Sometimes friends hug.
Other times, they spend five days a week hitting each other.
That’s the type of friends Steve Blaker and Mike Gambone are.
But it’s not about fighting. They’re not mad at each other. They’re incredibly close. But when they do battle, good things happen.
Not just for them, but their football team.
Blaker and Gambone are senior offensive linemen at Penn Charter High School. The two have been starters since freshmen year, and for four years, they spent just about every afternoon going head to head.
And that’s probably a big reason for why they’re so close.
“Coming in as a freshman, it was definitely fun but also really scary,” said Blaker, a Somerton resident who lined up at left tackle for the Quakers. “One of our starting O-linemen got hurt in summer workout. They needed a guy who could snap. I remember saying to one of the other guys, ‘I wonder who they’re going to have start,’ and he said, ‘It’s you.’ I was nervous, but the older guys walked me through it.
“I played for Somerton and Calvary, Mike played St. Matt’s and Bustleton. We competed but weren’t friends. I found out I knew him from playing sports on the first day of summer workouts. I saw him and we became friends.”
Gambone tells the same story.
“We’ve been friends since high school, and we got closer every year,” Gambone said. “I knew very few people at the school. I just knew Ryder Stern, and he was friends with the Northeast kids, so I became friends with him. And we both played as freshmen, so it was good to have him there.
“I honestly wasn’t ready for the Inter-Ac games my freshman year. The first five games were a completely different story. We played Boys Latin and I was all right. Judge was tough. Then we got to the Inter-Ac, and those games were really hard.”
That means for four years, the pair worked together to open up holes and protect the quarterbacks. And because they wanted to make sure they were ready to play Penn Charter’s always challenging schedule, they often would practice against each other.
It wasn’t about who won. It was about who won on game day.
“We’re inseparable at this point but we also try to make each other better,” Blaker said. “We compete. It’s iron sharpening iron. Since day one we’ve helped each other. He has a similar experience. We were both smaller guys, packing on the weight, working hard in the weight room turned us into what we are today.”
“I love practicing against him because I know how good he is,” Gambone said. “I love it. It’s always good competition. I always feel like when I’m on defense and he’s on offense, we give each other the best look. He does it for me, too. We both try to push each other. The better he does, the better the team does.”
Penn Charter just wrapped up a strong season.
Under coach Tom Coyle, the former football coach and new athletic director at Father Judge, the Quakers went 7-3 this year, and ended the season with a win over their biggest rival, Germantown Academy.
“I love Coach Coyle, he’s a great guy, he’s a big reason I’m at Penn Charter,” Blaker said. “And the education. My dad fell in love with the school. My dad went to Frankford, and it’s a great school, but Penn Charter looks like a college campus. The education is No. 1 around in my opinion.”
“I love playing for coach Coyle, he has helped me so much,” Gambone said. “If it weren’t for him I wouldn’t be in the position I am in. I’m very grateful for him.”
Football season is over, but the grunts stay plenty busy, and both would love to play football at the next level.
“Next year, I’m between ‘Nova, West Chester and Kutztown,” said Gambone, who is leaning on studying business. “I want to play. I’m not sure, I’m still looking around.”
“I’m starting to think about next year, figuring things out,” Blaker said. “Next year, I’m looking at West Chester and Kutztown. I want to play football, it’s a matter of where. I’m undecided for major, but criminal justice is No. 1. My father was a police officer, so I want to be involved in the field of law.”
While they’re excited about the future, both tackles will miss Penn Charter.
“Penn Charter, it’s a huge deal,” Blaker said. “Two friends of mine from the neighborhood told me they were going to Penn Charter when we were in sixth grade. I was, like, ‘What’s Penn Charter?’ I tried out for Little Quakers, we went to Florida, that’s when I fell in love with it. No schools carry themselves the way of Penn Charter. The campus itself, I wanted to be a part of it. And it’s been great.”
Especially when they were playing with the offensive line.
“This line is so close because it’s the same guys as last year, mostly,” Gambone said. “I think we all really get each other, it comes easy, our chemistry. We all really clicked. We all get along so well, we’re all there for each other. I think it’s a good group of guys.”
