Carrying More Than the Blue Devils

HAVERFORD, Pa. — Will Howard carried the football more than 220 yards on Saturday afternoon. He carried a lot more than that.

The junior tailback scored twice, broke loose on an 85-yard touchdown run, and pulled underdog Springside Chestnut Hill Academy to a 28-21 upset of the Haverford School on the Fords' home field. The Blue Devils are now 4-0 in the Inter-Ac, winners of four straight.

One game remains: Friday night at Malvern Prep, with an outright Inter-Ac championship on the line.

A league that once was out of reach

For 33 years, from 1973 through 2005, the Blue Devils didn't play Inter-Ac football at all. The school stepped away because it couldn't field a team that could compete in the oldest high school league in the country, and didn't return until 2006.

When Will's father, Gerald Howard, was a student at what was then Chestnut Hill Academy, the Blue Devils played in the Independence League. Gerald's class had fewer than 30 boys in it. It was a competitive small-school league, but nowhere near the Inter-Ac. That league produced Mike Samuel, the Rose Bowl-winning quarterback at Wisconsin; Penn Charter's Matt Ryan, the Boston College quarterback who became the 2016 NFL MVP and a Falcons Ring of Honor member and is now the Atlanta Falcons' president of football; and Penn Charter lineman Mike McGlinchey, a consensus All-American at Notre Dame, a 49ers first-round pick, and now a starting tackle for the Denver Broncos. McGlinchey and Ryan are cousins.

Now the Blue Devils sit on top of it. Coach Rick Knox's team won a share of last year's title with a 21-20 overtime win over Malvern Prep, and this fall it has yet to lose a league game.

One side note for the old-timers: Joey O'Brien played middle school ball at SCH alongside Will Howard for the legendary Coach Ed Aversa. These days, Joey is a freshman All-American candidate at Notre Dame, wearing No. 20 for the Fighting Irish as a safety.

The weight Will carried

Gerald Howard was my basketball teammate at Chestnut Hill Academy, and a classmate of Rick Knox in the class of 1992. In 1992 we won CHA's first Inter-Ac basketball championship since 1936. He was the best athlete I ever played with.

He stood 6-foot-5, a specimen, and the kindest, most caring guy in the room. He played the violin. He was the kind of student you put on the cover of the brochure. On the basketball court he was a throw-it-at-the-rim-and-watch-him-slam-it guy, and he was always smiling.

Gerald played football early in high school, switched to soccer, and ran track every spring. I can still see him on Blue and Blue Day, coming from behind to run down the field in the 4x100. CHA won at the Penn Relays, and Gerald left school holding the CHA records in the 100 meters, 200 meters and high jump.

Then he went to the University of Virginia and rewrote the record book there:

He was a three-time captain at Virginia, team MVP in 1995, and first-team All-ACC. He placed in the 100 and 200 at the IC4A, ACC and NCAA Championships. SCH inducted him into its Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003.

Gerald passed away a few years ago. Before he did, we reconnected, and he brought his son Will into our basketball program. Will's sisters later joined us too.

Rick Knox sees it too. "He has that Olympic pedigree," the SCH coach has said of Will, whose father he went to school with.

The colleges see it. Last week Will was offered a scholarship to play football at Michigan State, adding to earlier offers from Penn State, Kentucky, Syracuse and Pitt. More are coming.

On Saturday, when Will turned the corner and there was nobody left to catch him for 85 yards, I saw his father. Will carried more than the Blue Devils today.

One more Herculean night

SCH has never won the Inter-Ac outright. Its only two league football titles, in 2009 and 2025, were both three-way shares. To do it, the Blue Devils will have to win on the road at Malvern Prep, also 4-0 in league play, on the Friars' Senior Night this Friday.

Last year, SCH upset Malvern 21-20 in overtime at home to earn a three-way share of the crown. This time there is no sharing, and no home crowd.

It will take another Herculean performance from Will Howard and the Blue Devils. If Saturday was any sign, he is ready to carry it.

Matt Paul has coached basketball for 32 years and runs Matt Paul Basketball in Philadelphia.

Better ball this winter with Matt Paul.