South Jersey Football: Penns Grove doesn't trip, tops rival Salem for SJ Group 1 crown

CARNEYS POINT – Credit Jay Tillman.

One of four seniors on Penns Grove High School’s football team, the wise-beyond-his-years defensive end created the motto.

Don’t even trip.

After Saturday’s completion of a journey for the South Jersey Group 1 title – one that fell a step short last December – the Red Devils proved they could adhere to Tillman’s decree.

Penns Grove used a greedy defensive effort to send rival Salem on the short ride home in complete dissatisfaction on Saturday. Before a large and vociferous standing-room-only crowd here at Jim Devonshire Field, red proved brighter than blue by a 14-7 margin.

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That’s a shiny 12-0 season, one to be resumed at MetLife Stadium against Central Jersey champ Willingboro sometime in the next two weekends.

“It’s amazing. It’s a miracle. It’s love at first sight,” do-it-all 6-foot-2, 222-pound star Tyreke Brown said with his mitts clutched around the hardware. “There’s nothing you can do that’s better than holding this trophy right here.”

It didn’t hurt that the result marked the second time in three weeks coach John Emel’s Red Devils downed their arch nemesis.

They have an experienced, forceful defense to thank. Led by former Glassboro boss Mark Maccarone, the unit snatched three interceptions – two in the red zone – and picked up a fumble recovery to boot.

Penns Grove rode the opposite wave. It didn’t lose possession once.

“You can’t turn the ball over and expect to win the game all the time, it doesn’t work that way,” Rams’ coach Montrey Wright said. “… We shot ourselves in the foot again. Third year in a row. That’s Salem football right now. We shoot ourselves in the foot.”

That’s the painful memory Emel had after a 34-24 championship loss to Paulsboro in 2017. Turnovers and mistakes swayed the result.

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Not here. Kavon Lewis, he of four picks last year on this stage, completed 7-of-10 passes for 81 yards and a touchdown.

His lone score came at a critical juncture, one that helped get set up by two of the game’s playmakers – some of those Brown refers to as “Neighborhood Heroes.”

The Red Devils led 7-0 on the strength of Nasir Robinson’s 8-yard touchdown rumble early in the second frame.

With 6 minutes, 21 seconds left before intermission, Salem (9-2) began a drive at its own nine. It milked roughly five minutes off the clock when an inside run found daylight.

Makhi Scott, a junior linebacker who stacked up tackles all day, stripped the back after a gain of 27.

Jamar “Dada” Johnson scooped and returned it into Rams’ territory. Two plays later, Johnson caught a hook-and-lateral toss from Torvon Ransome on a play that gained 27 total yards, down to Salem’s 15.

After a Johnson catch for seven more, Lewis rolled back and to his right as Brown dragged across field.

He lofted a picturesque touch toss for an 8-yard trip to the end zone. That made it 14-0. Twenty-three seconds remained until halftime.

Johnson didn’t stop there. He plucked an interception at the goal line to close the half. On the first drive of the third quarter, he picked off another offer in the end zone.

“My team, they put me in the best position to shine,” the 16-year-old Johnson said. “My coach, he allowed me to shine. And then, my athleticism.

“Once I get it moving, I’m fast.”

That quick stretch of action seemed the last of the fireworks until the last half of the fourth quarter. Like the two matchups prior between these programs, the Rams got a late score to cut a two-touchdown deficit in half when Jamael Bundy found his brother Dashon for a 28-yard pass on the right hash.

Salem never got another chance.

Jayon Carter’s rush of 12 started the next possession. Robinson ran for nine, then Carter lost three. On 3rd-and-9 at the Rams’ 36, Emel called the same play that went backwards.

This time, Carter got stuck after a handful gain and wouldn’t stop.

“It’s honor,” Carter, who also had an interception on the day, said. “I’m thinking, ‘Get the first. Get the first, end the game.’

“I knew I got it when I heard the fans.”

It gained 11 yards. Two snaps and an offsides call let the clock run down and the celebration began.

“Honestly at the end I’m thinking to myself, ‘Is this really happening?’” Emel said. “We lost to them last year here and it made us tougher.

“You don’t ever want to play those guys because it’s not worth the risk of losing. It would be the most painful loss you’ve ever felt in your life. To beat Salem on our home field for the championship? It’s like a dream come true.”

Behind the likes of Brown, Carter, Johnson, Lewis, Robinson, Scott, Torvon Ransome and Jymir Gilliam, it became reality. Figure in a sturdy offensive line. Credit Maccarone, who’s now 5-0 in title games with two as an assistant at Glassboro and another pair as a lead man. First-year kicker Jared McNair punted well and nailed both extra points. A front defensive trench group that includes Michael James and Zion Cheeks kept contain most of the afternoon. They came and came, again and again in the backfield.

And of course, Tillman, the one who’d said it from the start.

“I think in games like this, we were a little more balanced and a little deeper and I think that showed,” Emel said. “Last year, we passed the ball out of necessity, not being as big and being able to push guys around as much. This year, we were a bigger and more physical team on both sides of the ball.

“Two years ago, we went 4-6 and they tried to run me out of there. Since then, we’re 22-2. I fought for my job. Some people around here believe in me and that belief paid off today.”

It showed as the home fans roared, then many ran to the track-side fence for pictures with their loved ones. Of course, they also wanted a shot of that trophy, the second since 1967.

What a difference a year made for Penns Grove.

What a change of fortunes for those broken teens who limped off Rowan University’s turf a December ago in hopes of a return shot this autumn.

What a path to walk without a slip, stumble – or trip.

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