Bulldogs win another youth football championship

By Rich Fisher

It marked the end of one outstanding era; but another great one may be on the way at the high school level.

When the Bordentown Bulldogs defeated Gloucester in the 2022 West Jersey Youth Football League 160-pound championship game late last year, it was the final contest in a Bulldogs uniform for “85 to 90 percent of the players” according to coach Thomas Lee.

It capped a remarkable run for the group, which went 58-6 and won five championships in six years since their 7th-grade season. Should that kind of success translate to the Bordentown Regional High team, coach Skip Edwards will be one happy dude.

“I went to see them play three times this season,” Edwards said. “They were well coached. They executed on offense with precision. Their defense swarmed to the football. I was able to get permission for them to practice on our game field for two nights (prior to the playoffs, for which Lee was very grateful).

“We’re hoping we can keep the players home and not go to another school. The organization is well run and has coaches that really care about the players. We need the coaching staffs to keep organizing and getting the parents, as well as the players, to keep the commitment they have established.”

Lee’s troops were committed from the very start. Thomas took over when they were just 5-years-old, figuring he was a stop-gap until someone else came along.

“I was just volunteering,” he said. “I didn’t know what I was getting into. They needed a coach and I said, ‘OK.’ There were 18 kids. I know the game, I watched football, I played football, I bleed football so there wasn’t anything to it.”

He admits that he never expected that he would go on to coach the team for 10 years. But that is what happened.

“I just figured if nobody wanted to do it, I’ll do it. I don’t want to see the program go downhill,” he said.

He immediately saw a nucleus of youngsters with tons of potential.

“I had some dogs with me; kids who could play,” Lee continued. “I had a legit team with kids who could catch and hike the ball. That’s the hardest thing at that level. So at (age) 6 we dominated, we never lost a game. That made it easier to stay. And my son was on the team, so I wanted to stay with him.”

The group won its first playoff title (the 85-pound division) at age 7 with a 9-1 record. Over the next two years they went 22-0 in the 100-pound division. Their one “off” year” was in 2020 when they went 7-3 and lost in the 120-pound semifinals. Bordentown came back strong the next season, winning the 120 title with a 9-1 mark.

It was only fitting that the Bulldogs capped their run with one final crown this year; defeating the same team in the playoff championship game that gave them their only loss.

Gloucester took an 8-6 win in a clash of unbeaten teams in the regular-season finale. Bordentown committed three turnovers on the goal line in that game; and yet still had a chance to tie when it drove 80 yards in 1:03 to score on the game’s last play. Unfortunately, the PAT kick for two points was missed as Gloucester hung on.

“They weren’t down,” Lee said of his players. “They knew how the game went. Gloucester played their best game and only beat us by two. We knew we could beat them because we were driving and driving but each time we had momentum, we fumbled. We just had one of those games.”

He says that the game was one of the most amazing that he has ever been a part of.

“I told them, ‘God makes no mistakes, we’ll see them again.’ And lo and behold, we win (the rematch) 27-6,” he said.

Quarterback Thomas Lee, the coach’s son, threw for two touchdown passes and ran for two more in the victory. TJ Tift “had an awesome game” and Lee gave “a big shout out to our receivers, we were throwing the ball a lot to Jose Santiago and Gregory Stalnaker.”

Defensively, Tift played well at line- backer as did Auggie Cassidy at defensive tackle. “They just tore it up, they had a blast.”

The defense, in fact, tore it up all year as they were only scored on twice in the regular season and allowed 34 points in 11 games (3.1 per game).

Defensive backs were Lee, Jumari Glover, and Stalnaker at safety. Linebackers featured Tift, Connor Bramley and Carter Stumpf, and the line had Santiago and Aidan Peters at end, and Christian Eagleton, Cassidy and Christopher “Juice” Malcolm at tackles. Gianni Jones and Michael Calderone would also rotate in defensively.

Offensively, Cassidy was at center, flanked by Calderone, Jonathan Owens, Eagleton, Malcolm and Bramley at tight end. Backing up that group were Aidan Constance, Dean Nicoloni, Pierce Peters (Aidan’s cousin) and Jadin Perez.

Lee was at quarterback with Tift and Glover the running backs. Receivers were Santiago and Stalnaker along with Alexander “Ant Man” Augustine, Jaxson Raynor, Elijah Ruff, Ivan Reyes, Elijah Hanna and fan favorite Will Buddenbaum, who is “the smallest guy on the team, but he plays hard out there.”

It is a cast of characters that have a special meaning for Lee, as they grew as players while he grew as a coach over the years. In looking back on it, he is proudest of the fact that Bordentown took on all challengers and forged a .906 winning percentage.

“It was remarkable just to see these boys dominate year after year with the target on their back,” Lee said. “When you’re at the top everybody wants to bring you down, everybody wants to play their best game against you. Everybody wants to be the team that says ‘Yes, we beat Bordentown.’ They don’t care if they make the playoffs, they don’t care if they have a winning record. They don’t care about any of that. As long as they say they beat the Bulldogs they feel they won the championship.”

Only six teams could say that in the past six seasons, as the Bulldogs lived up to their nickname. They snarled, growled and attacked. It was in their DNA.

“It’s wonderful to be the big dog because that means pressure; and pressure comes with how you’re gonna fight, how you want to be, how you want to do,”

Lee said. “Each year, each day, rain, sleet or snow, they treated every game like it was their first game.”

And the team hated losing, he said.

“They do not like that feeling. Failing was not an option, so they never got complacent. A loss taught us to be humble. They realize the other team is not gonna lay down and realize mistakes will cost you a game. So you gotta tighten the strap, come to practice and put the work in,” he said.

And if this group stays together in high school, Edwards can’t wait to see that attitude show itself at Scotties practices. Let the new era begin.

NAMED A 2022–23

NAMED A 2022–23

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