Courier-Post from Camden, New Jersey • Page 19

-i in COURIER-POST Sunday, December 8, 1981 7B S.J. GROUP FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS 4 I I i Cherokee halts Deptfordl rally to win i cPgcsgy grS Answers critics Cherokee's Rob DiOrio convinces his skeptics: Page 108 By WALT BURROWS Of the Courier-Post MARLTON Cherokee High School pushed across a pair of first-half touchdowns and withstood a furious rally by Deptf ord in the final minutes of play to defeat the Spartans 15-8 and capture the South Jersey Group 3 football championship here yesterday. Taking over following a time-consuming drive by Cherokee at its own 27 with 4:54 remaining, Deptford, behind the running of Dave Clark and the passing of quarterback Pat Duffy, reached the Cherokee 15-yard line with 39 seconds left. Dan Cabahug, who played bril-. liantly from an outside Iinebacking position, stopped Clark at the 13, then Keith Lutgen and Alan Mat-tioni held the Spartan ace without gain as the clock ticked down to 14 seconds.

A Duffy pass fell incomplete and Deptford took a time out with nine seconds remaining. It then became a huge guessing game. Deptford Coach Joe Corbi talked it over with his players and Jim Horner warned Cherokee' what to expect. Corbi decided to go to his best, back Brian Larson, who had scored a second-period touchdown on a 38-yard bolt over tackle. This time, despite the element of total surprise, he was nailed in his tracks, partially by a slip and the smothering defensive play of end Darryl Green and Mattioni.

"It was last thing I thought of, a draw up the middle," admitted Homer, "but don't ask me to do any GROUP 3 second-guessing. It was one of those plays that, if it works, you're a genius. If it doesn't, well "I thought they would go to (Gene) Lyons (Deptford's 6-5 tight end), but Coach Corbi knew what hewanted to do. You must remember, Deptford made some pretty good yardage on third down by using the run in the second half. And.

the fact that we weren't looking for it certainly substantiates his decision." It was an exciting finish to a game that kept the more than 2,000 fans in attendance on their feet most of the time. No. 2-ranked and unbeaten, Cherokee, its line firing off the ball to offset a substantial weight disadvantage, drove 52 yards the first time it touched the ball after Chris Carabasi's 37-yard kickoff return warmed the fans in a hurry. Rob DiOrio slanted over tackle for 11 yards on the first play and the Chiefs were off and running. Using exactly five minutes, Cherokee negotiated the 52 yards in 10 plays, DiOrio totaling 50 of them, including the final yard.

Lutgen's sion made it 7-0. Deptford reached the Cherokee 38 late in the first period, but a penalty and a fourth-down sack of quarterback Duffy by Green enabled the Chiefs to take over at their own 46. Cherokee immediately reeled off two first downs and reached Deptford's 24 before the Spartan defense stiffened and forced the Chiefs to go for a 41-yard field goal by Lutgen, which was short and wide right. feS; 9, -TO- -Mfv-- niV- 1 Deptford, ranked No. 4, then put together its only touchdown drive as Clark picked up 27 yards in three carries, Cherokee was hit by a face-mask penalty and fullback Brian Larson uncorked a brilliant 38-yard scoring run with 6:47 left in the first half.

A two-yard conversion run by Dan Moore gave Deptford an fc7 lead. It appeared as though the half would end that way until, with 2:46 left, Cherokee took over at midfield following a punt. On the first play, Drew Frantz, a junior quarterback who has performed brilliantly in almost total obscurity, hit Kip Collick down the right sidelines at the 27-yard line. Collick, trapped by a host of defenders, raced diagonally across the field trying to outdistance his pursuers to the corner pylon. He was forced out of bounds at the three.

Three DiOrio thrusts got it to the one and John McKenna took it across with 0:49 left in the half. A two-point conversion pass, Frantz to Glen Melos, gave Cherokee a 15-8 lead. Corbi praised his own players in defeat and called Cherokee "a great football team that belongs up there with the rest of the 11-0 teams I've seen." On DiOrio: "He's a super back. Any time a kid carries the ball as Please see CHEROKEE, Page 10B I End of line Cherokee's Bob DiOrio bulls his way for a gain but is stopped by Deptford's Troy, Courier-Post photo by Sam Kushner Spencer during yesterday's South Jersey Group 3 title game. Cherokee won, 15-8.

Pennsville defeats Haddon hip owns By BOB VIGGIANO Of the Courier-Post WEST DEPTFORD Pennsville High School's foot-' ball took advantage of the one break in the game and marched 22 yards for a third-period touchdown to win the South Jersey Group 2 championship here yesterday by downing Haddon Township, 6-0. The unbeaten, and untied Eagles received their big break late in the third period after defensive end Mike Ropiak, who turned in a tremendous performance all day, nailed Township runners for two successive losses. After the two big losses, Haddon Township was forced to punt from its own 15, but the ball got caught in the strong wind and went only seven yards to the Hawks' 22. It took the Eagles just five plays to punch home the game's lone touchdown. Halfback Ron Bennett crashed over from the three for the score with only 54 seconds remaining in the third period.

"As the game went on it looked like a break of some sort was going to be the difference," Pennsville Coach Horace Carl said. "Luckily, we got the break and were able to score. "No doubt the conditions were a major factor in the game," Carl added. "The mud made things tough on the running games and the wind certainly affected the punting games. So it came down to defense, and we have lived off our defense all year.

"Haddon Township's defensive line was as good as any we have faced all year," the coach went on. "They were ganging up along the line of scrimmage, and that made it tough to run." Pennsville had the upper hand for most of the first half as Township spent most of the time pinned deep in its own territory. Midway through the second period, the Eagles appeared to have put the first points on the scoreboard when ace running back Ron Bennett broke loose on a GROUP 2 busted play for 40 yards. But an illegal procedure penalty nullified the touchdown. After Pennsville scored the lone score, Mike Ressa brought the Haddon Township fans to their feet on the ensuing kickoff when he returned it 57 yards to the Pennsville 28.

Only a fine tackle by the Eagles' Scott Norris prevented a touchdown. "The kid had the angle on Mike," Township Coach Tom Curley said. "He was too close to the sidelines, so there really wasn't much he could do to prevent the tackle." The Hawks moved to the Pennsville 12, but quarterback Dan Madden threw two incompletions on third and fourth down to halt the drive. But Haddon Township refused to quit. The defense held Pennsville in check on the next series and forced a Pennsville punt.

Fortunately for the Eagles, Jim Stevenson got off a 41-yard boot against the wind to the Haddon Town-ship 41. Again, the Hawks went on the move. After getting a first down at the Pennsville 48, Madden and split end Paul Gregorio combined on a 35-yard pass play. Gre-gorio appeared on his way to a touchdown with at least a seven-yard advantage on his nearest defender, but his leg cramped up and he fell at the Pennsville 14. "Paul's leg just cramped up," Curley said.

"That was a touchdown right there, no doubt about it. It's kind of a shame, but those things happen. We still had time to score, but we didn't and you have to score to win." The Hawks reached the Pennsville 10 and there was a little over four minutes to go. Then the Eagles came up with their biggest defensive play of the day when linebacker Jim Gannon blindsided Madden while he was attempting to pass. The ball popped free and Pennsville's Stevenson recovered at the 16.

The Eagles, aided by three Haddon Township 15-yard penalties, including a roughing-the-kicker penalty with 34 seconds left, were able to run out the final seconds on the clock. Bennett, who was held in check most of the afternoon outside of his 40-yard burst, turned in a sparkling defen- Please see PENNSVILLE, Page 1 1B Disappointing Misfortune again halts Haddon Township's dreams of title: Page 11B Firm hold Courier-Post photo by Evangetos Dousmanis Haddon Township's Craig Colclough (75) Stanton during yesterday's South Jersey gets a firm grasp on Pennsville's Pat Group 2 title game. Pennsville won, 6-0. i i 1 i Glassboro passing attack trounces Bordentown li 4 Vt completed three consecutive passes for 31 yards in the drive, but he would not have another completion until less than five minutes remained in the game. "When you fall behind," Bordentown Coach Jeff Burkhardt said, "it's hard to come back, because it opens up the linebackers to just drop back for the pass." Glassboro began to open some distance when it went ahead 15-7 on a 22-yard scoring pass and two-point conversion from Delia to Lawrence, the split end, with 1:20 left in the half.

The 12-play, 80-yard drive followed Bordentown's only touchdown and was keyed by a third-and-12 pass to halfback Gor-die Lockbaum that went for a 22-yard gain to the Bordentown 48. The Bulldogs took full command Barratt said. "They think it's going deep, and then it's clear sailing." With the left side of the Glassboro line providing the wedge, Barratt streaked into the end zone behind the blocks of Rob Lawrence, Bill Cioffi and Joe DeSimine. "Our execution was the best it has been all year," Barratt said. "We had our best week of practice, and it really showed.

The blocks were there." But the Scotties, who dropped their second consecutive game after a 9-0 start, pushed the ball right down the field. A 12-play, 55-yard drive ended with huge fullback Paul Washington (6-2, 222) crashing over from the one, and Jeff Thor adding the tying conversion kick with 6:42 remaining in the first half. Quarterback Wayne Williams when they marched their first possession of the second half 74 yards in 14 plays for a 22-7 lead on Delia's six-yard toss to Barratt. The play was the same one that went for Lawrence's touchdown. Lawrence was again open, but Delia found Barratt all but alone in the middle of the end zone.

"We were in man-to-man coverage, and they just beat us," Burkhardt said. The Scottie linebackers had trouble throughout the game trying to pick up the Glassboro backs swinging out for passes. "That's the way our Wing-T offense works," Glassboro Coach John Aveni said. "We put the ball in the fullback's belly, pull it out and Please see GLASSBORO, Page 10B By CURT HOLBREICH Of the Courier-Post, BORDENTOWN TWP. Glassboro High School capped a rags-to-riches season yesterday with a 28-7 victory over Bordentown to capture the South Jersey Group 1 football championship.

Glassboro lost its first two games, but after a 40-0 loss to Eastern, the Bulldogs stormed back to win nine in a row. The passing combination of senior quarterback Chris Delia and senior Bryan Barratt has been at the heart of the Glassboro attack all year, and yesterday was no exception. Delia threw three touchdown passes, 'including two to Barratt. The 5-9, 145-pound wingback also ran 19 yards for a clinching fourth- GROUP 1 period score as Glassboro won its first South Jersey title since 1975. "Bryan and I have been playing together since we were eight years old," Delia said.

"We're good friends, and we know each other's moves." "I'm sort of his favorite receiver," Barratt said. "But the plays were wide-open. Our faking to our fullback held their linebackers, and I was able to slip in right behind them." Barratt first slithered through for a 24-yard screen pass that gave Glassboro a 7-0 lead with 1:29 remaining in the first period. "My main objective on that play is to block the end for two counts." BRYAN BARRATT gets 2 TD passes i.