PHILADELPHIA-- DeeWil Barlee was hungry. His diet? Yardage . . . lots and lots of yardage.

The 5-foot-8, 175-pound Episcopal Academy junior rushed for 189 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries, helping the Churchmen defeat Springside Chestnut Hill, 21-7, in an Inter-Academic League opener that doubled as SCH’s homecoming celebration.

But the Blue Devils were in no mood to party after losing their second straight and falling to 4-3 overall. Conversely, the Churchmen improved to 4-2 and snapped a two-game slide.

“I just don’t care about their homecoming,” said Barlee. “I’m not there to worry about that. I’m there to play ball. We focus on the game and not any extra stuff going around.”

Barlee, who also caught three passes for 26 yards, has now scored 17 touchdowns this season. EA’s offensive line of senior Adam Klein, senior Harry Riley, sophomore Dom Minicozzi, senior Mike McFillin, and junior Ryan Rockenbach proved to be too much for the Blue Devils.

Senior Brendan Huf caught three passes from sophomore quarterback Marcus McDaniel (8 of 12, 78 yards) for 25 yards. Senior Adam Robinson helped the defense with an interception.

“It’s always huge to get a win, but to get one in the league is even more important,” said Barlee. “Games in league are tighter and more is at stake. To get the first one was good for our team.”

Klein agreed.

“It’s very important to start off 1-0 because every game matters,” said Klein. “You can’t afford to lose now. We were a little disrespected when we found out it was their homecoming and it gave us a little bit more motivation to go out and win.”

Klein lauded Barlee.

“He’s the man,” he said. “He’s probably our best player right now. The way he runs is inspiring, especially to our offensive line because he breaks three to four tackles and then does it again the next play. How does that not inspire to go 100 percent on every play, because that’s what he does.”

(John Knebels can be reached at Jknebels@gmail.com or on Twitter @johnknebels.)