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SPORTS | SPRING COLLEGE FOOTBALL TEMPLE Senior linebacker Matakevich expects big thingsfor Owls and says, ‘You makesomany BY ANDREWALBERT tackles,’ but,atthe end of the Philly.com day, Ican’tdoany of thatwith- AAlbert@phillynews.com out everyone elseonthe team,” Matakevich said. “Thedefen- URING Tyler Mata- siveline makes it so mucheasier kevich’s sophomoreyear to play. Whentheyare blowing Din the Temple football up 300-poundguysand Ican program, newly installed head justmeet arunning back in the coachMattRhule posed aques- hole, thatissomuch easierfor tiontohis entirefootball team. me.Igetall the spotlightand Rhule asked howeachplayer stuff likethat, but it is all these wanted to be remembered at guys. It is literallyateameffort.” Temple. Thisyear’s Temple teamhas ForMatakevich,the answer the makingstobethe bestinre- back then was simpleand has re- cent history,and thatstarts mained the same, as he heads withthe defense. Lastseason, forhis lastyear in cherry and the Owls allowed only17.5points white. per game,and Matakevich has “A hardworking, nose-for-the- even higher expectations for balltype of footballplayer,”the seniorlinebacker said, describ- thisseason. ing howhewants to be remem- “Weare expecting to be the bered. “A kid thatnever stops. best,”Matakevich said. “Last That’s it right there.” year,wewereranked highin Forthree yearsananOwl, he somecategories,but afew has shown to be justthat. He sits games camedowntothe wire. sixth on the all-timecareer tack- The wayIlookatitis, if you les listatTemple,with355.He don’t let the other teamscore, has hadmorethan100 tackles in theycan’twin.Itiscompletely each of his three seasons.Ifhe on the defense.” can do it again in his senioryear, As anchor of the Owls de- he willbeonly the seventhplay- fense, Matakevich has his eyes er in NCAA history to do so. set on teamsuccess ratherthan “Tyler is one of the guyson individualaccolades.Inhis first our defensethathas to be in twoseasons, Temple compiled a there forustoplaywell,” defen- record of 6-17.Last year,the sivecoordinator PhilSnowsaid. Owls went 6-6.Things areon Matakevich has achancetobe- the upswingonNorthBroad come Temple’sfirst defensive Street,and Matakevich and com- All-America in program history. panythink theyare close to com- Success of thatnaturecannot be petingatahighlevel. ignored. It can be downplayed, The Cherry-and-White spring whichMatakevich doeswell. game is 1p.m. SaturdayatChod- He doesnot see his personal off FieldatEdbergOlsonHall. success as anythingmorethan As withall programs,optimism the success of the teamaround runseternalbeforesummer him.The third-year captain sees workoutsstart. Matakevich just howmuch everyone must re- wants thisyear to end different- ly on one another forsuccess in ly from the previousthree and football. He appreciates the really wants to place his stamp work his teammates put in daily on the program. to makethe teambetter. “Everyone alwayslooksatme Continued on Next Page Page 44 PHILADELPHIA DAILYNEWS—Philly.comThursday,April23, 2015 whereitneedstobebySept.5 when Penn State visits Lincoln Fi- “Ever since Igot here, the only nancial Fieldtokickoff the sea- thing I’vewanted to do was win a son.Matakevich,likethe rest of championshipatthe collegiate the Owls,has beenputting in the level,”Matakevich said. “I feel work to ensurethe 2015season likethisteamthisyear has an op- endsastheywantitto. portunitytodosomethingreally “I really careaboutthisteam special. We have tremendous and thisprogram,”Matakevich leadershipinguyslikeKyle said. “Ever since Igot hereI’ve Friend, Matt Ioannidis and Tavon beentryingeachday to makemy- Yo ung,guyslikethatwho know selfbetter to makethe teambet- its our lastshotand we’renot go- ter and getthe teamgoinginthe ing to let our chanceget away right direction.” ¢ from us.” Rhule is relying on his senior leaderstocarrythe teamto " @AndrewJAlbert01 Thursday,April23, 2015 PHILADELPHIA DAILYNEWS—Philly.comPage 45 SPORTS | COLLEGE FOOTBALL “Touchdownare alwaysgood,” Owls’Rhule likes effort Deloatch,aredshirtjuniorthis fall, saidindiscussingthe play. “ButIhave to thank the line, at annual spring game thank the quarterbackfor getting me the ball, so Ihavetocelebrate withthem. It alwaysfeelsgood an end. BY SHAMUSCLANCY getting points formyteam. As astarter in 12 games as a “P.J.’s one of the bestquarter- Daily News StaffWriter truesophomorein2014, quarter- clancys@phillynews.com backs I’veplayedwith... I back P. J. Walker threw for2,317 thank him fortrusting me and yards, whiletossing13touch- trusting all of the receivers. EMPLE’S CHERRYand downs to 15 interceptions and That’s prettybig.” White Gamegot off to a completing53.3 percent of his T Rhule was as encouraged about quirkystart on Saturdayaf- passes.Comingoff thatinconsis- Deloatch’s work, three recep- ternoon,asanannouncerstood tent6-6 campaign forthe Owls, tions for63receivingyards and on the field to narrate the Owls’ Walker’sdevelopment has been thattouchdown catch,ashewas performancethroughthe Ram- an obvious focal point forhead about Walker’simprovement. page,amodern updateonthe old- coachMattRhule thisoffseason. “Romond has all the physical schoolOklahomadrill,and akick- “I thought P. J. lookedsharp for talent in the world,” Rhule said. ing competition.Points were aspring game.Hehit the deep “We’rejust tryingtoget him to awarded forsuccess in those ball. He hit someotherthrows,” not justthink of himself as aone- workoutstothe Cherry squad, Rhule saidofWalker’sperfor- trick pony, aguy that’s going to the defense, and the White team, mance.“It’shardwhen I’m on the getdownnear the end zoneand the offense, respectively,inthe field.I’m so busyyelling at the catch fades.Wewanthim to do spectacle. linemenunder my breath thatI more.” Those points were distributed don’t really evaluateeverything, throughoutthe game morehap- but he made good checks, hadus As the semester winds down hazardly thanon“Whose LineIs in the right plays, didn’tturnthe and the Owls transitiontosum- mer practices to continuetheir It Anyway?”withTemple’sof- footballover. Ithought P. J. played ED HILLE /STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER fensepulling off the 43-23 win, well.” Leah Still performs cointossatTemple’sannualCherryand White development in advanceoftheir but the on-field scrimmage action While alternatingdrives with GameonSaturday as her father Devon, of the Bengals,watches. Sept. 5season opener against still brought real physicality, op- the Owls’backupsignal callers, Penn State at the Linc, Walker portunities forimprovement and Walker finished the Cherry and strikes, as he completed sevenof throw cameearly in the contest simplysummed up his and the someoptimism forthe fall as White Gamewith99passing 13 attempts. on a10-yardpasstoSam Ben- team’sgoalgoingforward. spring practicesessions cameto yards and twotouchdown Walker’sfirst touchdown jamin. As Benjamin ranafade “I justwanttoget betterand route to the back leftcorner of bettereachday from hereon the end zone, Walker executed out.” the playprecisely withahighloft and perfect spiralonthe ball. To uchdown, Leah His second touchdown was the Leah Still,the 4-year-old daugh- bestthrow he made all afternoon, ter of Cincinnati Bengals defen- hittingRomond Deloatch witha sivelineman DevonStill,was hon- 40-yardbomb on apostroute. ored beforethe game and per- Walker facedastingypassrush formedthe coin toss.Leah spent on the play, and was forced to timeatthe Children’sHospital of scramble abit in the pocket, step Philadelphia in the fall being treat- up and sling it down the field to ed forneuroblastoma,achild- Deloatch,getting the balltohim hoodcancer.She was declared in stride. cancer-free in March. “They’veworked hard. They On the first playofthe game, cameout. Theyhad no lapsesout Templequarterback LennyWill- there,”Walker saidofTemple’s iams took the ball from center,and receivingcorps. tossed it to the elder Still,who “Last year,Romond,hehandedoff to Leah. With Hooter wouldn’t have beenadeepthreat. the Owlacting as ablocker,Leah He was prettyheavy lastyear.He ran45yards foratouchdown. The wasn’tasphysical and fast as he schoolpep band playedasthe en- is now. tireteam ranonto the field to “He’llbeadeep-field threat meet her in the end zone. ¢ that’llhelpusbecause he has size and he can run,sothat’s an amaz- ing thing forus.” " @shamus_clancy Page 54 PHILADELPHIA DAILYNEWS—Philly.comMonday, April 27,2015 SPORTS | COLLEGE FOOTBALL Owls eye2016draft But seniorsfocused first on the upcoming season “I think we’llhaveabunch of four seasons recording 100 tack- BY ANDREWALBERT guysnextyear thatget invited to les.Friend made second-teamall- Philly.com the combine,abunch of guysget American Athletic Conference AAlbert@phillynews.com drafted,”coach Matt Rhule said. lastseason, and would have won “I think we’llhaveabunch of guys the 225-pound bench pressatthe VERYApril, there is abuzz be [undrafted] free agentsand NFL Scouting Combine the last2 in the footballworld that maketeams.Ithink we have six years, being abletolift that Eusually revolves aroundthe or sevenguyswithachanceto weight 43 times. Ioannidis also NFL draft. playpro football.” was second-teamall-conference Thisweek,ChipKelly, Marcus Mostnotably,linebacker Tyler and led the Owls’defensiveline Mariota and other prominent Matakevich,center Kyle Friend with47tackles. names willbehardtoavoid until and defensivelinemanMattIoan- While the dream of playingin Eagles fans findout justwhat nidis presumablyhavethe best the NFL is present forall three, Kellyhas in store forhis team. chancetoplayatthe next level. theyare morefocusedonmaking sureTemple’steamgoals