FOOTBALL: West Deptford gets its crown

GLASSBORO - The wait is over. The burden is lifted.

After two consecutive losses in the South Jersey Group 2 final, West Deptford’s football team went out a winner Sunday.

The Eagles capped a perfect 12-0 season with a 19-13 win over Cedar Creek (10-2) at Rowan University.

“It’s a weight lifted off my shoulders,” senior captain Gio Gismondi, who ran for 58 yards, said. “Honestly, it had been driving me insane.”

Like last year’s one-point loss to these very same Pirates, West Deptford held a six-point advantage late. The sequel also replicated the situation. Cedar Creek quarterback Jesse Milza had the ball in his hands in the final three minutes.

This time, the defense finished the job.

FOOTBALL: West Deptford out to finish the deal

Kenny Lim’s interception around midfield thwarted the rally try. Even after his pick with 86 seconds left, Kyle Garrison and Ryan Baglivo reminded teammates the game wasn’t over.

Any ghosts of years past that still lingered soon disappeared. Three runs later, the sideline burst onto the field and into program history as its seventh group of champions.

“I can’t say how proud I am right now,” coach Clyde Folsom, who improved to 10-5 in South Jersey finals said. “The last four or five weeks, I felt ill with the thought of maybe not winning this game. I felt horrible.”

The medicine needed came in the form of a stout defense, followed by the usual dosage of Wing-T runs with a couple of enormous pass plays mixed in.

Senior running back Anthony Seas opened the scoring with a 21-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter. 

The Pirates answered quickly. Milza found Malachi Melton on the next drive and Pat Moran’s extra point – the Eagles missed theirs – made it 7-6 in favor of the reigning champs.

In the second quarter, a ball through the air – somewhat of an abnormality for the run-heavy squad – put West Deptford in business.

Pete Orio found Baglivo for a 34-yard gain on third-and-23. The catch-and-run ended at Cedar Creek’s 11. On fourth-and-two from the 3-yard line, Orio ran around the left side for a 13-7 lead that stood at intermission.

Then, his arm created another big play midway through the third stanza that proved to be the winner.

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On a waggle play in the first half, Lim told his signal caller he’d been open on the backside post. Pressure in Orio’s face didn’t allow for the completion.

The second chance went for six points. Orio lofted a ball down the seam. Lim looked up and over his shoulder and reeled it in before he crossed the goal line.

“I was juggling it,” Lim recalled. “I held on for dear life.”

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The sophomore went through his steel trap of a mind and detailed that play as well as his interception. On a team with 20-some seniors, the young star helped deliver their prize.

 “Selfless,” Gismondi said of Lim. “He does a great job and gets better every day. I don’t know how it does it.

“He’s got great technique and makes a play on the ball. He always does.”

Senior lineman Nick Novak figured the clash would be tight like 2015’s version. Plays like Lim’s would have to go the way of the green and black.

“Before the game, I told a couple of the guys, ‘It’s going to come down to a couple of plays we’ve got to make,'” he said. “It did.”

Two years prior, he walked off Rowan’s field with his brother Matt. A loss to Haddonfield had started what would become a two-year quest to end the year on top.

“I told him then, we would get one,” Novak, who had a key interception in the first half, said. “It feels awesome.”

The celebration ensued, first with Folsom’s emotion-filled hugs for his assistants. Then, with the trophy presentation. Soon, individual position groups had photo ops with the treasure.

In the background, Folsom grabbed and embraced Lim with a message, perhaps of thanks. A group that steamrolled its way to December needed one final play to avoid eternal misery.

He was all too happy to have provided it for his coach.

“It means a lot because that man puts his blood, sweat and tears into football,” Lim said. “He makes you want to play at a whole other level.”

When he came down with turnover, the long stay in second place finally ended.

“It feels like time stands still,” Lim explained of the moment he hit the turf.

Not anymore.

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

West Deptford 19

Cedar Creek 13

Play of the game: Kenny Lim’s interception of Jesse Milza late in the fourth quarter sealed the Eagles’ triumph.

Hat’s off to: Lim, who caught the eventual-game winner and ended the contest with his pick.

Well said: “It’s a weight lifted off my shoulders. Honestly, it had been driving me insane.” – West Deptford senior captain Gio Gismondi on winning the title after two consecutive losses in the championship.