By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
@tortreports on Instagram
GLASSBORO — Prior to the start of the season, not many could have correctly predicted what the future of the Winslow Township High football program would look like.
It was a program in limbo. After winning back-to-back Group 4 state titles, head coach Bill Belton departed for St. Augustine Prep, resulting in a wave of players transfering, including star quarterback Jalen Parker — who now plays at Washington Township.
Despite the uncertainty, the Eagles sure look like they haven’t lost a step.
Winslow, No. 5 in the latest South Jersey Football Frenzy Show rankings, earned its biggest win of the Jamal White era with a 21-7 victory over No. 1 Glassboro on Friday night. The Eagles’ historic win snapped the state’s longest active winning streak, as Glassboro had not lost since the Group 1 state final on Nov. 26, 2023.
“The defense was stellar,” the first-year head coach said. “They keep doing it over and over again, and that’s what we’re leaning on. The defense is strong, and they showed up today.”
Man, did they ever.
The Eagles’ suffocating defense didn’t allow Glassboro’s offense to reach pay dirt the entire game. Winslow quarterback Javon Thompson found Andrew Kratee in the end zone for the first score of the game midway through the opening quarter. The Bulldogs’ only score came when star Oregon University commit Xavier Sabb returned an interception for a touchdown late in the first half to even the contest, 7-7, at intermission.
Just when momentum started to flurry to the Glassboro sideline, KaRon Ceaser returned the opening kickoff of the second half for a touchdown. That heavily swung the momentum in the Eagles’ favor.
“That changed it,” White said. “We went into halftime knowing that we still had things going the way we wanted them to. Unfortunately, the field position game didn’t play our way in the second quarter. They had a very aggressive defense, but we held up, our defense held on. Ceaser is a playmaker.”
A Penn State commit, Ceaser showed why he is one of the top overall players in South Jersey with the dazzling return. He also finished with a team-high 35 yards on 14 rushing attempts to put him over 100 all-purpose yards for the game.
“Coming out of the half, we knew they were going to come out hard,” Ceaser said. “We were going to come out harder, so that’s what it was. Coach (White) was next to me and said ‘let’s go get one,’ and that’s what I did. He was depending on me to make a play. He was talking about it all week, that I was going to get a kick return.
“Big-time players make big-time plays. I’m going Big Ten, and that’s what Big Ten players do.”
Trey Alexander, a transfer from Williamstown, led the ground attack for Winslow (3-0, 1-0 West Jersey Football League American) and put the nail in the coffin with a touchdown run late in the fourth quarter to give the Eagles a 21-7 lead they would not relinquish. Glassboro fell to 2-1 overall.
Winslow is undefeated through three games and has outscored opponents 114-13. The Eagles’ next contest may be their most challenging, however, as they’ll take on coach Belton’s St. Augustine squad on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Many of Winslow’s current players were coached by and won at least one state title alongside Belton, but, according to Ceaser, it’s time to show his former coach that the team he left is still legit.
“It means a lot,” Ceaser said of being able to play against Belton. “He’s the one who got me looked at from Penn State, so I appreciate him a lot. But you know, it’s war with everyone. He knows it’s all love though, but it’s war with everyone.
“Coach Belton was a really good coach to us, but we’re coming out the same with everyone. Just play football and show them that Winslow is one of the top public schools.”
Despite the tough loss, Glassboro coach Timmy Breaker believes the Bulldogs’ wounds were mostly self-inflicted. They had numerous penalties and offensive turnovers that limited scoring opportunities.
“It’s just mistakes,” said Breaker, who led the Bulldogs to the last two Group 1 state titles before they moved up to Group 2 this fall. “We beat ourselves. We had two fumbles, two picks, right? We gave up a kick return. That’s mistakes. They earned the win, but they didn’t flat-out beat us. We beat ourselves. It happens in the game of football, man. It’s a beautiful thing.
“It’s a blessing to be 29-0, we get it. But that doesn’t change the main goal. For them, that’s the Super Bowl. For us, it’s not. We’re going into next week like we did last week. We are going to get better.
“Did we lose the game? Absolutely. But not every championship has been won undefeated. It would’ve been a blessing to go undefeated, for sure. But now we get down to the nitty-gritty. This is when the fun starts.”
WHAT’S NEXT: Winslow travels to St. Augustine Prep on Saturday at 6 p.m. Glassboro travels to Cedar Creek on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
