South Jersey Football Playoff Preview: Part I

The football players are now in the second round and things should get even more interesting.

Here is a look at Groups 5, 4 and 3 in South Jersey:

South Jersey Group 5
Lenape (5-4) at Rancocas Valley (7-2), Friday, 7 pm.
Here they go again. Last year the teams split their games with Lenape winning 10-7 over the Red Devils in the South Jersey Group 5 championship. The difference was a Steve Mulville 33 yard field goal with five seconds left. Well Mulville is at it again. He kicked a 48-yard field goal in Lenape’s opening 3-0 win over Kingsway. Mulville has now kicked four field goals of 40 or more yards. In this year’s regular season meeting Rancocas Valley earned a 19-16 win. This one should be just as close.

Vineland (4-5) at Williamstown (10-0), Friday, 7 pm.
Williamstown had no trouble with an opening 34-3 win over rival Washington Township. Vineland had an impressive 33-0 opening round win over Toms River North. This semifinal game is a rematch on opening week when Williamstown beat Vineland 24-7 in a game closer than the final score indicated. Williamstown led just 10-7 entering the fourth quarter before scoring two touchdowns. Senior J.C. Collins is a major dual threat at quarterback for Williamstown.

Article continues below

---

advertisement

---

South Jersey Group 4
Clearview (6-2) at Highland (8-1), Saturday, 5 pm.
This is a rematch from Sept. 8 when Highland overcame a 6-0 halftime deficit to win at Clearview, 14-6 on a muddy field. In that game Highland standout sophomore Johnny Martin was limited to 86 yards on 17 carries and it was the only game he didn’t score this year. In last week’s opening 28-14 win against Ocean City Martin exploded for 319 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries. This season he has rushed for 1,665 yards (7.5 avg.) and 17 TDs. Clearview likes to run the ball with a variety of candidates. In last week’s 23-7 playoff win over Hammonton, Clearview’s Justin Iaccio got things rolling with a 64-yard touchdown run on the Pioneers first possession. He ended with 93 yards on 13 carries. There likely wont’ be many passes thrown in this game between run-oriented offenses.

Shawnee (3-6) at Millville (6-0), Saturday, 2 pm.
Despite entering the game with two wins, Shawnee won in convincing fashion, 25-7 over a 6-win Mainland team. What has helped Shawnee is that the Renegades have played on of the toughest schedules in Group 4. Then again, so has Millville, which has rebounded well from a 0-3 start.

South Jersey Group 3
Woodrow Wilson (7-2) at Delsea (6-3), Friday, 7 pm.
Here they go again. This is just like Rancocas and Lenape. Delsea won both meetings last year including 29-28 in last year’s South Jersey Group 3 championship. This year Delsea beat Wilson, 56-14. Delsea running back Aidan Borguet, just like his team has been on fire lately. The Crusaders have won five in a row. For the season, Borguet has rushed for 1,312 yards (6.6 avg.) and 17 TDs. Delsea opened with a 20-0 quarterfinal win over Deptford. Wilson bounced back from two consecutive losses to defeat Triton, 41-6. Wilson’s Nick Kargman has completed 60.7 percent of his passes for 3,105 yards and 32 TDs.

Timber Creek (4-5) at Burlington Twp. (9-0), Saturday, 7 pm.
Burlington Township is coming off a 68-26 opening round win over Oakcrest. Danny Grozozski threw three TD passes and he has thrown for 1,617 yards and 26 TDs. Omar Rodgers scored on a 96-yard interception return and a 78-yard kick return. He also threw a TD pass on a razzle-dazzle play. Despite its record, don’t count out Timber Creek. The Chargers have played a tough schecule. Timber Creek opened with a 33-28 win at Wall. Freshman Donovan Leary completed 6 of 11 for 145 yards and two touchdowns.