South Jersey Football: Kargman sets single-game yards record in No. 2 Wilson's win

EGG HARBOR CITY – They stretch in the same lines and dress in the same locker room, these teammates who huddled around him in awe as reporters asked questions and a brand-new game ball came his way from the coach.

In the middle of the fuss, the 6-foot-3, 185-pound senior quarterback stood above it all, his waved haircut pristine, seemingly absent of sweat.

“He set a record again?” Stanley King asked. “I am out of words.”

Woodrow Wilson's Nick Kargman, two weeks removed from setting the South Jersey mark with eight touchdown passes in a game, broke a five-year bar set by Timber Creek’s Dan Williams here on Saturday in a 59-37 triumph over Cedar Creek.

In a game that lasted about 3 1/2 hours, Kargman completed 32 passes on 51 attempts for 539 yards and four touchdowns.

5-3-9. It ended up three more than Williams’ old standard.

Those final digits were a far cry from halftime worry. Instead, that revolved around the No. 2-ranked Tigers’ (4-0) ability to escape with victory.

More:No. 12 Camden unveils the no-huddle offense in rout of Delsea

More:Kargman's record day earns him Player of the Week

They trailed 17-13 at intermission. Kargman went 11-for-22 with 136 yards in the first 24 minutes.

“He realized we weren’t playing at the level we’re supposed to be,” senior receiver/defensive back Naiem Simmons said. “He came out here with a different attitude and made sure everybody knew what they were doing at all times.”

“Cedar Creek, they bring some pressure with seven guys most of the time,” Kargman explained. “I think for us, it was getting used to the blitz. Getting used to being rushed. We like to control the tempo and once we do, we can’t be stopped.”

He found Simmons for a 55-yard pass on 3rd-and-16 in the first Wilson set of downs after the break. Two plays later, the duo linked up for a 20-yard score.

The Pirates (2-2) responded to make it 23-19. A next drive stalled out when Kargman got intercepted on a route along the sideline with 5:21 left in the third quarter. It put the Tigers in peril.

Not for long. Kargman went bulls eye on his next 14 passes – three of which were touchdowns – and also dove in on a 1-yard sneak.

He led this high-octane experience of an offense for touchdown drives of: 73 yards in 1 minute, 6 seconds, then 66 in 1:23, then 51 more in 38 seconds and lastly, 80 in 41 ticks.

“It was feeling good,” Kargman said. “Like two possessions we ran all hitches all the way down the field.

“Coach Preston (Brown) preaches taking what the defense gives you so if they’re playing off, we’re going to just dice them up down the field.”

The record-breaker came on a 12-yard pass to Naziq Murray late in the fourth. That drive ended just short of pay dirt.

Even without an extra exclamation point, Wilson put up 40 points in the final 13:34. Only Simmons’ 41-yard interception return for six came on defense or special teams.

Kargman racked up 403 yards in the final two quarters against a solid foe.

Brown, at times reluctant to crack a grin in battle mode, showed off his pearly whites.

“He’s a phenomenal dude,” he said of Kargman. “Everything you ask him to do, man. Even after he threw the pick. He just comes out and is a leader, he’s fierce, he’s a competitor and he’s ready to go.

“He’s just a wonderful guy, man. We love him. That’s the Jersey gunslinger out there.”

King, a Louisville commit who helped rack up 148 of those yards – Simmons had 140, Malik Harvey had 116 among the leaders – could only try to muster up some vocabulary.

“It feels good that he’s out here doing his thing we’re making it look good,” the 6-foot-4 King said. “To me, it was like we had a couple mistakes but we pulled it out. It’s a great feeling to have competition.

“To see what your guys have, just seeing what they’ve got, it’s fun to be a part of that.”

His guy’s got the area's two major single-game passing records. He’s got the trust of his coach, stellar receivers and the ability to pinpoint a spiral all over the field with surreal pace.

He’s got a crowd of teammates around him in awe of a remarkable performance that put him in the books and themselves a part of history on an afternoon they’ll remember for years. 

Mark Trible: @mtrible; (856) 486-2424; mtrible@gannettnj.com