Aleem Medley returns home to Benjamin Franklin restoring hope & promise to the program

Tagged under: District 12, News, pfn, Playoffs

Anthony Franklin | November 3, 2023

The 2022 football season for Benjamin Franklin HS was grim, tiresome and at times depressing. Due to a late coaching change, key players bolted for other schools, the first 2 games were cancelled and when they finally did get on the field to play a game, they were playing with first time varsity players at very key positions while also learning on the fly a new system on both offense and defense. The results on the scoreboard were not pretty. They were held scoreless in their first 9 games of the season and defensively while they played hard gave up a school record 313 points last year. To the kids credit they continued to play hard and towards the end of the season progress was made offensively and defensively as they started to hold teams out of the endzone better. Their last 3 opponents were Overbrook (8 points surrendered), Simon Gratz in the playoffs (27) and Dobbins (16).

In June 2023 Aleem Medley a 2002 graduate of Franklin was named the new head coach. Aleem was a star QB for the Electrons during the 2000 and 2001 seasons. In high school he was known as field general, and emotional leader with the heart of a lion. Medley had a cool head in tough situations and has plenty of field savvy. His skills on the field and in the classroom earned him admission and some recruiting attention from Shippensburg University. He would later transfer to Millersville University where he would graduate and enter the work force. While not playing the game he stayed nearby within the youth league scene while being an educator through various companies before landing a position with the school district of Philadelphia. Currently he is a Physical Education teacher at Benjamin Franklin HS.

Ben Franklin Seniors hope to leave great memories & pride behind for future Electrons

When Aleem arrived back home at Franklin he had less than 2 months to compile physicals, get to know his players, assemble a staff together to assist him in coaching and implement new plays and schemes in preparation for the season. The 2023 season opener was against a bigger program that was seemingly on the rise in Olney HS. Aleem and his staff worked relentlessly with the kids despite having a low turnout due to the late arrival of the new staff. Aleem states he has 35 kids on his roster, but many aren’t full time players as they have other obligations. In the opening game against Olney they shocked the city winning 46-0. Roughly 20 players dress and play every game. There were numerous players he singled out for their dedication, persistence and hard work. Starting QB Sr. Nazire Johnson missed the 2021 and 2021 & 2022 seasons due to back-to-back ACL surgeries on the same knee. Aleem states “His senior year was his only opportunity to show out and he’s definitely on the right track, he’s been leading his team to victory with pinpoint accuracy and playing with the heart of a lion. He’s literally the most gifted athlete on the team as his coach I have to try to maybe not contain him but just keep him focused on the goal at hand. He’s just so athletic he can literally play any position on the field and excel”. Nazaire for the last 3 games has had to shoulder more of the burden on offense as star RB/MLB Sr. Vernon Young missed time with an ankle injury. Due to Young’s absence the Electrons have had to lean more than they’d like to on the passing game and the players have delivered as WR/CB Tysir Ganges had 9 receptions for 135 yards & 2 TDs in last weekend’s upset win over Simon Gratz to reach the 5A Semifinals. Friday at 4pm they’ll travel across town to take on the #1 5A team in the state in Imhotep Charter. Imhotep has over 50 players on the roster, numerous D1 recruits and talented at every position. Franklin feels like they’re playing with house money and are honored to be able to get a chance to play against a powerhouse team and show they’re full of grit and toughness.

Other standouts who Coach Aleem mentioned were Sr. DE/C Marigita Toure who is a two-way starter who leads the team in sacks (8) and tackles for losses & Jr. WR David Windchester (7 touchdowns). While most forsee a loss Friday evening for Ben Franklin after fighting through what they went through last year and even the offseason this year with no spring workouts/camp, late start to summer camp and having low numbers these Electrons have already won this season. They’re guaranteed at worst an .500 season and have at least one remaining game with the Thanksgiving Day game scheduled against rival Dobbins HS. Aleem has already brought excitement back to North Broad Street and revived what was a lifeless program. He looks forward to being able to have a full offseason to recruit more Ben Franklin students as well as the nearby schools without programs such as Franklin Learning Center, SLA, Masterman, Parkway Central & PMA.

A cool story about Aleem happened back on February 4, 2015 when Penn State Football Head Coach accidentally face-timed him while trying to actually reach 2015 signee Shareef Miller another Philly resident who was at the time playing for George Washington HS. Once Coach Franklin realized it was a mistake he held a brief conversation with Aleem before hanging up. The phone call actually went viral as it was being recorded live. Maybe Coach Franklin can call Aleem back and give the team a pep talk prior to the biggest game of the season for them???

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