DESPITE THE LOSS of several key seniors from a year ago, the Penns Grove High football team entered the season with high expectations.

"Yeah, we're a Group 1 school but we never allow ourselves to think rebuild, but reload," coach Kemp Carr said. "We don't worry about the past, that's where it belongs. Our wishes and dreams are ahead of us and that's where we keep our focus."

That's a good way to look at it and one season after reaching the Group 1 final against Glassboro, Penns Grove kept its focus on what was best for 2009. There aren't many programs that would move their returning quarterback to running back and replace him with a freshman.

Last season, Jay Brown manned the Penns Grove offense to the state final, but when practice opened, he found himself in the backfield and freshman Nick Elmer in charge of the offense. The formula worked until a 6-0 loss to Buena, but that served as motivation for Penns Grove, which is 6-1 after a 14-12 win over Glassboro on Saturday.

"We're past that already," said Carr, whose team ended the Bulldogs' 30-game win streak. "We have to look forward."

In the win, Brown returned an interception 87 yards for the eventual winning score in the third quarter. That said, Carr stresses that this is a team above all else and that the system he employs spreads out the responsibilities.

The backfield is filled with potential carries including junior DaRon Mills, who leads the Red Devils in rushes. It's easy to see why Penns Grove is a favorite in Group 1 and has no problem with a rematch with Glassboro in December.

"We're just focused on Gloucester," Carr said of Penns Grove's next opponent.

Like you were expecting a different answer?

Rarefied air

 

It's hard to say a 34-0 win was a disappointment but that's how Bishop Eustace felt after beating New Egypt last week. The Crusaders (6-1) expect more from themselves.

"I believe we did look ahead," said coach Robert Cormier, whose team plays Camden Catholic tomorrow night. "Nowadays, kids look at the Internet and they know what everyone else has and what's going on at every school. It's hard not to know what's coming up this week and what it means."

Beyond just the natural rivalry between Camden Catholic and Bishop Eustace, there is the chance for the Crusaders to win the Burlco/Olympic National, which would be their first outright division championship.

"For 2 or 3 weeks, we knew this game was coming up," Cormier said. "We've clinched a share, which is only the second time I think we've done that, but we want the outright title."

Eustace knew coming into the season it could play defense but questions remained on offense and, in particular, along the offensive line where only one starter returned. Those doubts were put to rest as juniors Frank McConnell, Nick Battaglia, Mike Spear and Ryan Crudeli quickly meshed with senior left guard Nate Webber to give quarterback Will Clements time to run the offense.

The maturation of junior Sean Bell, who has 930 yards on 123 carries, has been nothing short of a revelation.

"At first, we were concerned about the wear on Sean," Cormier said of Bell, who took over for Fran Iula after the second game.

Iula, who now plays only defense, has battled a bad hip and a separated shoulder for much of the season and it was deemed impossible for him to play both sides of the ball.

2010 starts . . . now

 

"The goal is always to make the playoffs," Buena coach Paul Callahan said. "That's always our No. 1 goal. Once you get there, anything can happen."

But the Chiefs (4-3) still have to get there. They have only one game before the cutoff and a loss probably will keep them out of the postseason. It is one heck of a time to play St. Joseph, and no one knows that better than Callahan.

"That's a great team," said Callahan, who is acutely aware of Wildcats sophomore quarterback Darryl Smith. "[Smith] used to come to football camp and I've known him for years. He's a great player and we have our work cut out for us."

The Chiefs have built a foundation, so if they don't make the playoffs this season it will certainly help next season. Junior running backs Donetae McKinnon and Michael Haygood have carried the ball 158 times for 1,079 yards and are a huge reason for optimism.

"Everything starts this week," Callahan said. "It's all about the future. The playoffs begin for us with St. Joe; 2010 starts tomorrow." *

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