Audubon's Homecoming King delivers in first-ever varsity football game

AUDUBON – Jimmy Davies will always have a fond memory from his first-ever varsity football game.

And it’s not just the green Homecoming King’s crown he wore at halftime.

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound senior helped spark a tremendous defensive effort by the Audubon High School football team en route to a 13-0 win against Overbrook on Saturday morning.

“It’s a huge win,” Davies said. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for a whole year.”

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It’s been a long road for Davies, who didn’t start playing football until his junior year after his friends finally got him to come out for the sport.

“My friends, all of them play football and they always said I was built like a football player,” said Davies, who runs the 100- and 200-meter dashes and triple jumps during track and field season.

Davies figured he’d give it a shot. He put on the shoulder pads and helmet, but his introduction to football had a cruel beginning.

Playing in his first junior varsity game last September, after making a tackle on the first play, Davies injured his left knee on the very next play. He would later be diagnosed with a torn ACL, but couldn’t get the surgery until February, putting this football season in jeopardy.

Davies went through the grueling rehab, grappling with the tougher mental side of the process. He was able to chart his progress along with teammate, Jorge Ortiz, who was also coming back from the same injury.

Davies was cleared to start practicing about three weeks ago. He was one of the enforcers on the Audubon defensive line that shined against Overbrook.

“Jimmy has been one of the players who has stepped up and really played well,” Audubon head coach Dan Reed said. “He’s a kid that got thrown in there. He really has no football time at all, but he’s done the job.”

Defensive tsunami

Audubon, which gave up 43 points in its last game against Gloucester, certainly tightened things up on the defensive side of the ball.

While Overbrook's DeAngello Conquest became the 10^th quarterback in South Jersey history to eclipse the 6,000-career passing yard mark in the game, the Green Wave smothered the Rams throughout the contest, allowing fewer than 100 yards passing. It was Audubon’s second shutout of the season.

Audubon snuffed out an Overbrook drive inside the Green Wave 5 in the first half, but it was Jake Holland’s interception in the fourth quarter that provided the biggest highlight on D.

Holland, a senior defensive end, secured his first-ever pick inside the Green Wave 20 and rumbled deep into Overbrook territory.

“I saw that green grass and I took off, I had to get in that end zone,” Holland said.

While he took some good-natured ribbing from this teammates and coaches for failing to hit paydirt, Holland took it in stride.

“I gotta work on my speed,” he said with a laugh.

Holland said the team learned a lot during film study this week and it played a pivotal role in the defensive unit's play.

"We picked up a lot of things that they were going to try to do," Holland said. "We also had a better mentality starting in the second quarter. It was just do your job and get to the ball."

Senior Aden Dootay delivered two sacks for Audubon (3-1), which strengthened its chances for a postseason berth with the win.

“I love this team right now,” Reed said. “How they play for each other, how they step up and have each other’s backs. It’s special.”

Game notes

Audubon owns a 22-10-1 record against Overbrook in a series that began in 1941. According to South Jersey football historian Chuck Langerman, the Green Wave shut out the Rams 14 times in those 33 meetings.

Conquest finished with 98 yards on 13-of-26 passing for 98 yards, raising his career total to an unofficial 6,049. He has 57 career TD passes.

If he reaches 6,000 and 60, Conquest would become the seventh QB in South Jersey history to achieve the feat, according Langerman. He would join Timber Creek’s Devin Leary, Pennsville’s Dylan Cummings, Cedar Creek’s Jesse Milza, Camden’s Khalil Williams and Eastside’s Devin Kargman and Nick Kargman.

Audubon’s Luke Hoke showed again he’s one of the most reliable workhorses around. The 5-9, 165-pound senior rushed 30 times for 234 yards and a score.

Tom McGurk is a regional sports reporter for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for over 30 years. If you have a sports story that needs to be told, contact him at (856) 486-2420 or email tmcgurk@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @McGurkSports. Help support local journalism with a digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Audubon defense shines in big win in football against Overbrook