Chester quarterback Isaiah Freeman, center, takes the ball around right end in the first quarter for the East, while Upper Darby teammates and West defenders Dorsey Shoultz III, left, and Julien Laventure give chase in the 44th annual Hero Bowl Thursday night at Cardinal O’Hara. (Pete Bannan – MediaNews Group)
By Jack McCaffery
A driving rainstorm had ceased, some gloomy clouds vanished and even a vivid rainbow had emerged early Thursday evening above the football field at Cardinal O’Hara High.
After a two-year pause for a pandemic, and a short delay of the kickoff due to the earlier rain, it was time for the 44th Hero Bowl. And that meant it was time for springtime Delaware County sports normalcy.
“What’s normal is that we have young men who are excited about the game of football,” said LaDontay Bell, the coach at Chester High. “We are still going through situations and residuals of Covid. However, to see these young men active and playing a game they love, that’s the normalcy. Let these young men have fun enjoying the game. That’s the normalcy.”
Not that the gathered East and West All-Stars from Delaware County hadn’t played football in the interim, but the last Hero Bowl was in 2019. The event benefits the Hero Scholarship Fund of Delaware County to support the children of first responders who died while in service to the community.
(click on this link for the full story)
