Marc Narducci: Clement leads way in Glassboro romp

Corey Clement missed a conversion kick.

At last, late in the South Jersey Group 1 football final, the Glassboro junior finally showed a flaw.

One has to do some serious nit-picking to find much wrong with Clement's game, his season, and, for that matter, his career.

It has consisted of plenty of yards, touchdowns, wins, and most of all, championships.

Clement had a vintage performance as Glassboro defeated Pennsville, 41-13, in Saturday's sectional final across the street from the high school at Rowan University.

In avenging a 55-35 regular-season loss to Pennsville, Glassboro followed the lead of the 5-foot-11, 205-pound Clement, who ran his way into the South Jersey record books on his way to the championship podium.

Here was some of Clement's busy day:

He ran for 238 yards and four touchdowns on 32 carries.

From his defensive-end position, Clement recorded three sacks.

He made a touchdown-saving tackle on an interception by Pennsville's Colton Newsome with just 15.6 seconds left in the first half and the Bulldogs holding a 28-13 lead.

For good measure, he was successful on his first five conversion kicks before missing the sixth. Maybe he was a little bit tired at that juncture.

"Corey Clement is the best back I've seen this year," Pennsville coach Ryan Wood said.

Clement finished this season with 2,510 rushing yards, surpassing the previous South Jersey record set by Kingsway's Gary Fauntleroy, who had 2,286 in 1994.

"I wasn't thinking of the record," Clement said.

He had other things on his mind.

Glassboro was the defending South Jersey champion, and it has won four sectional titles in the last five years. When the Bulldogs lost, 54-0, in their opener this season to Penns Grove, few were picking the Bulldogs to repeat.

Then again, both Clement and his team picked it up as the season progressed.

"I wanted to do something special," Clement said.

Even though he wasn't thinking of the rushing record, it doesn't mean that Clement doesn't appreciate what was accomplished. And in a touch of class, Fauntleroy attended the game.

"I read a lot about him, and I wanted to see him," Fauntleroy said. "He has a lot of talent."

Fauntleroy didn't mind that his name was moved down one slot in the record books.

"Records are meant to be broken, and it's good that it is kept in the county [Gloucester]," Fauntleroy said.

This was not a total one-man show. Glassboro freshman Jwan Johnson had three interceptions, one that he returned 96 yards for a score. Bulldogs defensive end Antoine Alicea, a disruptive bookend to Clement, returned another interception 28 yards for a score.

The Glassboro offensive line opened some huge holes.

Yet it was Clement who led the way on an exceptional day, even by his standards.

"He sets the tone and is the leader of the team," Johnson said. "He is the voice of the team."

And clearly the heart, as well.

Glassboro 28 0 13 0 – 41

Pennsville 13 0 0 0 – 13

P: Hawthorne 64 punt return (kick failed)

G: Clement 49 run (Clement kick)

G: Clement 10 run (Clement kick)

G: Johnson 96 with interception (Clement kick)

G: Clement 44 run (Clement kick)

P: Krough 4 pass from Cummings (Henze kick)

G: Alicea 28 with interception (Clement kick)

G: Clement 5 run (kick failed)