Two programs clashing for the first time.
Two programs with a rich history of winning it all on more than one occasion.
Two programs that were eliminated in the semifinal round of their sectional playoffs a year ago, each finishing 8-3.
Two programs that have not won in a long time, the road team in 13 years and the home team in 26.
Now here they are.
For the 2019 North 2, Group 5 state championship it will be the third-seeded Clifton Mustangs (7-3) of Passaic County facing the top-seeded Union Farmers (11-0) of Union County in Friday’s 7 p.m. final to be contested at Cooke Memorial Field.
Will Clifton be able to rattle Union senior quarterback Andrew Sanborn?
Will Union have the push to stop Clifton senior running back Christian Bonaparte?
Those questions and many more will begin to be answered when the first-ever Friday night state championship football game will be contested at Union High School.
“Union has a very good football team, is very physical, big and has speed,” fifth-year Clifton head coach Ralph Cinque said. “Sanborn has a strong arm, can stretch the field, breaks contain and gets to the outside. He reminds me of the quarterback from Hackensack last year, Zion Frazier.
“We’ve all been very impressed watching him this week on film.”
Although his team gave up five touchdowns in last week’s come-from-behind 42-35 win at second-seeded Ridge, Cinque explains that his defense is the team’s No, 1 strength.
“The points were quick and there was still a lot of time left,” Cinque said. “There were some breakdowns in coverage, but nobody was pointing fingers, nobody was yelling. They did not drive down the length of the field against us.
“Then we got some stops and went down and scored. A strip, a big hit and two plays later we score again. Then we scored once more to take a 21-20 lead. Our kids are a very resilient bunch. They know to use all 48 minutes.”
UNION COUNTY FOOTBALL
IN STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES
FRIDAY, NOV. 22 (2 games)
NORTH 2, GROUP 5 FINAL
3-Clifton (7-3) at 1-Union (11-0), 7 p.m.
COMMON OPPONENT: Paterson Kennedy
Sept. 9: Clifton 14, Paterson Kennedy 7 – at Paterson Kennedy
Nov. 8: Union 35, Paterson Kennedy 0 – at Union (playoffs)
SOUTH JERSEY, GROUP 2 FINAL
3-Hillside (10-0) at 1-West Deptford (9-1), 7 p.m.
COMMON OPPONENT: Haddonfield
Oct. 11: West Deptford 28, Haddonfield 14 – at West Deptford
Nov. 15: Hillside 35, Haddonfield 0 – at Haddonfield (playoffs)
In league play Clifton has yielded just 32 points in five games, with 20 of them coming in a 20-6 setback to Passaic Tech. Based on their schedule the Mustangs are, arguably, the best three-loss team in the state. The first two losses came to Northern Highlands and Passaic Tech, two other teams playing for state championships this weekend, and the third by a single touchdown to parochial school power Delbarton.
Among Clifton’s two shutout victories is one by a 13-0 score at home over Ridgewood, which is the team that is hosting Passaic Tech in Friday night’s North 1, Group 5 final. If Clifton gets by Union, it will face Ridgewood or Passaic Tech a second time in a bowl game.
Clifton is also 4-0 on the road.
“Our defense is led by (senior) middle linebacker Eddie Maldonado,” Cinque said. “He’s as tough as they come. We like to call him, ‘Clifton Tough.’ Most of our staff is from Clifton and knows the type of ball we like to play here. Everything runs through him.”
Junior Jahhon Willis (6-0, 300) draws a lot of attention. “He gets doubles and triples (teamed) like tic tacs,” Cinque said.
At outside linebacker are seniors Lord Belton and Angel Payano. “With Lord and Angel who needs to go to church? They are both well-disciplined and coachable,” Cinque said.
Cinque continued by saying inside (junior) linebacker Josh Hernandez “is playing well for us,” and that the secondary consists of Bonaparte and sophomore Bryan Feliciano.
“We rotate three corners with (junior) Caleb Bonaparte, (senior) Andre Gardner and (sophomore) Donovan Swasey.”
Sophomores Ahmad Ramadan (tackle) and Nick Burgess (end) excel on the line, while sophomore Luke Ceneri is another standout at linebacker.
Between 1946 and 1973 Clifton football captured 15 sectional titles. The Mustangs in the playoff era, however, have won only one, the 2006 North 1, Group 4 crown at the old Giants Stadium when they defeated Paterson Eastside 26-0 under head coach Ron Anello. The only other time Clifton reached a state championship game was in 1979 during the final season Bill VanderCloster was the head coach. The Mustangs fell to Passaic Valley 15-0 in that season’s North 1, Group 4 final at Giants Stadium.
“A majority of staff are Clifton guys and know the tradition and history,” said Cinque, a 1993 Clifton grad himself who was an assistant coach at Clifton from 2001 to 2014 before being promoted to head coach in 2015.
Union produced several noteworthy seasons before the state playoffs commenced in 1974. Then under legendary head coach Lou Rettino the Farmers captured the North 2, Group 4 state championship a record 10 times in just a 16-season span from 1978-1993. In Rettino’s 19-season (1977-1995) tenure at Union his playoff record was an astounding 22-5 – 10-2 in the final and 10-3 in the semifinals
Rettino guided Union to four straight state championships from 1984-1987, the first two of those over Montclair and the last two over Roxbury, and his last three were in a row from 1991-1993, all over Randolph.
Union was last a state champion on Saturday, Dec. 4, 1993 when the Farmers came back in the second half to win at Randolph 19-16 and three-peat as North 2, Group 4 winners. Union handed Randolph its first loss at home that day in eight years. That was almost 9,500 days ago.
“We’re also well aware of what Union is, the Tony Stewarts and those kinds of names,” Cinque said. “Clifton is buzzing now as well. Soccer just won a state championship and it’s a good time to be a part of our sports program here.”
Stan Lembryk just guided the Clifton boys’ soccer team, ranked No. 1 in the state, to the Group 4 state championship this past Sunday at Kean University in Union. His brother Lester Lembryk has been the head boys’ soccer coach at Union now since 2008 and last year led the Farmers to an outright Mountain Division title and the co-championship of the Union County Tournament.
“A lot of the guys on our staff coached on or played on our 2006 team,” Cinque said. “We have it now as Clifton kids being surrounded by Clifton people.”
Lou Grasso, Jr. took over as head coach at Union in 2013. He was previously an assistant at Union before becoming the head coach at Roselle. Grasso’s father Lou, Sr. guided Roselle to its only state championship in the playoff era, the 1989 North 2, Group 2 crown when the fourth-seeded Rams went on the road to first win at top-seeded and defending champion Summit 6-0 and then at second-seeded Madison 20-0 in the final. Grasso, Sr. was the head coach at Roselle for 25 seasons from 1979-2003 and led the Rams to three state championship games overall.
“Our expectations every year are to win a state championship,” said Grasso, Jr., a 1993 Colonia grad who went on to play at Rutgers. “We look at the numbers on the wall every single day and think about it every single day.
“Our goal is to get here and we’re here. Now we have to get it done.
“The tradition, the history is important. We don’t necessary talk about it openly, but we all know and remember. There’s not a thing we don’t know about it and we respect it.
“I was lucky enough to be around Coach Rettino as a little kid. He was legendary and nothing can change that. We’re out to get one back to the town.”
Clifton last won in 2006 and Union in 1993. One of those droughts is going to come to an end.
“It’s been a hiatus for both of these programs,” said Cinque, who played his college ball at Montclair State.
Grasso and Cinque took a driver’s education certification class together in Jersey City some 20 years ago.
“We’ve known each other for a long time,” Cinque said. “We’ve been together at coaches’ clinics, 7-on-7s and I also talked to Lou about his player (senior Kofi Ansah) who was hospitalized. We know each other on a personal level.”
Cinque’s offense has produced over 3,000 yards, with Bonaparte rushing for over 1,200. Gardner is also tough to bring down running the ball while outside receivers Caleb Bonaparte and sophomore Michael Krystof have done a “really good job catching the ball after struggling with some early drops,” according to Cinque.
Sophomore quarterback Kyle Vellis is coming into his own.
“He’s really good and the sky is the limit for him,” Cinque said. “It all starts up front. We have tough kids up front that finish.
“They will block to take your heart, take your soul and move the line of scrimmage. They’re our bread and butter, our mentality and how we approach the game on that side of the ball.”
With what is not considered a large senior class, Cinque was optimistic Clifton could take the next step, but you never know when camp commences.
“In my heart of hearts, we start 14 underclassmen, did I think we were going to be here? Yeah, that’s the goal, but you train for 11 months and you are only guaranteed 10 games, which is only 480 minutes of football.
“It takes a special kind of person for our kids to be for them to go through the training they have to commit to. After the Ridge game, we said to them that we win games in March and April and May, never on the night of the game. Preparation is done long before hand.”
When asked what concerns him the most about Union, Cinque said: ‘allowing their quarterback to just sit back and have his way, whether it’s throwing the ball or running with it. We can’t allow their quarterback to dictate how the game is played.”
When asked what concern Union might have the most about Clifton, Cinque said: “our physicality. I don’t think they have played anyone as physical as us.”
At full strength Cinque said his team is 7-1, with the lone loss being to Delbarton, a team he played last year and will also play again next year.
“We lost to Northern Highlands without Christian Bonaparte and to Passaic Tech without Maldonado, who has something like 90 tackles now,” Cinque said.
Both of these programs have never played a game after winning a state championship.
“I do like the way it’s set up now, don’t mind it really,” Cinque said of the Bowl Games that follow the state title contests. “If they take it one game further I would be cool with that too. To win a game to declare yourself the best Group 5 school in the whole state, I’m good with that.”
Union is 11-0 for the first time since the Farmers last won a state championship game on their home field, which was Saturday, Dec. 5, 1992 over Randolph 21-7 to repeat as North 2, Group 4 champions with a second straight 11-0 finish. That was the fifth and final 11-0 team guided by Rettino and his staff that through the years included future successful head coaches by the names of Fred Stengel, Jim Benedict, John Quinn and Carmen Guarino to name a few.
If Union is to get to 12-0 for the first time in program history this is what Grasso, Jr. and his staff feels is of the utmost importance.
“We’ll have to execute and be at our best,” Grasso said. “Clifton plays hard and is on a good vibe right now. Ralph has done a great job and they are running and hitting hard right now. We have to be ourselves and execute.”
When Grasso was asked what concerns him the most about Clifton he said, “the game itself is about momentum and how it turns. Their running game is excellent and they are, obviously, strong up front.
“Their quarterback is underrated, he’s only a sophomore, and they have a lot of big guys up front. In the Ridge game they were able to take away Ridge’s momentum and got rolling. We want to be able to stay even or be ahead as much as we can to keep our momentum going.”
Union survived Curtis of Staten Island to start the season and then won a huge game at Westfield.
“We’ve been in some tough games,” Grasso said. “Our guys have been through it. The Bridgewater game was back and forth. You have to expect to fight all the way.
“The last drive last week was a big boost for us. We’ve since had two really good days of practice. We’re locked in.
“There are many obstacles to get to this game. You take the year in phases and see what you have. If you look like you are going to be a playoff team, then you look at who you might play. Then the games in the playoffs are three separate weeks.
“Football is good that way. I like how it is broken down into sections.
“We just want to have a good week of practice, put our best foot forward and go 1-0.”
A big reason why Union was able to go 1-0 last weekend as it came away with a 20-14 home win over fourth-seeded West Orange was the play of its offensive line. Everyone knows about Sanborn, who has passed for over 6,000 career yards; wide receivers Ahmirr Robinson, a senior headed to Rutgers, and junior standout Desmond Igbinosun, and running backs Christian Murrell and Diante Wilson. Other capable game-breaking receivers include Jalen Carter, Kayir McBride and Elijah White.
However, not everyone knows the names of the players that block, that spring the holes for the runners and receivers. At Union they go by the names of senior right tackle Jared Durand, senior right guard Malachi Pierre-Louis, senior center Khari Parker, senior left guard Chiemela Onuegbu and junior left tackle Terell Cannon.
“They’re all great kids,” Grasso said. “Our offense stems from Andrew’s composure and experience, but our guys up front do not get enough credit.
“We can grind it out with the best of them too. Our guys up front can take over a game and last week was a great example. Most of them are program kids who didn’t start. They worked and worked and worked and I don’t think they missed 10 lifts combined the entire off-season.
“Everyone in our room knows just how important they are.”
Not only has Union not won a state championship in more than a quarter of a century, but the Farmers have reached only three state championship games in that span. None of them turned out well for Union at all.
The Farmers lost to Montclair 20-0 on a Friday night in the 1996 North 2, Group 4 final at Giants Stadium. Then on the same field in the 2003 North 2, Group 4 final on a Thursday night – the game was delayed a week because of a snowstorm – they were downed by eighth-seeded Piscataway 29-7 after the game was still 7-7 early in the fourth quarter.
Then in Grasso’s first year as head coach Union was thumped by Ridge 48-13 in the 2013 North 2, Group 5 final, played on a Sunday morning at Rutgers.
“It’s great to be home,” Grasso said.
Of Union’s four home dates this year only three were played at Cooke Memorial Field, with the season-opener against Curtis part of the Rumble at the Raritan series at Rutgers. So for it to work out that Union will now have played three straight playoff games at home is the best way to make up for the lack of games played on its home field during the regular season.
“The last time we played at 10 in the morning at Rutgers,” said Grasso, referring to the last time Union was in a state championship game.
Union is hosting the game Friday night because it is the higher seed and because beginning last year sectional state championship games were returned to the high school field of the higher seed.
This will be the first time Union is hosting a state championship game at home on a Friday night. All of the previous ones in the 1980s and 1990s were moved by the state (NJSIAA) to be played on Saturday afternoons.
“This way we can stay on our normal time of the week,” Grasso said. “This is just another game for us in that way, but in another this is big because it’s a state championship game. This will also be the last time our seniors play on this field.
“At this point there’s really nothing that needs to be said. We’ve been preaching the same thing all year: execute and be at our best.”
HILLSIDE NOW 4 QUARTERS AWAY FROM CAPTURING
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP NO. 3 IN A ROW
Hillside, which took nine years (2008-2017) to produce its next season above .500 has now won 25 of its last 26 games dating back to Nov. 4, 2017.
The only loss in that span was to Haddonfield 17-7 at MetLife Stadium in last year’s first Group 2 Bowl Game featuring the Central Jersey and South Jersey state champions.
Last Friday night Hillside ousted second-seeded and defending champion Haddonfield 35-0 to reach a third straight state championship game.
On Friday night at 7 now, the game was originally scheduled for 6 but is now pushed back to 7 after West Deptford’s last couple of games were 6 p.m. starts, third-seeded Hillside (10-0) will clash with top-seeded West Deptford (9-1) in the South Jersey, Group 2 state championship game to be played at West Deptford.
From 2002 to 2017, a 16-season span, West Deptford reached this game 13 times and won it seven times, most recently in 2016.
Hillside is in its first South Jersey, Group 2 final after capturing the past two Central Jersey, Group 2 state championships.
No one is quite sure how Hillside qualifies – geographically speaking – to be situated in the South Jersey section of Group 2, but the Comets are.
Hillside is preparing to take on a West Deptford team for the first time that has just one blemish on its resume, a one-point loss to parochial school power St. Joseph’s, Hammonton. Since then the Eagles are 4-0 and have outscored those four opponents by a 221-17 mark that includes three shutouts.
Overall West Deptford, lifted by the talents of senior running back Tyshawn Bookman and junior quarterback Aaron Graeber, has outscored its 10 foes by a 401-71 margin that features five shutouts.
“West Deptford is well-coached, a very disciplined bunch and their staff does a good job of getting their players prepared,” said fourth-year Hillside head coach Barris Grant, who has guided the Comets to 34 wins in 44 games so far.
Hillside has outscored its 10 opponents by a 396-30 mark that includes six shutouts. The Comets have yielded only four touchdowns in the regular season and a safety in their playoff-opener at home vs. Cinnaminson.
“We’ll have to eliminate turnovers, wrap up their ball-carriers and play Hillside football,” Grant said.
Although Hillside was 11-0 for the first time in program history when it repeated as CJG2 state champs a year ago, the Comets had to go home with an 11-1 finish after the Bowl Game setback to Haddonfield.
“Against Haddonfield (last week) we talked about being the best version of us,” Grant said. “We were running around, having fun and playing with our pants on fire.
“Nahree Biggins, he’s one of the best players in the state, period. Jonathan Delva had a big game receiving and James Westry showed up as usual. We had nine different guys touch the ball. That’s the way we operate.”
Biggins, who de-committed to Temple earlier in the season, has taken over the role of quarterback in addition to everything else he does so well on the field.
Biggins leads the team with the spectacular way he plays in all three phases: offense, defense and special teams.
“When we play on a high level as we did last week, when we execute and spread the ball around, we’re very tough to stop,” Grant said. “We have veteran leadership and youth.”
West Deptford knows a thing or two about clicking on all cylinders as well. Lately the Eagles have reached the end zone quite a few times.
“Bookman is tough,” Grant said. “Their quarterback is a two-year starter and they have veterans on the line. West Deptford and Haddonfield are the two powers down there.
“We know we’ll have to play our best. Two weeks ago we had to try to stop the big man from Cinnaminson (Boston College-bound senior Cam Horsley) and last week was revenge of the bowl game last year against Haddonfield.
“This week we’re up against a powerful team that runs the Wing-T and still plays on a grass field, very old school.”
Ironically, Hillside’s three regular season road games this year were all played on grass, wins at Spotswood, Bishop Ahr and Delaware Valley.
Two years ago Hillside defeated Point Pleasant Boro 20-13 at Rutgers to capture CJG2 for the first time and deliver the program’s first state championship in 32 years. Hillside also became the first Union County school to win a state championship in a Central Jersey section during the playoff era.
Last year Hillside downed Manasquan 36-10 at home in the CJG2 state championship game.
Now after playing Shore Conference teams the last two years in state championship games Hillside is playing a team from Gloucester County of all places in this one and at their field.
“Hillside vs. West Deptford, who would have ever imagined that,” Grant said. “Geographically it doesn’t even make sense. That’s the way the system is now. If people are unhappy about the way it shook out, well there has really, really been some good matchups in our section.”
During Hillside’s present eight-game sectional playoff winning streak the most points the Comets have given up have been 16.
“Thomas Weaver (defensive coordinator) does an excellent job of getting the kids prepared,” Grant said.
Weaver has been with Grant from day one at Hillside starting with the 2016 season and was even coached by Grant. Weaver is a 2007 Irvington graduate who was a senior captain on the 2006 team that reached that season’s North 2, Group 3 state championship game.
“We’ve had some injuries too, so our second and third group has varsity experience,” Grant said. “We still have room to grow.”
Hillside was 4-6 and did not qualify for the playoffs Grant’s first season in charge in 2016. That year the Comets concluded with a 26-20 loss at Verona in a consolation game. Verona is also playing in a state championship game this weekend, hosting Lenape Valley in Friday night’s North 2, Group 2 final.
Here’s what Grant said about the Comets reaching a third straight state championship game: “I’m blessed to have great coaches, great community support and great kids.
“When we started out we didn’t think this, but it’s the chase.
“Good is the enemy of great and we want to be a great program.
“When you want to be great it’s hard to sleep.
“When you want to be good you can rest all night.”
3-CLIFTON MUSTANGS (7-3)
(A) Clifton 14, Mount Olive 7
(H) Northern Highlands 27, Clifton 14
(A) Clifton 14, Paterson Kennedy 7
(H) Clifton 28, Hackensack 0
(H) Passaic Tech 20, Clifton 6
(A) Clifton 34, Paterson Eastside 6
(H) Clifton 13, Ridgewood 0
(H) Delbarton 20, Clifton 13
(H) Clifton 26, Hackensack 6
(A) Clifton 42, Ridge 35
Nov. 22 at Union, 7 p.m.
Nov. 28 Passaic, 10:30 a.m.
Head coach: Ralph Cinque,
fifth season: 31-20-1 (.608)
Section: North, Group 5
Conference: New Jersey Super Football
Division: Liberty Red, 4-1 second
Record: 7-3
Home: 3-3
Away: 4-0
Points for: 204
Points against: 128
Shutouts: 2
Overtime: 0-0
CLIFTON MUSTANGS
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME HISTORY (1-1):
1979 NORTH 1, GROUP 4 FINAL
Passaic Valley 15, Clifton 0 – at Giants Stadium
Head coach: Bill VanderCloster
2006 NORTH 1, GROUP 4 FINAL
Clifton 26, Paterson Eastside 0 – at Giants Stadium
Head coach: Ron Anello
1-UNION FARMERS (11-0)
(H) Union 20, Curtis, SI 12 – at Rutgers
(A) Union 35, Elizabeth 0
(A) Union 10, Westfield 7
(H) Union 49, Plainfield 6
(A) Union 34, Watchung Hills 14
(A) Union 17, Linden 6
(H) Union 40, Hunterdon Central 20
(A) Union 51, Bridgewater-Raritan 35
(H) Union 49, Sayreville 13
(H) Union 35, Paterson Kennedy 0
(H) Union 20, West Orange 14
Nov. 22 Clifton, 7 p.m.
Head coach: Lou Grasso, Jr.,
seventh season: 46-30 (.605)
Section: North, Group 5
Conference: Mid-State 38
Division: Watchung, 5-0 champs
Record: 11-0
Home: 6-0
Away: 5-0
Points for: 360
Points against: 127
Shutouts: 2
Overtime: 0-0
UNION FARMERS
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME HISTORY (10-5):
all under head coach Lou Rettino:
1978 NORTH 2, GROUP 4 FINAL
Union 27, Plainfield 0 – at Giants Stadium
1979 NORTH 2, GROUP 4 FINAL
Union 35, Livingston 14 – at Giants Stadium
1981 NORTH 2, GROUP 4 FINAL
Elizabeth 21, Union 0 – at Giants Stadium
1982 NORTH 2, GROUP 4 FINAL
Union 14, Montclair 7 – at Montclair
1983 NORTH 2, GROUP 4 FINAL
Montclair 14, Union 10 – at Union
1984 NORTH 2, GROUP 4 FINAL
Union 34, Montclair 13 – at Union
1985 NORTH 2, GROUP 4 FINAL
Union 13, Montclair 8 – at Bloomfield
1986 NORTH 2, GROUP 4 FINAL
Union 15, Roxbury 6 – at Roxbury
1987 NORTH 2, GROUP 4 FINAL
Union 17, Roxbury 14 (OT) – at Roxbury
1991 NORTH 2, GROUP 4 FINAL
Union 24, Randolph 14 – at Union
1992 NORTH 2, GROUP 4 FINAL
Union 21, Randolph 7 – at Union
1993 NORTH 2, GROUP 4 FINAL
Union 19, Randolph 16 – at Randolph
1996 NORTH 2, GROUP 4 FINAL
Montclair 20, Union 0 – at Giants Stadium
2003 NORTH 2, GROUP 4 FINAL
Piscataway 29, Union 7 – at Giants Stadium
2013 NORTH 2, GROUP 5 FINAL
Ridge 48, Union 13 – at Rutgers
3-HILLSIDE COMETS (10-0)
(A) Hillside 54, Spotswood 0
(H) Hillside 20, Bernards 7
(H) Hillside 34, Johnson 7
(H) Hillside 47, Roselle 0
(H) Hillside 48, South River 0
(A) Hillside 49, Bishop Ahr 0
(A) Hillside 20, Delaware Valley 14
(H) Hillside 53, Bound Brook 0
(H) Hillside 36, Cinnaminson 2
(A) Hillside 35, Haddonfield 0
Nov. 22 at West Deptford, 6 p.m.
Head coach: Barris Grant,
fourth season: 34-10 (.773)
Section: South, Group 2
Conference: Mid-State 38
Division: Valley, 4-0 champs
Record: 10-0
Home: 6-0
Away: 4-0
Points for: 396
Points against: 30
Shutouts: 6
Overtime: 0-0
HILLSIDE COMETS
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME HISTORY (3-1):
1983 NORTH 2, GROUP 2 FINAL
Butler 16, Hillside 8 – at Hillside
1985 NORTH 2, GROUP 2 FINAL
Hillside 13, Madison 12 – at Madison
2017 CENTRAL JERSEY, GROUP 2 FINAL
Hillside 20, Point Pleasant Boro 13 – at Rutgers
2018 CENTRAL JERSEY, GROUP 2 FINAL
Hillside 36, Manasquan 10 – at Hillside
1-WEST DEPTFORD EAGLES (9-1)
(A) West Deptford 31, Paulsboro 14
(H) West Deptford 33, Collingswood 0
(A) West Deptford 41, Delsea 12
(A) West Deptford 34, Sterling 0
(H) West Deptford 28, Haddonfield 14
(H) St. Joe’s, Hamm. 14, West Deptford 13
(H) West Deptford 53, Deptford 0
(A) West Deptford 63, Overbrook 0
(H) West Deptford 49, Sterling 0
(H) West Deptford 56, Delran 17
Nov. 22 Hillside, 6 p.m.
Head coach: Jason Morrell,
second season: 16-4 (.800)
Section: South, Group 2
Conference: Mid-State 38
Division: Valley, 4-0 champs
Record: 9-1
Home: 5-1
Away: 4-0
Points for: 401
Points against: 71
Shutouts: 5
Overtime: 0-0
WEST DEPTFORD EAGLES
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME HISTORY (7-6):
2002 SOUTH JERSEY, GROUP 2 FINAL
West Deptford 21, Buena 20 – at West Deptford
2003 SOUTH JERSEY, GROUP 2 FINAL
West Deptford 17, Overbrook 12 – at West Deptford
2004 SOUTH JERSEY, GROUP 2 FINAL
West Deptford 42, Point Pleasant Boro 20 – at West Deptford
2006 SOUTH JERSEY, GROUP 2 FINAL
Manasquan 28 West Deptford 0 – at Manasquan
2007 SOUTH JERSEY, GROUP 2 FINAL
West Deptford 31, Point Pleasant Boro 17 – at PPBoro
2008 SOUTH JERSEY, GROUP 2 FINAL
Delsea 17, West Deptford 14 – at Delsea
2010 SOUTH JERSEY, GROUP 2 FINAL
Haddonfield 16, West Deptford 8 – at West Deptford
2011 SOUTH JERSEY, GROUP 2 FINAL
West Deptford 22, Haddonfield 14 – at Rowan University
2012 SOUTH JERSEY, GROUP 2 FINAL
West Deptford 42, Cedar Creek 28 – at Rowan University
2014 SOUTH JERSEY, GROUP 2 FINAL
Haddonfield 27, West Deptford 0 – at Rowan University
2015 SOUTH JERSEY, GROUP 2 FINAL
Cedar Creek 28, West Deptford 27 – at Rowan University
2016 SOUTH JERSEY, GROUP 2 FINAL
West Deptford 19, Cedar Creek 13 – at Rowan University
2017 SOUTH JERSEY, GROUP 2 FINAL
Haddonfield 21, West Deptford 17 – at Rowan University