Cape-Atlantic teams ready to stake claim on S. Jersey superiority

Throughout this past offseason, one of the biggest topics of conversation has been the upcoming inaugural season of the West Jersey Football League. It's been hard to miss, ignore or, in some cases, fathom what effect the new, 65-team amalgamation of schools formerly in the Burlington County League, Olympic Conference, Tri-County Conference and Colonial Valley Conference will have on South Jersey football.

Granted, those leagues still survive for other sports, but, for football, this is an uncharted territory.

And yet, when it comes to the top teams in South Jersey, it might have little to no effect at all, since one pretty big outsider remains.

"The way our schedule sets up, I've heard it said that we're like the SEC of South Jersey," Absegami coach Dennis Scuderi said, whose team competes in the Cape-Atlantic League. "We open with Egg Harbor Township and then play Holy Spirit. If you look at our league and our schedule, there's not a week in which we won't be challenged."

That's certainly true, because the CAL, with schools in Cumberland, Atlantic and Cape May counties, has some of South Jersey's best teams. Holy Spirit, Absegami and St. Joseph are all considered top-10 teams; Egg Harbor Township is coming off a Group 4 final appearance, and Mainland is 2 years removed from a Group 3 title.

Scuderi finds himself in a very strange position this year, since he almost didn't have a job after his first two seasons with the Braves. He almost became a casualty of budget cuts in Galloway Township this year until his players rallied around him.

"I didn't know they did it," said Scuderi, who wasn't at the board of education meeting when his players, parents and concerned citizens showed up to offer him support. "You always talk about bigger things to these kids, but you don't know what effect you have on them. That's something I never expected."

Coming off a 6-4 season, Scuderi has a senior-laden team that rightfully has Group 4 aspirations, but that doesn't mean anything will come easy.

Group 4 remains filled with talent. By no means will Cherokee step aside for Absegami or any other Group 4 schools. The Chiefs will again be the centerpiece to the American Division, only this year it will be in the West Jersey Football League, not the Olympic. Their schedule looks very similar to last years, in which they lost lost once, to sister school Seneca, both of which are part of the Lenape school district, the region's most powerful football hotbed.

Cherokee remains the team to beat and, with that in mind, must overcome some early concerns about a young offensive line. Having quarterback Andy Martin, running back Mike Zeuli and wideout Drake Rodgers back for the Group 4 champions certainly will help put them in more of a reloading phase than rebuilding.

"We have to jell," Cherokee coach P.J. Mehigan said. "I know a lot of teams are going to that spread [offense], but we still like to run the ball, and our line needs time to become a cohesive unit.

"Our schedule doesn't change that much [in the new league]," he continued. "You take out Rancocas Valley, who was our rival since our days in the Burlington County League, and Pennsauken, who we've had a real good rivalry with, so on one hand, it's bittersweet. But we add Williamstown and Clearview, and that's a new challenge. It's a change, but it will be just as difficult as it was last year."

The new West Jersey division that should raise the most interest is the Constitution, which hosts a pair of top-10-worthy opponents in Seneca and Paul VI.

"It's going to be an interesting season," Paul VI coach John Doherty said. "At this time of year, everyone has questions and we're no different. The schedule is a little bit of a change, but I like it and, for us, we set the bar high for everything, so the tougher the schedule, the better." *

SOUTH JERSEY SCHEDULE

TODAY

CAPE-ATLANTIC I

Absegami at Egg Harbor Township, 7

Atlantic City at St. Augustine, 7

CAPE-ATLANTIC II

Oakcrest at Holy Spirit, 7

CAPE-ATLANTIC III

Bridgeton at Pleasantville, 7

WEST JERSEY AMERICAN

Cherokee at Lenape, 7

WEST JERSEY CLASSIC

Pennsville at Pitman, 7

Salem at Wildwood, 7

WEST JERSEY CONSTITUTION

Paul VI at Moorestown, 7

WEST JERSEY DIAMOND

Gloucester at Woodstown, 7

Penns Grove at Glassboro, 7

WEST JERSEY FREEDOM

Riverside at Burlington City, 7

New Egypt at Maple Shade, 7

WEST JERSEY PATRIOT

Burlington Township at Delran, 7

Cinnaminson at Willingboro, 7

WEST JERSEY ROYAL

Timber Creek at Cumberland, 7

Highland at Triton, 7

Kingsway at Delsea, 7

NONLEAGUE

Holy Cross at Florence, 7

Robbinsville at Palmyra, 7

Gloucester Catholic at Camden Catholic, 7

Middle Township at Millville, 7

Vineland at Ocean City, 7

TOMORROW

CAPE-ATLANTIC II

Mainland at Hammonton, 12

CAPE-ATLANTIC III

Buena at St. Joseph, 12

WEST JERSEY AMERICAN

Williamstown at Eastern, 6

WEST JERSEY CAPITOL

W. Windsor-Plainsboro S. at Rancocas Valley, 1

Trenton Central at W. Windsor-Plainsboro N. 1

WEST JERSEY COLONIAL

Northern Burlington at Princeton, 11 a.m.

Allentown at Hopewell Valley, 2

WEST JERSEY CONSTITUTION

Cherry Hill West at Seneca, 7

WEST JERSEY INDEPENDENCE

Bishop Eustace at Camden, 11 a.m.

Deptford at Woodrow Wilson, 12

WEST JERSEY NATIONAL

Clearview at Cherry Hill East, 11 a.m.

Shawnee at Pennsauken, 12

WEST JERSEY VALLEY

Steinert at Nottingham, 12

Hightstown at Hamilton West, 12

NONLEAGUE

Ewing at Pemberton, 11 a.m.

Washington Township at Winslow Township, 12

Schalick at Clayton, 1

Notre Dame at Lawrence, 2