By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
On X @tortreports
EAST RUTHERFORD — It was a chilly Friday evening here at MetLife Stadium prior to the NJSIAA Group 1 state championship game between Glassboro and Cedar Grove, and Bulldogs coach Timmy Breaker didn’t lack his normal energetic form.
Dressed in his customary sleeveless vest and cowboy hat, the second-year coach was more than ready for the biggest game of his young coaching career.
“Is there any way we can turn the music up?” he said to a NJSIAA staff member on the sideline during warmups. “I’m trying to have a party out here.”
Less than three hours later, the celebration party started as Glassboro (13-0) decimated previously unbeaten Cedar Grove (13-1) in the NJSIAA group 1 state final, 56-14.
It was a year’s worth of hard work and motivation for Breaker’s Bulldogs after they fell to Mountain Lakes, 24-6, in last year’s state championship at Rutgers University.
“Exhilarating,” Breaker responded when asked how he would describe the game. “That’s what we planned to do, though. All week we wanted to be physical. If you looked at it, we were in a heavy package all the time. The boys accepted the challenge.”
The physicality between the 2023 Bulldogs and this year’s version is the true difference make r— especially in games of this magnitude.
“Absolutely not,” said Breaker when asked if Cedar Grove was ready for Glassboro’s physical style of play. “We saw it on film, though. We waited for it on film. All week I said, ‘if you match them physically or more, then they’ll probably quit at some point in time.’”
Trailing 14-8 at one point and ending the opening quarter even at 14, the Bulldogs rattled off 48 unanswered points to bring home the program’s first Group 1 state championship and second in South Jersey history. Woodbury won the inaugural Group 1 title in 2022.
Was Breaker nervous after a back-and-forth opening 12 minutes?
“No, never,” he said. “Once they settled in, after we stopped making mistakes, then after that the boys got the jitters out, and after that they played great football.”
Kenny Smith rumbled 20 times for 402 yards and four touchdowns — good for an astonishing 20 yards per carry. He finished his storied scholastic career at Hammonton and now Glassboro with 5,382 career rushing yards and 63 touchdowns.
Overall, Glassboro out-rushed Cedar Grove by more than 450 yards. In a state championship.
“Being able to come out here playing in a big game like this and make plays, that’s all you dream for as a football player,” Smith said. “It means a lot to me. In order to call myself a big player, I have to show up in big games like this. To be able to do it is nothing but a blessing.”
It was a blessed day for every Bulldog, but perhaps no one has had a more blessed journey than Breaker. A 2009 Glassboro graduate, he led the Bulldogs to consecutive undefeated seasons his junior and senior seasons as a player, and now he gets to enjoy one as a coach.
“It’s kind of a full-circle moment. Last year was the opportunity, but to be the first in history, and my first as a coach, I mean, that’s special. These boys are going to go down in history for sure.”
Well, coach, you’ll also go down in history.
As legendary Glassboro statistician “Chug” Mangeney said just moments before the start of the game, he’s the (Syracuse coach) “Fran Brown” of high school football.
Energetic. Enthusiastic. Respected.
And now?
A state champion.
Contact Brian Tortella: btortreportssj@gmail.com.
