South Park wins the Harvard Cup

By Dave Ricci

They didn’t exactly do the impossible. But coach Ken Pope and his South Park Sparks pulled off what most would consider an upset when they upended the defending Harvard Cup champs Hutch-Tech, 26-14, at All-High Stadium to win the 2002 Harvard Cup championship.

James Henley totaled 204 yards on the ground and had two touchdowns on rushes of 47 and 49 yards as the Sparks laid claim to their first Harvard Cup since 1996. Henley was equally effective on the defensive side of the ball. At linebacker Henley unleashed a series of well-timed, devastating tackles that stopped Hutch-Tech backs on a consistent basis.

Farrod Muhammad opened the scoring with the first of his two TDs. Keith Parker’s two-point conversion gave Hutch an 8-0 lead. Henley’s 47-yard TD coupled with Justin Bartlomiejczak’s two-point conversion tied the game at 8-8. Muhammad’s 17-yard second quarter TD run gave Hutch a short-lived 14-8 lead. South Park’s Randy Calloway took the ensuing kickoff 80 yards down field for a touchdown.

Tied 14-14 at the end of the first half it looked as if the game would continue to have a seesaw effect with the lead changing hands. That is until South Park made an ever so slight defensive adjustment in the second half. Sparks defensive ends LeRoy Scott and Tyrone Bruno moved less than a step to the outside. That subtle change gave the Sparks defenders an extra second to read the Hutch offensive scheme and ultimately halted Hutch-Tech’s offense as they were held without a first down in the second half.

South Park’s final touchdown was on a 15-yard pass from Jason Truman to Claude Scott. The win marks the ninth Harvard Cup title in South Park’s history. They also had a share on the title in 1935 with Bennett after a 6-6 tie. An on-line poll on Harvardcup.com had fans giving Hutch coach Bill Boyle 53 percent of the vote for coach of the year. South Parks Ken Pope had 40 percent.

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