2017 Weekly Newsletter
AN NG CL L I T H G FI BAL FOOT
Friday, September 8, 2017
THE GRIDIRON Sponsored by the Red & Gray Gridiron Club
Earning Respect Much of Vineland's 2016 football campaign was about earning respect. This year will be about validating it. The Fighting Clan entered last season believing they could be one of the top teams in South Jersey, but few others outside the community were of similar thinking. That, however, has changed. After an impressive 8-2 showing last season, which included the first playoff appearance since 2003, a convincing victory over Millville, and St. Augustine Prep's most competitive game south of Mercer County, the Fighting Clan enters the 2017 season as a consensus South Jersey title contender. Vineland is ranked No. 3 in South Jersey by both the Atlantic City Press and the Philadelphia Inquirer, No. 6 in South Jersey by the Courier Post/South Jersey Gridiron Gang, and No. 12 statewide by NJ.com
Visit VHS Football at MaxPreps.com!
Vineland aiming to begin title run tonight The Vineland High School football players and coaches ended the 2016 season on a bittersweet note. The Fighting Clan jubilantly hoisted the Daily Journal Victory Cup after trouncing rival Millville, 45-28, in the teams' annual Thanksgiving Day showdown, but were forced to be spectators a week later as the Thunderbolts won the NJSIAA Group 5-South Championship. Vineland had planned on competing in that game, themselves, but that goal was dashed as the result of a 29-27 upset loss to Howell in the first round of the state tournament. The Red and Gray won't soon Senior Wynah Kent (18) is part of a big, athletic Vineland defense forget that disappointment, that will overwhelm opponents (Photo from The Daily Journal) which is bad news for the rest of South Jersey. Vineland will walk onto its home field at Gittone Stadium tonight with one of the most physically imposing rosters in South Jersey as they open their 2017 campaign against county rival Bridgeton at 6pm. Vineland is still big and athletic, boasts three NCAA Division 1 commits, and is even hungrier than they were last year when they erupted back onto the South Jersey high school football scene, beginning the season with almost no recognition by media outlets, and ending it as a consensus Top 10 team in South Jersey. Rutgers University-bound QB/RB Isaiah Pacheco will remain at the helm of a high-powered offense featuring a veteran offensive line, headed by Bucknell Univresity commit Noah Sansalone, and a slew of outstanding skill players, including two transfers. Pacheco is electrifying in space and is a threat to make a highlight reel run every time he touches the ball. Vineland's defense, however, may be what truly separates it from the competition. The Fighting Clan is similarly strong along the defensive front, but has arguably the two best pass rushers in South Jersey in University of Marylandbound senior Nihym Anderson and junior Anthony Reyes. Together, they are almost unblockable and any opposing quarterback who manages to escape their pass rush will still have to contend with a fast and physical secondary that includes Pacheco and senior Wynah Kent.
2017 Season Schedule/Results
Vineland enjoys breakout 2016
Record: 0-0 (Overall), 0-0 (WJFL Continental) Date
Opponent
Time
9/8
BRIDGETON
6pm
9/16
at Cherry Hill East
11am
9/23
at Egg Harbor Township
7pm
9/29
at Cumberland Regional
7pm
10/14
CLEARVIEW REGIONAL (Homecoming) 2pm
10/20
at Atlantic City
6pm
10/27
at Mainland Regional
6pm
11/3
ST. AUGUSTINE PREP (Senior Night) 6pm
11/10
NJSIAA G5-South Playoffs-1st Round TBA
11/23
at Millville (Thanksgiving Day)
10:30am
*all games in BOLD are home games at Gittone Stadium
Anthony Reyes emerged as one of the top defensive ends in South Jersey last season (Photo from The Daily Journal)
As local media outlets have continued to point out in advance of the 2017 season, the Vineland Fighting Clan had for many years been nothing short of a door mat in the South Jersey high school football scene. For nearly 30 years, the Red and Gray accumulated winning seasons that could be counted on one hand with room to spare and even fewer playoff wins. Some of the community's top talent consistently left the district to play football at other schools, and the annual Thanksgiving Day rivalry game with Millville was rarely a contest. But that all changed in 2016. The Fighting Clan finally began enjoying the fruits of four-year effort to change the culture of the program. That effort, complete with total buy-in from the athletes, combined with an impressively talented roster of athletes hungry for success, brought Vineland back to South Jersey prominence. Vineland reeled off seven straight wins to open the 2016 season and most of those contests were over by halftime. The program's "coming out" party was in the team's fifth game, a tough road test against Group 4 foe Clearview in a hostile environment that most reporters felt would be the Fighting Clan's reality check. But after a 61-29 drubbing of the Pioneers, South Jersey began to take notice. Vineland steadily climbed the rankings, even after a loss to St. Augustine Prep in which they proved in front of a crowd a couple thousand strong that they belonged on the field with the best
The only real disappointment of the season came with a two-point upset loss to Howell in the opening round of the NJSIAA Group 5-South playoffs. But the Fighting Clan didn't sulk too long. In one of the most Nihym Anderson returns an onside kick for a touchdown highly anticipated Turkey Day clash in recent memory, against Millville (Photo from The Press of Atlantic City) Vineland thrashed the Thunderbolts, 45-28, solidifying their spot among South Jersey's elite football programs.
2017 Red & Gray Gridiron Game (Photos from the Daily Journal)
2017 Vineland Football Varsity Roster No.
Name
Yr.
Position
1
Isaih Pacheco (C)
Sr.
QB, RB
2
De'Andre Tull-Kennedy
Jr.
RB/CB
3
Tahjir Reese
Sr.
RB/SS
4
Otis Harold III
Jr.
WR, CB
5
Syncere Gaye
So.
RB, CB
6
John Garcia
Jr.
RB, CB
7
Isaiah Blakely
Jr.
RB, CB
8
Nihym Anderson (C)
Sr.
RB, OLB
9
Jamal Brooks
Sr.
RB, CB
10
Ryan Shelton
So.
QB, FS
13
Carli Kling
So.
K
15
Jonathan Toney
Fr.
RB, CB
18
Wynah Kent
Sr.
WR, FS
19
Skyler Hannah
Sr.
TE, DT
20
Chris Miller
Sr.
WR, CB
21
Barry Turner
So.
QB, FS
22
Tyreem Powell
So.
WR, FS
23
Kevon Williams
Fr.
FB, LB
28
Raekwon Carter
So.
FB, MLB
29
Emerson Hadnot
Jr.
RB, OLB
30
Lathan Kent
Fr.
TE, OLB
33
Phil Blackwell
Jr.
RB, MLB
34
Nazir Broome
So.
RB, OLB
18
Wynah Kent
Jr.
WR, OLB
45
Nazario Butler
Fr.
FB, MLB
50
George Robinson
Jr.
G, MLB
51
Aaron Garcia
So.
OT, DE
52
Brandon Roldan
Jr.
OT, DT
54
A.J. Chaney
Jr.
OT, DT
55
Lazaro Alvarez
Sr.
G, DE
57
Timothy Jones
Sr.
OT, OLB
58
Jacob Repp
So.
G, DT
60
Raymond Graiff
Jr.
OT, DT
64
Shane Ecker
Jr.
G, DT
65
Robert Aparicio
So.
OT, DT
70
Michael Bokma
Jr.
C, LS
71
Mikey Middlebrook
Jr.
OT, DT
72
Daniel Medina
So.
C, LB
73
Demarcus Rivers
Fr.
G, NG
74
Brandon Anderson
Jr.
OT, DT
75
Noah Sansalone (C)
Sr.
OT, DT
76
Ricardo Nieves
Sr.
OT, NG
79
Eliza Jones
Jr.
OT, NG
80
Justin Cardona
Sr.
TE, OLB
81
Conrad Jackson III
So.
TE, OLB
84
Anthony Reyes Jr.
Jr.
TE, DE
85
Giovanni Figueroa
Jr.
TE, DE
