Sept. 15, 2017
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Volume 5, Issue 4
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GLORY DAYS MAGAZINE
SEPT. 15, 2017
About the Cover
There’s a reason there are several sets of bleachers lining one side of the Mainland Regional varsity soccer field. The Mustangs have been drawing a lot of fans the past couple of years. Long known as a football school, Mainland has steadily been gaining exposure as a soccer haven, and a big reason for that is because the Mustangs win, a lot. A big reason why is because they don’t allow many goals, and that starts with keepers Matt Stellitano and Angelina Blanchet, above. Stellitano and Blanchet have had the benefit of solid defensive units in front of them, but they’ve done a tremendous job as well and are a key to why the boys and girls soccer teams at Mainland combined for 33 wins 23 shutouts last fall. The girls team made it to the South Jersey Group 3 semifinals before a 1-0 loss to Highland, and the boys squad won the sectional title before falling in the Group 3 semifinals. Both goalies have spent most of their lives protecting the net, and feed off the success of each other throughout the season. — Dave O’Sullivan, Staff Writer
Glory Days Magazine Staff Dave O’Sullivan (Twitter @GDsullysays) Publisher/email: sully@acglorydays.com/phone 609-788-4294
Giuseppe Ungaro (Twitter @GDgisepu) Managing Editor/email: gungaro@acglorydays.com
Amy D’Adamo Graphic Design/email: advertising@acglorydays.com
Bill Lynskey Director of Advertising/email: bill@acglorydays.com
Victor McGuinn Advertising Sales/email: victor@acglorydays.com STORY IDEAS/ADVERTISING: Have a story you’d like to see told in Glory Days Magazine? Want to get your business noticed by advertising in our publication? Call us anytime! 609-788-4294 Issue Number: 85. Cover Photography: Dave O’Sullivan
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COMMENTARY
Football players, savor these Friday nights (Editor’s note: this column originally appeared at glorydaysonline.com on Sept. 8, the opening night of the high school football season.) stopped by Oakcrest High School on Thursday afternoon to take some photos of the Falcons girls tennis team, and, being that I was about 20 minutes early before the start of the match, I wandered over to the football practice field to say hello to football coach Eric Anderson. The Falcons were going through their Thursday walk-through in preparation for facing Ocean City in the 2017 season opener. As we were talking, I could tell coach Anderson was a little antsy. It was almost as though there was a slight electrical current running through his veins. Not something you could see, but definitely something you could sense. Friday night lights were a mere 24 hours away. I never played high school football, and that’s one of the biggest regrets of my life. I was a baseball player, and my mother was dead set against me playing football. Too many injuries, she would say. And, when you have an Irish mother, what she says is pretty much the law of the land, so it wasn’t like any argument I could have put up would have been successful. I’m sure there are many moms out there who feel the same way, but, man, it would have been nice to strap on the gear on Friday nights, get to walk the halls of the high school on Fridays wearing that game-day jersey. I remember being 15, 16 years old and seeing the guys on the football team walking proudly through the halls of Lacey Township High School on Fridays, wearing their jeans and those jerseys. I’ll
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Dave O’Sullivan
Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Fans of ‘Raider Nation’, Ocean City’s student fan base, were fired up during the Red Raiders’ season-opening victory over Oakcrest on Sept. 8. admit it, I was jealous. I wanted to be one of those guys. I wanted to have that feeling of anticipation all throughout the school day. Sure, I had it during baseball season, but there were three or four games a week, so it wasn’t as magnified. Friday night lights are special. It’s more than just a football game. It’s a community event. And nothing much has changed since those Friday nights or Saturday afternoons in the late 1980s (my school didn’t have lights, and still doesn’t, so home games were played on Saturdays). The cheerleaders still spend time on their hair and makeup, wanting to look their best for the crowd (and maybe that linebacker who is in their English class, too); the members of the band still march proudly out onto the field and take up whole sections of the home
stands; there are still little boys carrying on games of their own in the grassy areas to the side of the bleachers; there’s never enough hot chocolate to go around on cold nights in late October; there are still nervous dads hanging onto the fence that rings the playing field; there’s still that smell of hot dogs and cheese sauce. In high school sports, there’s nothing quite like the Friday night lights. My message to high school football players as they get ready to strap it up for the season opener? Enjoy it, man. Every second. Several years ago, country music singer Kenny Chesney put out a video called “The Boys of Fall.” It’s his tribute to high school football, what it means
See Football, page 7
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SEPT. 15, 2017 Football, from page 6 to players, coaches, fans and communities all across the nation. In part of the video, New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton addresses a high school team in the locker room before a game. This is part of what he said: “You’ve got plenty of time for tomorrow. But these tonights? They’re going by fast. You focus on tonight. This is about you guys. This is about the guys in this room that care about each other, that know, there’s only so many more of these nights left.” Every Friday night you play is one less you’ll have in your football career, fellas, so soak it all in. The highs, the lows, the joy, the pain, the victory, the defeat. All of it has a way of making you a better person in the long run. Football is a grind. Practices and games beat up your body, and it takes mental toughness to stay at it and not quit. Everybody dreams of winning a state championship in August, but only a few will hoist that trophy in December. But even if your team goes 0-10, it doesn’t mean it’s a lost season. Football teaches you life lessons. It teaches you that nothing in life comes easily, and that you have to be able to handle failure in order to
GLORY DAYS MAGAZINE enjoy success. “Anybody can be a leader, can be excited, can be first in line when things are going great,” said one high school coach in the Kenny Chesney video. “The test is, when you battle through tough times, when things aren’t perfect, where do you stand?” So when you put on that helmet with your school’s logo, boys, wear it with pride and understand what that logo represents. It represents not only your team, but your parents, your siblings, your community, all the people who care about you and want to see you succeed. Enjoy these Friday nights. Enjoy the crowd, the coach’s pregame speeches, talking to reporters after a big win. Enjoy that feeling of scoring a touchdown, or making a big play on defense. Once these days are gone, they are gone forever. Ask any guy who played football 25 or 30 years ago how quickly they would go back if you gave them one more Friday night to suit up. Most would say the decision would take about .5 seconds. You’re only a high school football player once. Make it memorable. Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
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Old Cape Recycling Scholar Athlete
Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Melody Young is a senior on the Ocean City cheerleading squad, and she’s also one of the top 10 students in the class of 2018.
Cheering is a way of life for Ocean City’s Melody Young Senior has been supporting her teams since her days at Ocean City Intermediate By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer elody Young, a 17-year-old senior at Ocean City High School, knows a difficult time in her life is coming up a year from now. She’ll have to leave her beloved hometown — and living blocks from the beach — as she heads off to college. But when she does leave town, she’ll bring with her a trunk full of great high school memories, and an academic resume that is sure to impress any university. Young has been a mainstay on the Red Raiders’ cheerleading team since her freshman year, and even before that, when she cheered for the Ocean City Intermediate School team. She grew up watching family members dance and cheer, and followed right along in their footsteps. “My family has always done it; I’ve watched my cousins cheer since I was little. It’s so fun and so exciting,” Young said. “The student section loves it and we love being out here to pump up the students, the boys, the fans — everyone is involved.”
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Young was out there for Ocean City’s season opener on Sept. 8, whipping the crowd into a frenzy along with her teammates as the Red Raiders beat Oakcrest, 26-6. But cheerleading isn’t just standing on the track in a uniform and waving a pom-pom. These days, cheerleaders are active with all kinds of stunts — anything that will impress the crowd and get a response from “Raider Nation”, as the school’s student section calls itself. “It’s actually a lot of work, especially with stunts, there’s a lot of lifting people and you have to worry about safety and preventing injuries. You also have to always be spirited and have a lot of energy because nobody wants a boring cheerleader. You always have to be on your toes and having fun,” Young said. “We’ve been practicing since August. We’ve been practicing twice a week in August and now it’s every day after school.” Young is no stranger to hard work. She’s always been tough on herself when it comes to keeping up high marks in the classroom and will go to great lengths to keep her standing as one of the top 10 students in the class of 2018. “School is definitely important to me. Since I was little, I’ve always been in honors or advanced classes. Right now, I’m in AP Spanish, and that’s a challenge, but it’s definitely worth
See Young, page 9
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Young, from page 8 it because I’m learning a lot. I have other tough subjects, too, like AP Calculus and English,” said Young, who added that pressure to get good grades comes only from herself. “My parents are always happy as long as I’m happy. They don’t pressure me to get good grades — all the pressure comes from myself because I always want to do my best. I take advantage of free time whenever I can. We have community lunch, which is an hour, so I might take advantage of that to do some homework, or whenever I have down time in the car between activities. I just try to squeeze work in whenever I can.” Now that Young is a senior, she said looking back to when she was a freshman seems like a long time ago. She was once a nervous 14-year-old trying to make a good impression on the cheer team, so as a senior she tries to make the younger girls feel as welcome as possible. “I knew some of the girls on the team, which made me feel better, but everyone’s always intimidated by the seniors at first,” she said. “But, we all get along great. I was only used to our little intermediate games, so (when I got to high school) it was really exciting because everybody comes out to the games, the students, the parents, the whole community.” Young said she doesn’t mind the challenges that advanced placement classes bring. Spoken like a true engineer’s child. “My favorite class is probably AP Calculus. It’s so hard, but because it’s so hard we all work together and we’ve all progressed so much. Tests are tough for
PAGE 9 Young has been cheering for Red Raiders football teams since her days at the Ocean City Intermediate School. Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
me, honestly, because everything comes down to that moment. So I’ll stay up late and worry about how much sleep I’m going to get,” Young said. “My dad is an engineer, so I’m thinking about maybe doing engineering myself. Penn State is my top choice at the moment, but we’ll find out. I took the SATs and I’ll be taking them again in November. I scored pretty well, but I want to see if I can do better.” What Young enjoys most about Ocean City High School, she said, is how much the community rallies around the student body, and in particular the
sports teams. “There’s a great sense of community here and everyone supports each other. Everyone is so friendly and loves Ocean City and where they live, so I want to bring that spirit to wherever I go (to college),” Young said. “We’re so lucky to live around here. I’m just trying to enjoy these last few months with my friends before we part ways. I’ve had so much fun here and we’ve made so many memories.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
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GIRLS TENNIS
Eagles’ lineup loaded with talent, experience EHT looking to make return trip to South Jersey Group 4 finals By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer gg Harbor Township drew a lot of attention last spring with the success of its baseball, softball and track teams, but there is a fall sport that might be even more dominant than all of those teams. The Eagles’ girls tennis team has lost just one Cape-Atlantic League match the past two years, and last year made it all the way to the South Jersey Group 4 championship before falling to Cherry Hill East. And with all but one player returning, and with a solid freshman taking her place at first doubles, the Eagles should be just as good this season. “We only lost one senior from the varsity last year, Anne Mkrtchyan, so it’s pretty much the same lineup except for the addition of Samantha Phung at first doubles,” said EHT coach Alene Hartman. “They are pretty confident. Last year, we made it to the finals of the South Jersey Group 4 tournament before we lost to Cherry Hill East, and this year our goal is to get back there and do better. We want to do well in our conference, then do at least as well, if not better, than we did last year in the state playoffs.” Egg Harbor Township headed into the second week of the season off consecutive 5-0 wins, over Mainland and Atlantic City, two of the better teams in the conference. First singles player Emily Manzo, a junior, has been nearly unbeatable during her career, aside from the times she has to go up against all-state player Tess Fisher of Vineland. Fisher has handed Manzo four of her six career regular-season losses, and is on track to finish her career as one of the best players ever in South Jersey. But Manzo has been dominant against pretty much everybody else. Hartman said she knew Manzo had the potential to have a great career, and is seeing it unfold in front of her eyes. She also believes facing Fisher twice every year has made Manzo an even better tennis player.
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Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Senior Sarah Phung returns a shot during EHT’s recent win over Mainland. The Eagles haven’t lost a league match since the end of the 2015 season.
“We don’t take any of the matches for granted, and I know that sounds like a cliche, but it really is true. When we played Atlantic City the other day, the overall team score wasn’t close, but some of the matches were very close. You wouldn’t know that from the team score, but the matches themselves were very competitive. It was the same thing when we played Mainland.”
Alene Hartman Egg Harbor Township girls tennis coach
“I wasn’t really surprised because during the regular season last year, the only matches she lost were to Tess Fisher. And the year before, she lost to Tess and split with Cassidy Calimer from Absegami, so having that good a season as a freshman, I knew she
had a bright future,” Hartman said. “Emily is a smart tennis player. She knows she’s not going to win every match she plays, but she knows she can learn some-
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EHT, from page 10 thing from every match. Every time she plays Tess, she goes in with a game plan. So far, she hasn’t been able to beat Tess, but she’s become a better tennis player through each match she plays against her. Tess is such a strong player and has such a versatile game. She has power and touch, and is a really tough player to beat.” Samantha Phung’s older Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan sister, Sarah, is perhaps the best second singles player in First singles player Emily Manzo, a juthe CAL, and Tiffany Triv- nior, is one of the top players in the ers moved up to third singles Cape-Atlantic League and made it to last year after winning a pair the league’s individual championship of league doubles titles with last fall. Mkrtchyan. “During her freshman and sophomore years, (Tiffany) was at first doubles with Anne and they won the CAL Tournament, then last year she moved up to singles and had a great season. She only had one loss in the regular season, to Millville. And Sarah is riding a twoyear undefeated CAL streak, and so far she is 3-0 at the start of this season,” Hartman said. Christine Vu and Asia Lackland hold down the second doubles position, and Samantha Phung has impressed Hartman by winning a bunch of challenge matches in preseason to secure a spot at second doubles.
See EHT, page 15
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. . . a reva m p e d g l o r y d a y s o n l i n e. c o m + a b r a n d n ew m o b i l e a p p ! !
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BASEBALL 2017
Transformation Kyle Transue, a 2017 graduate of Egg Harbor Township, wasn’t even recruited out of high school as an infielder, but made the baseball team at Virginia Tech this fall as a walk-on pitcher.
How did EHT graduate Kyle Transue go from non-recruited infielder to Division I pitcher? By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer ne inning. Three hits allowed, three earned runs, a walk, and saddled with the loss in a 6-3 setback to Vineland in the second game of the 2017 season. That was the pitching line — for the varsity career — of recent Egg Harbor Township graduate Kyle Transue. Next spring he’ll be pitching in the ACC. Wait, say what? Transue is perhaps the unlikeliest of Division I walk-on stories, particularly as a pitcher, that you’ll ever come across. He pitched when he was younger, but had some arm problems throughout his career. Still, he was a very good player and was the starting third baseman for an Eagles team that won 20 games this past spring and reached the South Jersey Group 4 semifinals. But not good enough to be a Division I prospect. Or even get recruited, for that matter. Transue didn’t have any offers coming out of high school, and had planned on attending Virginia Tech to study engineering. He had contemplated trying out for the Hokies’ squad as a walk-on, but come on, a kid who didn’t even get recruited walking on to a team that plays in the Atlantic Coast Confer-
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ence? Get real. They don’t let you onto a college baseball team just because you love baseball. But he got to thinking that he had a pretty good arm, and just about every college scout is looking for good arms. So Transue signed up at the Baseball Performance Center in Pleasantville, which is run by Ed Charlton and Mike Adams. Adams had played at Holy Spirit and Wagner, and had pitched independent ball and could throw a fastball 92 miles per hour. So, basically, Transue asked Mike to see if he could turn him into a pitcher. Transue began working hard with Adams at BPC, strengthening his arm, working through the mechanics of his wind-up and delivery. It wasn’t long before he was touching 90 on the radar gun. Transue began to try to revive his long lost pitching career in the Atlantic County Baseball League, and was impressive,
throwing a fastball 88-to-90 and mixing in a decent slider. “I played for the Margate Green Wave over the summer and talked to coach (Jeff) Ball, and they let me pitch with them, so that’s when things kind of started and I thought, ‘hmm, I should do this,’” Transue said. “One game, I was pitching against the Margate Hurricanes and I was touching 90 on the radar gun, so I thought I would give it a try as a walk-on.” A few short months later, Transue got the news in early September that he was, in fact, a member of the Virginia Tech baseball team. “At BPC all summer, I was going back and forth trying to decide whether or not to try out (at Virginia Tech), and those guys were telling me that my arm is my best asset and that I should try it. So, I worked all summer to get stronger so I could try out for the team. I got to
(Virginia Tech), signed up, and went to the tryout. It was kind of perfect timing because the hitting part was first, and after that all the coaches came over to watch the bullpens. I started throwing and they were like, ‘wow, this kid can throw,’” Transue said. “The only contact I had with the coaching staff (prior to that) was just about the tryout stuff, the information I needed to sign up. They weren’t recruiting me at all. The first question they asked me was, ‘did you get recruited out of high school?’ and I was like, ‘nope, not at all.’ I didn’t have a single offer coming out of high school. I started getting some in the summer, but I was already set on going to Virginia Tech for engineering. Schools like Wagner and Bucknell were looking at me, but I said no because I was already set on Virginia Tech.”
See Transue, page 14
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GLORY DAYS MAGAZINE Transue, from page 13 “He came to us, and when he came in he was one of the most athletic guys we had. He hadn’t had much experience pitching because he had arm problems, but we were excited to work with him. Once we started watching him throw, we were like, ‘wow, this kid has a good arm.’ We kind of had to start from scratch with him because he hadn’t really had much experience pitching,” Adams said. “That’s why I don’t think he got many innings in high school because he just didn’t have the experience, so they kind of just went with the guys who they knew what they could do. He was always having arm problems and could never really pitch consistently, so they didn’t really know what they had in him. We had to fix his arm problems first, but once we got that straightened out and got his arm stronger, it kept building from there.” Transue was too valuable at third base for the Eagles to make him a pitching project during his senior year. He helped solidify an infield that also included shortstop Andrew Fowler, who is now playing at Neumann University, and Connor Agostino, who is a college wrestler. With Transue playing third base and hitting in the middle of the lineup, the Eagles went 20-5, one of their best seasons ever. Transue said he always knew he had a pretty good arm, but had no idea he could throw 90 mph. “I knew I could throw far, but I didn’t know I could throw that hard. Throughout the years, I was always one of the guys who could throw the farthest. Whenever we had practice on the turf field (in Atlantic City), we would see how far we could throw. I was reaching about 115 yards. We had the 100-yard club and coach (Sean) Coyle would give you a t-shirt if you could throw 100 yards, so that was the main objective. I think I was a sophomore when I did that,” he said. “Freshman year, I pitched on the freshman team and a little bit for JV, but I didn’t pitch at all after that. I did have some problems with my elbow, so I didn’t want t risk getting hurt, so I just stayed playing third base. My senior year, we were going to test it, so I pitched in that game against Vineland and they hit me around pretty good.” “When I saw him throw, I knew he had the velocity to be a pitcher. He pitched against us in the ACBL and he struck out about five batters in two innings. He was sitting 88-to-89 mph and hitting 90, so right from then we told him he had a chance to be pretty
SEPT. 15, 2017 good if we honed in on this pitching thing,” Adams said. “At the beginning of the summer he was basically just an arm, but he came in all summer and we worked on his slider. He did a lot of flat work, just throwing sliders to try to get a feel for that pitch, and he took that into his games in the ACBL and started to get comfortable. He’s got a really good fastball and a pretty good slider. He’s still raw with it, but he’ll definitely be able to get some outs with those pitches.” It seems as though Transue has picked the right major, as he has engineered one of the most shocking South Jersey baseball stories in recent memory. Guys walk on to Division II and Division III programs with some frequency, as coaches at those levels are sometimes more willing to take a flier on a guy. Coaches in conferences such as the ACC will hold walk-on tryouts each summer, just to see if by some wild chance there might be a recruit they overlooked somehow. “It’s awesome, especially with a program as prestigious as Virginia Tech. He had some other Division I schools calling us and asking about him. We asked him, ‘hey Kyle, are you locked into VT?’ and he was like, ‘yeah, I want to go there.’ He’s a smart kid and he’s going to be an engineer. But it’s really exciting to see him go from not even playing college baseball, maybe, to being a pitcher in the ACC. I’ve never seen anything like that. Colleges don’t really look to pick up guys at a walk-on tryout, and he went in there and wowed them,” Adams said. “He called me right after the tryout was over and he was all energetic. I was like, ‘you made it, didn’t you?’ And he said, ‘yeah, I made the team.’ I told Ed, and the BPC was packed at that time. Everybody was yelling and screaming. A lot of his EHT teammates were in there at the time, so it was pretty cool.” “As soon as I started pitching, all the (Virginia Tech) coaches started looking at me. As soon as I stepped off the mound they were like, ‘hey, can we talk to you?’ They were asking me where I was from,” Transue said. “It was pretty crazy. As soon as they told me I was going to be on the team, I called everyone I knew. That whole night I was freaking out. It didn’t really sink in until the next day. I get the team gear (Sept. 12) and I’m excited about that. It’s crazy. I didn’t think I’d be able to do it, but you never know. I’ve worked hard for this.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
SEPT. 15, 2017 EHT, from page 11 “As a freshman, Samantha had to challenge her way up through all the other players who were on the team last year. We do a round-robin challenge with all the new players and Samantha was the winner of that, so then she got to challenge the returning players on the team. She won her way up that ladder, and she and Gaby seemed to have some good chemistry together,” Hartman said. “I’ve seen her play over the years, and Sarah’s and Samantha’s father is a very good tennis player, so they have some good tennis genes in that family.” Hartman said she doesn’t have to guard too closely against over-confidence. Her players know that every opponent views EHT as the team to beat in the CAL, and they come after the Eagles with a vengeance. “Every team we play is a challenge for us. Realistically, I know it would be a big win for some of the schools to beat us in the regular season, but that means everybody gets pumped up to play us. But our singles and doubles players are so motivated. Emily, Sarah and Tiffany all come from tennis families and play tournaments outside of the regular
GLORY DAYS MAGAZINE season. They are very self motivated, so keeping them motivated is not hard at all,” Hartman said. “We don’t take any of the matches for granted, and I know that sounds like a cliche, but it really is true. When we played Atlantic City the other day, the overall team score wasn’t close, but some of the matches were very close. You wouldn’t know that from the team score, but the matches themselves were very competitive. It was the same thing when we played Mainland — that match was a nail-biter at every single position, from first singles to second doubles, right up until the last point.” The high school tennis season goes by quickly, finishing up before the end of October, so Hartman said she is trying to enjoy every day she has with what she calls a great group of girls. “These girls are a joy to coach, not just on the court, but off the court they are wonderful young women. They are a joy to be around and to have the pleasure of coaching. The only problems I have are the days when they might forget a piece of their uniform, or their shoes or something like that,” she said. Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
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Mainland insider A LOOK AT MAINLAND REGIONAL ATHLETICS/BROUGHT TO YOU BY ATLANTIC CITY COUNTRY CLUB Members of the field hockey team celebrate a big win over rival Ocean City during their second game of the season.
Ending the streak
The Mustangs field hockey team hadn’t beaten rival Ocean City since early in the 2013 season, but that came to an end on Sept. 11 when senior Brianna Barretta scored a goal with less than 14 minutes remaining to give Mainland a 2-1 victory over the Red Raiders. In fact, Ocean City hadn’t lost to a Cape-Atlantic League team since Sept. 30, 2013, when EHT got the better of the Raiders. Mainland’s defense played extremely well, led by Robin Spector, Amanda Dearborn, Samantha Murphy and sophomore goalie Michaela Brady, and Gab Santiago scored the game’s first goal in the first varsity start of her career. Ocean City dominated much of the possession and had 17 corners, but the Mustangs were able to take advantage of counter-attack opportunities. The Mustangs have some tough games coming up, including road contests at Millville on Sept. 18 and at Rancocas Valley on Sept. 23. They also close out September at Middle Township, and have to travel to Ocean City on Oct. 4.
Welcome aboard
The softball team has a new skipper, as Brian Smith takes over for Frank Marascio, who retired in June after many successful seasons leading that program. Smith has been teaching at Mainland since 1999 and
Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
has been a baseball assistant for 19 years, and also has been the head coach for the girls cross country team the past five years. Last fall, girls cross country took home the South Jersey Group 3 championship, and he was part of the baseball team’s 2014 state championship run. The softball team has qualified for the state playoffs the past four seasons and made a run to the sectional championship game in 2016. Several key players return next spring from that squad, including
outstanding outfielders Mackenzie Brennan and Faith Hegh, as well as pitcher Bailey Arena.
Making history
After a season-opening, 2-1 loss to ACIT, the girls volleyball team got on track in a big way, beating Pleasantville for the first time in program history. Olivia Goff had a big game, registering 3 aces, 8 kills, 7 blocks and 4 digs, while Francesca Pilli chipped in with 5 aces, 3 kills and 6 digs. Sarah Harvey led the way with 8 assists and also had 3 digs.
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OCEAN CITY insider A LOOK AT OCEAN CITY ATHLETICS/BROUGHT TO YOU BY OCEAN CITY FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY New leader
Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
to pound the ball with the running game in the second half and broke free for three scores. Just as impressive was the defense, which held the Falcons off the scoreboard for the entire second half. Linebacker Brandon Lin, defensive lineman Arthur Spackman and defensive backs Brandon Lashley and Issac Robertson led the way. Liam Bergman also had a breakout game after missing much of last season with a back injury, and new quarterback Harry Pfeifle actually led the rushing attack. He missed all of last season with an ACL injury, but came back strong during the spring lacrosse season. Bergman carried the ball a team-high 18 times and finished with 112 yards and a touchdown, while Pfeifle racked up 122 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. Robertson chipped in with 63 yards as the Red Raiders finished with 314 rushing yards on 47 carries, good for 6.7 yards per carry.
ber kept them out of the state playoffs. Getting off to a better start was a big focus for coach Kevin Smith and his staff, and the Raiders came out of the gate on fire in their season-opening, 26-6 win over Oakcrest. Ocean City led just 9-6 at halftime, but continued
a 2-1 win over Cinnaminson. Josiah Nistorenko had three assists through the first two games, including on both goals in the win over Cinnaminson. Ocean City’s offense also spread the wealth against Lower, as six different players scored.
The Ocean City sports programs have a new chief, as reported by David Nahan of the Ocean City Sentinel. Vince Leavey takes over as the new athletic director and comes in with an impressive resume. He has degrees in health, exercise science, athletic training and educational leadership, and has more than a decade of experience in three school districts, including Haddon Township and Highland Regional.
Now people know her name
Senior Alexa Weber has toiled on the cross country circuit in relative anonymity during her high school career, and has been in the shadow of friend and training partner Alyssa Aldridge of Mainland, one of the top runners in the entire country. But Weber has built and impressive career and her senior season got off to a great start when she finished second at the Cherokee Challenge, a kick-off event that draws the best runners from throughout South Jersey and the neighboring regions. Weber also was on the cover of the August 18 edition of Glory Days Magazine, and should be a strong contender for both league and sectional titles in late October and early November.
No slow start this year
The Red Raiders’ football team won five of its last six games last fall, but a sub-par showing in Septem-
Brandon Lashley and the Red Raiders’ Giving an assist defense shut down Oakcrest in a 26-6 The boys soccer team jumped out to a 2-0 start this win to start the season. season, beating Lower Cape May 6-3 then scoring
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VIC’S SUBS COVER STORY
No goals allowed Stellitano and Blanchet take it personally when opponents try to put one into the back of the onion bag against Mainland By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer hroughout its history, Mainland Regional High School has been known as a football school. Legendary coach Bob Coffey built up one of the most respected and successful programs in South Jersey before retiring after the 2015 season. Mention Mainland, and football usually was the first thing to come to anyone’s mind. Mainland, however, is quickly becoming known as a futbol school, and that’s thanks in large part to a couple of goalkeepers who have established themselves as two of the best in the Cape-Atlantic League and who have helped both the boys and girls soccer teams rise to the elite of the league in recent years. Matt Stellitano and Angelina Blanchet, both seniors and lifelong keepers, tend to take it personally when an opponent tries to score a goal against them. That kind of tenacity, coupled with a lot of talent and confidence, is leading to a lot of wins — and not a lot of goals against. Last season, Blanchet and the girls team recorded nine shutouts and 15 victories overall while advancing to the South Jersey Group 3 semifinals. Stellitano and the boys squad racked up 18 wins, including 14 via shutout, and won the sectional title before falling in the Group 3 semifinals. At one point, Stellitano and the Mustangs’ defense posted nine consecutive shutouts. Vineland scored a goal against the Mustangs during a 7-1 Mainland win on Sept. 14 last year, then the Stangs didn’t let up another tally until Bridgeton got one in during a 5-1 loss to Mainland on Oct. 17. “It’s really exciting. I can’t wait to see what’s to come this year,” Blanchet said of the buzz surrounding the Mainland soccer programs. “We have a lot
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Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Senior goalkeepers Matt Stellitano and Angelina Blanchet notched 23 shutouts a year ago and led their teams to a combined 33 wins. Stellitano and the boys won 18 games and the South Jersey Group 4 championship, while Blanchet and the girls scored 15 wins and earned a berth in the sectional semifinals. of seniors and a great group of underclassmen. It’s so weird being a senior now. I see little freshman coming in — and some who are a lot taller than me — but you definitely have much more of a say in things when you are a senior, and it’s a great bond you can create with the underclassmen. We have sort of a big sister-little sister program, so now I have 29 little sisters I get to watch out for. “I just want to let up the least amount of goals as possible. It’s really exciting when you get a shutout. It’s empowering and makes you feel good, and it also shows how good your team is doing.” “As a fan of Matt’s, it’s really fun to watch him and what he does. And
watching Ang in net for us is really special to see. She’s someone who didn’t have starting experience before last year and she’s really come into her own and gotten a lot of confidence. That’s the most important part as a keeper is that confidence, and she’s starting to get that,” said girls head coach Alex Weidman. “There were a couple of games she missed due to injury, but when she came back she started to get a lot stronger back there. As she progressed, you could see her gain confidence in herself and that’s when the shutouts and the wins started coming around. It’s all about confidence. Even the best goalkeepers go through spells with their confidence level, and I think that’s what is huge for Ang this
year, she’s built up more and I think she’s very prepared for this season.” Both keepers gained a lot of success last season as the wins began to pile up. And they put up some impressive numbers. Blanchet finished the 2016 season with 69 saves and came into this year with 93 in her career, while Stellitano had 109 last year and has 146 during his career. “He communicates as well as any keeper I’ve seen. When you start hearing from officials how good a leader your goalie is, you really start taking notice a little more. I heard that toward the end of last year, and during one of the preseason scrimmages this year
See Goals, page 19
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Goals, from page 18 one of the officials came over and mentioned what a great leader we have. I always knew it, but sometimes you get so focused on what’s going on in the midfield, I don’t necessarily hear him all the time. But when you sit back and listen, he’s encouraging, he knows the game really well and he spaces out the guys in the back. He really has become a staple for our defense. Obviously, the guys in front of him are very important as well, but we count on him in a lot of ways,” said Chris Meade, who was an assistant under John Napoli last year and who takes his place after Napoli stepped down prior to this season. “His instincts are very good. It’s a shame because I think a lot of college coaches look for height when recruiting goalkeepers, but Matt makes up for that in other ways. He’s not the tallest of goalkeepers, but his instincts are tremendous and he takes a lot of things away. If we’re pushing up on defense, he’ll go with them and if any through balls are there he is good with his feet, which is an incredible asset for a keeper. He’ll hang at the top of the box and anything in there he’ll vacuum up. He’s not one of those guys who is going to stay on his line — and sometimes I get on him about that, but that’s what makes him special, his ability to read the game and now how to react to different situations.” Stellitano said he considers himself to be a pretty aggressive keeper, and Meade isn’t going to argue that point. “Most people would consider me to be a fairly aggressive keeper. I like to say I play each game by ear, judge by the other team, take the first five or 10 minutes to see how they play and adjust my game accordingly,” Stellitano said. “We have faith in him,” Meade added. “For the most part, if he makes a
Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Stellitano had a tremendous year in 2016, making more than 100 saves, and came into 2017 ranked by nj.com as one of the top 25 goalies in the state. mistake, he’s making up for it in so many other areas and rarely does it cost us. It might get the other team a corner or something, but I wouldn’t want to change his ways. I try to curb it a little, but I would hate to take any of his aggressiveness away from him.” Neither goalie is exceptionally tall, as far as keepers go. Blanchet is one of the shorter keepers in the league at 5-foot-2, while Stellitano is about 5-10. But they make up for that with their knowledge of the game. Blanchet’s father, J.P., and her grandfather were both goalies and Matt’s father, Greg, played goalie during his days at Stockton, so they’ve been bred to stand between the pipes and face whatever comes at them. Each also has the ability to bounce back quickly whenever somebody is fortunate enough to put one into the back of the onion bag.
“You definitely have to shake it off if you get scored on, but I try to always talk and communicate with my defense to let them know what’s going on. I’m the type of goalie who will usually stay back, so I’m working on becoming more aggressive and getting to the ball first. My strengths during my career so far have been getting to those low shots, since I am short. I can get down and get to the corner quickly. A lot of teams definitely try to shoot the ball high on me, and that’s something I’ve been working on as I’ve gotten older and now I can get to those high shots better,” Blanchet said. “My communication has gotten better with my back four, especially during those breakaways when one of my defenders is right on (the opponent’s) shoulder and I have to decide whether I want them to pressure or come out myself.”
“You feel the disappointment for a split second, but you have to realize that the ball is going back to the center of the field and play is going to start again, so you just have to focus on making the next save,” Stellitano said about getting scored upon. “There are days when you feel down, but the team is always there to pick you up.” Having an experienced goalie can make a huge difference for any high school soccer team, and with Blanchet and Stellitano in goal, the Mustangs should be considered contenders in South Jersey Group 3 on both the boys’ and girls’ side. “I hope to continue our success this year. We have a great team coming back with 12 returning seniors, so I’m hoping that with the defense coming back that everybody stays strong
See Goals, page 20
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Blanchet, a senior at Mainland, had 69 saves a year ago and came into this season with 93 career saves.
again,” Stellitano said. “I’ve been working a lot on communication with my back four a lot. We lost two defenders from last year who were very good players, but we have a deep enough squad to where new guys stepped in. I just have to keep talking and keep them going.” “We did lose a couple of great backs in Josh (Richards) and Dennis (George), but what’s nice is we’ve replaced them with guys who have experience and are seniors this year. I don’t want to put a number (of wins) on Matt. I think if we just play solid and can minimize goals, we can stay in games because I think we are deep enough to throw some numbers at teams and attack the box,” Meade said. “Our goal this year is attention to detail and to have a relentless pursuit to get the ball back if we lose it. That aggressiveness and tenacity is something we want to improve on. If Matt plays his game, he’s going to do fine.” The two keepers work out together in the summer, and admitted they try to one-up each other throughout the season, in a friendly way. The Mainland boys and girls teams have good chemistry and work out together throughout the preseason, and that might be one reason why the school is beginning to build a soccer culture. “The boys and girls teams have a special connection. I was coaching with the boys and when I came over here, we wanted to keep a lot of the things together. We train every other day in the summer together, so they get to know each other and become friends. It’s almost like a friendly competition, like Matt has a couple of shutouts so let’s get Ang a couple of shutouts, that type of thing. She prides herself on organizing the defense in front of her, and they do a great job, and also making the saves when needed,” Weidman said. “The goalkeepers tend to get most of the credit, but it’s a team victory all the time and a shutout is a team thing. It’s important to us to have the press coming out and noticing what we’re doing. Even when I went here, it wasn’t the same in that way. Goalkeepers were lucky to get nine wins in a season and now we’re talking about 15, 16 or 17. So it’s really cool, and it’s good for the boys and girls to be able to enjoy this success.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
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the football conversation
Former ’Gami star Tyler Bing back in the brown and gold Tyler Bing was one of the most exciting football players to ever wear an Absegami jersey. He was always a threat to find the end zone any time he had the ball in his hands. After a stellar high school career, Bing moved on to Delaware Valley University, where he was a versatile wide receiver who also did damage on the ground. Bing, who graduated with a degree in Criminal Justice, is back on the Absegami sidelines this season as an assistant under Dennis Scuderi Jr., working with the Braves’ wide outs. Glory Day Magazine Staff Writer Giuseppe Ungaro interviewed Bing about being back at Absegami, his time in college and what his future may hold. The following is our Football Conversation for mid-September. Ungaro: How did the opportunity to come back to Absegami come about? Bing: Coach Scuderi wanted me to come back. I was up in the air about it at first, but I love the school. It’s my alma mater. It’s definitely awesome to be back around the kids, showing them stuff I experienced in college as well as in high school. It’s a great opportunity. Ungaro: How did Absegami prepare you for Delaware Valley University? Bing: Coach Scuderi is a great coach. He has a fire like no other, he is very passionate. He definitely taught me a lot about facing adversity, and a lot of things that happen outside of football that can make football tough for you. It was great to know someone like that in high school to prepare me going into college. Ungaro: What do you remember most
Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Tyler Bing, a former star player at Absegami High School, finished up his college football career last fall at Delaware Valley University, where he was a starting receiver. This fall, he is back on the sidelines at Absegami as a Braves assistant under head coach Dennis Scuderi Jr. about Absegami as a player? Bing: The good times I had here, being at practice every day, being around all the coaches and my fellow teammates. It was awesome. It was never, ‘aww, man, I have to go to practice.’ Every single day was great to be at practice. Obviously, everyone loves playing on Friday night. Those special moments with those guys was all I can
ever ask for. Ungaro: What’s the best part of teaching the current players? Bing: Trying to get them to learn and understand that when it is time to go away for college, it’s only going to get harder. Just trying to teach them all the same things coach Scuderi taught me with adversity, fighting through when times are tough , and just show-
ing them how to become students of the game; trying to show them the little things they might not pick up on until you start explaining it to them. I just want them to be smarter football players. Ungaro: Were you satisfied with your career at Del Val? Bing: Absolutely. I couldn’t have
See Bing, page 25
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SEPT. 15, 2017 Bing, from page 22 asked for anything better. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get a MAC championship, but it was a great four years. Ungaro: What was it like to play in Mexico for Global Football? Bing: It was a good experience, for sure. It’s a different culture down there. You would think football down there wouldn’t be as good as teams in America, but they were a good football team. They played very well. It was a good experience and I had fun playing against them. Ungaro: Any favorite moment or highlight from your time at Del Val? Bing: My favorite was my junior year, our homecoming game against Stevenson. Last couple of seconds of the game, we ran a jet sweep from the 8-yard line. I got the jet sweep and scored, winning the game for us. Ungaro: Did you enjoy being a student at Del Val? Bing: Absolutely. To a lot of kids these days, school is not everyone’s main thing. A lot of people love to do their sport first before being a student. That is something these kids have to learn. Academics come first. That’s what I had to learn as well. Going to
GLORY DAYS MAGAZINE Del Val taught me a lot. I definitely became better at being a student, and it will help me later on in life in everything else I have to do. Ungaro: Are you working in the district? Bing: I’ll be substitute teaching. They also want me to coach spring track, so I will be doing that as well. I will be looking for any type of law enforcement job, probably state trooper or local PD. Ungaro: What made you want to be in law enforcement? Bing: When I first went away, I wanted to do sports medicine, stay around sports, and be a trainer. But I had a change of heart before I declared my major. I thought I could impact any community I go to by being in law enforcement. Ungaro: Do you think there is a gap that needs to be bridged between communities and police departments? Bing: Absolutely. I just think people these days need to start trusting cops more. Officers know what they are doing. Contact Giuseppe Ungaro: gungaro@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDgisepu
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football reloaded
Ground control leads to major gains Some area teams are turning back to their rushing attack after prolific quarterbacks graduated last spring (Staff Writer Dave O’Sullivan takes a look back at some of the top performances in high school football, gives his thoughts on what he saw play out on the field, and peeks ahead to some big games that are coming up on the schedule.) everal experienced, talented quarterbacks highlighted the class of 2017, including guys such as Andrew Donoghue of Ocean City, Kendall Elliott of Oakcrest and Cedar Creek’s Jesse Milza. All were four-year starters, and all brought their respective programs to new heights. So, what’s a coach to do when a four-year quarterback graduates? Go back to the ground game. The offenses for those three particular schools don’t look anything like they did a year ago, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Oakcrest struggled a bit during a season-opening, 26-6 loss to Ocean City, but has talented backs in Jailen Heard and Keevon Berry, and junior Marques Miller (5-foot-9, 175 pounds) really has a lot of potential to become the featured back for coach Eric Anderson. I was really impressed with Ocean City’s new look on offense. Trying to replace a guy like Donoghue, who left school with an armful of school records, is no easy task, but coach Kevin Smith definitely has the right guy in senior Harry Pfeifle. Pfeifle is rangy (6-2, 180) and strong, and one of the best athletes at the school. He’s a force on the lacrosse field and you can see when he runs the ball that he has a great sense of body awareness and spacing. Oakcrest had a lot of trouble containing Ocean City when the Red Raiders ran that old belly option, where Pfeifle sticks the ball into the belly of either Issac Robertson or Liam Bergman, reads his keys and either hands it off or pulls it back out and takes off with the rock himself. The reason that offense works so well for the Red
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Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Junior Kamaal Reed was one of several running backs who helped Cedar Creek chew up yardage and clock during the Pirates’ 29-7, season-opening win over rival Absegami on Sept. 9. Raiders is they have capable backs in Bergman and Robertson. Robertson rushed 12 times for 63 yards against Oakcrest, while Bergman had 112 yards on 18 carries. Pfeifle added 122 yards on 16 carries, as Ocean City’s offense looked like the polar opposite of last year. Pfeifle attempted just six passes, completing three of them, while the Red Raiders rushed the ball 47 times for 314 yards. The defense, led by Arthur Spackman and Brandon Lin in the front seven and Robertson and Brandon Lashley in the secondary, was just as impressive.
They held Oakcrest to just 76 yards rushing (just more than three yards per carry) and 57 yards passing. Whether or not Ocean City can continue to keep up that kind of pace with its rushing attack remains to be seen, and the Red Raiders have some tough tests coming up. They get the bye in Week 2 before traveling to Cedar Creek, then have a home game against West Windsor-Plainsboro South before going on the
See Reloaded, page 27
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Reloaded, from page 26 road again to take on Absegami. u Ground and pound: Cedar Creek is in a similar situation to Ocean City, as the Pirates are trying to replace Jesse Milza, who passed for more than 5,000 yards during his career and who now is a freshman at Delaware Valley University. But sophomore Louie Barrios — who admittedly had some butterflies in his stomach prior to his first career start, against Absegami on Sept. 9 — seems to be capable of filling Milza’s shoes, although, much like in Ocean City’s case, the offense will look much different. The Pirates also have a host of running backs who are talented and looking to make their mark. Cedar Creek had its hands full with a tough, hardhitting Absegami defense in its season opener, but eventually was able to wear down the Braves with a consistent rushing attack in the second half of a 29-7 victory, and the ability to run the ball opened some things up for Barrios, who took advantage by throwing a touchdown pass to senior Joey Pollino that gave Cedar Creek a 22-7 lead with nine minutes to go that effectively salted the game away.
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games to watch Friday, Sept. 22 Millville at St. Augustine Prep, 6pm: Two of South Jersey’s best knock heads. Saturday, Sept. 23 Ocean City at Cedar Creek, 1pm: Defensive linemen better be ready. Going to be plenty of running plays in this one. Friday, Sept. 29 Collingswood at Buena, 6pm: After a tough OT loss to Pleasantville in Week 1, the Chiefs need every win they can get.
Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan
New Ocean City quarterback Harry Pfeifle showed he’s capable of filling the shoes of Andrew Donoghue, as Pfeifle passed for 48 yards and rushed for 122 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries during the Red Raiders’ win over Oakcrest in Week 1. What makes Cedar Creek difficult to defend is the Pirates have at least four capable ball carriers, including Barrios, and, at least in Week 1, showed the ability to make plays through the
air as well. Barrios completed 10 of 15 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown, and also made some big gains on the ground, as did guys such as Kamaal Reed, sophomore Jeremy Taylor and
junior Lamar Fisher. And even though Bo Melton is off now to Rutgers University, Cedar Creek has almost a carbon copy of their dynamic playmaker in his little brother, Malachi, who is a sophomore this year. The Absegami coaching staff made sure to let the Braves defense know to account for where No. 16 was on every play because all Melton needs is one play to completely change a game. He even came in as quarterback on a play near the goal line, and punched it in for a touchdown. u Absegami will be alright: The
See Reloaded, page 28
PAGE 28 Reloaded, from page 27 final score may have indicated a blowout at first glance, but the Braves trailed Cedar Creek just 9-6 at halftime and were only down 16-6 heading into the fourth quarter before the Pirates put up a pair of touchdowns. Senior Josh Coursey showed a glimpse of his game-breaking ability in the second quarter when he returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, and Absegami will continue to need big plays from him, quarterback Andrew Marcucci and running back Jaden Johnson. After facing Lower Cape May on Sept. 15, the Braves have a tough stretch that includes games against St. Joseph, Eastern, Ocean City and Triton. u Turning the tides: Most of the players on this year’s Pleasantville roster were still in diapers the last time the Greyhounds won a season opener. That was back in 2003. But Pleasantville snapped a 13-year winless streak on opening night in dramatic fashion, as Mohamed Toure scooped up a fumble on Buena Regional’s first overtime possession and returned it 90 yards for the winning score, as the Greyhounds gave the home crowd a thrill with a
GLORY DAYS MAGAZINE 13-7 victory. Third-year coach Chris Sacco talked in preseason about how big a victory over Buena would be, not just because it was the season opener, but because realistically, the Greyhounds will probably have to win five games, and possibly six, before the cutoff date to make it into the South Jersey Group 2 tournament, which usually features stalwarts such as Cedar Creek, West Deptford, Willingboro, Collingswood and Barnegat. u A look ahead: Keep an eye on Week 4, as Millville travels to St. Augustine Prep on Sept. 22 and Ocean City hits the road after a bye week to take on Cedar Creek during a Saturday game, 1 p.m. on Sept. 23. Week 5 features a Thursday game, as Absegami travels to Eastern, and a big Friday night game on Sept. 29 when Delsea heads to Absecon to take on Holy Spirit. That weekend also features a Saturday matchup of Camden coming to Egg Harbor City to take on Cedar Creek, as well as Pleasantville at St. Joseph. u News and notes: Week 1 saw some thrilling games around the West Jersey Football League, particularly Timber Creek — the consensus No. 1 team in South Jersey — having to fight
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Josiah Carrel and the Absegami Braves have some tough games coming up against the likes of St. Joseph, Eastern and Ocean City. off a wild challenge from Delsea Regional. The Chargers escaped with a 39-36 victory when Delsea’s potential game-tying field goal in the waning seconds hit off the upright. ... Congrats to Carli Kling, who became an instant Twitter sensation on Sept. 8 when news began to break on the social media site that she had become the first female player in the 100-plus-years of Vineland football to score a point. Her first PAT was blocked, but she connected
on her second one to put her name in the record books during the Fighting Clan’s victory over Bridgeton. ... Nobody knew the name of St. Augustine Prep freshman Patrick Smith prior to the Hermits’ Week 1 victory over Atlantic City, but they certainly know it now after the rookie rushed 13 times for 153 yards and two touchdowns. Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
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Q&A Spirit grad RJC keeps racking up yards in college Reggie Jean-Charles rushed for more than 1,700 yards last fall and now is a freshman at Gettysburg College Reggie Jean-Charles rushed for more than 2,400 yards and 26 touchdowns in his final two seasons at Holy Spirit, and now is a freshman at Gettysburg College, where he piled up 248 yards and a touchdown in his first two games with the Bullets. Glory Days Magazine Staff Writer Dave O’Sullivan caught up with RJC after he put up 170 yards in a 35-28 loss to Ursinus in Week 2 to talk about his transition from high school to college football. Sully: How do you like college life? RJC: At first it was kind of rough, but I’ve gotten used to it. You have less time and a tighter schedule. Sully: What was your first impression of college football? How different did it feel from high school? RJC: Yeah, it felt different. Gettysburg’s offense runs no-huddle, so you have to have a lot of stamina, and everything is faster paced. Sully: What kind of feeling did you get throughout training camp? Did you feel like you would be a starter? RJC: I wasn’t sure if I was going to start or not, I just knew I had to keep competing because you never know what can happen. Sully: The season opener, what was that like? How different was it from a high school game? RJC: It was much different. When we pulled up, there were people tailgating. There were a lot of people. I was shocked. Sully: Was it everything you thought college football would be like? RJC: Yes, for sure. Sully: What was the most difficult thing for you to learn about college football coming in as a freshman? RJC: I would say the plays, that was the hardest part. We have literally thousands of codes for different plays. Every day we have to bring our notebooks to our meetings and right down every single
Glory Days Magazine file photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Reggie Jean-Charles, a 2017 Holy Spirit graduate, rushed for 248 yards and a touchdown in his first two collegiate games. code for every play. Every day we have 15-minute meetings with coaches, going over things like pass protection and codes for different plays. Sully: What’s been the most difficult part of the transition in terms of your schedule and the classes? RJC: I would say getting rest. In college, you get a lot of work. Monday through Wednesday nights we have an 8-to-10 p.m. study session in the library. Sometimes you can’t get all your work done in those two hours and you have to stay up late, then wake up early for classes, then have breakfast, lunch, football practice, football meetings. It’s hectic. Sully: You have two games under your belt now and you had a heck of a performance against Ursinus with 170 yards. Did you think you would be able to make that kind of impact? RJC: All I can say is that I see that the coaches believe in me. I just wanted an opportunity to show people what I was truly about. Sully: What’s your favorite part about college so far?
RJC: Football, for sure, but also meeting new people. Everybody is coming from different states and have different personalities. And the football team is becoming a family. The new guys were quiet for a while, but then we all started to get to know each other and we’re starting to form a family. Sully: I’m sure you make a lot of friends when you rush for 170 yards, right? RJC: Yeah. Sully: Do you miss home and Holy Spirit? RJC: I was very homesick the first week and a half, but I got over it. It’s just life, you have to go through it sometime. Sully: Are you keeping tabs on your boys at Holy Spirit? RJC: Oh, yes. I still talk to the coaches consistently. I talked to Elijah Gray the other day before his game. I told him to hold it down and keep the tradition going. Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
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Great high school sports coverage every day at glorydaysonline.com! Mainland Regional field hockey players celebrate a hard-fought, 2-1 victory over rival Ocean City on Sept. 11. The win was the first by a Cape-Atlantic League team over the Red Raiders since Sept. 30, 2013. Read more great daily game coverage stories like this at our website! Glory Days Magazine photo/ Dave O’Sullivan
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JERSEY SHORE RUGBY WITH DR. J. Fall schedule The Jersey Shore Sharks Rugby Club plays its home games at 1 p.m. on Saturdays at Veterans Memorial Park in Galloway. Here’s a look at what’s coming up this fall:
September 9 vs. Hibos 16 at Whitehorse 23 at Happy Valley 30 vs. Harrisburg October 7 bye week 14 at Harrisburg 21 vs. Delmarva 28 vs. Happy Valley November 4 at Hibos 11 bye week 18 vs. Whitehorse u High school athletes interested in joining the Sharks’ U-19 rugby club should contact Dr. J. Zimmerman at drzimmerman@ verizon.net or call 609-6526363. No experience is necesGlory Days Magazine file photo/Dave O’Sullivan sary, and the club currently has The Jersey Shore Sharks Rugby Club’s men’s team began its 2017 fall schedule this past weekend and has a pair of road games coming up before returning home to face an always tough players from Atlantic, Cape Harrisburg squad on Sept. 30. The Sharks also have a pair of home games on the final two May and Ocean counties. Saturdays in October.
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SNAPSHOTS
Gab Stantiago scored the game’s first goal on Sept. 11 when Mainland upended rival Ocean City, 2-1, beating the Red Raiders for the first time since 2013.
Glory Days Magazine photos/Dave O’Sullivan
Oakcrest second singles player Lada Doukhnai serves during the Falcons’ match against Lower Cape May Regional in the first week of the regular season.
Absegami junior defensive back Stephen Wilkins hustles out to his position during the Braves’ season-opening game at Cedar Creek on Sept. 9. The teams were tied, 7-7, at halftime, before Cedar Creek pulled away for a 29-7 win.
Ocean City linebacker Brandon Lin looks to the bench for a defensive signal during the Red Raiders’ win over Oakcrest on Sept. 8.
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