What might have been

Defending state champ Woodbury scores four first-quarter touchdowns, sends Penns Grove to third straight loss

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODBURY – Coaches will tell you no one single play in a game as one-sided as Saturday’s Penns Grove-Woodbury matchup is any more important than another, but you still have to wonder how things might have changed had Penns Grove’s Kylee Goodson brought down that interception in the end zone in the first quarter instead of having it slip through his hands.

The game was still scoreless when the heavily favored Thundering Herd lined up at the 6 after being pushed off the 1 by a penalty. Goodson, a sophomore in his first year of football, got perfect position between Herd quarterback Donta Viccharelli and the receiver. He had his left hand on the ball, but couldn’t to bring in and it fell harmlessly incomplete.

With a new life, the Herd scored on the next play on AJ Reagan’s 6-yard touchdown run and added three more touchdowns in the 47-minute quarter on the way to a 42-6 victory.

In the game of what-ifs, had Goodson made the pick, perhaps the early momentum would have swung towards the Red Devils (0-3), who were needing something good come their way, and maybe put some doubt in the minds of the defending state champions for allowing a team to hang around.

“I thought that, too,” Goodson agreed. “I was so close, but unfortunately I dropped it.”

There’s no blame there, just a missed opportunity. After Reagan ran it in for the first touchdown of the game, the Thundering Herd (2-0) stopped the Red Devils’ offense on a pair of three-and-outs and a first-snap fumble and converted all three into touchdowns.

Reagan scored on a 62-yard run, Viccharelli ran in from 18 yards out and then hit Jayden Johnson with a 12-yard touchdown pass for a 26-0 lead. And there were still more than two minutes left in the quarter.

“When you’re playing a team that good, you can’t miss any opportunities,” Penns Grove coach John Emel said. “Those are the kinds of plays you have to make if you’re going to upset somebody, that’s for sure, and there’s no doubt about it they’re a big favorite.”

Woodbury coach Anthony Reagan wouldn’t call the missed pick a game-changer, but he agreed the Herd caught a break.

“That’s the thing about life,” he said. “As you’re going through these seasons you look back on certain points and you do see where good fortune goes in your favor and in that moment it did

“When you’re playing in a football game early on both teams believe so if you give anybody the opportunity to stay in the football game you never know what the outcome will be. For us to be able to capitalize on that allowed us to be able to build on the momentum moving forward in the game.”

AJ Reagan rushed for 105 yards in that big first quarter and had 149 yards in the game. Viccharelli threw for 190 yards and three touchdowns – two to Marquis Taylor – and accounted for four touchdowns altogether.

On the two scoring throws to Taylor, the receiver lunged over a defensive back in the end zone to pull down one and the other he caught in stride over the middle. Viccharelli had a fourth touchdown pass wiped out by a penalty in the fourth quarter.

“It was great for us to get out to a fast start,” Anthony Reagan said. “We wanted to be better than what we were last week, so for us to be able to come out and really execute what we wanted to do early on was a great sign for us.”

Penns Grove nearly doubled its offense in the second half that was played with a running clock and went faster than the first quarter. The Red Devils got most of their yards on a 60-yard Bryce Wright run that opened the half and freshman KaRon Ceaser’s 55-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. 

The Red Devils look to end their losing streak next week at Salem. Even though both teams are winless, but because the teams play in the tough WJFL Diamond Division Emel likens the game to a playoff qualifier. Penns Grove opened last season 1-6 and still made the playoffs even though it didn’t win in a game in the division.

“We’ve just got to go win games,” Emel said. “We play a tough enough schedule. The winner of next week’s game is getting in. We’re not looking for anything else but the game next week.”

Woodbury 42, Penns Grove 6

PG (6)		WOOD (42)
8	1st Downs	14
20-152	Rushes-yds	23-178
6-12-1	Passes	10-13-0
60	Passing yards	217
3-2	Fumbles-lost	1-0
2-39.5	Punts-avg	1-33.0
5-40	Penalties-yds	8-63

Penns Grove (0-3)	0	0	0	6 –	6
Woodbury (2-0)	26	8	8	0 –	42

Scoring plays
W – AJ Reagan 6 run (run failed), 9:40 1Q
W – AJ Reagan 62 run (pass failed), 6:55 1Q
W – Donta Viccharelli 18 run (pass failed), 3:42 1Q
W – Jayden Johnson 12 pass from Donta Viccharelli (Jayden Johnson pass from Donta Viccharelli), 2:20 1Q
W – Marquis Taylor 38 pass from Donta Viccharelli (Doran Dunbar from Donta Viccharelli), 3:33 2Q
W – Marquis Taylor 61 pass from Donta Viccharelli (Donta Viccharelli run), 1:40 3Q
PG – KaRon Ceaser 55 run (kick failed), 10:42 4Q

Top photo: Woodbury quarterback Donta Viccharelli (L) and running back A.J. Reagan (C) had big games against Penns Grove. (Photo by Jada Sayers. Jada’s photos on South Jersey football can be found on her Instagram platform: @flicksbyj4)