Phil Anastasia: Pennsauken puts a pounding on Triton, 52-23

Pennsauken rings up style points along with traditional ones on the scoreboard.

Take Saturday's 52-23 victory over Triton in the semifinals of the South Jersey Group 4 football tournament. In addition to setting a season high for points, the Indians entertained another big crowd at Vince McAneney Stadium with another thrill show by Manny Cortez, Amar Williams, and Anthony Sweet.

Still, the top seed in South Jersey's largest group and the No. 4 team in The Inquirer Top 10 has substance as well as sizzle, and grit as well as glitter.

The Indians have flash and dash. They also have Justin Anderson-Copes.

"I love playing with these guys," Anderson-Copes said after making a brief but well-deserved appearance in the spotlight after a season in the shadows. "They're like my family."

Anderson-Copes has been a dependable player for the 9-1 Indians. Before Saturday's game, he had 16 catches for 378 yards and three touchdowns as a tight end, and was second on the team in tackles with 72 as a linebacker.

Plus, he's one of those solid guys whose down-to-earth personality and good work in school - he pulled a 3.7 grade-point average in the last marking period - serves as a positive example for his teammates.

"He's one of our captains," Pennsauken coach Clinton Tabb said. "He's just a great all-around kid. He does all the little things."

It's easy for a blue-collar guy such as Anderson-Copes to get lost in the shuffle as Pennsauken's more spectacular players ring up points like pinball wizards.

That happened again Saturday. Cortez passed for five more touchdowns, giving him 36 this season. He's four short of tying the South Jersey record of 40 set by Holy Cross' Jason Amer in 1999.

Williams was sensational, as usual, catching two touchdown passes and returning a punt 62 yards to set up another score. He also had a 77-yard kickoff return for a touchdown nullified by a penalty.

Sweet made one of the best catches of the season, a twisting, one-handed snatch of a 17-yard touchdown pass from Cortez.

But amid all those fireworks, Mr. Sure and Steady made a couple of big plays of his own.

Anderson-Copes took a short pass from Cortez late in the first quarter, broke a couple of tackles, and rumbled into the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown.

"I've been trying to watch Amar and Anthony and learn some things about getting off the line and making guys miss," Anderson-Copes said.

In the fourth quarter, Anderson-Copes took a pass from Cortez down the middle, pulled away from a tackler who was yanking on his face mask, bounced off another tackler, and completed the 73-yard play by diving into the end zone.

"Against Eastern, I got caught from behind," Anderson-Copes said. "I couldn't let that happen."

The best teams need guys like him. They need reliability. They need accountability.

He's like the strong defensive catcher who is a tough out at the bottom of the lineup for a great baseball team, or the sturdy rebounder and cleanup man for a great basketball team.

Anderson-Copes mostly blocks as a tight end, and plays strong defense as a linebacker. He knows his role. He relishes it.

But he's not averse to an occasional day in the sun.

Triton 3 13 0 7 – 23

Pennsauken 14 19 13 6 – 52

T: FG Cowley 25

P: Thomas 1 run (Sweet kick)

P: Anderson-Copes 20 pass from Cortez (Sweet kick)

P: Cortez 7 run (kick failed)

P: Williams 7 pass from Cortez (Sweet kick)

T: Burns 3 run (Cowley kick)

P: Sweet 17 pass from Cortez (kick failed)

T: Burns 13 run (kick failed)

P: Cortez 11 run (kick failed)

P: Williams 31 pass from Cortez (Sweet kick)

P: Anderson-Copes 73 pass from Cortez (kick failed)

T: Casillas 4 run (Cowley kick)

Pennsauken tight end Justin Anderson-Copes talks about the victory over Triton and his breakout, two-touchdown performance.

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