The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 10

CIS South Jersey www.philly.com THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER Sunday, December 2, 2001 Kingsway jolts ammonton towinGroup2 4 i Dragons went for two to win 5 The Dragons' defense dug in, and a pair of two-point conversions sealed the 16-14 upset. ByTomMcGurk INQUIRER SUBURBAN STAFF HAMMONTON While the pregame talk centered on the Hammonton defense, it was the Kingsway football team's defense that grasped the opportunity to shine. The Dragons produced four turnovers and held off a late charge in the closing seconds to put the finishing touches on a 16-14 upset win against Hammonton yesterday in the South Jersey Group 2 championship. The tide was the first for Kingsway, which avenged three playoff losses to Hammonton, including the last two seasons. "The monkey is off our back," Kingsway coach Tony Barchuk said.

"The previous losses make you work that much harder. This is something very special for this program." Kingsway's defense played a pivotal role as the Dragons parlayed two of the turnovers into ROSE HOWERTER Inquirer Suburban Staff Chiefs running back Sean Mayers makes little headway against Jackson. The senior was held to 39 yards on 20 carries yesterday. Jackson hones game, Cherokee falls -J t- v. ir' Sean Mayers is consoled by Cherokee teammate Adam Scanzano (right) after the game.

Jackson limited Cherokee to 82 yards in total offense and scored all 24 of its points before halftime. ByTomMcGurk INQUIRER SUBURBAN STAFF HAMMONTON Credit the "Bird Dog" with the Kingsway football team's first sectional title. The Dragons successfully utilized the unique two-point conversion play twice to record the deciding points in a 16-14 upset victory against Hammonton yesterday in the South Jersey Group 2 championship game. Kingsway coach Tony Barchuk said he had a "brainstorm" during practice Friday. That's when he scrapped the kicking game and worked exclusively on the Bird Dog.

The formation, better known as the "muddle huddle," set the entire offensive line except center Dan Wycoff on the far right sideline. Holder Eric Fromm remained in his usual spot and Dorian Bryant was the decoy kicker. "That play worked out really well for us," Barchuk said. TYe had a hard time all season on our conversions." Kingsway had its first opportunity to use the special play with 11 seconds left in the first half after Fromm's 1-yard TD quarterback sneak cut Hammonton's lead to 7-6. As the teams lined up for the conversion, Hammonton didn't appear to be thrown off by the odd formation, but still took a timeout to talk it over.

It didn't matter. As soon as the ball was snapped, Wycoff, who was an eligible receiver on the play, made a dash for the end zone. Fromm took the snap and fired a quick strike to Wycoff, who hauled in his first catch of the season and gave the Dragons an 8-7 half-time lead. "It was incredible," Wycoff said. "I knew if no one was covering me, I was going to get a chance to catch the ball." "We had no intentions of kicking the ball," Fromm said.

"The play has two options. One is the pitch to Dorian and the other is the pass to Wycoff. We were able to execute both." Kingsway's next conversion was even bigger. In the third quarter, Tariff Hill scored on a 3-yard run, and the Dragons led, 14-7. Using the same formation, Fromm went with the other option as he flipped the ball to Bryant, who hustled into the end zone untouched for the two-point conversion.

"Not too many guys are going to stop Dorian from that short of a distance," Barchuk said. The two-point conversion meant Hammonton would need two scores in the final quarter. The Blue Devils fell one short. Hammonton coach Pete Lancetta felt his team was prepared, but Kingsway's conversions enabled the Dragons to prevail. "They did a good job of executing that play and it utimately decided the game," Lancetta said.

Tom McGurk's e-mail address is tmcgurkphillynews.com. of my life," said Fromm, who proudly waved a huge Kingsway flag in the middle of the field. Hammonton, playing on William T. Capella field for the final time, got two short TD runs by Procaccini and three takeaways by Tim Hiltwine. Kingsway Hammonton 0 8 8 0 16 7 0 0 7 14 Procaccini 2 run (Christopher kick) It Fromm 1 run (Wyoott pass from Fromm) Hi 3 run (Bryant run) Procaccini 1 run (Christopher kick) Tom McGifk's e-mail address Is tmcgurkphillynews.com.

The Chiefs "never got it on track," their coach said, in a 24-0 loss in the S.J. Group 4 title game. By Kristian Pope INQUIRER SUBURBAN STAFF PISCATAWAY, N.J. It was not supposed to be this easy. But the Jackson football team made its win yesterday seem that way at the expense of Cherokee.

Cherokee, facing the team ranked No. 1 in New Jersey in two statewide polls, fell to defending champion Jackson yesterday, 24-0, in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 4 championship game at Rutgers Stadium. If playing the best team in the state was not a tough enough task for Cherokee, Jackson went out and played its best game of the season to secure its second straight sectional title under former Camden coach Reggie Lawrence. The Jaguars played a nearly flawless game. It was clear from the Chiefs' first drive that Cherokee was going to gave a long game ahead of it.

Jackson, which beat Shawnee for the title last season, limited the Chiefs to 82 yards in total offense and held senior running back Sean Mayers to 39 yards on 20 carries. "I think we were ready mentally," Mayers said. "Physically, we weren't They beat us to the ball on every play. And they were much quicker than us." Cherokee gained 16 yards on its first possession before quarterback Blake Letchford fumbled on a rollout to give Jackson the ball at the 36. Three plays later, Jackson scored on senior running back Nick Castellano's 2-yard carry.

That carry followed a 26-yard run by Castellano in which he broke away from three would-be Chiefs tacklers. Behind the powerful straight-ahead style of Castellano, the Jaguars (12-0) controlled the game consistently and took a 24-0 halftime lead. In the second half, Jackson mostly played its backup running back Jay Pirigyi. Castellano crushed the Cherokee defense in the first half, finishing with 17 carries for 142 yards with a touchdown. Cherokee (9-3), winners of five South Jersey sectional titles since 1974, was playing for its first championship since 1993.

The Chiefs failed to run the ball as effectively. Mayers, the talented tailback, bounced outside, where he is usually sue- High School Scoreboard Yesterday's Results Football NJSIAA TOURNAMENT South JarMT Group 1 Final Paulsboro 55, Gloucester 6 Soutfa Jny Group 2 Tmat Kingsway 16, Hammonton 14 Sotftil ferscy Group 3 Tuiai Woodrow Wilson 27, Egg Harbor Township 14 SoatJi Jeney Group 4 Full Jackson 24, Cherokee 0 Swimming BURUNGT0N COUNTY UAGUE Rancocas (J.C. Rowland, RV, won the 200 IM in 2.f8.62 and TOO backstroke in 1:02.65) Today's Schedule Football NJSIAA TOURNAMENT State ParacMall Final At ftan University: St. Joseph vs. Immaculate Conception, 2:30 touchdowns.

Kingsway also shut down the Blue Devils twice inside the Dragons 10. "We wanted to proved that our defense was better," senior linebacker Chuck Ellis said. "Nobody gave our defense any credit this season, this was our shot to prove them wrong and we did it," said junior linebacker Greg Ross, who had four tackles for losses in the second half. Kingsway's defense changed the momentum of the game in the second quarter. Trailing, 7-0, the Dragons stopped Hammonton on a fourth-and-inches play on the Blue Devils' 14.

The play call didn't come back to haunt Hammonton immediately as Kingsway turned the ball over three plays later. But Hammonton gave the ball right back as defensive tackle Mario Marquez pounced on a fumble on the Blue Devils 14. Battling the clock, quarterback Eric Fromm scored on a 1-yard sneak with 11 seconds left in the first half. Kingsway's offense appeared to solve Hammonton's defense, which had allowed just one touchdown in its previous 11 games. The problem? The Dragons naa rwo toucnaowns cauea back because of penalties.

"It was a little discouraging, but we didn't put our heads down," said Tariff Hill, who rushed 18 times for 101 yards. In the third quarter, Hammonton drove to the Kingsway 9 before Ellis recovered a fumble. The Dragons marched 86 yards, culminating in Hill's 3-yard TD run for a 16-7 lead. Hill delivered a scintillating 43-yard run and Tariff Hill added a 23-yard dash to key the drive. With a nine-point lead, it was left up to the Kingsway defense.

Kingsway, which held Hammonton to just 77 yards in offense in the first half, buckled in the second half but tightened in the most crucial times. Early in the fourth quarter, Hammonton drove to the Kingsway 7. After a strong defensive series, Hammonton attempted a 33-yard field goal that sailed wide right. Hammonton made a furious comeback on its last possession. On its own 35 and with no time-outs left, the Blue Devils marched to the Kingsway 26, as Mike Mazzeo connected on consecutive passes to Manny Nieves and Nick Procaccini.

Mazzeo then spiked the ball, stopping the clock with 38 seconds left After another incomplete pass, defensive end Nick Boles sacked Mazzeo at the 30. With one last chance, Mazzeo dropped for a deep pass but was flattened by Ellis. "The defensive line did a great job and the secondary had great coverage, I was able to get in there," Ellis said. "The defense won us the game," Barchuk said. "People were saying we had just a so-so defense, but that's because we were playing a lot of very good teams during the season.

They came up big all day." There was a huge sigh of relief from the Kingsway sideline before a wild celebration broke out "That was the longest minute cessful. Yesterday, though, he was no match for the corner-backs and linebackers from Jackson. "We couldn't sustain what we were doing," Cherokee coach John Scott said. "Realistically, we thought we'd have some degree of success. I don't know if they didn't allow us to play our game, but we never got it on track." Jackson had many options on offense.

Quarterback Nick Anza-lone threw for two touchdowns. He finished the day 2 for 10 for 41 yards. With the help of Castellano and senior running back Joe Serratelli, the Jaguars finished with 260 yards rushing. Anzalone found senior Jim Migliore from 15 yards out with Tm just sad at the way it ended' i the run, pass, and Mike Cortese. When you keep a team on their side of the field, they'll get aggravated and out of it." The Jaguars took a 21-0 lead after Anzalone found senior receiver Kelvin Vaughan on a 26-yard pass play with 10:21 left in the first half.

Cortese, who missed a 54-yard field goal, drilled a 39-yarder at 3:22 of the second quarter to increase Jackson's lead to 24-0. Jackson Cherokee 14 10 0 0 24 0 0 0 0 0 Castellano 2 run (Cortese kick) Migliore 1 5 pass from Anzalone (Cortese kick) Vaughan 26 pass from Anzalone (Cortese kick) Cortese 39 FG Kristian Pope's e-mail address is kpopephillynews.com. made a special trip to the Cherokee sideline to see Mayers. Nick Castellano, a running back and linebacker for Jackson, was part of the defensive group that stymied Mayers. Having watched plenty of game film, Jackson knew that stopping Mayers would not be easy.

"That was our job to dominate him," Castellano said. "We had him spread out and we just caught up with him." Mayers, who has yet to decide on a college, was confident his team could win a sectional title before he graduated. He took it personally when the team did not win yesterday. That's why most of Mayers' teammates and coaches talked to him after the game. "He's been our workhorse," Cherokee coach John Scott said.

"He's provided us with many memorable games. Jackson did a good job of not allowing him to do that yesterday." Kristian Pope's e-mail address is kpopephillynews.com. 5:43 left in the first quarter to give the Jaguars a 14-0 lead. On its first three possessions, Cherokee was forced to begin from its own 20 after Jackson kicker Mike Cortese kicked to the end zone for touchbacks. Because the Chiefs continually started from deep in their own territory, they never got the jump-start they needed.

They advanced past their own 40 only once in the game. The closest Cherokee came to scoring was during a third-quarter drive that included a 27-yard run by quarterback Letchford. On that drive, the Chiefs moved to the Jackson 23 before turning the ball over on downs. "There are three things we do," Castellano said. "We have 2,594 yards and collected 22 touchdowns.

Mayers, known for his ability to get outside past the defensive ends and use his breakaway speed, was held at the line for most of the game. His longest carry 12 yards came on the first play of the game. "I felt like I was hitting into brick walls out there," Mayers said. "It was real frustrating. I thought I could use my speed to get an extra step on them.

They were keying on me the whole game." His second-longest carry of the game was just 5 yards. Most of his runs were for either 1 or 2 yards. When getting outside did not work, Mayers tried to go inside to no avail. It was obvious from the get-go that Jackson's strategy was to keep Mayers from breaking a big play. "I didn't imagine we'd shut him down like we did," Jackson coach Reggie Lawrence said.

"But he Jook the challenge." After the game, Lawrence By Kristian Pope INQUIRER SUBURBAN STAFF PISCATAWAY, N.J. Cherokee's Sean Mayers was hunched over on the sideline bench. Save for a brief nod or two while he was thanked by his teammates, he was motionless. It seemed like the entire afternoon went like that for Mayers, who played in his final high school game. He enjoyed a brilliant career with the Chiefs.

"I'm going to miss this; it's been a happy career for me," Mayers said after his team's 24-O loss yesterday to Jackson in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 4 championship game. "I'm not so sad that it's over," Mayers said. "I'm just sad at the way it ended." Mayers did not have a Mayers-like game. He was pressed and pounded by the speedy Jackson defense and limited to 39 yards on 20 carries as the Chiefs were shut out After yesterday's performance, Mayers' career rushing total at Cherokee stood at 4,617 yards. This.

season, he gained.