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

Wolverines win first South Jersey Group I sectional title in school history, edge Woodbury to avenge loss in 2021 title game

GROUP I SECTIONAL FINALS
Friday’s Games
South: Woodstown 21, Woodbury 14
Central: Glassboro 29, Schalick 0
North I: Mountain Lakes 35, Hawthorne 14
North II: Shabazz 40, Butler 13
State Semifinals
Nov. 17
Glassboro (8-3) at Woodstown (9-2), 7 p.m.
Shabazz (8-3) at Mountain Lakes (9-2), 7 p.m.

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODSTOWN — In the more than 100 years Woodstown has been playing football, the Wolverines had never won a sectional championship. You won’t believe where they found the play that finally got them over the hump.

Max Webb threw a 33-yard pass to emerging receiver Anthony Bokolas on the first play of the fourth quarter for what proved to be the winning touchdown in the Wolverines’ 21-14 win over Woodbury in the South Jersey Group I final Friday night.

The Wolverines (9-2) will now host Glassboro (8-3) next week for a chance to play in the Group I state title game. The teams played earlier this year with the Bulldogs winning 13-7 in overtime. It’ll be the Wolverines’ third straight regular-season rematch in this year’s playoffs.

Woodstown had been to the sectional final three times before, twice with coach John Adams, but had always come up on the short end. Friday night’s win in front of a Clint Ware Field crowd of more than 1,500 earned the Wolverines a measure of revenge for the Thundering Herd breaking their hearts in the 2021 final.

“We’ve talked about doing this for a while,” Adams said. “We joked around with the coaching staff saying maybe the third time’s a charm. We talked about how not only us but a couple other programs haven’t been able to conquer this step and it’s special to try to get this for the town, for the school and I’m super proud that our kids were able to do it.”

“This is the biggest win for this town, this organization, this community,” Webb said. “You can’t put into words how big of a win this was, especially knocking off the Group I state champions last year. It’s awesome.”

The touchdown that won it snapped a 14-14 tie. It was a play the Wolverines had deep in their playbook and practiced every day but had never run out of the formation they planned to plug it into, so Adams simply drew it up on his play board on the sideline to see what it looked like before sending it into Webb to call.

Bokolas, a junior, was wide open down the right side and Webb hit him in the numbers.

“Coach Adams drew it up right on his paper right there, 127 waggle,” Bokolas said. “He told me to run a corner, that’s what I ran, wide open for the touchdown. He drew it up at halftime. Whenever they need me, I’m ready.”

“We’ve had that play all season; it’s in the playbook, way down there,” Webb said. “Maybe he forgot about it and just pulled it out in the biggest game of our season so far. It worked perfect.” 

“One of my coaches up top asked if we could run one of the plays that we have – and we have traditionally ran – out of that formation,” Adams said. “I said we never practiced it out of that formation – in the past we have – but I was like I’ve got to see it. I grabbed a pen from an assistant coach and drew it up. It speaks to how well our kids are in tune to what we do in practice, that they can quickly make an adjustment and run something like that they haven’t run out of that formation before.” 

The Herd threatened to retie the game on the ensuing possession. They got it inside the 5 and appeared to score on fourth down with less than five minutes left, but receiver Marquis Taylor was ruled to have stepped out of bounds before he came back in to catch Jayden Johnson’s pass in the back of the end zone – and took a hit from Jack Knorr for his trouble.

“I held my breath; I didn’t know (if Taylor was in or out of bounds),” Webb said. “I was just hoping it was on them.”

“I saw him go out of bounds,” defensive back Bryce Belinfanti said. “I was praying the refs saw it.”

Adams said the receiver was about a foot out of bounds on his route. The official rightfully dropped his hat to mark the spot. Woodbury coach Anthony Reagan Sr. didn’t argue it.

The Wolverines took over and ran out the clock. Belinfanti basically sealed the victory with a 59-yard burst into the red zone setting up Webb for the victory formation.

Woodbury held a 14-7 halftime lead despite possessing the ball some two and a half minutes less than it took Woodstown to score on its opening drive.

Webb drove the Wolverines 62 yards in almost nine and a half minutes with Belinfanti scoring from the 3. But Woodbury (6-4) took less than two minutes to tie it and then took the lead on a 74-yard burst by Anthony Reagan Jr.

Reagan had 129 yards in the first half, but came out with a knee injury late in the third quarter and didn’t return, taking a big weapon out of the Herd’s offense.

“He’s been dealing with an MCL sprain, so we tried to give him some time to get it together and came out here and gave a valiant effort but when we lost (him), the whole dynamic of our football team changes,” Reagan Sr. said.

The Herd got the ball to start the third quarter with a chance to get the two-score cushion they were looking for to take total control, but Woodstown’s defense held firm. The offense took over and put together another time-consuming tournament drive to tie the game.

“The biggest thing is we couldn’t get those two scores,” Reagan said. “In a game like this, they don’t necessary have to come out of their element when it’s only a one-score game. If we’d have gotten to a two-score game, that whole game changes.”

Belinfanti ended Woodbury’s next possession with an interception and that set the Wolverines on their way for the go-ahead touchdown to Bokolas.

Belinfanti rushed for 192 yards for Woodstown. Webb also was a big weapon with his legs, particularly on the opening drive. He had 41 yards on the opening drive and finished with 56 in the game. They both scored a touchdown. 

When the game was over the Wolverines collected the sectional trophy, ran in for a quick shower, then boarded team buses to get on the fire trucks to parade around town for a celebration 100 years in the making.

“Second fire truck ride,” Webb said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Woodstown 21, Woodbury 14

Scoring plays
WT – Bryce Belinfanti 2 run (Jake Ware kick), 2:34 1Q
WB – Anthony Reagan 33 run (Jayden Johnson kick), 0:38 1Q
WB – Anthony Reagan 74 run (Jayden Johnson kick), 1:29 2Q
WT – Max Webb 4 run (Jake Ware kick), 2:50 3Q
WT – Anthony Bokolas 33 pass from Max Webb (Jake Ware kick), 11:49 4Q

Schalick senior standout Siedlecki reflects on the Cougars’ journey from winless afterthought to undefeated contender for section championship

GROUP I SECTIONAL FINALS
Friday’s Games
South: Woodbury Thundering Herd (6-3) at Woodstown Wolverines (8-2), 7 p.m.
Central: Glassboro Bulldogs (7-3) at Schalick Cougars (11-0), 7 p.m.
North I: Mountain Lakes Herd (8-2) at Hawthorne Bears (8-2), 6 p.m.
North II: Shabazz Bulldogs (7-3) at Butler Bulldogs (9-1), 7 p.m.

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PITTSGROVE – Jake Siedlecki is one of those players who believes nothing worth having comes without hard work. And it has taken a lot of work to get where the Schalick senior and his teammates find themselves today.

Although it seems like a lifetime ago now, it was really only four years ago, when Siedlecki was a wide-eyed freshman, the Cougars football team was a winless afterthought in the landscape of South Jersey football.

Siedlecki was in his first year playing football recovering from a baseball elbow injury, Mike Wilson was just coming aboard as the head coach, COVID was creating chaos with everyone’s workout regimens and the roster was as small as the program’s current freshman group is large.

The Cougars were getting beaten like a rented mule. Their scores were ridiculously one-sided. They were one of 23 teams that played in 2020 that didn’t win a game.

On Friday, when they host Glassboro in the Central Jersey Group I championship game, they will be one of 10 remaining undefeated teams in the state and their journey to get there will have come full circle. Ironically, the Bulldogs, now with a former Schalick player at the helm, was the first team the Cougars played in that dreadful 2020 season, losing 54-7.

Most people would want to forget that whole experience, but the Cougars embrace it as part of their journey back to respectability.

Siedlecki doesn’t have to go far to find a reminder of those difficult days. Every day before he leaves for school he sees a Senior Night picture of brother Mack, a senior on that 2020 team, in the No. 2 jersey Jake proudly represents today.

“Even though it seems like a long time ago, I think it’s important for me and the leaders of the football team and Coach Wilson, obviously, to keep what happened that freshman year and coach’s first year fresh in our minds,” the 6-1, 180-pound tight end/safety said. “That gives us an edge over a lot of these other teams in the playoffs that are expected to win.

“We’re not expected to be here. No one believes in us. No one wants to give us any credit. Knowing where we came from gives us an edge against the other teams because we know what it’s like to be at the bottom.

“When I see that picture I know that’s where we were. That’s the jersey my brother wore and he fought in. Now I’m No. 2. Now I’m a senior. Now I get to fight for a championship. Every day I see that picture in the house it reminds me of the struggle, the work my brother put in and he never got to experience where I’m at right now. He would have done anything to be where I’m at right now. I don’t take that for granted.”

Similarly, Wilson has a picture of that first team in his classroom along with the three that have followed it and uses the images to reflect on the progress of what he has been given credit for building. None of the other teams in the state that were oh-for that year are undefeated in 2023. Only seven have winning records.

“I’ve said this to people multiple times,” Wilson said. “When I took over the program my goal wasn’t to build a team, my goal was to build a program. We want to build a lasting program where what we’re doing this year needs to become the new normal. We want to be involved in sectional championship conversation every year.

“We want every year that we’re not rebuilding, we’re reloading. The standard needs to become sectional championships, where if you don’t get there, then we’re going why didn’t you get there. I want the expectations that we’ve got to be there.”

The Cougars have five seniors on this year’s roster, but Siedlecki and tight end/defensive end Ryan Johnson are the only two who were on that first team. Receiver and cornerback Nasir Sutton came out as a freshman, but wasn’t able to play.

Wilson praised their resiliency and commitment to something bigger than themselves. And it has been rewarded in their play. In his last four games alone, Siedlecki has caught seven passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns and had 18 tackles and three interceptions, including one he returned for a touchdown against Gloucester Catholic and one in the final minute that sealed their second-round win over Shore Regional.

It was tough that first year. The Cougars’ approach was no different than it is now and they tried real hard, but undermanned as they were they lost by scores of 54-7, 49-6, 48-6, 56-14 right out of the gate. They actually lost their first 11 games over two seasons – scoring only eight touchdowns – and 13 of their first 14. Opponents were making fun of them and getting louder each week. 

That was “probably the most difficult thing to go through as a group,” Siedlecki admitted. But he stuck with it, he said, because of the optimism and leadership Wilson demonstrated through it all. It was the kind of thing, reflecting on it now, that makes them even prouder of where they are today on the cusp of a sectional title.

With their coach’s enthusiasm to guide them, they knew the worm would turn – and it did. The Cougars won their last three games of that second season and now have the last laugh, going 21-3 in their last 24 games.

“It was unfortunate we got our butts kicked, but the whole time we knew if we just kept our head down, kept pushing forward, we’d be in a better place,” Siedlecki said. “We knew at the time if we just trusted in coach Wilson and gave it 110 percent in the weight room that over the course of time we’d get better and that’s what ended up happening.

“We knew what was coming. I didn’t know that we knew how fast it would come. It was hard then losing every game, sometimes it was frustrating, but we held together and it paid off.”

From oh-for to undefeated

A progression of teams statewide that were winless in 2020 to this season