Timber Creek’s Byrd on the fast track to South Carolina

The only thing faster than Damiere Byrd seemed to be how quickly his football career flew by at Timber Creek.

Byrd is among the fastest runners in the state, having earned Group 3 state championships in the 100, 200 and 400 meters. He was second in the Meet of Champions 100 meters in 10.42 seconds.

Yet Byrd is not a track man playing football, but a football player who happens to run track.

The 5-foot-10, 162-pound Byrd has already made an oral football commitment to attend South Carolina where he says he also plans to run track.

Byrd can't believe he's about to prepare for the next phase of his football career.

"Looking back, these four years went by faster than I thought," Byrd said. "Now I'm looking forward to the next level."

Timber Creek opponents won't mind seeing him move on to college. This season, Byrd was among the most dangerous and versatile players in South Jersey. He rushed for 975 yards and 13 touchdowns on 81 carries. Often playing in the slot, Byrd also caught 34 passes for 590 yards and four touchdowns. He also had 505 total return yards and another score. This year Timber Creek went 5-5 and earned a South Jersey Group 3 playoff berth for the fourth consecutive year.

At South Carolina, he is projected to be a receiver and return man.

"Right now they [South Carolina] said they were not going to redshirt me, and I'm ready for it," Byrd said. "I hope I can contribute right away, especially on returns."

Byrd wore No. 1 but had uniform No. 11 in his final game with Triton on Thanksgiving as the Chargers wore older uniforms.

"We went retro and they didn't have a No. 1," Byrd said.

Byrd said the versatility he displayed in high school will benefit him when he competes in the Southeastern Conference.

"Not many people line up in the slot, or wide or at running back," he said. "It helped me being able to learn defenses and coverages."

Strong finish. Triton's 36-14 Thanksgiving win over Timber Creek ended the Mustangs' season at 3-6. The future would appear to be extremely bright with eight starters on offense and nine on defense returning.

The offensive leader is sophomore running back Josh Woods, who rushed for more than 800 yards and missed the majority of two games with an injury.

Junior Seth Tinsley (6-2, 235) anchored the offensive line. Classmate Brian Keller was the starting quarterback and a standout on the defensive line. Freshman Isiah Baylor was a key addition at middle guard.

The Mustangs will be experienced at linebacker, with juniors John Bowers and Dan Bekier and sophomore Chance Negri among the key returnees.

Triton lost several games that were in doubt entering the final quarter, including two by a touchdown or less.

"I hope that some of the tough losses taught us lessons," said Triton coach Pete Goetz, who along with his staff coached in shorts, even on chilly Thanksgiving.

Goetz hopes that the win over Timber Creek will carry over into the off-season.

"It was a great win for our program," he said. "The kids were fighting so hard all year and were rewarded."

Strong finishes. Here are some other teams that had strong end-of-the-season runs: Audubon (5-5) won three of its last four games. . . . Bishop Eustace (4-6) won three of its last four, highlighted by Thanksgiving's 12-7 victory over WJFL National Division co-champion Pennsauken. . . . Cherry Hill West (2-8) won its final two games, including Thanksgiving's 13-12 victory over rival Cherry Hill East. . . . Cumberland (7-3) ended the year with a five-game win streak. . . . Delran (5-5) won its final two and three of the last four. . . . Florence (6-4) captured four of its last five games. . . . Kingsway (6-4) won its final three games. . . . Lower Cape May (7-3) won three of its last four games. . . . Mainland, which had four wins taken away due to an ineligible player, won its last three games and was officially 3-7. . . . Moorestown (7-3) won five of its last six games. . . . Penns Grove (8-1) won its final eight after an opening 13-12 loss to Glassboro. . . . Pitman (5-5) won three of its last four. . . . St. Augustine (4-6) won three of its last four. . . . Salem (5-5) won four of its last six games.

Super soph. Camden Catholic running back/linebacker Jarred Alwan was among the better players in a talented South Jersey sophomore class. Alwan finished with 104 tackles and had five fumble recoveries returning two for touchdowns.

Alwan was a varsity starter as a freshman at Philadelphia's St. Joseph's Prep before transferring this year to Camden Catholic. He is part of a young Camden Catholic team that is expected to improve on this year's 5-5 record.

"I expect us to be better next year," he said. "We're excited because we have a lot of good young players coming back."

One of them is current freshman quarterback Tom Flacco, who by the end of the season was sharing time with senior Anthony Townsend.

The Langerman file. As usual, South Jersey historian Chuck Langerman has come up with some fascinating notes, leading off with 11-0 Cherokee.

According to Langerman, the Chiefs have won 34 of their last 37 games. Ironically, the last three schools to beat Cherokee all begin with the letter S: Seneca, Southern and Shawnee. Another S goes for that note: sensational.

Here are some of the other tidbits Langerman has uncovered.

With 481 points, West Deptford is in striking distance of the all-time South Jersey scoring record of 510 points set last year by Delsea.

West Deptford's Vaughn Scott has 204 points, becoming the 15th player in South Jersey history to score more than 200 in a season.

Lower Cape May didn't surrender a passing touchdown all season.

Penns Grove scored 434 points in nine games for a 48.2 average. That is a South Jersey points-per-game record. The old mark was 44.5 set by St. Joseph of Hammonton in 2005. The Red Devils - who were banned from the NJSIAA tournament after having three player ejections (the number that results in a team's suspension) - are the first team in area history to play fewer than 10 games and score more than 400 points.

Penns Grove quarterback Nick Elmer threw 22 touchdown passes, the most ever by a South Jersey sophomore.

With 1,380 rushing yards this season, Cumberland senior Charles Wynder joined current University of Delaware star running back Andrew Pierce as the only two Colts' players in the school's history to eclipse 1,000 yards in a season. Pierce holds the Cumberland single-season school record with 1,640 yards in 2008.

Championship weekend. Here is the schedule for South Jersey teams in the coming sectional finals, and state Non-Public championship games.

FRIDAY

Non-Public Group 1&2 final: St. Joseph Hammonton (9-1) vs. St. Mary's (7-3), 5 p.m., at Rutgers.

Non-Public Group 3 final: Holy Spirit (11-0) vs. St. Joseph Montvale (8-3), 8 p.m., at Rutgers.

South Jersey Group 2 final: Haddonfield (10-1) at West Deptford (11-0), 7 p.m.

SATURDAY

South Jersey Group 4 final: Oakcrest (9-2) at Cherokee (11-0), 1 p.m.

South Jersey Group 3 final: Delsea (10-1) at Lacey Township (11-0), 1 p.m.

South Jersey Group 1 final: Paulsboro (9-2) at Glassboro (9-2), 1 p.m.