"I wish I could have been sitting in the stands watching," Lancetta said. "Then maybe you could be calling the plays instead of me."

In what ESPN might bill as an instant classic, Egg Harbor Township, ranked No. 5 in the Daily News Top 10, came to Hammonton and beat the No. 8 Blue Devils, 23-19, in one of the cleanest and closest games of the season.

Egg Harbor (8-0) claimed the Cape-Atlantic American title with the win and will now move on to the Group 4 state tournament better prepared, having battled Group 3 favorite Hammonton for four well-played quarters.

This one came down to a fourth-and-8 stand on the Eagles' 16-yard line as Hammonton went for a go-ahead score with only 1 minute, 47 seconds left on the clock. Hammonton put the ball in quarterback Nick Crescenzo's hands, but the senior's pass to Jared Sanchez at the EHT 5-yard line fell in front of the sliding Sanchez.

"These guys get a little angry with me when I yell at them, but we can't let that happen," Egg Harbor linebacker Zach Agostino said. "I kept bringing up that Mainland game last year [in which the Eagles saw a 20-point lead disappear in a game they lost on a similar fourth-quarter drive last November]. It was the same deal. It came down to will there. They needed a touchdown and we held them out."

Down 13-10, at the half, EHT put together a pair of long drives in the third quarter. After it took the kickoff to the 41-yard line, the Eagles marched 59 yards on 11 plays that culminated with a 9-yard run by Agostino, who finished with 52 yards on 12 carries.

The Eagles got the ball back on their 35-yard line and went on a 10-play, 65 yard drive that ended with a 20-yard TD reception by Tejay Johnson from Scott Miller. On the play, Johnson found room between a pair of Blue Devils defenders in the back left corner of the end zone and used his 6-1 frame to secure the ball for a 23-13 lead.

"It's tough, because they put you in so many binds out there," Lancetta said. "You have to make open-field tackles and [Johnson] and [Miller] are tough outside and [Agostino] just pounds you up the middle."

Hammonton needed a big play, and after it took over on its 15, Crescenzo hit Ian Evans for a 31-yard gain. Eight plays later, Josh Baez went 1 yard for a touchdown with 10:33 left in the game. The extra point sailed wide left, and Hammonton trailed, 23-19.

With 8:11 left, Hammonton began its final drive of the game from its 24. The Blue Devils pounded out three first downs, but all looked lost when Crescenzo had the ball knocked out from behind on a pass attempt and both teams scattered to recover the ball. Hammonton eventually pulled it back, but lost 8 yards until some after-the-play activity resulted in an unsportsmanlike foul against Eagles defensive back Dominic Moody, who was tossed from the game.

Hammonton still faced fourth and-6, but Crescenzo raced around the left side to keep the drive going. But after three unsuccessful plays, Hammonton was out of its element needing a complete pass and when the ball hit the turf, all Egg Harbor needed to do was run out the clock.

"We just had to stick with our game plan," said Miller, who rushed 13 times for 87 yards and a spectacular 27-yard touchdown on a broken play. "I just made my reads, and if they wanted to take Tejay out of the game, the rest of us had to step up. Sometimes I saw green grass in front of me and I just took off.

"We've been facing adversity all year and we were talking about wanting to be a great team, and great teams overcome adversity." *

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