By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
On X @GDsullysays
ATLANTIC CITY — Even the most hardcore South Jersey football fans would be hard-pressed to give you any background information on Kevin Entress.
The Atlantic City High kicker? Atlantic City has a kicker?
Sometimes all it takes is a couple of plays for a kid to become a hometown Friday night hero, and that’s just what happened to the young man from Margate who transferred back to his hometown school as a junior after spending a couple years at St. Augustine Prep, all the way over on the other side of the county.
Star quarterback Khajuan “Peaky” Roseborough went down with a shoulder injury in the second quarter and kicker Entress — a junior who also doubles as the backup quarterback — came on and wowed the crowd, throwing for 145 yards and a touchdowns while also rushing for a touchdown in Atlantic City’s 28-18 victory over Cherokee in the Central Jersey Group 5 semifinals. The second-seeded Vikings travel on Friday to No. 1 Washington Township, a 35-7 winner over No. 5 Cherry Hill East in the other semifinal.
“When he first went down, I was kind of just hoping he would be alright because, first and foremost, I was worried about him and not having him out there. He’s a great player,” Entress said. “I just knew it was time. I’ve been practicing all year, getting my reps, and I knew I had to do something, and help the team do something special. I was definitely a little nervous, but I knew I had a great team around me, a great coaching staff that was going to help me out, and I knew with them at my back I would be pretty good.”
Atlantic City (8-2, 3-0 West Jersey Football League Constitution) held just a 7-3 lead when Entress came into the game, and on his very first pass he threw to the wrong side of the field, trying to connect with Rutgers University commit Sah’nye “Ice Cup” Degraffenreidt, who has nearly 2,700 career receiving yards. But after that gaff, Entress settled in quickly, and on his third pass he found Dontae Thompson streaking down the left sideline and hit him in stride for a 68-yard touchdown pass. Entress turned back to kicker mode and calmly drilled the extra point for a 14-3 Vikings lead.
“Cup was 1-on-1 and he’s one of the best players in the state, so I had to take a shot that way. But it just wasn’t the right read,” Entress said. “I was definitely happy (after the touchdown pass). I needed that just to settle in. Once I did that, I thought I was pretty locked in. It was nerve-wracking, but I knew I had to go in and get it done.”
“I think a lot of him. That was big. He’s a transfer who came to us, and we welcomed him,” Degraffenreidt said of Entress’ performance under pressure. “Peaky plays a big part here, so when he’s out everybody feels a little down, but we have another guy who is stepping up, and he has to learn from this for next year. It started off a little shaky, but he got in there and made it happen.”
“Kevin is our scout team quarterback, so he’s always in the huddle when Peaky is there calling the plays. He’s standing right next to him, so he knows the plays. We just have to be ready, especially since Peaky plays both ways, you never know (when he might get hurt). I wouldn’t have expected him to come out on offense, but we just have to stay ready,” said Vikings coach Keenan Wright. “He threw it to the wrong side. I told him — Dontae is going to be a really good receiver — so I said, ‘look, they are going to overload on Cup’s side and bring the safety to that side of the field. Throw it to Dontae.’ But his eyes got big.”
Entress scored on a 1-yard keeper with 5:09 left in the third quarter to push Atlantic City’s lead to 21-3.
The honeymoon didn’t last long, however, as Cherokee (5-6, 0-4 WJFL American) continued to fight its way back into the game. Quarterback Cooper Burti capped off the Chiefs’ next drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge, and receiver Darwin Walker II carried in the two-point conversion as a wildcat quarterback to get Cherokee to within 21-11. A fumble set up Cherokee again, this time at the Vikings’ 44-yard line, and early in the fourth quarter Burti hooked up with a wide open Walker on a 19-yard scoring pass to get Cherokee within 21-18.
Cherokee elected to punt with less than three minutes to go to try to get out from deep in its own territory and rely on its defense to make a stop, but Atlantic City went to it’s “closer” as Wright employed Degraffenreidt as a running back. Ice Cup took the first handoff of the drive and broke free for a 45-yard touchdown run that sealed the game.
“My whole life before playing wide receiver I was a running back, so I still know a couple things,” Degraffenreidt said with a smile. “To get the ball in my hands and do what I can — especially when it’s times like that — it takes me back to sophomore year when I had the ball in my hands on a punt (in a playoff game against Lenape), I dropped it and we lost. It took me all the way back there.”
“The game plan was to get a lead and run No. 13 (Zachary Bradley-Brown), but the game just got really sloppy, and we went with the closer (Degraffenreidt) at the end,” Wright explained. “Everybody knows who’s getting the ball (with the game on the line).”
Wright said he had no hesitation handing the keys of the offense over the Entress. The Vikings haven’t won a sectional title in 25 years, so they weren’t about to get conservative with the play calling.
“Our weapons, our advantage, is on the outside. Not saying we can’t run the ball, but to get him comfortable; he threw that bomb on a dime and you see his confidence went through the roof,” Wright said. “That play on the goal line, that was a give and he noticed they overloaded (on the running back) and he said, ‘alright, I’ll just take it.’”
Atlantic City has come a long way in the last four years, as this year’s seniors were part of a program that went just 3-7 when they were freshmen. As sophomores they went 7-3 and lost in the sectional semifinals, and last year they were blown out by — guess who? — Washington Township, 43-14, in the opening round of the state playoffs.
“It means a lot for us to get (to the title game) because everybody doubts us, every year, since I started at this program,” Degraffenreidt said. “(People) told me, ‘don’t go to this program.’ But I was like, ‘I’m going to go there and bring them up.’”
WHAT’S NEXT: No. 2 Atlantic City at No. 1 Washington Township on Friday at 6 p.m. for the Central Jersey Group 5 championship. Cherokee’s season is complete.
Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com
