Marc Narducci: Eagles take their time and outlast the Renegades
Egg Harbor Township started from its 1-yard line and ran down the clock to beat Shawnee.
Egg Harbor Township's football team has compiled one impressive offensive series after another. However, what might be the best one in a season that has plenty of life left resulted in no points - but also very little time on the clock.
Second-seeded EHT (9-0) won its first playoff game since 2001 with yesterday's 21-17 South Jersey Group 4 quarterfinal win over a Shawnee team that didn't look to be in the rebuilding mode as advertised. The game was played at St. Augustine.
Seventh-seeded Shawnee (5-4) was tough, resilient, determined, and not fazed by EHT's unbeaten status.
Contact staff writer Marc Narducci at 856-779-3225
On the other hand, EHT remained calm, cool, and clutch, especially after receiving the ball on its own one-inch line following a 36-yard punt by Shawnee's Justin Grover with 8 minutes and nine seconds left.
EHT led, 21-17, but Shawnee had momentum after scoring late in the third quarter on Andre Hutchinson's 4-yard run.
"Our attitude was, we had to get the ball out of there," said EHT senior Scott Miller, who completed 5 of 8 passes for 86 yards and one touchdown, and scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak in the third quarter. "Our line, receivers, and running backs did a great job."
And the quarterback wasn't bad either.
Headed to Harvard, Miller kept his cool during the drive, even after a 95-yard touchdown run by Tejay Johnson was nullified by an illegal block in the back.
That made it third and 9 from EHT's 2-yard line, and Miller hooked up with receiver Joe Magosin for exactly nine yards and a first down on an out pattern.
"I looked to where I had to go and Scott put it there," Magosin said.
There would be other big plays.
Later in the drive, a holding penalty by EHT gave the Eagles a first and 22 from their own 11. Johnson, apparently not winded from that nullified 95-yard run, gained 21 yards, and Miller got the first down on the next play on a 6-yard keeper.
"We needed to keep the ball and I felt the pressure to do my job," said Johnson, the Meet of Champions 100-meter champion who has made football visits to Nebraska and Cincinnati.
Shawnee had only one time-out and used it after Johnson's 9-yard gain gave EHT a second and 1 from its own 47-yard line with just under three minutes left.
Johnson would carry it three more times, and Miller had another carry, and before you knew it, EHT called time-out with 13 seconds left before punting from the Shawnee 48.
Shawnee got the ball back with five seconds left on its own 25, and threw a game-ending interception, and the Eagles knew that the defending South Jersey Group 3 champions had given them all they could handle.
"When we drew Shawnee we weren't happy, because we knew they weren't a typical No. 7 seed," EHT coach Tony DeRosa said.
No they weren't. The Renegades aren't close to the 12-0 team of last year that was ranked No. 1 in South Jersey by The Inquirer, but they still had that same fight. It's just that EHT refused to give the ball back on that final drive.
"That was a big-time job by them," Shawnee coach Tim Gushue said. "There is a reason why they are 9-0."
EHT made several big plays, including a 65-yard scoring pass from Miller to Stephan Thomas in the game's first 10 seconds, and a 60-yard TD run by Zach Agostino that gave the Eagles a 21-10 lead in the third quarter.
Both teams played great yesterday, but one was better at keep-away when it mattered the most, which is why EHT will be moving on to play Toms River East in next week's South Jersey Group 4 semifinal.
Shawnee 0 7 10 0 - 17
Egg Harbor Township 7 7 7 0 - 21
E: Thomas 65 pass from Miller (Mason kick)
S: Corbi 10 run (Garganio kick)
E: Miller 1 run (Mason kick)
S: FG Garganio 32
E: Agostino 60 run (Mason kick)
S: Hutchinson 4 run (Garganio kick)
Contact staff writer Marc Narducci at 856-779-3225
