Football
Favorite athlete: Calvin Johnson (Megatron)
Favorite team: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Favorite memory competing in sports: The bus ride home after winning against Lower Moreland my sophomore year. It was their senior night and they chirped us the entire game. We locked in and had a great win.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Our sophomore year head coach quit before the end-of-season banquet and the defensive coordinator gave the speeches and awards. The defensive coordinator was brutally honest and it was hilarious.
Music on playlist: Honey by Vacations and anything Indie Rock
Future plans: Attending 4-year university for Microbiology and eventually end with a Masters in Bioengineering
Words to live by: “Effort takes no talent”
One goal before turning 30: Learn to scuba dive
One thing people don’t know about me: I read every day. Probably about 100 books a year.
By GORDON GLANTZ
Going back the days of leather helmets and no chin straps, high school football coaches have preached the essentials of blocking and tackling and senior leadership.
At a smaller school like New Hope-Solebury, with a younger squad and a roster size in the twenties, coach Dale Smith has found all three of those qualities in two-way lineman and senior captain Quinn Phillips.
“He has stepped up and become more of a leader as far as the other aspects of being a captain,” said Smith. “That includes things like getting younger kids to seven-on-sevens or taking them home, and also being that vocal leader. He is the guy who is helping kids out with learning their plays.”
An avid reader with a 4.2 GPA, Phillips is also a student of the game. Though undersized at 5-8 and 215 pounds, he has used to his football IQ to teach his younger teammates the proper work habits and how to have eyes on the backs of their helmets.
“He is just a very bright kid,” Smith continued. “He is very smart.
“He is probably one of the smartest kids on the team. This offseason, he literally tried to help the young kids learn plays and stuff.”
And that carries over to the locker room as well.
“Before games, I will go over the plays and go on the board with the other offensive linemen,” said Phillips. “If I have any issues or comments, I try to help them out as best as I can.
“I have been a lot more vocal in terms of helping out underclassmen or freshmen. I was more of a ‘leader by example,’ as they would call it. I would do something rather than say it. Now that I’m a senior and a captain, I have the opportunity to also help people out with my words.”
Never has the leadership of Phillips been more needed than during the current season.
Said Smith: “That’s what I wanted – I wanted to see him get out of his shell and be that vocal kind of a leader and point the young guys in the right direction.”
The Lions started off the 2026 season with two straight wins, but a recent 19-13 loss to Morrisville marked the fifth consecutive loss.
However, with a strong finish, they can still be in the playoff conversation.
Said Phillips: “(Roster) numbers have always been an issue, but that still doesn’t mean that we can’t rise above it. We are very talented. I don’t think our record necessarily reflects our capabilities.”
In His Blood
A native of Ohio and an avid fan of Georgia Tech, Phillips moved to the area during his grade school years and continued playing tackle football after starting at a young age.
His first chance to see the field with the Lions came as a sophomore, playing just on the offensive side of the ball at guard.
From there, he has not looked back.
“I was very nervous at first,” he recalled. “But, after the first game, it was just so much fun. I had played football since first grade, so it was really weird to have a year like my freshman year when I didn’t get to play. As soon as I got to play my sophomore year, it was just amazing.”
By the time he was a junior, Phillips was also a mainstay on the defensive line.
“He’s not the biggest or the strongest,” said Smith. “He just finds a way to get the job done.
“Defensively, I’ve been very impressed the last two years. He is just constantly in the backfield.”
An Anomaly
At NHS, it is not uncommon for there to be multi-sport athletes.
However, once football season ends, Phillips has shifted gears.
Said Smith: “Quinn is a kid with high expectations academically. He wants to do really well to get into a good college. He puts a lot of pressure on himself.”
And there are also other avenues to explore, rounding out his personality.
“I do have a very heavy academic workload,” confirmed Phillips, who also played the cello all of his life. “Also, during the winter, I ski quite often. I participated a lot in the football offseason. I just feel like putting all of my effort into one sport makes me more successful than it would be by splitting it into others.”
Phillips is also heavily involved in volunteer work the Carversville Farm Foundation, which is headquartered about five minutes from his home.
“It is a local foundation that focuses mostly on goods to give to local homeless shelters and to those who are less fortunate,” he said. “During the summer, I go to that around twice per week.”
The offseason was also the time to stay in shape.
“By only playing football, I can spend a lot of time in the weight room,” said Phillips. “I make sure that I go to every single football lift and practice in the offseason. We start in January, three times a week, so I stay in shape for most of the year.
“I used to play lacrosse and I used to wrestle. Once I got to high school and decided to focus on academics, I decided to put all of my efforts into just one sport.”
And even though there won’t be another football season to prepare for, the son of Leda and Korey Phillips will be hitting the books and getting his college applications together.
His beloved Georgia Tech currently tops a wish list that also includes the likes of Pitt, Bucknell, Lehigh and Johns Hopkins.
Wherever he ends up, Phillips knows it was on the shoulders of others.
“My mom and my dad are at every single game, cheering the loudest,” said Phillips. “They always try to be a part of my life and love me.
“I would also like thank all of my coaches. This program has had some hardships and issues. All of my coaches, though, I want to thank each and every one of them.”
*Photos by Karla Donohoe Photography