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By HARRY CHAYKUN Daily Times Sports Editor SPRINGFIELD - Howard Phillips is a county champion. ‘“‘We were county champs last year in the weight men’s 440 relay,” he smiled, recalling Springfield's triumph in the special event at the 1978 Delca Relays at Chester High last April. A year or two ago, Phillips might not have talked about the championship he and Charlie Stevenson, John Genzel and Bob Burdamy won during track season. “He’s really come out of his shell this year,” sid Springfield assistant coach Harry (Ace) Bell. ‘‘And I’ll tell you, he’s the quickest lineman I’ve ever had. “And he’s got such a great attitude,’’ Bell added. “I wish we had a lot more like him.” Any coach would like a player as versatile as the 6-1, 190-pound senior. Phillips began the season as an offensive guard and defensive nose guard. He’s switched to tight end offensively and is playing a lot of defensive end now. “Mike Carullo (tight end) hurt his back so they moved me to tight end for my blocking,”’ Phillips said. Phillips is one of Springfield’s captains. The Cougars are 0-6-1 but Howard is not complaining. “Our attitude is good,” he said. ‘In fact, I think it may be better here than on a lot of teams that are winning. Sometimes you take things for granted when you’re winning all the time. “I know when we win our first game this year, a lot of guys are going to go crazy.” This week, Springfield continues its quest for that first win at Ridley. After that, the Cougars visit Penncrest and return home to wrap up the season against Radnor. “They're all tough and they’re all good teams,” Phillips said. “Penncrest has had most of their team together since they were sophomores and they’re the fastest team in the league with (Brian) McCutcheon and (Richard) McFarland. “There’s more of a rivalry with Ridley on our side now than on theirs,” he added. “We haven’t beaten them since about 1963. We want to win all our games but I think we want to beat Ridley the most.”’ Phillips has been a varsity regular at Springfield for three years. His first varsity start was as a tackle on opening day of his sophomore year. Springfield wiped out Nether Providence, 33-0, that morning. “I had a good game and led the team in tackles that day,” he recalled. And he also remembered a game against undefeated Radnor that closed out his sophomore season. “We were winning 14-0 at halftime but they beat us, 15-14,” he said. This year, Springfield has come close but has not achieved success yet “We have a lot of good players,” he said. “‘And if we had some games back, I know there are things we’d do differently. But anybody can say that. Aside from Marple (a 32-0 loss), I think everybody’s done their best. “Marple’s so deep in backs and we’d read keys to shut down their Wing-T, but as the game goes on, you start doing things by instinct and you’re going one way and they’re running the other side.” Phillips did some running when he began his football career. “I didn’t start playing until I was in junior high and I was a running back the first year,’’ he explained. ‘We had some undefeated teams back then but I didn’t play much. In eighth grade, I moved to the line.’’ Like most linemen, he’d still like a chance to carry the football in a game. “Every once in a while,I wish I could get the ball,’”’ he said. “Saturday (against Malvern Prep), I recovered a fumble for the first time. I didn’t know whether I could run it or not. I should have taken off with the ball.” When prodded, he admits he prefers defense to offense. “On offense, there’s times when you feel like you want to use your hands but you can’t,” he said. ‘On defense, you can pretty much do what you want and not get called for it.”’ Next year, he hopes to be a part of the University of Delaware’s program. His brother Jeff attended Delaware. ‘I’ve been down there and I really like it,” he said. “Even if I didn’t play for them, I’d like being around and watching their team.” And when he’s through with college, he hopes to become a writer. “I write a lot on my own,” he said:“‘I keep whatever I write and do a lot of writing for my classes. I’ve done more writing this year than all the others combined. Someday I’d like to write a book.”’ And someday (one or all of the next three Saturdays, he hopes he wants to be captain of a winning Springfield High football team. ‘‘We’ve got three games to go and we’ll do our best,”’ he said. He was speaking for the team when he said ‘‘we.” But anyone who watches him play knows that he will be a major part of that ‘“‘we’’ when Springfield gets that first win. HOWARD PHILLIPS
Newspaper Details
Delaware County Daily Times
Chester, Pennsylvania, US
Wed, Oct 25, 1978
Page 22
Full Page
Clipped by
Jacob M.
USA 08 Jul 2026
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Chester Evening Times
Delaware County Daily Times
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