Quarterback scores on a 63-yard scramble in the final two minutes to lift Schalick past Shore Regional and into the Central Jersey Group I finals
CENTRAL JERSEY GROUP I
Friday’s games
Schalick 16, Shore Regional 14
Glassboro 20, South Hunterdon 0
Championship
Friday
Glassboro at Schalick, 7 p.m.
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE – Kenai Simmons has learned to be a quarterback and passer this season, but his bread and butter has always been his legs. And when it came down to having to make something happen Friday night he used those legs to carry Schalick to a place it hasn’t been in two decades.
With the Cougars whole undefeated season on the line, Simmons pulled it down on a pass play that wasn’t there and scrambled 63 yards for the touchdown with 1:20 to play to give the Cougars a 16-14 win over Shore Regional and a spot in the Central Jersey Group I finals.
The Cougars (11-0) will host Glassboro Friday in their first sectional final appearance since 2004.
“Kenai just took over the game,” Schalick coach Mike Wilson said. “It was reminiscent of the Gloucester City game, throwing, running; he just flat out took over the game. He wasn’t going to lose.
“You’re right, he’s evolved as a passer, but he’ll break your back with his legs.”
The Cougars opened a 10-0 lead in the first quarter but had several opportunities to add a lot more and those missed chances came back to haunt them as they fell behind 14-10 midway through the third quarter.
They got their chance to win it at the end after stopping the Blue Devils (6-4) on fourth down at the 5, one of four fourth downs they won in the game. Actually, they had to cover 97 yards to get the winning score after a false start on the first snap had the back of their britches backed up to the goal line.
“There was no panic,” Wilson said, the Cougars just put their fate in the hands of their playmakers.
Reggie Allen got them some breathing room with a nice run and then Simmons hit Levi Feeney-Childers with a pass to create some more space. Then the quarterback lowered the boom.
The Cougars wanted to throw a play-action pass, but all the receivers were covered. The Blue Devils had been blitzing all night and Simmons knew it coming on that play. That’s when he pulled it down and tried to get as much as he could.
Once he got to midfield and the sideline everyone thought he was going to step out, but when Nylan Sutton and Nyzier Wynder cleared a path on the right side he saw nothing but green grass in front of him and raced to the end zone.
“I had to get in there,” Simmons said. “It was definitely a do-or-die. We had to get it done.
“You know our school’s history. They call us ‘the same old Schalick,’ ‘scrubs,’ whatever. It meant a lot (to score there) for a lot of the guys, especially our four-year seniors. They went through a lot their freshman year, getting blown out almost every game. It also meant a lot to Reggie Allen’s family. All the Allens went through Schalick and we were seeing them at the game tonight and putting on for them.”
The touchdown scramble gave him 105 rushing yards in the game, putting him at 883 for the season. He also threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Jake Siedlecki in the first quarter and completed 9-of-15 passes for 122 yards.
“My history was about me using my legs a lot, not me throwing the ball, not me being a quarterback or a leader of a team,” Simmons said. “I think people have to respect that. I call it pick your poison. Whatever one you pick, you better try your hardest to stop it. I don’t want to be that quarterback who guys are like ‘this guy is gonna run.’ I definitely look at my wide receivers before I think about running.”
The Cougars still had some work to do after the touchdown and the Blue Devils didn’t make it easy for them. The visitors moved the ball downfield against the nickel package, but Siedlecki ended any threat with an interception inside the final minute.
“We found a way to win tonight,” Wilson said. “It wasn’t a perfect game by any stretch, it was a good, hard football game, but they found a way to win. That’s a characteristic of this team. We have games where we’re not playing perfectly, but we find a way to win football games.”
As for next week, the Cougars have played Glassboro only once before in Wilson’s four years as their head coach. It was his first game as their coach and the Cougars got crushed 54-7. In their last 24 games, however, they are 21-3.
“I feel like this is a challenge,” Simmons said. “I feel like everyone doubts us, you know how they get. We’re going to come out there and ball and give it our all and we’ll see the results. We believe in ourselves. I don’t know about anybody else.”
Schalick 16, Shore 14
| SHORE | SCHAL | |
| 9 | 1st Downs | 17 |
| 40-143 | Rushing | 32-175 |
| 10-16-1 | Passes | 9-15-1 |
| 112 | Passing | 122 |
| 0-0 | Fum-lost | 0-0 |
| 3-23.7 | Punts-avg | 1-39.0 |
| 5-37 | Penalties | 6-48 |
| Shore Regional (6-4) | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 – | 14 |
| Schalick (11-0) | 10 | 0 | 0 | 6 – | 16 |
Scoring plays
S – Hunter Dragotta 26 FG, 6:57 1Q
S – Jake Siedlecki 26 pass from Kenai Simmons (Hunter Dragotta kick), 2:41 1Q
SR – Lucas White 5 run (Cyrus Unangst kick), 2:01 2Q
SR – CJ Sears 16 pass from Josh Moeller (Cyrus Unangst kick), 6:54 3Q
S – Kenai Simmons 63 run (pass failed), 1:20 4Q
Riverview Sports News 