The locker-room doors are closed to the public. As the sky darkens, Bok football players and coaches remain inside, trying to deal with the frustration of a playoff defeat. Coach Tom DeFelice paces the room, offering words of encouragement.
This was, after all, a year with plenty of positives.
The Bok Wildcats lost their opener, but didn’t stumble again during the regular season. They finished with a 5-0 mark in league play, winning the Public League Division D title.
In some ways, though, that streak of success may have made last Thursday’s 23-14 fall to Central in a quarterfinal game even harder.
For Akeem "Feathers" Green and other seniors, it was the last chance to win it all.
"We worked hard all season and it’s a disappointment to go out like this," said the halfback, who rushed for 60 yards in the loss. "We worked too hard for this."
But he and his teammates have another chance to go out with a win. Bok plays a final non-league game today against Edison.
DeFelice said he is confident his players will be prepared.
"The kids will be more ready than we will," he said. "The kids are resilient.
"I think we will be rehashing the play calls and mistakes we made as coaches. But the kids will bounce back and be ready to go."
Senior Ethan Simmons, who has eight tackles on defense, has a warrior’s mindset heading into the game.
"We have to come back fighting and don’t give up," he said.
After losing its first game of the season to Martin Luther King, Bok entered the playoffs riding a six-game winning streak. But then, West Philadelphia, University City and Southern weren’t averaging 27 points a game and nearly 300 yards of total offense. The Central Lancers put up those figures, making them one of the Public League’s best.
Bok entered the playoffs averaging 17.7 points per game and 191 yards of total offense. Despite Central’s advantages on statistics and team size, the Wildcats didn’t approach the game as if they were the little football team that could.
"We knew we could’ve beat these guys," Green said. "We worked hard all week practicing and preparing for the game.
"We knew they were the biggest school, but that doesn’t mean anything. We got big hearts."
The Bok players displayed their winning spirit by fighting back from seven- and eight-point deficits. Trailing 7-0 in the second quarter, junior quarterback Allen Major connected with Hakim Leach on a 5-yard touchdown pass. It brought the home team within one, but the extra point failed.
"I was relieved that we got back in the game," Leach said. "It was just a play action pass that Allen just hit me in the corner of the end zone."
The Lancers retook a 14-7 lead, but senior fullback Cedric Green put the Wildcats right back in the game with a 72-yard burst down the sideline. Major hit senior Marcelluas Barnes for the two-point conversion, which tied the game at 14.
With both teams struggling to score in the second half, it looked as if the game might head for sudden-death overtime. That was before Central blocked Cedric Green’s punt midway through the fourth quarter, which gave the Lancers the ball in Bok territory. From the Bok sidelines, it appeared that Central’s Mark Savage fumbled the ball, and the home team regained possession. However, the officials ruled in favor of the Lancers, setting up the game-winning drive.
Despite the call against them, Bok didn’t give up. Central scored three plays later on quarterback Marcel Quarterman’s 45-yard pass to Eric Heisler, giving the squad a six-point lead with six minutes left in the game. Leach and his teammates weren’t about to surrender in front of their small but supportive home crowd.
"I still thought we had time," Leach said. "There were still six minutes left, and everybody was thinking we had to get a quick touchdown."
After Central scored, DeFelice called a timeout to try to regroup his players.
"I told them how proud I was of them," he said. "I said how you act in the next five minutes is more important than anything."
Central clinched the victory with a 33-yard field goal.
While trying to cheer his players after last Thursday’s game, DeFelice told them they’ll have great reminders of this season. The year of the division title painted in blue on the locker-room wall. The championship jackets they’ll wear for at least a few years. And the buddies with whom they can talk about those great plays.
DeFelice, who played football at West Catholic and Temple, knows from experience.
"You are going to forget the wins and losses, but you never forget your friends," the coach said.
