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Northern Burlington's win over Cinnaminson was a wild affair

It was the wildest game of the season.

It was the wildest game of the season.

It ended in the most fitting way: in dramatic, climatic fashion.

"It was one of the craziest things I've ever seen on the football field," said Northern Burlington coach Jon Reising, whose team scored a 56-55 overtime victory over Cinnaminson in a West Jersey Football League, interdivision game on Friday night.

The teams went back and forth all night, with NBC taking leads of 14-0 and 21-7 and Cinnaminson surging back to take a 42-28 lead late in the third quarter.

NBC battled back to tie it at 42. Cinnaminson took a 49-42 lead when quarterback Dom Elly scored on a 2-yard run with 1 minute, 57 seconds remaining in regulation.

NBC drove down the field behind quarterback Colin Fitzpatrick. The Greyhounds tied it at 49 on a 5-yard pass from Fitzpatrick to Frank Palermo with 30 seconds on the clock.

"I've never seen anything like it," Cinnaminson coach Mario Patrizi said of the game.

Elly was 22-for-28 passing for 328 yards and also ran 25 times for 176 yards. Chris Kirby caught three touchdown passes and returned a fumble 52 yards for another score.

Fitzpatrick ran for two touchdowns and passed for two more. NBC's Tosin Adeyamo scored three touchdowns, including a 1-yard run that gave the Greyhounds a 56-49 lead on the first possession of overtime.

Cinnaminson came right back and scored on Elly's 1-yard run. At that point, Cinnaminson kicker Michael Jones was 7 for 7 on extra points.

But Patrizi said he knew at the start of overtime that he would go for a two-point conversion if the situation arose. He felt like his team was getting thin on the defensive side, and he wanted to go for the win.

"The [offensive] kids never even left the field," Patrizi said. "They wanted to go for it."

Elly ran a quarterback draw. He was stopped "two inches short," according to Patrizi.

Reising was thrilled with the call but glad he didn't have to make it.

"It was very, very close," Riesing said. "The officials do a great job, but that was such a tough call to have to make."

Here comes Cherokee. The two-time defending Group 4 champions stumbled a bit through the first half of the season. But a 21-17 victory over then-No. 7 Shawnee on Friday night raised Cherokee's record to 4-2 and put the Chiefs in position to qualify for this year's tournament.

"The first half of the season, I was unsure what kind of football team we had," Cherokee coach P.J. Mehigan said. "At times we were competitive. At times we were shooting ourselves in the foot. But I think we're starting to get some experience, starting to get a little more seasoned."

Cherokee got a boost from sophomore quarterback Max Joseph, who led the game-winning drive in just his second start. Joseph's 29-yard scoring pass to Joe Havers with 2:41 on the clock gave the Chiefs the lead for good.

Cherokee also has been getting good work from junior running back Zaire Williams, who carried 29 times for 212 yards and two touchdowns.

"The last three games, he's made the commitment to accelerate through the hole and run north and south," Mehigan said of Williams. "He's hitting the hole as well as any back we've had around here for a long time."

Lions roar. Cherry Hill West won its first game with a 20-6 triumph over Camden on Friday night.

It was a long-awaited breakthrough for the Lions, who had played well at times against quality opponents such as Camden Catholic, Woodrow Wilson, and Cherokee.

"The kids are a lot more resilient than I am," Cherry Hill West coach Jim Scerbo said. "They knew that in two of our tough losses, we were a play away from winning. They kept their enthusiasm. They kept practicing hard."

Scerbo has high praise for sophomore quarterback Rodney Williams, who ran for 112 yards and two touchdowns and also threw a touchdown pass against Camden.

"He's pretty impressive," Scerbo said of Williams.

Scerbo said seniors Danny O'Sullivan and Jules German, who both play running back and linebacker, have been team leaders.

This and that. Burlington Township scored three times on returns in a 27-10 win over Hopewell Valley. Mike Thomas had a 54-yard punt return for a touchdown, and John Ferrante and Kristoff Smith each had 80-yard interception returns for a score. . . . Camden Catholic defensive end Andrew Racobaldo had a piece of three sacks, and defensive back Darien Bouzakis made several good tackles in the Irish's 42-35 victory over Pennsauken.

Paulsboro junior quarterback James Funk sat out Saturday's 35-0 loss to Haddonfield with a sore knee. "The trainer said he could have played," Paulsboro coach Glenn Howard said. "But for the safety of the kid . . . we'll let it heal for one week, two weeks. We're looking at the playoffs." . . . Delsea junior quarterback Josh Awotunde broke an 84-yard run late in the fourth quarter and scored on a 1-yard run moments later to rally the Crusaders to a 32-31 win over Woodrow Wilson. . . . Holy Cross quarterback Conor Dempster scored on runs of 35, 26, 57, and 13 yards in a 43-19 victory over Maple Shade.