Bedeviled by turnovers

7 turnovers (6 fumbles) conspire to send Penns Grove to its first opening day loss since 2016

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNS GROVE – John Emel has seen it so many times before, but that doesn’t make it any more palatable when it’s happening to you.

It’s the first game of the season. Neither team really knows what the other is bringing. The difference will be who makes the least first-game mistakes.

The Penns Grove coach said as much when discussing Friday’s season opener two days ago.

In a reversal of last year’s opening game, his Red Devils were the ones with too many mistakes this time and they lost to Burlington City 33-22. It was their first loss on opening day since 2016.

They racked up close to 400 yards of offense and outgained the Blue Devils by nearly 120 yards, but they fell victim to six lost fumbles and an interception in what Emel called the worst display of ball security he’s seen as a coach.

“Keys to victory, No. 1 is ball security,” Emel said. “We know we’re young and inexperienced at the quarterback position, but too many older guys – and it wasn’t one guy, it was a combination … You’re not ever going to make those mistakes and win the game. That’s one of the worst in terms of efficiency I’ve seen since I’ve coached.”

One of the more frustrating aspects of it was several of the fumbles came after long runs. The Red Devils ran only one play in the first four minutes of the game – a lost fumble – and were down 13-0. Despite three lost fumbles in the half, they fought back to earn a 16-13 halftime lead, but the third quarter was their downfall.

All four of their possessions in the quarter ended in a turnover. They outgained the Blue Devils by 70 yards in the quarter and fell behind 27-16.

A fumble stopped the opening drive of the second half at midfield. The next possession was an interception on their first pass attempt of the game. The third was a fumble that City’s Dymear Hill returned 71 yards for a touchdown. And the fourth was a fumble in the red zone as they were looking to close the gap.

They did get back to within 27-22 early in the fourth quarter, but Burlington City answered on a touchdown pass from Ayden Shansey to Hill and then stopped the Red Devils on downs in the red zone to effectively put it away. Hill scored three touchdowns. Shansey threw four touchdown passes.

“It’s tough, man, it’s tough,” Emel said. “It’s frustrating. I don’t know how to say it. It hurts. It hurts to work hard and see kids struggle.

“Everything we worked on was there. It’s not really a game-planning thing, it’s an execution thing.”

The Red Devils moved the ball; the rushed for 328 yards in the game. KaRon Ceaser made an impressive varsity debut as their first true freshman skill position starter in nearly 20 years. He rushed for 155 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries and had one interception where he went over a receiver and nearly a second in the end zone. He had 94 yards rushing on 12 carries in the second half.

A year ago he was playing youth football. He said the experience of his first varsity game matched his expectations.

“Most definitely,” he said. “I knew I put the work in, hours in the weight room, practice. It felt good, but I have to stay humble, keep playing.

“I just kept my team up, tried to be a leader as a freshmen. It’s hard, they’re not going to listen to a freshman, but I tried my best.”

If he keeps running like that they’ll listen.

“I feel like he’s ready,” Emel said. “The one thing I will say about him is what he’s going to learn at this level, just like when you move to college and then the NFL, it’s more physically demanding; the game’s harder. Everybody was battling cramps, he was able to fight through. But once he’s able to play at that maximum level for the whole game I think he, just like a lot of guys, can be special.”

Top returning back Bryce Wright rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, many of them carrying multiple tacklers before being brought down and made several big hits on defense. But he also had two of the fumbles.

“On the offensive side of the ball I think I could have done a lot better,” Wright said. “The No. 1 thing on the board is ball security and I think I lacked that today. We can’t win a game like that. Eight turnovers, that’s unacceptable. Eight-thirty on Monday we’re going to fix that, for sure.”

Burlington City 33, Penns Grove 22

BURL CITY (33)		PENNS GROVE (22)
14	1st Downs	17
34-63	Rushes-yds	48-328
9-20-2	Passes	2-4-0
188	Passing yds	41
0-0	Fum-Lost	7-6
3-31.0	Punts-avg	0-0
6-40	Penalties-yds	9-97

Burlington City	13	0	14	6 –	33
Penns Grove	8	8	0	6 –	22

Scoring plays
BC – Micah Anderson 19 pass from Ayden Shansey (Spencer Ostner kick), 9:53 1Q
BC – Dymear Hill 45 pass from Ayden Shansey (pass failed), 7:55 1Q
PG – KaRon Ceaser 3 (Bryce Wright run), 5:24 1Q
PG – KaRon Ceaser 10 run (Bryce Wright run), 5:06 2Q
BC – Malachi James 32 pass from Ayden Shansey (Spencer Ostner kick), 7:30 3Q
BC – Dymear Hill 71 fumble return (Spencer Ostner kick), 5:29 3Q
PG – Bryce Wright 1 run (run failed), 10:24 4Q
BC – Dymear Hill 44 pass from Ayden Shansey (kick failed), 7:28 4Q

Photo: Penns Grove’s KaRon Ceaser cuts around the corner to score his first varsity touchdown and the Red Devils’ first touchdown of the season.