In the early 1980s, Pat Randolph was the start running back in Delaware County, churning out large chunks of yardage for Ridley. He still holds records for the Green Raiders and went to West Virginia.

Well, it appears his son is following in dad's footsteps. A sophomore at Ridley, Jalen Randolph is opening eyes as a running back and linebacker. For now, Randolph's biggest impact has come on the defensive side of the ball. With junior Sam Dixon-Dougan getting the majority of the carries, Randolph has had to make the most of his five-to-seven carries per game.

Still, he's shown glimpses of a big future. In the Green Raiders' win over Strath Haven last week, Randolph's first two carries went for eight and 14 yards. Both should have been three-yard gains at most. But Randolph's elusiveness, speed and power enabled him to juke a few defenders and make something out of nothing.

Randolph already has good size (6-0, 190) and is only going to get better. Big things await.

Ridley has won the most Central League titles with 19. Strath Haven sits second in that category with 10. Friday night, the Green Raiders and Panthers will square off in what can be considered the first showdown of the season between Delco squads.

The Green Raiders have looked tremendous in their three games, outscoring the opposition by a total of 99-6. The scary part? Dennis Decker has a youthful squad, one which has benefited from the play of underclassmen Sam Dixon-Dougan (running back), Jalen Randolph (running back/outside linebacker) and Norm Donkin, emerging as a standout receiver.

As for the Panthers, they opened the season with an impressive win over Upper Moreland and have followed with decisions of Harriton and Radnor. Haven relies on the running ability of Lonnie Richardson and he'll need to be in top form if the Panthers have designs on a victory. Although Richardson tweaked his ankle against Radnor last weekend, he should be good to go for Friday night.

Sunday afternoon, a text message came through from Cardinal O'Hara coach Dan Algeo informing the Daily Times of Corey Brown's verbal commitment to play his college football for Ohio State. Had the chance to chat with Brown that night for a commitment story, and as expected, he is genuinely excited to be heading to the Big Ten Conference, and to have the recruiting process completed - at least for the most part.

Because football players can't sign letters of intent until February, Brown is sure to be recruited over the next few months by schools trying to change his mind. In all likelihood, Brown will stick with OSU, but he's still going to be subjected to the onslaught of negative recruiting, a term used to describe schools that fire shots at others in an attempt to sway a recruit away from certain schools.

It really would be a good decision by the NCAA to institute an early-signing period for football, rather than force the football players to wait until February. A move of this nature would take the pressure off the players and not subject them to endless phone calls. Every other sport has an early signing period. It's time the NCAA kicks that way in football, too.

Through my years covering high school football at the Daily Times, there have been a share of 2,000-yard passers in a single season. But to be honest, it's been more infrequent on a weekly basis to see a quarterback pass for more than 200 yards in a game. It's just never been a county big on airing it out.

After the first weekend, though, there are signs this could be a season of aerial attacks. During opening weekend, Chester's Tevin Campbell (293), Penncrest's Matt Atkinson (245) and Ridley's Colin Masterson (194) had big passing days. All three have quality receivers at their disposal, obviously a necessity for continued to success.

At the high school level, I've always believed that a program with a highly successful passing game has a big advantage. Why? Well, simply because consistent and impressive passing games are more the exception in the scholastic game. It's always more difficult to defend something that isn't seen often.

One of the great things about the Olympics is the national pride that is evident throughout the Games. Back home, I'm hearing that the American public has gotten into the Michael Phelps phenomenon and his chase for eight gold medals. It's one of those times where team ties don't split the public. Rather, there's one rooting interest: Back the Stars and Stripes.

In Beijing today, it was cool to see China go crazy over a gold-silver finish in the women's 200 butterfly by Liu Zige and Jiao Liuyang. Both women went under the former world record and the pool was hopping with excitement. The Chinese were on their feet, overjoyed to see their countrywomen bring pride to the host nation. The fans were even better during the medals ceremony.

There's more to the Olympics than the competition. That much was clear today.

Being here, I feel very fortunate to be witnessing one of the greatest athletic feats in history - not just Olympic history. Hopefully, those of you watching the Games from back home have had the chance to appreciate what Michael Phelps is doing.

After this morning, Phelps is up to five gold medals and five world records. He became the most decorated gold medalist in Olympic lore today, raising his career total to 11 and his overall medal count to 13. Three more gold medals could be on the way and the chance of winning eight gold and passing Mark Spitz's seven from Munich in 1972 is looking more likely.

As Phelps gets closer to history, take a minute and really appreciate what this 23-year-old is doing. We may never see anything like it again. He's dominating a sport like no one ever has - not on a diamond, court, field or course. He's like Moses. The water does what he says. Hope you can see that.

This week was supposed to bring gold for Brendan Hansen in the 100 breaststroke. That was his goal, one that didn't come to fruition after a fourth-place finish in the event. Then again, the Olympics are not always about victory.

After his race, Hansen stood in front of a horde of media and didn't make a single excuse. He credited the winner, Japan's Kosuke Kitajima, for producing a superb race at a critical time. Hansen just said he wasn't firing on all cylinders, and that's the way it goes from time to time. He also promised there would be more to come in the future, that he planned to regain the world records that Kitajima has taken during the past month.

Hansen will go down as one of the best athletes in Delaware County history, maybe the best. His portfolio is stacked with that many accolades. But the thing he doesn't get credit for enough, that might be his defining characteristic is the way he carries himself: Honest, appreciative of his teammates, coaches and family, charitable. Those traits are gold worthy.