Tri-County Conference Football: December 2006

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Tri-County Standings 12/03/06

Royal Division:

Team/ Division Record /Overall Record

Clearview/ 8-0/ 9-1

Deptford/ 7-1/ 8-2

Williamstown/ 5-3/ 7-3

Delsea/ 5-3/ 6-4

Kingsway/ 5-3/ 5-5

Highland/ 3-5/ 4-6

Gloucester Catholic/ 2-6/ 4-6

Cumberland/ 1-7/ 1-9

Overbrook/ 0-8/ 1-9

Classic Division:

Schalick/ 8-0/ 9-1

Glassboro/ 7-1/ 9-3

Pennsville/ 5-3/ 5-4

Penns Grove/ 5-3/ 7-4

Woodstown/ 4-4/ 5-5

Salem/ 3-5/ 3-7

Gloucester/ 3-5/ 4-6

Pitman/ 1-7/ 1-8

Clayton/ 0-8/ 0-10

Season Complete!

Saturday, December 09, 2006

2006 Team by team analysis:

I have posted analysis of all of the teams.

Please feel free to send me publishable positive comments about your team. Who were your favorite players? What was your favorite play? Who will be the stars next year? etc.

Clayton:

Clayton suffered another winless season.

They were shutout 6 times in 10 games.

They gave up at least 32 points in each game.

They have a couple of good players, but they just don't have the numbers to compete.

Next year they will have a new coach. Hopefully he can turn things around and make them more competitive.

Clearview:

Clearview had one of their best seasons ever. they were undefeated in regular season games and won the Royal Division Championship.

They started out beating Cumberalnd 24-12 and evryone said ho-hum as Cumberland is not well-regarded.

Next they knocked off Deptford 10-0 and everyone said that it must be a down year for Deptford (Deptford ended up 8-2 and in the playoffs - 2nd in the Royal). In the long run, this game decided the Royal Division championship.

An easy win over Highland 34-12 set up a showdoen with Delsea.

Clearview had the right game plan against Delsea as they stacked up against the run and shut them down, winning the game 21-0 and waking up the football world.

Then Salem came in and almost knocked them off, but late game heroics won it for them 24-22.

Next, they had to pull it out again at then end against Williamstown winning 17-14.

They beat Gloucester Catholic by the low score of 13-7, but then easily handled Overbrook 42-6 and headed to the playoffs having clinched a tie for the Royal Division crown.

In round 1 of the playoffs, Triton was just too much for them and they lost 29-0, but they completed their Division Championship by beating kingsway on Thanksgiving 27-7.

At times their wins weren't pretty, but they got the job done and it was a season to be remembered.

Cumberland:

Cumberland is not a football school, but they are not the worst either.

They beat Overbrook 13-10 in OT to avoid a winless season, but that was not the highlight of their season.

The night before Thanksgiving they played well-regarded Schalick in a cold windy rain storm and took them to double OT before losing 6-0. it is not the first time they they haven given a great Schalick team trouble as they spoiled an undefeated season for Schalick 3 years ago.

Delsea:

Delsea had a down season.

They started out hot, winning their first 3 games, beating Overbrook 29-6, Gloucester Catholic 39-21 and Cumberland 56-21. Their running game was excellent but they were showing some weaknesses in their pass defense and offense.

Then they headed to Deptford and led at the half 7-0, but Deptford went to the pass and won the game 14-13.

Then Clearview visited Franklin Twp. THE VIEW had the game plan - focus on the run and don't worry about the pass and they stifled the Delsea offense and beat them 21-0.

An easy win at Highland 37-0 gave hope that Delsea was back on track.

Jackson came to town in a match of 2 teams that were not their usual selves. It was a close game, but Jackson pulled it out 20-19.

Although no longer a playoff contender, Delsea ran off 2 victories over Kingsway 35-6 and Ocean City 28-14.

The end of the season went sour as Williamstown came in and beat them
14-6.

At Delsea, 6-4 doesn't cut it.

Deptford:

A good season, but 2 disappointing losses kept it from being a great season.

They started off with a win over Overbrook 43 -6, but then ran into Clearview and suffered a 10-0 loss as Clearview was full of surprises for many teams this year. Thye then headed home for a war against Delsea with Delsea highly favored as no one knew that Clearview was going to knock off everybody.

Delsea took a 7-0 lead in at half-time and (as I told the Delsea fans) had Delsea right where they wanted them. They came back to win on some great pasas they went more to the pass and won the game in the last minute 14-13.

They then ran of a winning streak all the way to the playoffs beating Kingsway 36-20, Gloucester Catholic 26-14, Cumberalnd 31-0, Williamstown 7-0, and Highland 28-0.

They then suffered a big disappointment losing to Haddonfield 20-17 in the first round of the playoffs.

They made Glassboro their game of the season and with a great interception late in the game put away the Bulldogs who were thinking ahead 27-12.

An 8-2 season is good for many teams, but this team was capable of much more.

Glassboro:

Glassboro started the season with a prediction of 3 losses and that's where it ended:

They started out with strong defense and 2 shutouts beating Clayton 41-0 and Salem 23-0. after the Clayton game i said that they were 2 Tds short of being a champion and i felt the same after the Salem game.

In game 3, Pennsville came to playy and gave them a surprise start and drove the ball well, but the Bulldogs game back strong and made it look easier than it was with a 35-13 victory.

At Woodstown on a wet field the Dogs won 34-8, but did not look that impressive. Once again 2 scores short of looking good.

Next Gloucester came to THE BORO and scores 3 times, but Glassboro won 28-19.

Then Schalick came in and dominated the game winning 28-6. At this point no one expected Glassboro to make it back to the finals.

An easy 54-6 win at Pitman in lousy weather followed.

Next was a showdown at Penns Grove. The weather was great and Penns Grove had a good field to run their game, but the Bulldogs kept them from running their game and won 21-7.

Lindenwold came to town for round 1 of the playoffs and the Bulldogs easily handled them 41-13, paying more attention to the Schalick/PG score than their own. the PG upset set up a different re-match than was expected.

The re-match was closer than the first match as Glasboro won 14-7 as PG fumbled and penalized themselves to a loss.

On Thanksgiving Deptford came in and played to win defeating Glassboro 27-12.

Next was Paulsboro. Paulsboro was heavily favored, but Glassboro gave them a game and it was 0-0 at the half before Paulsboro finally won 20-0.

After losing some great players and having no seniors heading to Div. 1-A this year, the Bulldogs should be satisfied with the overall season. the main loss will be at QB, but the running backs are very good. they will be a contender next year as well.

Gloucester:

Gloucester had a diappointing season as they failed to make the playoffs and suffered their first losing season ever under their great coach Leon Harris.

The opening game loss to Schalick 26-0 was expected.

The second game was a big disappointment as they could have just as easily won the game at Penns Grove. They failed to punch it in on 4 plays from inside the 4 and maybe should have gone for the FG.

A 19-7 win against Woodstown and a 46-7 win against Pitman seemed to put them back on track, but then they lost a tough one at Glassboro 28-19, scoring more than any other team scored in a loss to Glassboro.

Then things went really sour as they lost to 2 teams that they usually beat - Pennsville 24-15 and Salem 34-26.

They then got a win at Clayton 48-6 and won their consolation game against Audubon 27-14.

The final game loss to Gloucester Catholic 13-7 made it a losing season.

Gloucester Catholic:

Gloucester Catholic struggled to win games in the middle of the season.

Thye started out by losing to Delsea 39-21. They could have kept it closer if they had connected on theier passes as recievers were wide open.

They then had 2 straight wins as they beat Overbrook 35-0 (as the passes started to connect) and Cumberland 21-7.

Then came 5 straight losses to their division rivals - Williamstown 16-7, Deptford 26-14, surprisingly their biggest loss to Highland 34-0, a close one to Clearview 13-7 , and Kingsway 38-23.

They finished their season beating 2 Classic Division Teams - Salem 21-20 and rival Gloucester 13-7.

Thye need more consistency. Thye need to learn to make the big palys against the big teams consistently.

Highland:

Highland managed to end up with 4 wins after starting out with 3 straight losses.

They started with losses to Kingsway 14-6, Williamstown 10-7 and Clearview 34-12.

They showed that they were indeed a Royal Division team by handling Pennsville 22-7.

They couldn't handle Delsea and lost big 37-0, but turned it around on Gloucester Catholic winning 34-0 and then beat Cumberland 26-6.

Deptford then took them down 28-0.

Thye lost their consolation game to Timber creek 10-7 and then rebounde to win their last game over Overbrook 34-12.

Basically they could not hang in there with the strong teams, held their own against the middle of the pack and were definitely ahead of the lower level teams.

Kingsway:

Kingsway played their home games at Rowan due to construction.

They started off with a 14-6 win over Highland, but then got beat by a powerful Hunterdon Central team (Central Group 4 Champion) 35-13.

They then won a tough one against Williamstown 10-7 in a game that vould have gone either way.

Next they lost to a strong playoff bound Deptford team 36-20.

They then had 2 easy wins - 42-21 over Cumberalnd and 34-7 over Overbrook.

Delsea conquered them 35-6.

They got their final win against Gloucester Catholic 38-23 before losing their consolation to Winslow Twp. 52-20.

The season ended at Clearview with a 27-7 loss.

Kingsway has more talent than their record shows as usual.

Overbrook:

Overbrook had a bad season: THE BROOK, a once powerful, team lost all thier games except for the consolation game against winless Clayton.

There is no use in breaking it down game-by-game.

It is not they they had no talent. They lacked enthusiasm and a belief in themselves.

I hope that they can turn this around in the future.

Penns Grove:

Penns Grove began the season thinking of championship possibilities with a team of speed.

The speed did not translate into scores as they beat Woodstown 8-6, Gloucester 6-0 in OT and Salem 14-6.

They then had their hopes crushed by Schalick 20-8.

The offense finally came alive against a weak Pitman defense 61-0 and against Clayton 44-0.

They then took down Overbrook 22-0 and were feeling good about themselves as they headed to a showdown against Glassboro.

Glassboro's speedy defense held them down and they lost 21-7, but they felt that they could have won a re-match. A re-match with Schalick in round 1 of the playoffs stood in the way.

Penns Grove played their game of the year upsetting Schalick in double OT 35-34 and they starting thinking of going all the way.

It is hard though to pull the turnarounf re-match 2 weeks in a row and they lost to Glassboro again, this time 14-7. PG hurt themselves with too many mistakes and way too many penalties.

Disappointed, they lost again in their finale to rival Pennsville 19-12.

The should be even tougher next season.

Pennsville:

Pennsville had an interesting pattern to their season - wiinning 2, losing 2, winning 2, lossing 2, and ending by winning 2.

They started with wins over Salem 14-8 and Pitman 35-9 and headed into Glassboro as pumped up as they have been in a very long time witht he anticipation of being a real contender.

They started out looking tough against Glassboro but eventually were overwhelmed 35-13.

Then they hoped for a win against a lower half Royal team, but Highland took them down 22-7 and the season of hope was unraveling.

An win over winles Clayton 43-12 was a nice break before facing off against Gloucester.

They beat Gloucester 24-15 and a winning season was within their grasp.

Next they lost to powerful Schalick as expected 41-8, but headed into their Woodstown game as the favorite.

Woodstown shut them down 22-0 and everyone was shaking their heads again.

They then won their consolation game against Haddon Heights 13-12.

They ended the season with a 19-12 upset victory over Penns Grove to finish 6-4.

Pitman:

Pitman had a disappointing season.

8 straight losses to start the season:

They lost to Woodstown 21-13, Pennsville 35-9 and then got thorougly beat by Schalick 61-0, Gloucester 46-7, Penns Grove 61-0, Salem 40-0 and Glassboro 54-6.

They then faced the 4th playoff team on their schedule, Lindenwold and lost 41-18, but the 3 scores were a sign of improvement as only the powerful teams of Paulsboro, West Deptford and Haddonfield had scored more on Lindenwold.

Their consolation match-up against Woodrow Wilson was cancelled due to mutual agreement.

Then came the showdown of the winless against Clayton.

They beat Clayton 39-20 never trailing.

It was as if the late TD against Glassboro brought the offense alive, but the defense was still lacking.

Salem:

Salem had a very disappointing season in terms of wins and losses, but they showed some thoughness.

They started out with 3 straight losses:

They lost a close one to Pennsville 14-8, lost to powerful Glassboro 23-0 and then a close one to Penns Grove 14-6.

They then took it out on Clayton 46-0.

Next they jumped out on Royal Division Champion Clearview by scores of 8-0 and 22-10 before falling 24-22 and they became the talk of the conference for playing so tough.

Next came an easy win at Pitman 40-0.

They then did what they hadn't done in a long time. They beat Gloucester 34-26 with a 20 point outburst in the 4th after trailing 26-14.

Next they jumped out on top of Classic Division Champion Schalick and then the season faded away. Schalick came back to win 26-16 and then they lost a tough consolation game to Gloucester Catholic 21-20.

The season ended with a disappointing loss to Woodstown 16-6 in a game in which they never led.

Schalick:

Schalick started the season looking as tough as anyone.

They rolled to victories over Gloucester 26-0, Clayton 55-0 and Pitman 61-0bfore finally giving up points to Penns Grove in a 20-8 win.

They then shutout Woodstown 26-0 and headed to the showdown at Glassboro.

They totally dominated a tough Glassboro team 28-6. Glassboro was never in the game. Schalick looked invincible.

Next they romped all over a good Pennsville team 41-8.

They trailed Salem 16-0 and then showed their strength by coming back for a 26-16 victory.

They were top seed and favored in the playoffs.

BUT, Penns Grove took them to double OT and won 35-34 as Schalick went for 2 in the 2nd OT in an attempt to finish the game and it finished the wrong way.

A very disappointed and disheartened team then struggled to an 6-0 double OT win against Cumberland in rainy, windy and cold weather. The weather probably accentuated their disappointment with an ending of a season that should have resulted in the Group Championship.

They have now learned that the best don't always win.

Williamstown:

Williamstown had a season of both great victories and disappointments.

They began the season with a great win over Old Bridge. They jumped out to an early 13-0 lead only to find themselves trailing 23-13 going into the 4th. They scored twice in the 4th to pull out a 27-23 win.

Next came another close win, this time over Highland 10-7

In game #3, they played Kingsway to a 7-7 tie going into the 4th only to lose by a FG 10-7.

A 16-7 win over Gloucester Catholic followed.

Jahad scored all 4 TDs in a 28-0 win at Overbrook.

They led Division Champion Clearview 14-10 before falling at the end 17-14.

Next came a tough 7-0 loss to Deptford.

They beat Cumberland easily 28-6 and Vineland 27-7 and then got ready for Delsea.

They trailed alwasy tough Delsea 6-0, but then came back for a 14 -6 victory and a 3 game winning streak to end the season.

Woodstown:

Woodstown had a new coach and a new aproach theis season.

They started with a tough loss to Penns Grove 8-6. This loss was actually a good sign as they played tougher than that had in a long time.

The next 5 games were not as good.

They started off slowly against Pitman, trailing 7-0 at the half, but then they came back in the second half winning the game 21-13.

Then they traveled to Lower Cape May, a very good team, and lost 17-6.

They then played Gloucester even for a half 7-7 before falling 19-7.

Next was Glassboro, who dominated them on a dreary night 34 -8.

Then along came very strong Schalick who shut them out 26-0.

Then the streak started - 4 wins in a row:

Two straight shutouts, defeating Clayton 32-0 and Pennsville, in a surprise to most, 22-0.

Then a consolation game victory over Riverside 25-6.

They finished the season jumping ahead of a tough Salem team 14-0 and eventually winning 16-6.

No other South Group 1 team finished the season with a 4 game winning streak. They should improve even more next year.

Sunday, December 03, 2006

The View From THE BORO 12/03/06

Glassboro lost inthe Finals of the Playoffs 20-0 to Paulsboro.

The game was lower scoring than I expected, but the margin of loss was exactly as I had predicted.

This Glassboro team was expected to lose 3 games and did exactly that. They lose a good QB but retain some excellent speed in the backfield. There is some good young talent coming up from the Unlimited team and they should not drop off next year. They may still be a couple of years away from a Group Championship, but they will be contending and if you can get to the playoffs, anything can happen.

The Classic Division is getting more competitive and for anyone to go undefeated next year will be a challenge.