am short and have low center of gravity. I love running between the tackles. I don't like the notion of running east and west." He makes his point by telling of a play in the game against Harvard. "My legs are stronger than my upper body," he said.

"As a running back, legs are the thing. Explosion, quickness, leg drive. Against Harvard, one of their linebackers tried to Cross coach Tom Gilmore talked Tuesday about the situation. Tavani concluded: "It's up to us to take care of our own destiny. That's all I can control and all I will focus on." Lafayette, Colgate and Holy Cross are l-o; Fordham is o-l and Georgetown is 0-2 in the league.

Lehigh and Bucknell have not played a league game. In 1996, a Lafayette b. I 1 A MANDY HOUSENICK Eleven months ago, Troy Silfies was lying unconscious in a hospital bed after a serious car accident. Silfies, a Northern Lehigh junior at the time, had a punctured lung, was covered in bumps and bruises, and for a while, it looked as if brain surgery would be the only way to save his life. "They said he had a blood clot and that he needed surgery," Troy's mom, Cathy Silfies, said.

"We had signed the papers and eveirthing." An additional test proved it was just a shadow, not a blood clot, and Troy didn't have to undergo the risky and invasive surgery. He did, though, have to learn how to walk and talk again. He spent a week in the hospital before becoming an inpatient at Good Shepherd, where he participated in extensive physical, occupational and speech therapy. "He doesn't remember seeing us that first day at the hospital," Cathy said. "His entire body trembled.

None of the words he said made sense." Even two days later, Northern Lehigh football coach Joe Tout, who went to see him, had a tough time understanding Troy, who was ranked third in his class prior to the accident. "His doctor came in and Troy introduced us and you could kind of understand what he was saying," Tout recalled. "I his doctor saying that Troy should think about soccer next year. Troy's dad said, 'If you saw the car, you'd be amazed he's I remem ber saying that football was the least important tiling right now, and his dad said that Troy is the type of kid who doesn't quit anything." But before he could think about putting on a helmet and pads again, Troy had to continue therapy as an outpatient. He had to learn to say words without slurring his speech or mumbling.

And he had to relearn basic fourth-grade math. "I knew the answer my brain," Troy said. "I had done the problem probably a million times, but I couldn't figure out how to put it on paper." About a month after the accident, his therapist asked him to do a word problem involving sales tax and stepped away momentarily. When she came back, Troy was done. "I figured it out in my head," he said.

"She asked where the calculator was and I said I didn't have one. That's when I realized I was actually getting better." That's right around the time Troy started back to 610.865.9100 Kevin Mingora The Morning Call MAURICE WHITE, Lafayette's leading rusher, was told by his Ohio high school coaches that he should go to a Division III school Lafayette RB doing anything he can to lead club to playoffs. By Paul Reinhard Special to The Morning Call Raymond Williams was the blue chip running back at Cleveland Benedictine High School in 2003. He led the team to a state champi-onshipj was named Ohio's and received a full athletic scholarship from West Virginia. From there, it was all downhill.

He lost the scholarship when he was charged with involuntary manslaughter and aggravated robbery in 2004. He pleaded guilty and was spared a prison term. The University of Toledo gave him a second chance, but he violated his probation last year and was sent to prison. He's out now and playing football at Division II Shaw University in Charlotte, N.C. Maurice White was the other running back on that Benedictine state championship team.

"My own coaches kept steering me to Division III schools," White said Tuesday. Fortunately for White, another Cleveland-area cpach, Glenville's Ted Ginn who has a reputation for getting players to major colleges, thought otherwise. White called Ginn for help. Ginn then called Lafayette assistant Joe "When coach Doc called, he said, 'We heard you're a great player. We trust coach Ginn's word.

Send us a film and a White said. "The rest is Bradley A. Huebner is a freelance writer. 1H the mcnningcall.com THINK YOU KNOW FOOTBALL? Here's your chance to vote on which teams will win the Dirty Dozen 12 key footr ball games this weekend. It's also your chance to compare your skills with those of The Morning Call's Terrific Trio, three sports writers who cover high school football.

themorningcall.com varsity get me down, but he had to wait for others to come to help. He said 'Man, you're a load to Given the chance, Lafayette will run the ball rather than throw. That's how White got 212 yards against Marist; and he wouldn't mind seeing the same kind of game plan in place for Columbia. The Lions are 0-3 this season; but the Leopards, faced with their first test of coming back from adversity are not likely to let that be a factor. "It's not about me rushing for over 200 yards a game and scoring touchdowns," White said.

"It's about me doing my part, if that means making a key block or catching a pass for a first down in a crucial situation. I will do whatever I have to do to help the team win." Even Mr. Football couldn't do more. Paul Reinhard is a freelance writer Fordham game was canceled when a Fordham player collapsed prior to the game. That year, if Lafayette had defeated Lehigh in the final game of the season, it would have tied Fordham and the teams would have had to play the following Wednesday.

Lehigh won game; Bucknell won the league title. Paul Reinhard history." Now, while former teammate Williams can't seem to get it right, White is the starting running back for a Division I school, already has a 200-yard game on his stat sheet this year and is looking forward to helping Lafayette get back to the postseason that eluded the Leopards last year. Although he was held in check last weekend by a physical Harvard defense, White has racked up 442 yards on 76 carries for Lafayette (3-1), which play at Columbia at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. He also has caught 10 passes for another 70 yards.

The Leopards' offense has been shut out in the second halves the last two games, and they will be focused on turning that around this week. "It's very frustrating," White said. "You go to the losses. If either is involved, Colgate or Georgetown would have one fewer victory because of the unplayed game. The tiebreaker formula for football will then be used to determine which team gets the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

Lafayette coach Frank Tavani said he and Holy Georgetown-Colgate game canceled rich CABIMTVS sectv.com From Call staff reports The Georgetown-Colgate football game, which was postponed last weekend because of a norovirus outbreak at Georgetown, was officially declared an on-played game Tuesday by the Patriot League. A tk for the league championship will result if two er more teams finish with the sfit number of league.