Game of inches

Penns Grove jumps out early in title game, but Woodbury rallies to win; 4 Salem County teams compete

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

VOORHEES — Coaches will tell you all the time it’s not about winning and losing in these off-season 7-on-7 passing tournaments, just about getting better.

Still, you couldn’t help feel this one stung Penns Grove a little.

The Red Devils lost to Woodbury in the finals of the Adam Taliaferro Foundation Larry Ginsburg 7-on-7 Classic Saturday 21-12 in a championship game they were within inches of putting away.

They opened a 12-0 lead on the defending Group 1 state champions and appeared to take an 18-point lead when freshman Ka’Ron Ceaser raced into the end zone to complete a long pass play from Romello Erickson.

But although it looked from many angles and both sidelines Ceaser had scored, he was ruled down at the 1 on a touch by Woodbury linebacker Jasir Hawkins.

Caesar thought he was in. Penns Grove coach John Emel thought Ceaser got in — and so did Woodbury coach Anthony Reagan, leaving him to believe his Thundering Herd had a big mountain to climb with little time to do it.

But that’s where the game turned.

With the touchdown denied, on the next play Herd linebacker and tournament MVP Kahsir Nesmith intercepted Erickson in the end zone.

Now, not only did the Red Devils not have an 18-0 lead with a chance to add more, Woodbury cut the deficit to 12-3 and had the ball, which it promptly turned into a touchdown and two-point conversion to make it a one-point game.

“We’re up 12-0 and they call him down on the one-inch line in a touch league; very close,” Emel said. “The game’s over if it’s 18-, 19-nothing. Instead of 18-, 19- or 20-nothing it’s 12-3 and they have the the ball. Winning and losing, what do they say, a game of inches, there’s a good example.

“We had the game won, but I told (his team) in the huddle and I’ll tell them again, we’ll see them a couple more times. We’ve got them in the regular season and we’ll see them in the playoffs. They’re the defending state champs. To be the man you’ve got to beat the man. We’ll see them again.”

The Herd stopped Penns Grove on the possession after their touchdown to take the lead and then extended it on the following offensive possession with a touchdown from Marquis Taylor. A defensive stop on the final possession capped the 21 consecutive points and brought the final margin.

Ceaser thought he was “definitely in” on the play. He admitted feeling a touch, but it was after he was in the end zone. Reagan had to say it had him worried, which made the comeback all the more satisfying.

“It showed the guys’ grit,” Reagan said. “That’s one of the things we talk about (as) the Woodbury way, always welcome competition. Early on, we were up on Woodstown in pool play and they came back to win. We talked about when you have a chance to get ahead of somebody you’ve got to learn how to finish.

“That’s the first time we really got behind and had to claw back and come back on top. The biggest thing it showed there was their grit.”

Penns Grove won its bracket in a three-team tiebreaker with Timber Creek and Eastern “by playing good defense” and then beat Woodstown in overtime in the semifinals to reach the tournament finals for the first time. Woodbury made the semifinals as the wildcard and won a close one over Oakcrest to reach the finals.

The Red Devils held two of their pool opponents to fewer than 10 points and gave up 37 total. They beat Collingswood in their opener 10-7, lost to Eastern 24-17 when they couldn’t convert in the final minute and beat Timber Creek 7-6 with a goal-line stand.

“You want to learn how to win close games right now when it doesn’t count officially,” Emel said. “Nobody remembers your 7-on-7 record, nobody wins a scrimmage, it’s about getting better.

“That’s every big game I’ve ever seen. You watch the NFL, every game comes down to a team needing a score or a stop. We were able to get a stop there (against Timber Creek) and when the offense needed to get a score in the previous game and didn’t get it, we lost. That’s what this is about, getting experience.”

Woodstown won its bracket with a three-game sweep that included come-from-behind wins over Schalick (13-10) and Woodbury (11-10) and a battle with Nottingham (22-16).

They led Penns Grove in the semifinals 12-2 and 15-5 with five minutes left before the Red Devils rallied with two defensive stops and a touchdown by Omarion Pierce. The Wolverines built their lead on Max Webb’s touchdown pass to Carter Orlandini and interceptions by Alex Torres, Anthony Mordell and Orlandini.

Penns Grove scored first in overtime on Bryce Wright’s touchdown catch and the Red Devils denied three straight passes when they went out on defense.

“We were just out here today; we don’t practice for 7-on-7,” Wolverines coach John Adams said. “We had about three practices and weight room sessions so far this year, so we just look at it as a day to come out, have fun, let the kids run around. It’s kind of whoever can make it can make it and we had some young guys today who may have had their first ever experience in 7-on-7.

“I said to them just now going 3-0 in pool play and making the semifinals is something we haven’t done since they started this tournament. We’ve always seemed to be 2-1 and that team outside of the semifinals and I said for some of you guys who have never played 7-on-7 before coming in and being able to go 3-0 and get to the semifinals is pretty good and something to build off of for our practices.”

Schalick is one of those teams that doesn’t focus on wins and losses in these 7-on-7s, just getting better. Their final game loss to Woodbury (29-0) notwithstanding, the Cougars are convinced they got better.

They opened the day with a close loss to Woodstown (13-10) after building an early 10-2 lead and then beat Nottingham (20-11).

“We wanted to compete today, we’re finding our way to win and that’s part of the process,” Cougars coach Mike Wilson said. “We had to learn to win. That’s why we do this.”

Pennsville didn’t win a game in pool play, but the Eagles got better the longer they played. They lost their opener to Oakcrest 28-2, fell to Paulsboro 30-22 and then earned a 16-16 tie with Kingsway in their final game, turning back a potential game-winning extra point to preserve the result. There was no overtime.

“I’m proud of what we did, but I would’ve loved another chance to win the game,” Eagles coach Mike Healy said. 

The Eagles just finished their first week of summer workouts, so they’re a work in progress. They brought only three senior skill-position players to the tournament and only had about eight pass plays in their offense.

“Our first game we played terrible, we just didn’t play with an aggressive strategy; we were a little unsure of ourselves,” Healy said. “But the second and third game we played with some more attitude and aggressiveness and we kind of got a roll going offensively and defensively, kids started stepping up and just played a lot better overall. We can take a lot of positives from the way we finished today.”

Adam Taliaferro Foundation
Larry Ginsburg 7-x-7 Classic

BRACKET I	W-L	BRACKET II	W-L	BRACKET III	W-L
Penns Grove	2-1	Woodstown	3-0	Oakcrest	3-0
Timber Creek	2-1	Woodbury	2-1	Kingsway-x	1-1
Eastern	2-1	Schalick	1-2	Paulsboro	1-2
Collingswood	0-3	Nottingham	0-3	Pennsville-x	0-2