December 9, 2010

Reflecting on the CAL football season

By TOM WILLIAMS
Sports Columnist


The swimmers are in the pools and, within 10 days, jump shots and takedowns will replace third down conversions and extra points. But first, one final look at the 2010 Cape-Atlantic League football season.

It was another fall season filled with success.

Holy Spirit and St. Joseph both won NJSIAA championships, keeping the CAL’s streak alive – at least one NJSIAA football champ every year since 1986. Before we completely file away all records and move on to basketball, wrestling, swimming and indoor track, lets review some of the highlights of the season.

STAT LEADERS: Holy Spirit’s Donta Pollock led the CAL in rushing with 1,868 yards, just three yards short of the CAL record for a junior by former Spartan William Washington. Darryl Smith of St. Joseph had the best passing efficiency rating of all QBs that started at least half their team’s games with an impressive 219.6 rating. But Smith did not start down the stretch. Among those who played the entire season, Shaq Lee of Millville (151.1) was best. Atlantic City’s Jamal Anderson had 105 completions and 1,505 yards, both tops in the league. Egg Harbor Township’s Kevin Marquez was the top receiver with 40 catches for 593 yards. Lots more stats are available online at Cape-AtlanticLeague.com.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: There were a lot of terrific performances this season – you can see their names among the stats leaders, you’ve heard their names on the radio broadcasts and read about them in the papers. But the player who made the biggest difference was Joe Sarnese of Holy Spirit. He was one of the top receivers in the league. In the only two games this year in which the Spartans were seriously challenged, he scored the winning touchdown. As a free safety, he was also a very important part of the Spirit defense. He also punted and returned kicks. Drama and emotion were added late in the season when his father, who was a big part of his sports experience, died suddenly. The way his son dealt with that loss also played a big role in keeping the team focused. For the many, many ways in which he made Holy Spirit a champion, Sarnese is the Player of the Year.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: It can be tough for a sophomore to step into a varsity program and make an immediate impression. But Rashad Kinlaw did it at Absegami. With star running back Ben Martin nursing an injury most of the season and unable to play at 100 percent, Kinlaw stepped up and led all QBs in the league with nine touchdowns. The next two years should be bright ones for Absegami at quarterback.

GAME OF THE YEAR: As always, there were many. For starters, St. Augustine’s first win, an upset over Millville, that cost the Thunderbolts a conference title. There was Oakcrest’s win over Mainland, where Falcons coach Chuck Smith had been an assistant for two decades; Lower Cape May’s one-point loss to Barnegat in Group 2; and Mainland’s upset win over Egg Harbor Township on Thanksgiving. Of course, there also were Holy Spirit’s one-point win and St. Joseph’s easy victory in the NJSIAA finals. But the Game of the Year was Spirit’s 34-27 win over Pope John in the NJSIAA playoffs when the Spartans were forced to score twice in the final five minutes to avoid an upset.

PLAY OF THE YEAR: Holy Spirit had a 7-0 lead at halftime of its NJSIAA championship game at Rutgers. But the Spartans’ offense would not score in the second half. And they wouldn’t need to because Sarnese took the opening kickoff of the second half back 81 yards for a touchdown. It gave Spirit a 14-0 lead and without that spectacular play, the championship trophy would be in Montvale right now.

BIGGEST IMPROVEMENT: Both Atlantic City and Lower Cape improved this year from one win in 2009 to seven wins in 2010, the best among CAL teams.

3 WEEKS OF PRIDE: In the final three weeks of the season, Mainland defeated Bridgeton, Southern Regional and Egg Harbor Township. Officially, those were the Mustangs’ only three victories. Four others they won on the field were taken away from them. The Mainland players were the victims, though they did nothing wrong. It would have been easy to be overcome with self-pity. But these players re-focused and finished the season as winners.

RECORD-BREAKERS: Kicking dominated the records this year. Mainland’s Jim Cooper kicked his 16th career field goal (new record) and kicked nine during the season (tying a record). Chris Gough of St. Augustine finished with 127 career kicking points, a new record. Gough and Hammonton’s Esteban Sandoval finished with 97 career extra points, a new record. Holy Spirit’s Tom Worthington tied a CAL record with 50 extra points this season. And Jae DeShields of Bridgeton kicked the longest field goal in CAL history – 51 yards. In addition, Holy Spirit’s 12-0 record tied the best CAL record set by the 2007 Spartans and equaled by Mainland in 2008.

WORST UNIFORMS: Holy Spirit and Absegami both wear road uniforms that violate the football rule that requires “contrasting colors” on jerseys. Both schools are aware of the problem and insist that new jerseys are in their future. Let’s hope it happens soon. It is still puzzling that the local Football Officials Chapter didn’t step in and solve the problem.

KEITH MARELLA AWARD: Keith was the last CAL football player to score all five ways during a season. In 1998, the St. Joseph player scored six rushing TDs, caught five TD passes, brought back one kickoff and two punts and scored once on defense. This year, 13 players scored three of the five ways – Sarnese, Marquez, Atlantic City’s Radi Tolbert and Orris Gallagher, Hammonton’s Jared Sanchez, Lower Cape May’s Jim Hall and Tyler Sole, Millville’s Daron Moore, Oakcrest’s Joe Sprigg, Ocean City’s Chris Turner and St. Joseph’s Gordon Hill, Max Valles and Phil Paulhill. But Sanchez scored a two-point conversion and threw two TD passes to win the Marella Award on the tiebreaker.

COACH OF THE YEAR: Charlie Roman and Paul Sacco won NJSIAA championships and are certainly candidates for an honor like this. Mike Wilson did remarkable things with Lower Cape May this year. And Thomas Kelly won a conference title in his first year at his alma mater. But the winner is Chuck Smith at Oakcrest. His Falcons were the first in school history to win a playoff game. He became the first CAL head coach in 26 years to win nine games in his first year. And he joins former Millville coach Dave Heck as the only two CAL coaches to reach a South Jersey final in their first season.

LOOKING TOWARD 2011: There is lots of talent returning – Jones, Pollock and a trio of great linebackers at Holy Spirit; Kaheem Reynolds, Eli Pogue and Zach Grant at St. Joe; Kinlaw at Absegami; Tolbert and Ishmail Naji at ACHS; a strong group at Lower Cape May including Hall, Mike Mulligan and Vance Matthewsl; Cooper and Tom Bradway at Mainland; Middle’s Nigel Case and Zach Vogelei; Lee and Alquann Jones at Millville; Brandon Bell, Quaashie Jetter and Mark Clements at Oakcrest; Chris Turner and Bob DeLuce at Ocean City; and John Barillo at St. Augustine are among them.

Let’s hope the fall of 2011 brings us the same level of excitement we had this year.


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