Flashes move past loss, injuries to post 37-8 victory
BY: Sean Moylan Sports Writer
Leave it to the Florence Township Memorial High varsity football team to turn a negative into a positive.
Seemingly crippled by injuries to a few key players at the skill positions, the Florence coaches asked their younger players to step up in last Friday’s home game versus the Burlington City Blue Devils and boy did they ever. Florence thumped Burlington City, 37-8, in a game that was all but over by halftime.
The Flashes’ veteran defender Jimmy Narkun set the tone in the game’s opening minute when he rushed by the Blue Devils’ offensive linemen and sacked quarterback Kwaseem Coles in the end zone for a safety.
On the ensuing possession, Florence got the ball and drove 40 yards before quarterback Jimmy Martinson hooked up with Steve Muni for a 1-yard touchdown. After that, the new varsity players for Florence started taking over the game for a while.
Sophomore Paul Fletcher, who was added to the Flashes’ varsity roster after some early season injuries, blocked a punt to set up a 5-yard touchdown run by another newcomer Daquan Chapman. But Fletcher wasn’t done yet. And at the start of the second quarter he recovered a fumble in the end zone for six more points.
Florence’s legendary varsity football coach Joe Frappolli marveled at the play of all his players, young and old, and he commented, “Football is a game of attrition. I have always said that. During the week we talked to each of them about what you, as an individual, can bring to the table when you’re called to bring it. Our catch word for the week was ‘teammate.’ I thought they all stepped up and played well. And they all contributed.”
Before halftime Josh Stillwell, a senior with a strong reputation for doing whatever his coaches ask of him, caught a 55-yard pass by Martinson, which led directly to a Sean Harris’ 5-yard touchdown run.
“Stillwell had a big game. He played in the secondary and made a lot of tackles (11), Stillwell has really stepped up on both sides of the ball,” noted Frappolli. “It was 31-0 at the half. And we really didn’t have to do a whole lot in the second half. We ran only 18 plays in the second half.”
One of those 18 plays Florence ran was a 45-yard completion from Martinson to Harris, which led directly to a 1-yard touchdown by Jake Foehr. Gutsy, tough and smart, Martinson is the prototype for a Florence quarterback.
“Jimmy is very unselfish and we have to pick our opportunities for him to throw,” noted Frappolli of Martinson.
The Florence coaches (Steve Ordog, Nick Lubrano, Peppi Pichette, Joe Frappolli Jr. and others) did a masterful job of moving players around to play different positions and Florence’s makeshift secondary of Stillwell, and previously untested, yet very talented, juniors like Pat Sweeney, Harris and Dylan Martin made big play after big play. Dean Riker had a stellar game and Bryant Watts had a good kicking game for Florence. Furthermore, Korey Linico scored on a 2-point conversion.
Every Florence fan knows what an excellent fullback Mike Staton is, but he moved to the wingback position for the Burlington City game just to help his club win. Other veterans made similar sacrifices.
“Kevin Jiras as a senior is probably one of our most unselfish players,” remarked Frappolli, who thought Jiras played very well versus Burlington City. “And Chucky Taylor had a monster game at linebacker. And Matt Mudrick (a senior) had some quality minutes.”
Burlington City didn’t score a touchdown until the fourth quarter, but by that time the Flashes had emptied their bench.
Like Florence, the Flashes’ next opponent on its schedule, New Egypt, pushed Woodrow Wilson to overtime — only New Egypt beat Woodrow Wilson. Yet even if the Warriors’ had lost to Woodrow Wilson, Frappoli was expecting Friday’s game to be a tough one anyway.
“Give New Egypt credit, they’ve been battling (and winning) all year long. They’re very well-
coached,” said Frappolli. “They’ve got some very talented athletes that can hurt you at any time.”
Nevertheless, the Florence coaches will prepare all whole new set of offensive and defensive schemes in preparation for New Egypt. The final result of Friday’s home game versus New Egypt will go a long way in deciding where Florence (3-1) will finish in the league and in playoff power points, so it is a very important game for both sides. And it could end up being the regular season game of the year.

