Winning in OT

Belinfanti’s walk-off touchdown in overtime gives Woodstown some payback on nemesis Woodbury, overtaking sole possession of first place in the Diamond Division

SALEM COUNTY FOOTBALL
Friday’s Games
Pennsville 42, Overbrook 18
Penns Grove 6, Glassboro 0
Schalick 1, Bishop Eustace 0 (forfeit)
Woodstown 27, Woodbury 21 (OT)
Saturday’s Game
Paulsboro at Salem, noon (Walnut Street)

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODSTOWN — When Woodbury broke Woodstown’s heart in the 2021 South Jersey Group I title game, nobody took it harder than Wolverines quarterback Max Webb.

The pain of that loss has been churning in his gut ever since and he’s spent the rest of his career trying to set things right. He finally got his revenge Friday night.

The Wolverines ended two and a half years of frustration under the hoofs of the Thundering Herd when Bryce Belinfanti fulfilled a life-long dream by scoring a walk-off touchdown in overtime for a 27-21 win and sole possession of first place in the WJFL Diamond Division.

“This is awesome,” Webb said. “We’ve been circling this on our schedule every year since we lost to them in the championship game. There’s no better feeling than beating them finally.”

“It’s amazing,” added Belinfanti. “We came out gunnin’. We knew we had to win at home. We couldn’t get beat three years in a row, once at home, so we knew what we had to do and we did it.”

Belinfanti got the game-winning score on a leg-driving 5-yard run with the hammer of overtime. It put the finishing touch on a 203-yard rushing effort, 159 of which came in the second half and overtime. He and Webb both scored two touchdowns in the game.

“He’s a beast, man,” Webb said. “I don’t know what I’d do without him. He’s been amazing since James (Hill) has gone down. I couldn’t have asked even more from him.”

The Wolverines (5-1) had a chance to win in regulation, but missed a 26-yard field goal (low kick) on the final play of regulation after eating up the final 5:16 after the Herd tied the game.

Woodbury got the ball first in overtime, but failed to score with Gerrett Leyman squashing their last hope with an interception on fourth down. Earlier in the drive, it had a touchdown called back for an ineligible man downfield one play after they reset the chains on a pass interference on a pass to the end zone Stretch Armstrong couldn’t catch.

It took the Wolverines six plays to get the game winner. Webb kept the drive alive with a 4-yard pickup on third down that didn’t quite move the chains, but they got a boost from a facemask penalty. 

Woodstown coach John Adams admitted on the game-winning play he was about to call time because he didn’t like the look, but he let it go and Belinfanti did his thing. The running back was stopped on the play at first contact, but kept churning his legs to keep the pile moving until he finally saw the goal line beneath him.

“A huge game like that against a team like this is definitely special,” Belinfanti said. “A walk-off touchdown in an overtime win is something I’ve dreamed of. I’ve always wanted to be in these situations and I made it happen.”

The Wolverines had an eerily quiet demeanor about them in pregame warmups, prompting Hill to comment to Adams it was like the calm before storm to which Adams replied he hoped they would be the lightning.

It took a little while for the storm to roll in. The Wolverines didn’t have a lot of opportunities to make something happen in the first half and trailed 13-7 at the break. They had only three possessions and one was with 30 seconds left after Woodbury retook the lead. The Herd only had it three times in the half themselves, but scored on two of the possessions.

Woodstown turned it around after halftime. Adams implored his team to put together some long drives in the second half and they answered the call. They had 206 yards in the second half and overtime – all on the ground to chew up the clock. They had the ball four times, scored on three and missed the potential game-winning field goal on the final play of regulation on the other.

With Woodstown controlling the clock, Woodbury had the ball for only three of the first 13 and a half minutes of the second half – all of six plays. The Herd had only 95 yards of net offense in the second half and overtime, and 52 of that came on a run by Wilson Torres on their game-tying drive.

“That’s classic Woodstown football right there,” Webb said. “Ground and pound, making sure they don’t get the ball as much as we do and taking all the time off the clock.”

Woodbury (3-3) has now lost three in a row with injured quarterback Donte Viccharelli out of the lineup, and that hasn’t happened since 2020. Viccharelli is expected to be out another two weeks.

Jayden Johnson stepped up and moved the Herd’s offense, running for one touchdowns, throwing 79 yards for another and connecting on the game-tying two-point conversion. He was 7-of-8 for 127 yards passing in the first half, but the Wolverines clamped down in the second half and harassed him into one completion and two interceptions.

The Wolverines may have exorcized some demons with Friday’s win, but there’s a little more carrot left before they can be completely satisfied in this series.

“It’s not completely gone yet,” Webb said. “This is only the regular season, a big game in the regular season, but it’s only regular season. So if we see them in the playoffs again that’s the one I’m circling.”

Woodstown 27, Woodbury 21 (OT)

WBURY (21)		WTOWN (27)
14	1st Downs	21
25-156	Rushing	47-286
9-16-2	Passes	5-8-1
153	Passing	56
2-0	Fumb-lost	0-0
0-0	Punts-avg	0-0
3-20	Penalties	5-42

Woodbury (3-3)	7	6	0	8	0 –	21
Woodstown (5-1)	0	7	7	7	6 –	27

Scoring plays:
WB – Anthony Reagan Jr. 11 run (Jayden Johnson kick), 5:15 1Q
WD – Bryce Belinfanti 7 run (Jake Ware kick), 0:57 2Q
WB – Marquis Taylor 79 pass from Jayden Johnson (kick failed), 0:26 2Q
WD – Max Webb 3 run (Jake Ware kick), 8:14 3Q
WD – Max Webb 4 run (Jake Ware kick), 10:28 4Q
WB – Jayden Johnson 8 run (Ibn Muhammad pass from Jayden Johnson), 5:19 4Q
WD – Bryce Belinfanti 5 run (no attempt), OT