By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
On X @GDsullysays
GLASSBORO — For the last nine months, the Rancocas Valley football players have been looking for somebody to take their frustrations out on. Millville was that unfortunate opponent at the Battle at the Beach at Rowan University’s Richard Wacker Stadium on Friday night in the season opener for both teams.
The Red Devils fell short of a state championship in 2024, falling 42-27 to Toms River North in the sectional championship game. They’ve been chomping at the bit ever since to suit up again and trade some helmet paint.
RV showed what it’s capable of this season early and often, jumping out to a 25-0 lead through three quarters before eventually cruising to a 33-14 win over the Thunderbolts — one of the best teams in South Jersey the last couple of years.
“Last year, we fell short. We knew what we wanted and we fell short, so we had some different energy going into this game. We know they are a great team. I’m not going to say they talk a lot … our mindset was just to shut that down, put our name on the map again,” said senior quarterback and Monmouth University commit Sayvien Adams. “Everything (was working). We started hot and they didn’t know how to react. When you start hot, they get nervous and start shutting down and making mistakes, and we just keep going and going.”
Adams was electrifying — even if the numbers weren’t eye-popping. He finished with 125 yards passing and another 85 on the ground, but it was the way in which those yards were gained that stood out. Juking defenders at every turn, tucking the ball and making big gains if nothing was open in the passing game, and even tricking the entire Millville defense on a two-point conversion.
His “ruby slippers,” the sparkling red-and-silver Nike cleats he wears, pointed to his wizardry on the field. After sophomore running back J.J. Stewart staked RV to a 7-0 lead early on following a fumble recovery on a punt, Adams went to work. He turned a broken play at midfield into a 40-plus-yard gain, setting up his own dazzling touchdown on another tuck-and-run in which he went up the middle, broke left, eluded a couple of tackles then cut back to the right, dodging more tacklers before dancing into the end zone. That put the Devils up, 14-0, with five minutes to go before halftime.
“He is special. He’s really a threat everywhere. He can throw the ball but he can also pull it and run for 40 yards. It’s really amazing to have him back there,” said senior 250-pound tight end Ricky Doppler, the recipient of a touchdown pass and two-point conversion pass from Adams. “I saw that big run he had — I looked up and he was 40 yards down the field. It’s crazy what he can do.”
The Red Devils came out firing in the second half, too, scoring on their first possession to push the lead to 22-0. Adams capped the drive with a 7-yard touchdown pass over the middle to Doppler, and after a penalty on Millville, RV decided to go for two and Adams faked a handoff then waltzed into the end zone around the left end — untouched.
Millville finally got on the board in the fourth quarter behind a pair of touchdown runs by Reginald Holey, but by then it was too late, as Rancocas Valley’s defense shut down the Bolts for much of the night behind the play of defensive ends Michael Beasley and David Ogunsola.
“Coming off last year’s loss, we knew we had to put in a bunch of work over the summer. We knew we were losing some of our top scorers, but we had faith in the younger guys and we were able to coach them up so they were able to perform out here today,” Doppler said. “I really do think that our D-line is one of the greatest in the state, and I’ll stand by that. We had a young line last year but they still performed well, and this year they have just gotten better. We were just staying low and tackling. Our two defensive ends are very good at pass rushing.”
Mikey McQueen hauled in an 80-yard touchdown pass from Adams early in the fourth quarter, and another successful 2-point conversion made it 33-0 and kicked in the running clock rule.
“Our goal is to win the state championship,” Doppler said. “We know nothing is given to us and we have to keep working. We can’t let off the gas. We have to just keep working. It felt great (to win this game). I really feel like we performed up to our capabilities. We have to work on a little conditioning for the fourth quarter, but it felt great to get out here after all that hard work we put in over the summer.”
WHAT’S NEXT: Rancocas Valley travels to Pleasantville on Sept. 5 at 6 p.m. Millville travels to Atlantic City on Sept. 5 at 6 p.m.
