By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
On X @GDsullysays
When Shawnee High boys soccer coach Ryan Franks speaks to his team after practice this weekend in preparation for Sunday’s matchup against Randolph in the Group 3 final at Franklin High School, he’ll be speaking from experience.
He knows exactly what his players are going through — the excitement, the anticipation, the nerves. Everything that goes along with playing for a state championship. That’s because Franks won a state title when he was a player at Shawnee, back in 2001.
He’s never won one as a coach, but he’s hoping that changes in just a few days. The past two seasons, his highly talented Renegades were vanquished in the sectional championship game.
“There were a lot of alumni who were heartbroken last year when we lost for the second straight year in the sectional championship game. It’s been a story of us coming that close,” Franks said after his team beat Central Jersey Group 3 champion Long Branch, 1-0, in the state semifinals. “This is my 13th year and this is the first time we’ve made it this far, so we’re certainly not taking anything for granted. We’re excited for the chance.
“I won one as a player here at Shawnee and I don’t know how I’ll feel (if we win on Sunday) as a coach,” he continued.
Franks got a chance to win the state title with his brother, and that’s been kind of a theme throughout the years at Shawnee. They call it a brotherhood, and for good reason. There have been a bunch of brothers come through the program.
“One of the cool things about playing high school soccer is we have guys who are brothers on the team,” he said. “We have the Santamaria brothers, Cale Stielau, one of our captains played with his brother a couple years ago. Sean McFadden — who isn’t just my leading scorer this year but he’s my all-time leading scorer — he played with his brother when he was a freshman. So many times we call this a brotherhood, and it is. My senior year I got to play with my brother and we won a state championship. That’s a cool thing that you can’t get in a lot of club situations. All these guys are so tight, they’ve grown up together. We’re going to soak up every moment leading up to it, but when the whistle blows we’re just going to go play.”
One thing Shawnee has been prolific at this season is scoring, and the Renegades hope that continues on Sunday. They’ve scored 68 goals in 23 games, and 14 players have notched at least one tally. And, as is typical of most teams making a run to the state championship, they’ve been red hot, winning nine straight games since a 1-0 loss against Cherokee in late October. During that span, Shawnee has outscored opponents 31-6.
FINDING WAYS TO WIN: At one point this season, the Sterling Silver Knights won just one game in the span of 28 days. After beating West Deptford on Sept. 11, Sterling went 1-4-4 in its next nine games to fall to 5-4-4.
Not exactly what you’d expect from a team that will be contending for the Group 2 state championship on Sunday.
The Knights battled injuries, a tough schedule and inconsistency, but turned things around with a 2-0 win over Haddonfield on Oct. 15. Since then, Sterling has gone 7-1-1, and the Knights shocked the sectional tournament, winning as a No. 4 seed, taking out top-seeded West Deptford along the way. The Knights scored nine goals in four games, then scored an eye-popping 2-1 win over Central Jersey Group 2 champion Robbinsville earlier this week. Sterling was down two players after a couple of red cards, and was down 1-0 on the scoreboard, but somehow found a way to score two goals to advance to the state championship game against Harrison.
HAWKS FLYING HIGH: South Jersey will also have a representative in the Group 1 state championship game, as Haddon Township has won five straight games since losing to St. Augustine Prep in the prestigious South Jersey Coaches Cup.
Since that loss, Township has outscored opponents 19-3, including seven goals in the last two games — wins over Palmyra in the sectional championship and Brearley in the state semifinals. Junior midfielder Eamonn Sheehan leads the way with an impressive 19 goals to go along with five assists.
