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South Jersey high school football ready for Super Sunday finale

tom mcgurk, cherry hill courier-post
·6 min read
Delsea's Wayne Adair runs the ball during the NJSIAA State Group 3 football championship game between Delsea and Old Tappan played at Rutgers' SHI Stadium in Piscataway on Saturday, December 3, 2022.
Delsea's Wayne Adair runs the ball during the NJSIAA State Group 3 football championship game between Delsea and Old Tappan played at Rutgers' SHI Stadium in Piscataway on Saturday, December 3, 2022.

It’s Super Sunday for three South Jersey football squads.

Glassboro, Mainland and Delsea will chase state titles during their respective championship games at SHI Stadium at Rutgers University.

Woodbury and Millville became the first programs in the region to capture state championships when the NJSIAA held its first-ever state title games last season.

More: Football 2023: Check out all our content for the South Jersey high school season

Here’s a look by the numbers at Sunday’s slate:

State Group 1 Final

Glassboro (9-3) vs. Mountain Lakes (10-2), 11 a.m.

  • 6: Consecutive wins for Glassboro. The Bulldogs have outscored the opposition 164-16 over the stretch.

  • 10: Points surrendered by Glassboro’s defense in four postseason games. The Bulldogs have yielded 81 total points in 12 games (6.75 ppg).

  • 13: Sacks for Glassboro’s Brandon Simmons. The sophomore also has 33 tackles for loss. Caron Wright is second on the squad with seven sacks.

  • 5: Return touchdowns for Glassboro’s Xavier Sabb. One of the most electrifying players in the state, the freshman’s 85-yard punt return for a TD swayed the momentum over to Glassboro in its state semifinal comeback win over Woodstown.

  • 4: Consecutive wins for Mountain Lakes. The team has averaged 38.3 points per game over the winning stretch.

  • 2: Trips to the state finals for Mountain Lakes. The Herd suffered a 31-7 loss to Woodbury in last year’s state Group 1 game.

  • 978: Passing yards for Mountain Lakes quarterback Ben Minter. The senior has completed 50 percent of his passes (42-for-84) with 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He has thrown eight TD passes in four postseason games.

  • 6.9: Average yards per carry for Mountain Lakes. The Herd’s ground attack has accumulated 3,147 yards and 34 touchdowns. Senior Jordan Hernando leads the team with 889 yards with nine touchdowns while sophomore Carson Fitch has rushed for 821 yards and 11 touchdowns.

  • 18: Interceptions for the Herd’s defense. Connor Higgins and Aidan Malnati share the team lead with four apiece.

State Group 4 Final

Mainland (13-0) vs. Ramapo (12-0), 2 p.m.

  • 2: Undefeated seasons in Mainland’s history. The Mustangs went 8-0 in 1962 and 12-0 in 2008. With a win on Sunday, Mainland would become the first team in South Jersey history to go 14-0 in a season.

  • 11: Third-down conversions for Mainland over the last two weeks. In lopsided wins over Millville and Winslow, the Mustangs converted 11-of-18 third-down plays (61 percent). In four postseason games, Mainland has converted 14-of-26 (54 percent).

  • 46: Sacks for the Mainland defense. Senior Hunter Watson leads the team with 10 sacks.

  • 8.5: Yards per carry for Mainland’s Stephen Ordille. The senior has racked up 1,657 rushing yards and 27 TDs. He tied the school record for rushing TDs in a season, set by Ja’briel Mace last season. Ordille has 28 total touchdowns with the other coming off a punt return.

  • 3,193: Total rushing yards for Mainland. The Mustangs have punished opposing defense with its ground attack. Cohen Cook leads the team with a 9.0 yards per carry average. He has 618 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground.

  • 14: Touchdowns scored by Mainland’s Jamie Tyson. The senior has an incredible four pick-6s on defense to go along with a team-best 10 TD catches.

  • 0: Losses for Ramapo. The last time the Raiders had an undefeated season was in 2019 when they went 13-0.

  • 42: Touchdown passes for Ramapo quarterback Landon Deprima. The senior has completed an eye-popping 215-of-296 passes for 3,308 yards. He has thrown at least one TD pass in every game this season, including six in a game three times and 15 in four postseason contests.

  • 616: Rushing yards for Deprima. The QB leads the team in rushing and has ran for a team-high seven scores.

  • 18: Touchdown catches for Zachary Schnorrbusch. The senior has made 72 catches for 1,234 yards.

State Group 3 Final

Delsea (11-1) vs. West Essex (10-3), 5 p.m.

  • 248: Wins for Delsea head coach Sal Marchese. He has coached at his alma mater for 31 years producing a 248-83-1 with 11 sectional championships. The program has only had two head coaches in his history. Marchese’s mentor John Oberg went 230-67-16 in 33 years before retiring after the 1992 season.

  • 2: Delsea makes its second trip to Rutgers University. The Crusaders suffered a 24-14 loss to Old Tappan in last year’s state final.

  • 3,786: Rushing yards for Delsea. It’s the highest total for a South Jersey team this season. The Crusaders average 7.8 yards per carry.

  • 24: Rushing touchdowns for Delsea’s Daniel Russo. The 6-foot-1, 220-pound bruising fullback has rushed for 24 touchdowns and 1,542 yards in his first season with the Crusaders.

  • 8: Touchdown passes for Delsea quarterback Zach Maxwell. In the Wing-T, the senior doesn’t get to throw the ball often, but when he does, the QB hits the mark. He’s 19-of-34 passing for 452 yards with eight TDs and no interceptions.

  • 5: Catches for Delsea’s Wayne Adair. Four of those grabs have gone for TDs, including a key play in the state semifinal win over Camden last week.

  • 30: Sacks for the Delsea defense: Junior Jonathan Harris leads the team with 10 sacks and also boasts 17 tackles for loss and 15 hurries.

  • 10: State titles for assistant coach Ronn Flaim. The O-Line coach leads the track-and-field program at Delsea, guiding the Crusaders to seven outdoor titles and three indoors. Defensive coordinator Tom Maxwell has been a part of 27 sectional championships as an assistant coach at Delsea (15 in wrestling, 11 in football and 1 in baseball).

  • 8: Consecutive wins for West Essex. The Knights advanced to the state final with a 14-6 win over Passaic Valley in the sectional championship and a 21-20 victory over West Morris in the state semifinal.

  • 2,307: Rushing yards for West Essex. Seniors Riley Ruane (638 rushing yards), Ryan Lasher (607) and Jorden Simeone (549) have combined for 21 rushing touchdowns.

  • 1,080: Passing yards for West Essex quarterback Sam Long. The senior has thrown eight touchdowns and five interceptions.

  • 4: Forced fumbles for Nick Sangillo. The defensive back also leads the team with 109 tackles.

Tom McGurk is a regional sports reporter for the Courier-Post and The Daily Journal, 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 Courier-Post subscription.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Delsea, Glassboro and Mainland play for first state titles at Rutgers