Nick Kargman powers Woodrow Wilson to comeback victory over Shawnee

Here's the situation: Woodrow Wilson is trailing Shawnee, 16-12, with a little more than 90 seconds to play.

The Tigers are facing a fourth-and-4 from the Renegades' 38.

Woodrow Wilson needs to convert the first down or the game is over. The Tigers have just one timeout, so if the Renegades take possession they could kneel it out and depart Mike Rozier Stadium with a monumental victory.

The safest play would have been a 5-yard hitch to a seasoned veteran such as senior wide receiver Stanley King or junior wide receiver Fadil Diggs.

The second-safest play would have been a curl-in to senior Naiem Simmons, who was having a big game.

Nick Kargman decided to throw a bomb to a freshman who couldn't play in the first half because of an anxiety attack.

That decision showed more about Kargman than all the statistics the quarterback has been producing in a sensational senior season.

That throw — a perfect spiral that Amari Clark caught for the game-winning touchdown at the 1:24 mark of the fourth quarter of an 18-16 victory — spoke louder than any 500-yard or eight-touchdown performance.

"Ice water in his veins," Woodrow Wilson coach Preston Brown said of Kargman.

With his team's perfect season on the line, Kargman was perfect: 6-for-6 for 96 yards in a quintessential two-minute drive, with the clock winding down, with fans on each side on their feet, with both sidelines boiling with excitement.

And who throws that last pass, a leather rainbow that dropped into Clark's hands along the right sideline like one of those throws in a video of an NFL quarterback depositing a football in a barrel from 40 yards away?

"I trust our guys," Kargman said. "I thought we were going to get it. But I knew it was last-play-of-the-game, backs-against-the-wall. That's everything."

Standing on the muddy field after his team escaped with a narrow victory, Brown was shaking his head in wonder at Kargman's willingness to go for broke with a ninth grader when a safe toss to a veteran would have kept hope — and the drive — alive.

"We talked about it," Brown said. "[Kargman] wanted to go up top. I said, 'Do what you do.' "

Kargman is halfway through the best passing season in South Jersey history, which is saying something, since it was just two years ago when Timber Creek's Devin Leary threw for 3,688 yards and 48 touchdowns.

Through six games, Kargman has passed for 2,369 yards and 29 touchdowns.

"This is what I dreamed about," Kargman said.

The statistics are one thing. And Kargman will no doubt see his name at or near the top line of several categories in the record book when this season is complete.

But Saturday's game wasn't about numbers. It was about digging deep. It was about battling through adversity.

Shawnee was open for business. The Renegades took a 14-0 lead and they stymied Kargman and the Woodrow Wilson offense with an excellent defensive game plan.

"They were on their game," Kargman said.

Kargman threw two interceptions in the first half. He was called for intentional grounding in the end zone, giving Shawnee a safety and a 16-12 lead midway through the fourth quarter.

But he never blinked.

He got plenty of help — Simmons and King both made remarkable one-handed snags, and Clark made his second big play in the final 84 seconds with a one-handed interception of a Shawnee pass in the end zone at the 0:19 mark — but Kargman's unflappable confidence set the tone for the Tigers on a tough day.

"Touchdown, incompletion, turnover – it doesn't matter, he comes to the sideline with the same demeanor," Brown said. "He always believes he's going to get it done."

Kargman was at his best on the final drive. He was like a pool shark, running the table, knocking down completion after completion.

He hit Simmons for 8. He hit Clark for 8 more. He hit King for 20. He hit Simmons for 5.

After another intentional-grounding call made it third-and-21, Kargman hit Simmons for 17, with the Woodrow Wilson receiver taking a big hit from Shawnee safety Joe Dalsey but holding the football.

That set up fourth-and-4.

That set the stage for the 38-yard touchdown pass that sent everybody in the old stadium buzzing into the East Camden afternoon.

"One of the things for a quarterback is to have a mind like water," Kargman said. "If a stone goes in the water, it ripples for a couple of seconds then it goes back to normal. That's how I try to keep my mindset. Forget about it and play the next play."