Football: Hummel, Kamara help Interboro run into playoff berth

GLENOLDEN — Interboro senior linebacker Brady Hummel and junior running back/defensive back Abu Kamara were teammates with the Prospect Park Termites in the Bert Bell Youth Football League.

“We had a good playoff run that year,” Hummel said. “That was the last time I was on a team that made the playoffs.”

Bucs senior Zakee Brooks, in his first year playing football, has never participated in a playoff game.

Among Hummel’s double-digit tackle total against Penn Wood at the South Avenue Athletic Complex Saturday afternoon were several tackles for losses. Kamara gained 106 yards on nine carries, including a 54-yard scoring run, and Brooks had trouble fielding a first-quarter punt but then recovered to turn the play in a 79-yard touchdown return as the Bucs downed the Patriots, 35-6, to close out the regular season.

With the victory, Interboro (3-7, 1-3 Del Val) earned its place in the District 1 Class 5A playoff field. The Bucs will occupy the 16th seed and visit either West Chester Rustin or Strath Haven in their postseason opener.

“We were playing to win and get in the playoffs,” middle linebacker Hummel, who hopes to prepare for a career in nursing when he attends Temple University, said. “This was like a playoff game for us. We started a little slow, but then we picked things up.”

Penn Wood (0-9, 0-4) had the first three plays from scrimmage before punting to Brooks, who experienced trouble fielding the ball at his 21-yard line.

“It was a weird bounce,” he said. “Once I got going I could see a hole and my teammates made sure I got a good return.”

He danced along the sideline, avoiding tackles on his way to the end zone.

Interboro had only five offensive snaps in the opening quarter, including gains of 18 and 10 yards by Kamara. On the third snap of the second quarter, senior Robert Forbes (73 yards on eight carries) scored on a two-yard run, and Kamara ran for two points on the conversion.

Penn Wood closed out the first half by driving to the Interboro 20 before the Bucs’ Kaden Walsh, another of the players saluted prior to the opening kickoff as part of Senior Day ceremonies, came up with an interception.

A 41-yard run by Forbes set up his short scoring plunge early in the second half. Tackles by Kamara, Teddy Crossley and Matt Galanaugh cut short a Penn Wood drive that was followed by a 54-yard dash to the end zone on a third-down carry by Kamara, putting the home team ahead by four touchdowns as the fourth quarter began.

“I told (Forbes) we had to run the ball to the outside,” Kamara said. “And that’s what we did. The coaches have been on us all week about playing hard and getting this game. I think it’s something our seniors can remember.”

Hummel’s two stops turned the ball over again four minutes into the final period. Junior Mike Jones, who wears No. 34, ran 34 yards for the last of Interboro’s points.

Penn Wood put a stop to the Bucs’ hopes of getting a shutout when sophomore Kivaleon Clarke teamed up with junior Auron Stevens on a 54-yard scoring completion with 3:53 to play.

“We know we’ve played the top (5A) teams and could see them again in the playoffs,” said Interboro coach Dennis Lux, who got an ice bucket bath after his first Del Val League win. “It’s exciting to be able to tell them that now our record goes back to 0-0 and we have the chance to see how long we can keep playing.

“We have tough kids who play hard and believe in Buc Pride. We know we have to get better, and we told them that we can win the next game by the way we play in practice this week. It’s just great being able to talk about getting ready to play another game, a playoff game.”