Cougars season comes to end

Glassboro makes 3 big plays, defense scores another playoff shutout in handing Schalick season-ending first loss in CJ Group I championship game

GROUP I SECTIONAL FINALS
South: Woodstown 21, Woodbury 14
Central: Glassboro 20, Schalick 0
North I: Mountain Lakes 35, Hawthorne 14
North II: Shabazz 40, Butler 13
STATE SEMIFINALS
Glassboro (8-3) at Woodstown (9-2), Friday, 7 p.m.
Mountain Lakes (9-2) vs. Shabazz (8-3)

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PITTSGROVE – Schalick coach Mike Wilson has been involved in enough big games to know they usually are defined by two things. The team that makes the fewest mistakes and the team that makes the biggest plays usually wins.

His Cougars didn’t make many mistakes Friday night, but they just didn’t make any big plays. Glassboro, on the other hand, got three big plays from a couple freshmen and its defense was as stingy as ever in handing Schalick its first loss of the season, 20-0, in the Central Jersey Group I championship game.

The Bulldogs (8-3) will now play at Woodstown Friday in the Group I state semifinals. The teams met earlier this year with Glassboro winning 13-7 in overtime.

“We played very well defensively tonight,” Wilson said. “We literally might have even played our best defensive game this year, in all honesty. They had three plays. Outside of that, we forced them to punt, turned them over on downs, we just could not make a play on offense tonight. It was a game of missed opportunities.

“I’ve coached in these games before and it’s who makes the bigger plays. It’s usually who makes the least amount of mistakes and who makes the most plays. We really didn’t make a mistake tonight, we made literally no plays tonight.”

Three big plays from two freshmen and a defense that hasn’t given up anything in the playoffs proved to be the Cougars’ undoing.

Xavier Sabb caught a 53-yard touchdown pass from fellow freshman Kristopher Foster and scored on a 24-yard run after picking up a backwards bubble screen that hit the ground and was ruled a lateral. The Schalick players stopped as soon as the ball hit the ground, but Sabb picked it up and took off.

Foster also threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Dayshaun Day midway through the second quarter to open the scoring.

Schalick’s offense, meanwhile, couldn’t get anything going. Glassboro has posted three straight shutouts in the playoffs, four in its last five games and hasn’t given up more than one touchdown in any of its last eight games.

It was Cougars’ first loss at home this season and the first time they’ve been shutout last year’s season opener.

“Their defense played amazing tonight and we didn’t have an answer for them,” Wilson said.

The loss ended one of the best seasons in Schalick history. The Cougars (11-1) won 11 games for only the second time in school history, won the WJFL Horizon Division for the second year in a row (they’re expected to be in a different division with more Salem County schools next year) and were the overall No. 2 seed in South Jersey Group I. Four years ago they were 0-7.

“One game doesn’t define our season, but this still stinks,” Wilson said. “You’re in the championship game and you played well enough to win, you just didn’t make the plays.

“Our kids were really in good spirits at the end of the game. I think they realized we’re going to be okay. The turnaround we’ve done the last four years has been tremendous. Our kids are ready to go already. They were already talking about next season as they were leaving the locker room. They want to meet up in the weight room tomorrow.”

Glassboro 20, Schalick 0

Scoring plays
G – Dayshaun Day 40 pass from Kristopher Foster (kick failed), 5:27 2Q
G – Xavier Sabb 53 pass from Kristopher Foster (run failed), 1:16 2Q
G – Xavier Sabb 24 run (Davon Barr run), 6:51 3Q

Cover photo by Heather Papiano