Making a little history

Penns Grove wins late-scheduled season finale, makes some history with freshman, multiple 1,000-yard rushers

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNS GROVE – John Emel will never pass up a chance to give his football team one more game to play, so when the opportunity came up a couple days ago to play one last game that was mutually beneficial to both sides he didn’t hesitate. And it gave his Penns Grove team a chance to make some history.

Make that a lot of history.

The Red Devils beat Riverside 51-22 Thursday to score their sixth win of the season and finish at .500 or better for the first time since 2021. It was the most points they’ve scored in a game since a 54-7 win over Woodbury in the second round of the 2019 playoffs.

Bryce Wright rushed for 195 yards and four touchdowns and Karon Ceaser rushed for 180 yards and a score. The additional game allowed Ceaser to become their first freshman to rush for 1,000 since 2005 and gave them two 1,000-yard rushers in the same season for the first time since 2012.

“There were a lot of historical firsts,” Emel said.

Wright finished the season with 1,278 yards and 14 rushing touchdowns, while Ceaser wound up with 1,085 yards and eight rushing touchdowns. Both players return next season when the Red Devils are expected to open the year in the Battle at the Beach.

The last Penns Grove freshman to rush for 1,000 yards in a season was Aaron Hayward (1,049), who went on to rush for 4,479 in his career. The last Red Devils’ duo to go for 1,000 in the same year was Nick Elmer (1,341) and Anthony Robertson. (1,244).

“Nowadays, in the era of the spread, pass-happy offense, it’s something you don’t see,” Emel said. “That’s just a credit to the line and the commitment to the effort of those guys working hard. They’re two guys who represent our program well.”

Wright scored on runs of 32, 3, 73 and 40 yards. He carried multiple Riverside defenders on his back for the last 20 yards of his first touchdown and he either slipped or juked at least three defenders after Isaiah Upshur sealed the block on the 73-yard run.

Ceaser, the Red Devils’ first true freshman starting skill position player in 20 years, scored only once, on a 3-yard run, and missed two other chances to score on runs of 60 and 36 yards. 

The 60-yarder left him one yard shy of 1,000; he went over the milestone on his next carry, cutting back across the field to make positive yardage. He missed a chance to score on the 36-yarder when he did a Dak Prescott, stepping on the sideline at the 3 trying to catapult into the end zone.

“I was thankful for it,” Ceaser said of the milestone. “It was just hard work, that’s all it is. I knew it could happen because I know my ability to do stuff. When I woke up this morning I was like I’m going to get this 1,000. I’m going to get it.”

His running mate in the backfield knew it, too.

“I think he’s a D-I athlete,” Wright said. “I’ve been watching him play since Midgets (and) he’s been the guy, so when he came through here we knew he was going to be the best freshmen we’ve had.”

The fact the Red Devils got to .500 before packing up the gear for the winter was an incredible story in itself. They started the season 0-3 and 1-4 and were down 19-0 at halftime to Paulsboro in their sixth game.

But they cut down their turnovers and turned it around. The scored 22 second-half points to beat Paulsboro and won three in a row to give them a chance to grab a piece of the WJFL Diamond Division title. They made the playoffs and won a first-round game over a legendary coach before being eliminated in what would have been their final game before Thursday.

“It’s nice to finish .500, it’s nice to finish with six wins (and) to beat another quality opponent,” Emel said. “It’s nice to play this week instead of waiting nine months to get back on the field. Getting a home game for our seniors to go out with a win, that’s all icing on the cake. You got to end the season on a high note.”

And 6-6 will make the entire offseason feel a lot better going into summer workouts.

“I’m very excited with how far we came,” Wright said. “We made it to the second round of the playoffs. We fought ‘til we couldn’t any more. I asked my team to fight for four quarters and that’s what they did for me.”

“It’s our season next year,” Upshur said. “A championship team next year. We just started off slow.”

Cover photo: Bryce Wright (1) leads the way for Karon Ceaser to get around the corner during Penns Grove’s game against Riverside Thursday. The backs combined for 374 yards rushing in the game to give the Red Devils a pair of 1,000-yarder rushers this season.

Penns Grove 51, Riverside 22

RIV (22)		PG (51)
19	1st Downs	13
39-188	Rushing	23-429
13-17-0	Passes	0-1-0
128	Passing	0
0-0	Fum-lost	2-1
2-32.0	Punts-avg	0-0
1-5	Penalties	4-30

Riverside (6-4)	6	8	8	0 –	22
Penns Grove (6-6)	8	22	13	8 –	51