Pennsville appeal to WJFL approved, moving into what should be a more competitive division for a team on the rise that went 6-4 last season

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

Pennsville enjoyed its best football season in eight years this fall and were rewarded for it by being moved into a weak division with more travel when the initial West Jersey Football League division reshuffle was announced last month.

The Eagles knew they were going to appeal .

They had that appeal heard and approved 6-0 Friday and now they will play in a division more closely aligned with their upward trend and program goals.

“When you look at what we’re trying to do as a program, the West Jersey Football League was set up to help teams that were at all areas and all levels, whether you were trying to rebuild your program, whether you were trying to maintain your program or whether you were trying to be a competitive program,” Pennsville athletic director Jamy Thomas explained. “We want to be a competitive program. That division we were in was not going to allow us to continue to do that for the next two years.”

Basically, the Eagles changed places with WJFL newcomer Mastery Charter and – pending the outcome of other appeals – are now set to play in a division that includes Audubon (5-5), Camden Catholic (3-7), Collingswood (4-6), Overbrook (6-4), Paulsboro (1-7) and West Deptford (3-8). The other teams in that alignment are a mix of Group I and Group II programs that had a combined record of 22-37 last season.

They initially were assigned a division with Buena (0-8), Clayton (5-5), Gateway (2-8), Gloucester Catholic (2-7), Lindenwold (1-9) and Pitman (6-4). The other teams in that alignment had a combined 16-41 record.

Mastery Charter was 2-5 as an independent this past season, 4-8-1 over the last two years. In terms of the WJFL geographic footprint, Pennsville would only add one-tenth of a mile to its prospective travel had it played all its games in the new division on the road. Mastery Charter, which does not have its own field, would have traveled a total of 58 miles in its initial placement; it now travels 112 miles.

The outcome of other appeals was not immediately known. WJFL member schools now have until Dec. 20 to vote to approve the changes.

“I’m very excited about it,” Pennsville coach Mike Healy said of the change. “I think it’s going to give us more opportunities to get in the playoffs, the big reason we wanted to move up.

“We bring back most of our team and we really want to kind of help our competition level because we believe we’re ready to start handling that.”

Given the relative strength of the division, the initial alignment would have made it difficult to bank power points necessary for playoff consideration. Essentially, the Eagles could have won their new division and not made the playoffs, which teams in stronger divisions could have a lesser record and not even won a division game and made the postseason field.

Pennsville finished tied for second in the Royal Division and was the first team out of this year’s South/Central Jersey Group I playoffs, but won the regional consolation tournament.

“That was the concern we had,” Healy said. “Just looking at how the playoffs have shaken out the last couple years, the number of wins, whether right or wrong, is not the most important thing. It’s who you’re playing, the group of schools you’re playing and their competitiveness.”

The Eagles graduate only four seniors, but they could not use their projection of experience as an argument towards their appeal. There is no guarantee they will have immediate success in their new division, but the alignment will better allow them to pursue those goals.

“I see the trajectory of our team moving up; we need to challenge ourselves,” Thomas said. “We want to be a playoff team and a South Jersey contender and a state contender and we have to do that from a division that provides us those challenges throughout the regular season to get better.”

Cover photo by Lorraine Jenkins