2017 Weekly Newsletter
AN NG CL L I T H G FI BAL FOOT
Friday, November 11, 2017
THE GRIDIRON Sponsored by the Red & Gray Gridiron Club
Facing the gauntlet The Vineland High School football team will begin competition tonight in the South Jersey Group 5 playoffs in what is one of the most stacked fields in the entire state. The Fighting Clan is a perfect example of the section's depth; they earned the eighth and final seed, but were ranked No. 7 in the state by NJ.com just a week ago. Among the other teams in the field are Vineland's first-round opponent, No.1 Lenape (7-1), No. 2 Rancocas Valley (7-1), No. 3 and defending champion Millville (8-0), No. 4 Howell (8-1), No. 5 Cherokee (6-2), No. 6 Williamstown (4-4) and No. 7 Eastern (5-4). If Vineland advances, they'll face the winner of Howell-Cherokee in the second round.
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Upset-minded Vineland set to begin playofiffs Much of the 2017 high school football season has involved Vineland leaving its past behind. But if there is one element of that past the Fighting Clan may relsih taking advantage of this week, it's playing the underdog role as they will take the field tonight not favored to win for the first time in nearly a year. Vineland (7-1) begins the NJSIAA Group 5 South playoffs tonight after earning the eighth and final seed in the tournament, earning a road matchup with top-seeded Lenape, 7pm, at the Indians' home field in Medford. While most media personalities have acknowledged the Fighting Clan is a rarely tough 8-seed, those same reporters have picked Lenape, also 7-1, to take care of business. Vineland's Tim Jones raises the hammer (Photo from The Daily But Vineland is relishing the position Journal) as an opportunity to answer their critics and is not shying away one bit. The Indians (7-1) have been impressive this season, accumulating a section-leading 137 power points against a gauntlet of a schedule, paced by star runningback JoJo Kellum (1107 yards, 21 touchdowns). They've also bolstered a highly touted defense this season, surrendering an average of 5.5 points per game; their only common opponent with Vineland was Egg Harbor Township, who they beat 49-0. The Fighting Clan dispatched the Eagles, 42-6. Most reporters have likened Lenape's playing style to the one St. Augustine employed against Vineland last week; committing heavily to the run game to control the time of possession while overwhelming teams with their tough defense. As a result, this game will likely come down to the battle in the trenches. If Vineland's defensive line can create some penetration up front and open things up for big, athletic linebackers Nihym Anderson and Tahjir Rease, they will have the opportunity to bottle up Kellum and the Indians' run game. Forcing opponents to pass is in Vineland's favor, as they have a solid secondary and two of South Jersey's top pass rushers in Nihym Anderson and Anthony Reyes. On the other side of the ball, Vineland will look for big-play opportunities and to get their playmakers more opportunity to operate in space. Lenape likely hasn't faced any playmakers this season quite like Fighting Clan quarterback Isaih Pacheco, outside of Rancocas Valley runnngback Iverson Clement; the Red Devils handed Lenape its only loss this year, a 10-7 decision on October 6.
2017 Season Schedule/Results
Clan suffers setback against Prep
Record: 7-1 (Overall), 3-1 (WJFL Continental) Date
Opponent
Time
9/8
BRIDGETON
W 27-8
9/16
at Cherry Hill East
W 61-6
9/23
at Egg Harbor Township
W 42-6
9/29
at Cumberland Regional
W 60-6
10/14
CLEARVIEW REGIONAL (Homecoming)
W 55-21
10/20
at Atlantic City
W 34-8
10/27
at Mainland Regional
W 58-0
11/3
ST. AUGUSTINE PREP (Senior Night)
L 0-14
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
Noah Sansalone blocks a defender pursuing Isaih Pacheco (Photo from The Daily Journal)
Isai Pacheco evades a tackler against St. Augustine (Photo from The Daily Journal)
The Vineland High School football team suffered their first setback of the 2017 season last week when they fell, 14-0, to St. Augustine Prep in the final home game of the season. The Hermits (5-4) executed their gameplan to near perfection, as their offensive line posted its best performance of the season while the Prep runningbacks took advantage and ground out the clock, keeping the ball away from Vineland en route to the win. Fighting Clan quarterback Isaih Pacheco fought and clawed his way to 118 yards rushing on 21 carries, but was prevented from cashing in on the kind of home run play to which fans had been accostumed through the first seven games of the season. He did connect on a dazziling 65-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, but that play was negated by a penalty. Nihym Anderson recorded a game-high 17 tackles for the Fighting Clan, who dropped to 7-1 on the season, but still secured a playoff spot for the second consecutive year. BOX SCORE
1
2
3
4
Total
St. Augustine
7
7
0
0
14
Vineland
0
0
0
0
0
2017 Vineland Football Varsity Roster
SEASON STATISTICAL LEADERS Passing Comp. Att. I. Pacheco 37 63 R. Shelton 3 10 Rushing I. Pacheco N. Anderson J. Garcia T. Rease Receiving T. Powell W. Kent A. Reyes J. Garcia Defensive N. Broome N. Anderson A. Reyes P. Blackwell C. Jackson T. Rease
Att. 116 57 15 29 Rec 13 5 6 6 Tkl 65 52 45 45 25 25
Yards 552 39 Yards 1140 590 179 149 Yards 153 111 109 102 Sck Int 1 1 7 0 8 0 0 1 2 0 0 0
TD 3 1 TD 14 14 1 2 TD 2 1 0 0 TD 0 1 0 1 0 0
No.
Name
Yr.
1
Isaih Pacheco (C)
Sr.
2
De'Andre Tull-Kennedy
3
Tahjir Rease
Sr.
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)
De'Andre Tull-Kennedy (Photo from The Daily Journal)
QB, RB
Jr.
Sr.
RB/CB RB/SS
RB, OLB
9
Jamal Brooks
Sr.
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
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
32
Javier Santana
Jr.
WR, CB
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.
70
Michael Bokma
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.
76
Ricardo Nieves
Sr.
79
Eliza Jones
Jr.
80
Justin Cardona
Sr.
81
Conrad Jackson III
So.
84
Anthony Reyes Jr.
85
Giovanni Figueroa
So.
N A L C G N I T H L L A B T O O Full Stats on NJ.com!
Position
Jr.
Jr.
RB, CB
QB, FS
OT, DT , K C, LS
OT, DT OT, NG OT, NG TE, OLB TE, OLB TE, DE
Jr.
TE, DE
