With switch flipped, Mamula and Episcopal Academy dominate
PHILADELPHIA >> Milton Mamula is making up for lost time.
The Episcopal Academy senior missed his first two football seasons in Newtown Square due to injury. Another injury reduced his junior year to six games.
“Just bad luck,” said Episcopal Academy coach Todd Fairlie, “but Milton has totally battled back now, hasn’t he?”
Saturday afternoon, Mamula helped Episcopal Academy open Inter-Academic League play on the right foot. He racked up eight tackles for loss, including six quarterback sacks, in the Churchmen’s 21-7 victory over Springside Chestnut Hill.
The linebacker and weakside defensive end ignited Episcopal (4-2, 1-0). Fairlie’s defense disrupted Springside Chestnut Hill all game. The defense accounted for 14 tackles behind the line of scrimmage and limited the Blue Devils to 1.2 yards per rush. And a crucial fourth-quarter stop.
“I try to get as much pressure on the quarterback, so that our linebackers and our secondary can make plays, too,” said Mamula, who measures to 6-3, 220 pounds. “That’s the point of the D-line. If you get a sack, good for you. But our goal is to create pressure and make him make mistakes in passes.”
Episcopal Academy’s DeeWil Barley lunges in from 2 yards. His third TD puts @EA_Athletics up, 21-7, on SCH in the fourth. @DelcoSports pic.twitter.com/uHbczJ3Mo7
— Christopher A. Vito (@ChrisVito) October 14, 2017
The Churchmen had a collective chip on their shoulders in the fourth quarter. The second of DeeWil Barlee’s three rushing touchdowns helped EA finally break a 7-7 tie and create some much-needed scoreboard wiggle room.
Springside Chestnut Hill return man Rob Gentile mishandled the ensuing kickoff, and as an EA special teamer pounced on the loose ball, an official ruled Gentile down by contact.
“We know every call won’t go our way,” said Barlee, who also plays in the EA secondary. “But a call like that, it gave us energy on the defensive side, because it was like, ‘Hey, let’s go get that ball. It was supposed to be ours.’”
And the Churchmen did, forcing a three-and-out. Mamula’s pressure on quarterback Aaron Angelos led to a pass knocked away by Sam Stickley. Jack Purcell batted down Angelos’ next pass. And it was Barlee’s big hit over the middle that jarred loose a would-be reception for Pat Elliott.
“Sometimes, you need something to flip your switch. And that (call) did it,” Fairlie said. “I didn’t like the call at the time, but we’ll take it.”
Barlee finished with 189 yards rushing on 25 carries to lift Episcopal Academy’s offense. Like Mamula, Barlee does not have an offer from a FBS program, either.
“He has a non-stop motor,” Mamula said of Barlee, a junior. “To play every snap of every game, that’s unbelievable. I can’t do that. He’s clearly got something.”
And what Mamula has is football lineage. He’s the son of former Philadelphia Eagles first-round pick Mike Mamula, who similarly lined up at both linebacker and defensive end. What he makes up for in genetic fortune, Milton Mamula has lacked in luck on the field. His inability to stay healthy has limited the opportunities programs have had to see him play, Fairlie said.
Mamula said he’d welcome the opportunity to enroll at Boston College, his father’s alma mater. He said he remembers visiting the Chestnut Hill, Mass., campus as a 6-year-old, when the football program inducted his father into its hall of fame.
“I’ve seen my dad’s film when he played there,” Mamula said. “He’s the type of player who I’d like to be.”
“There’s not a stronger, more fit kid you’d want on your team than Milton,” Fairlie said. “A lot of people are in the waiting period to see if he’s good to go, and he clearly is.”
Episcopal extended SCH’s losing streak in league play to 12 games. The Blue Devils haven’t beaten an Inter-Ac opponent since Nov. 1, 2015, when they toppled Germantown Academy.
Even with a win in hand, Barlee was on the field on the final drive.
“Do I want to take a play off? Sure. Who doesn’t?” Barlee said. “But this is league play. There’s no stopping me, not until Haverford (School) in the last game of the season.
“Right now, it’s time to go to work.”
And if there’s one teammate who could relate, it’s Mamula.
