Abbatelli's big plays spark Woodbury win over Penns Grove

WOODBURY – Anthony Reagan calls Dominic Abbatelli “the heart and soul of our team.”

He left out 'catalyst.'

Abbatelli was the one who put all the elements together Saturday in Woodbury's 44-23 win over Penns Grove, in their South Jersey Group 1 semifinal game.

That's been his role all season long.

When the offense was struggling early, it was Abbatelli who pulled down a 19-yard touchdown catch – on third and 11, no less.

“Bryan (Johnson), my quarterback checked the go route, and I just ran it. He told me what to do and I followed his lead,” Abbatelli said. “The safety played back, and he saw the linebacker coming on a blitz, so he told me to go straight, and that's what I did.”

It got Woodbury on the board, after an early touchdown run by Penns Grove quarterback Curtis Gould – who scored again on the Red Devils' next drive.

After Johnson's second touchdown pass – an 11-yarder to Jayden Johnson – it was time for the defense to make a play, and again, Abbatelli provided it.

“We're trying to get in the locker room, up 16-14,” Penns Grove coach John Emel said. “We fumbled the ball. They brought it back for a touchdown. I felt like we dominated the first half, for the most part, and we're down, 20-16.”

Gould didn't handle the snap cleanly, and the Thundering Herd's Nyrell Redrow and Jasuan Solomon hit him as he tried to bring it under control. Abbatelli came forward from his linebacker position, and the ball bounced into his hands like he'd had it on a string all along.

“I just felt excitement,” he said. “I was too excited. I saw the ball come out, just scooped it and we were gone. Nothing was stopping me from getting there.”

Abbatelli said it was his second scoop-and-score this season. He also blocked a punt, in the Thundering Herd's win over Burlington City on Oct. 23.

The ball just finds some people.

“He was amazing today,” said Reagan, the Woodbury coach. “With him doing the things that he does for this football team, we always know we have a fighting chance. He's a positive influence inside the huddle, just saying we're going to be all right. And his play just continues to raise everybody else up, as well.”

Johnson went to him twice in a row for short gains to set up the first score of the second half, on a 14-yard run by Teddy Lockhart. He picked up 6 on a jet sweep to get the Thundering Herd close again, just before Wilson Torres' 1-yard run gave them a 36-16 lead.

Two plays later, he sacked Gould.

“The adrenaline was going crazy; the energy,” Abbatelli said. “I just saw the hole open up, filled it, and I got to him. My guys were leaning on me. They needed a big play, so I came up. I'm a leader on the team. I'm always about my guys and I always put my faith in them, so at the end of the day, we're going to get the job done.”

This particular job is going to take one more win – Woodbury will host Woodstown next Saturday in its first sectional final appearance since 2012. The Thundering Herd last won a championship three years earlier.

Abbatelli has his eye on another comeback, once it's all over: after sitting out his sophomore season, he expects to be back on the wrestling mat as a junior. He moved between 160 and 170 in the Herd lineup as a freshman.

“I didn't make districts or anything, but I was solid,” he said.

It's a start.

Changing fortunes

It can't help but be a feelgood story, when a team ends a nine-year absence from the sectional final, but a Cinderella story?

It's not quite that.

According to the Thundering Herd, this has been coming for a while.

“This is a great year. It's Teddy's senior year, and he's been doing great things over here,” Johnson said. “And for me to just join it, and be a part of it, it's crazy – it's just a blessing.”

A blessing, yes – but a surprise?

“The guys that were here bought into the program,” Reagan said. “And we knew that with those guys, we just had to keep working hard. We were closer than everybody thought we were, even though we had a losing season last year. The guys continued to believe, in the offseason. That's why we're at this point today.”

Reagan describes himself as “a Woodbury guy,” and it was his goal, when he took over the team's helm from Al Mailhan in 2018, to restore the team to what it was in its heyday. This will be Woodbury's 10th appearance in a sectional final. A victory would bring its seventh sectional title.

So is the program restored?

“We'll be there with a victory next week,” Reagan said. “But we're right there on the corner. And my guys are excited to get back at it, and play here one more time.”

Changing the script

Woodbury defeated the Red Devils, 20-6, on Oct. 8, and Penns Grove was looking to flip the script by exploiting some things they saw in the first game.

Some were still there. They used their short passing game to good effect in the early going and Gould was finding room to run. It tested Woodbury's faith, a little bit.

“I give credit to Penns Grove,” Reagan said. “They came out and played some football. We knew it was going to be hard to beat a team a second time. They prepared well. We just had to make our adjustments and continue to have faith in our football team. And that's what we did.”

One thing was entirely different.

“The quarterback was efficient,” Emel said. “We did have a lot of sacks (six), but he's making good decisions. He didn't force any balls. Last time we played them, we had three interceptions. He took care of the ball today. The whole team did. They did a good job.”

Johnson said ball security was a point of emphasis all week.

“Of course. We don't like turnovers,” he said. “And the turnovers we had today helped us a lot.”

The Red Devils' ride

Penns Grove started the season with some uncertainty and finished it with a 6-5 record, including a playoff win.

“This was a trying year for us,” Emel said. “It's the first year after COVID. We have a lot of new players. We finished with a winning record and won a home playoff game.”

They've won at least one in four straight seasons, excluding the COVID year when there were no playoffs. And there were a couple of sectional titles during that run.

Under the circumstances, you can understand if they're a little nostalgic, as they turn the page.

“I'm just going to miss our seniors. They've been great for me for four years,” Emel said. “We'll be back next year. We have a lot of great young players. Jaleel (Patrick) and Curt (Gould) are underclassmen, so we've got an opportunity to come back and do some good things.”

John A. Lewis is a sports writer for the Burlington County Times, Courier Post and The Daily Journal. E-mail him at jlewis@thebct.com or follow on Twitter @JohnLewis19. Please consider supporting local journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Woodbury headed to the 'ship after nine-year drought