Penns Grove needed ‘one more step’ as its bid for a first win falls short in the final minute in the red zone
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNS GROVE — One play. That’s all that stood between Penns Grove and its first win of the season.
The Red Devils trailed Woodbury by a point with time running out facing fourth-and-15 from the 16. With no reliable kicker on hand, they had to go for it, but the rocket screen they called fell incomplete and they walked away with a 9-8 loss.
Had they pulled it off, the Red Devils (0-8) would carry a lot different mindset into the presumptive final game of coach Marc Maccarone’s second season. Now, they’ll have to beat rival Salem next Saturday to avoid their first winless season in generations.
“We were real close and it sucks that we just needed one more step,” senior running back Jameel Horace said. “Just one more step. If we had that one more step we’d have been perfect.”
The Red Devils rallied from 9-0 to have a chance. Terrell Thomas scored on a 14-yard run and Horace added the two-point conversion to make it 9-8 with 9:47 to play and two timeouts in their pocket.
They had two possessions to get the winning points. The first ended with a five-yard punt, but the defense held the Herd back.
They started the potential winning drive from their 20 with 4:06 to play. Horace got a big chunk of what they needed with a 61-yard burst on the second snap to reach the 11. The senior had 113 of the Red Devils’ 185 rushing yards.
“I thought that was going to bring us back,” Horace said of the longest run of his career. “I thought that was going to be the one.”
But once the Red Devils got into the red zone they didn’t execute.
They netted only one yard on the next two snaps separated by their final time out. Their third-down play lost a yard and then they couldn’t get the next play off in time and were hit with a delay penalty that moved the fourth-down play back to the 16.
They had one snap to either score the go-ahead touchdown or get to the 1 to keep the drive alive. Maccarone would have considered a field goal if they had been closer, but without a reliable kicker they had to go for it.
Quarterback Brayden Lattig threw a hurried pass to Jerry Wooten cutting into the middle that was either too hard or too quick and went off Wooten’s outstretched right hand with 34.7 remaining to end the Red Devils’ chances.
“It was like a quick inside pass,” Lattig said. “The rusher came from my right side so I had to hurry up and throw the ball. It was just a rushed pass, in my opinion.
“We definitely had a chance. We could have won the game with a touchdown, but things happen.”
Woodbury (3-4) took a 7-0 lead into halftime thanks to Niko Jimenez’ 6-yard pass to Elijah Young and Mark Martin’s extra point with 3:28 left in the second quarter. Young caught five passes for 77 yards.
The eventual margin of victory came with 4:14 left in the third quarter when Thomas took a deep handoff in the end zone and was immediately met by a Thundering Herd for a safety.
The Herd mishandled the free kick and Messiah Allah recovered for Penns Grove, sending the Red Devils on the way to their touchdown. Horace ran it inside the 10 on the first snap, but the play was called back by penalty. Allah caught a 23-yard pass a couple snaps later and a personal foul helped get the ball into the red zone.
Thomas, a legend in the youth leagues, scored his second touchdown of the season from 14 yards out. He rushed for 69 yards on a career-high 14 carries.
“I had to step up,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been playing a little bit low to my standards, so I felt like I had to step my game up. It came out today and I scored for my team. I tried to fight to the whistle but came up short in the long run.”
The defense did its part to keep the Red Devils in the game. They held the Herd to minus-17 yards rushing and 73 yards net overall. They gave up minus-17 yards net offense and no first downs in the second half.
Woodbury 9, Penns Grove 8
| WOOD (9) | PG (8) | |
| 6 | 1st Downs | 9 |
| 27-(-17) | Rushing | 34-189 |
| 8-19-0 | Passing | 1-4-1 |
| 90 | Passing yds. | 23 |
| 1-1 | Fumbles-lost | 3-2 |
| 6-33.3 | Punts-avg | 3-24.3 |
| 7-70 | Penalties | 10-90 |
| Woodbury (3-4) | 0 | 7 | 2 | 0- | 9 |
| Penns Grove (0-8) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8- | 8 |
SCORING SUMMARY
WO-Elijah Young 6 pass from Niko Jimenez (Mark Martin kick), 3:28 3Q
WO-Safety, Terrell Thomas tackled in end zone, 4:14 3Q
PG-Terrell Thomas 14 run (Jameel Horace run), 9:47 3Q
WJFL Standings
| DIAMOND | ALL | DIV |
| Glassboro | 8-0 | 4-0 |
| Salem | 4-4 | 3-1 |
| Schalick | 2-6 | 2-2 |
| Woodbury | 3-4 | 2-2 |
| Woodstown | 2-6 | 1-3 |
| Penns Grove | 0-8 | 0-4 |
| PATRIOT | ALL | DIV |
| West Deptford | 7-1 | 5-0 |
| Paulsboro | 7-1 | 5-1 |
| Overbrook | 6-2 | 3-2 |
| Pennsville | 4-4 | 2-3 |
| Collingswood | 5-3 | 2-3 |
| Audubon | 2-5 | 1-4 |
| Camden Catholic | 0-8 | 0-5 |
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Glassboro 35, Schalick 7
Pennsville 44, Lawrence 6
Salem 47, Woodstown 0
Collingswood 28, Camden Catholic 24
SATURDAY’S GAMES
West Deptford 14, Paulsboro 0
Overbrook 48, Audubon 18
Woodbury 9, Penns Grove 8
Riverview Sports News 