Southeastern Pennsylvania Top 10, Nov. 11, 2009
1. North Penn (10-0. Weeks rated: 11. Last week: 1)
2. St. Joseph’s Prep (8-1. Weeks rated: 11. Last week: 2)
3. La Salle (8-1. Weeks rated: 11. Last week: 3)
4. Pennsbury (9-1. Weeks rated: 11. Last week: 7)
5. Pottsgrove (9-0. Weeks rated: 7. Last week: 5)
6. Abington (7-2. Weeks rated: 2. Last week: 6)
7. Cardinal O’Hara (8-2. Weeks rated: 4. Last week: 4)
8. Neshaminy (8-2. Weeks rated: 10. Last week: 8)
9. West Chester Rustin (10-0. Weeks rated: 4. Last week: 9)
10. Avon Grove (9-1. Weeks rated: 3. Last week: 10)
Each week, Ryan Brumfield faces the same challenge — 11 angry young men trying to stop him, twist him up and make him feel sorry he ever tried running their way. Each week, Brumfield usually leaves the field with 11 tired young man in his wake, twisted in frustration at their inability to stop him. 
Ryan Brumfield, Owen J. Roberts
Photo courtesy of Tom Barr
It’s the way it’s gone the last two years for the Owen J. Roberts 5-foot-10, 177-pound junior tailback, who is first in Pennsylvania in scoring with 32 touchdowns and second in rushing with 2,013 yards. He faces defenses that are strictly designed to stop him. Brumfield credits his offensive line of guards Sean Maloney and Jesse Dugan, tackles Kyle Moore and Andrew Garson, and center Mike Nowak for his success.
But a lot has to do with the fine blend of speed and power of Brumfield, who exploded for 2,254 yards and 28 TDs as a sophomore. Wildcats coach Tom Barr saw this coming from afar. He was aware of Brumfield from coaching Ryan’s three older brothers. Brumfield showed amazing ability as a grade-schooler. His eighth-grade coach had to pull him early from games to prevent embarrassing blowouts, because Brumfield would score almost every time he carried the ball.
"That’s when I decided to move Ryan to our freshman team, and he continued to play well," Barr said. "We had thoughts of using Ryan on varsity as a sophomore last year, but we wanted to break him in gradually."
The result was Owen J. Roberts’ first-ever trip to the district playoffs. This year, the Wildcats will be hosting their first-ever playoff game, when a tough Marple Newtown team comes to visit in a first-round PIAA District 1 Class AAA game this Friday at 7 p.m.
The Tigers will be facing a more mature back than he was as a sophomore — someone able to see the game more slowly than a year ago. It’s made Brumfield even more dangerous each time he has the ball.
"I try to read the defenses and which way they are going, and when I see daylight, I hit it, I never stop my feet from moving," said Brumfield, who rushed for a career-best 303 yards last year against Perkiomen Valley.
Brumfield is from a football family. His father, Dennis, played a year for the Cleveland Browns, and his three older brothers all played at Owen J. Roberts. But Ryan, the youngest of five, came to football reluctantly. His first game in pads came when he was six. He had to be talked into playing — and after his first game, he came off the field wondering why his feet were so sore.
"I was so nervous to play, I put my shoes on the wrong feet," said Brumfield, laughing. "But once I started playing, I found football was fun. That first time was more of a fear factor."
Now, Brumfield, who’s getting attention from LSU, Boston College, Iowa, Alabama, Temple and Penn State, seems to be creating fear in any team that faces the Wildcats, who are 9-1 overall and are the No. 3 seed in the District 1 Class AAA playoffs. Brumfield came into this season wanting to make some changes in his game.
"I think I’ve become a more patient runner, I’m smarter, I see things better, and I think I’m more aggressive," said Brumfield, who is getting 25 to 30 touches a game. "Last year, I relied more on my speed to get away from people. This year, I’ll lower my shoulder when I have to. Well, I love to lower my shoulder and come at someone.
"I’d say my freshman year was getting over the fear of the varsity level, because by the time I was a sophomore, I was used to it. But my game I think has evolved a lot since then. There are so many more things I’m doing."
Like developing an overall game that includes run and pass blocking, reading blitzes and navigating through opposing defenses intended to stop him.
"I know what I’ll face each week, but we all look at it as a team thing; it’s not just me, I wouldn’t be anything without my team," Brumfield said. "The goal is to do better than what we did last year when he lost in the second round of the playoffs. We want to go further in reaching the state playoffs for the first time in school history."
Meanwhile, Brumfield already has quite a bit of history in his favor already, owning almost every school rushing and scoring record. And it’s safe to say his feet no longer bother him when he leaves the field.
Joseph Santoliquito covers high schools for the Philadelphia Daily News and is a contributor to MaxPreps.com. He can be contacted at JSantoliquito@yahoo.com.
