Blocked punt paves way for Clearview win
Clearview was trying to play it safe. "We were looking for field position," coach Mark Deal said. Instead, the Pioneers got the biggest play of the game when senior Joe Coles blocked a punt that senior Gary Searle recovered in the end zone with about two minutes to go in a 21-14 victory over Delsea.
Clearview was trying to play it safe.
"We were looking for field position," coach Mark Deal said.
Instead, the Pioneers got the biggest play of the game when senior Joe Coles blocked a punt that senior Gary Searle recovered in the end zone with about two minutes to go in a 21-14 victory over Delsea.
With the score tied at 14 and Delsea pinned at its own 5-yard line, Deal wanted to avoid mistakes and try to set up a game-winning field-goal attempt by junior Larry Eimer.
Coles had other ideas.
"He saw an opening and went for it," Deal said of Coles, a fullback and linebacker.
The victory over a Delsea team that was ranked No. 6 in the preseason by The Inquirer has created a lot of excitement around the Clearview program.
Senior Nahir Nelson scored a pair of touchdowns as the Pioneers built a 14-0 lead, then stood strong in the face of a furious Delsea comeback.
Deal said that senior middle linebacker Dalton Reim led a sturdy defense that shut out Delsea in the second half. The coach also credited his special teams, with junior punter Isaac Murphy pinning Delsea deep in its own zone before the decisive punt block.
"This was big for us," Deal said.
Stunning win. Perhaps the most surprising result of the opening weekend was Buena's 7-0 victory over Bridgeton, which was ranked No. 9 in the preseason.
Bridgeton returns most members of a team that went 8-3 last season and won a share of the Cape National, while Buena has just three seniors in the starting lineup.
"Our kids are just really committed to each other," Buena coach Jonathan Caputo said. "This is the best group I've had in terms of their commitment to each other."
Buena's defense shut down Bridgeton with some great work by senior lineman Josh Alvarez and big plays by junior back D.J. Velazquez (interception late in the first half) and junior linebacker Justin Inman (fourth-and-1 stop in the second).
The Chiefs scored in the third quarter on a halfback pass from Quadir Albright to Velazquez.
"We've been preparing for Bridgeton for five weeks," Caputo said. "But this win only means something if we continue to build from here."
Triton's big finish. Triton stumbled out of the gate, falling behind Cherry Hill West by a 13-0 score less than a minute into the season.
"It couldn't have started any worse," Triton coach Pete Goetz said.
The Mustangs rallied for a 20-19 victory behind junior Dom Staiano, as well as seniors Kevin Bucceroni and Jake McGlinchey.
Staiano, a defensive back and running back, got the Mustangs on the board with a 42-yard interception return for a touchdown. McGlinchey, a quarterback, scored on a pair of runs.
Bucceroni, a linebacker and running back, scored the game's decisive points when he made a leaping catch of a two-yard conversion pass from McGlinchey on a play that, because of penalties, started on the 20-yard line.
Cherry Hill West scored to make it 20-19 with a little more than three minutes to go, but Triton denied the Lions on a two-point attempt to take the lead.
Staiano ran for four first downs as the Mustangs ran out the clock.
"Our kids hung in there," Goetz said.
Successful debut. Thanks to some exciting play by junior quarterback Tyree Rodgers, Camden Catholic's Nick Strom was one of a handful of new coaches who won their first game.
Rodgers was 12-for-19 passing for 151 yards and two touchdowns and also scored a touchdown. He also ripped off a 35-yard run from scrimmage and generated a 40-yard kickoff return in a 38-3 win over Cumberland.
"He played very well," Strom said.
Dan Boguszewski of Eastern, Kevin Stetser of Egg Harbor Township, Rich Pentz of Haddon Township, and James McGuirl of Lindenwold are other first-year coaches who won their first game.
Climbing the charts. Camden senior quarterback Khalil Williams threw five touchdown passes in a 49-14 win over Highland in the season opener Friday.
A starter since his freshman year, Williams has moved into sixth place on the South Jersey all-time list for career touchdown passes with 60.
On Friday night, he passed Pennsauken's Manny Cortez (56), Holy Cross' Rob Curley (56) and Matt Burdalski (58), Eastern's Tom Flacco (59), and Camden Catholic's Nick Cangelosi (59).
Still ahead of Williams are Penn Grove's Nick Elmer (62), Woodrow Wilson's David Goree (63), Holy Cross' Tom Reilly (64), St. Augustine's Dustin Thomas (69), and Pennsville's Dylan Cummings (84).