A tough first quarter sends Woodstown to defeat in Group 1 state semifinals, Glassboro headed back to state title game
GROUP I SEMIFINALS
Glassboro 36, Woodstown 0
Cedar Grove 52, Butler 21
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Glassboro vs. Cedar Grove
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
GLASSBORO – The Woodstown coaches gathered their players at the 30-yard line for one final post-game huddle. While the other team celebrated at the other end of the field, the coaches stood before the Wolverines and one by one told them how proud they were of what they had done this season.
The comments were genuine, the sudden finality made it emotional, but it really wasn’t the message the players were prepared to hear. The Wolverines came into this cold, rainy night with designs on getting to the state championship game.
But Glassboro scored three touchdowns in the first quarter and rode them to a 36-0 win that sent them to Group I title game for the second straight year and ended the Wolverines’ season one game short of the promised land for the second year in a row.
“The game didn’t have the outcome we wanted, but we fought through everything,” Woodstown senior running back Bryce Belinfanti said. “We had fun in our last game and we just trooped it out. That’s what it was about, trooping it out. Everyone on the field has character and that’s something we’ll walk away with forever.”
The undefeated Bulldogs (12-0), who now face undefeated Cedar Grove in next week’s title game, jumped out to a 22-0 lead in the first quarter with the help of a couple happy accidents.
Amari Sabb took a pop pass from Jack O’Connell 7 yards to open the scoring, then Kenny Smith scored on a pair of 1-yard runs after the Bulldogs recovered back-to-back onsides kicks that looked like brilliant strategy but actually weren’t planned at all.
Freshman Moses Robles, Glassboro’s kickoff specialist, just missed both kicks. Mehki Parker recovered the first one at the Woodstown 45, Davon Barr got the second at the 50 and it didn’t take long for the Bulldogs to find the end zone after either one.
“We didn’t plan it,” Glassboro coach Timmy Breaker said. “He just kind of muffed it on both of them and they got both of them. That changed the game. We didn’t plan for that to happen and when it happened a second time around I couldn’t believe it. A broken clock is right twice a day.”
“It didn’t surprise me, really,” Belinfanti said. “It’s the semis, people gotta do what they’ve gotta do to win.”
Although his two touchdown runs were short, Smith wound up rushing for 204 yards to close in on 5,000 career yards. The senior transfer set the tone for the Bulldogs when he broke off a 59-yard run on their first play from scrimmage and he had a 48-yard run in the middle of the second quarter worthy of its own SportsCenter moment.
“He’s made our offense so dynamic,” Breaker said. “He’s made us so explosive. Having a seasoned guy, a senior, back there able to run that football and sometimes you just lean on him to do it. In a game like this – we talked about it earlier at school – we knew coming out he was getting that ball and he was excited for it.”
Xavier Sabb went 22 yards with a screen pass in the final minute of the second quarter to give the Bulldogs a 30-0 halftime lead.
“We made some mistakes early, we put ourselves in a little bit of a hole,” Woodstown coach Frank Trautz said. “That’s a very talented team over there. I don’t think the score was indicative of the guys we have, but it is what it is tonight. We just came up short.”
Trautz appealed to his players’ legacy in his halftime speech and the Wolverines showed a lot of moxie in the second half. He noted the players have been teammates since they were little and may be heading into their final 24 minutes together so make the most of them.
They responded by driving into the red zone on their opening possession of the half before turning it over. They also stopped the Bulldogs with an interception by Carter Orlandini and a fumble recovery in the red zone. The only touchdown Glassboro scored after halftime came on a 6-yard pick-six in the fourth quarter.
“We found ourselves in a big hole, but the second half we battled,” quarterback Garrett Leyman said. “We never gave up and I think anybody who was here can see that. (The second half) just showed we never give up, it doesn’t matter what the score is, what the weather is, wer’e never ready to go home, and we showed it tonight.”
The Wolverines (10-2) reached the state semifinals for the second year in a row with a first-year head coach and quarterback in the second half of the year that hadn’t played the position since eighth grade.
Leyman, a senior receiver and defensive back, burst on the scene as a quarterback with a four-touchdown debut at Salem and stayed in the position the rest of the season as Jack Holladay never returned from his shoulder injury and directed the Wolverines to four wins.
Their only two losses of the season both came to Glassboro – in the Diamond Division title game and Friday night – prompting the stadium public address announcer to say the Wolverines would have had an undefeated season if it weren’t for the Bulldogs.
“I think I had a lot of things I could’ve cleaned up and done better for my team,” Leyman said. “I’m proud of myself for stepping up, (but) I just think there’s a lot I could’ve done to change the outcome. This wasn’t the final goal. We wanted to make it to the state championship.”
Glassboro 36, Woodstown 0
| WOOD | GLASS | |
| 7 | 1st Downs | 17 |
| 37-90 | Rushing | 25-261 |
| 2-3-1 | C-A-I | 11-14-1 |
| 9 | Passing | 109 |
| 5-4 | Fum-lost | 1-1 |
| 2-24.5 | Punts | 0-0 |
| 3-25 | Penalties | 8-50 |
| Woodstown (10-2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0- | 0 |
| Glassboro (12-0) | 22 | 8 | 0 | 6- | 36 |
SCORING SUMMARY
G-Amari Sabb 8 pass from Jack O’Connell (kick failed), 8:17 1Q
G-Kenny Smith 1 run (Amari Sabb run), 5:53 1Q
G-Kenny Smith 1 run (Xavier Sabb pass from Jack O’Connell), 2:07 1Q
G-Xavier Sabb 22 pass from Jack O’Connell (Amari Sabb run), 33.5 2Q
G-Maurice Davis 6 interception return (kick failed), 9:18 4Q
NJSIAA PLAYOFFS
GROUP 2 SEMIFINALS
Rumson-Fair Haven 44, Point Pleasant Bobo 10
Shabazz 8, Hanover Park 7
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Rumson-Fair Haven vs. Shabazz
GROUP 3 SEMIFINALS
Old Tappan 43, Pascack Valley 14
Mainland 36, Somerville 35
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Old Tappan vs. Mainland
GROUP 4 SEMIFINALS
Phillipsburg 35, Ramapo 6
Millville at Winslow (Saturday)
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Phillipsburg vs. Millville-Winslow
GROUP 5 SEMIFINALS
Union City 42, East Orange 0
Toms River North 27, Washington Twp. 10
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Union City vs. Toms River North
NON-PUBLIC A SEMIFINALS
St. Joseph (Mont.) at Bergen Catholic (Saturday)
Don Bosco Prep 35, St. Augustine 14
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
St. Joseph (Mont.)-Bergen Catholic vs. Don Bosco Prep
NON-PUBLIC B SEMIFINALS
(Saturday Games)
Holy Spirit at DePaul
St. John Vianney at Pope John
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Holy Spirit-DePaul vs. St. John Vianney-Pope John
Riverview Sports News 