Shawnee seniors seize season, face Washington Twp. next

It was three days later.

"Tuesday practice after the Cherokee game, we're not getting anything done," Gushue said. "We can't run a drill the right way. We're a mess. Finally, I've seen enough. I'm going to send them in, call off practice.

"Two of the seniors, Jax Luzinski and Mark Beachy, started almost yelling at me. They didn't want to end practice. They wanted to get it right."

Beachy, Luzinski and Dan Wigley are part of a Shawnee senior class that heard all about the Renegades' supposedly lowered expectations entering this season.

After all, Shawnee lost 30-plus seniors from last year's team, including four-year varsity quarterback Mike Welsh and standouts such as wide receiver Anthony Mague, a William & Mary recruit, and first-team All-South Jersey defensvie lineman David Gajderowicz.

Those guys were intrumental in the team making three straight South Jersey Group 4 finals, and winning two of them.

"Every year, we lose guys," Wigley said. "But last year, those guys were a big, big loss."

As Shawnee prepares to visit Washington Township in a key West Jersey Football League American Division game on Friday night, one thing has become clear about the Renegades: There's no year like this year for the seniors.

It's the same for Washington Township's top seniors, such as quarterback Mike Piperno and two-way lineman Dave Grosmick.

They both rave about the "speed" and potential of the team's younger players. They both also know it's now or never for them and their classmates.

"I hate to say it, but you just have more urgency when you're a senior," Grosmick said. "You know this is it."

Wigley, a running back and linebacker who was chosen to wear the Renegades' iconic No. 44 jersey this season, says Luzinski and Beachy are the "loud guys" who set the tone for the team with their vocal leadership.

"I'm more lead by example," said Wigley, who has scored a touchdown in each of the team's first two games. "I just try to do the right thing every day, and hopefully the younger kids will follow my example."

Beachy said the key to Shawnee's strong start has been "chemistry."

A converted tackle, Beachy said the best thing about playing center has been the two seniors on each side of him.

"I wouldn't want to play next to anybody else but Aaron Bill and Eric Stein," Beachy said of the seniors who man the Renegades' left and right guard positions, respectively.

Almost without exception, teams tend to rise and fall through the seasons depending on the overall talent on the roster, schedule quirks and other factors, including injuries.

But one constant for every team is that every senior class is in the same boat: "Rebuilding" is not part of the vocabulary for players who know there is no next year.

As do all coaches, Gushue wanted to see his seniors take ownership of this team, and of this season. Some might have seen that during the win over Cherokee. He discovered it during the next full practice.

"It showed me they want to fight for this team," Gushue said. "It showed me how much they care. We always say, 'It's too late to care on Friday night. You have to care Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and it has to show in your preparation.

"That's what I saw."