By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
There’s something to be said for being undefeated in the middle of October, no matter who is on your schedule. It’s never an easy thing in high school football to keep a couple dozen guys motivated, focused, healthy and keyed in on what it takes to continue to pile up victories, week after week.
Camden Catholic isn’t going up against stalwarts like Millville, Winslow or St. Augustine Prep every week, but the Irish are beating everybody who steps in their way this season. That, in and of itself, is pretty impressive considering how the last couple of seasons have gone.
Current seniors are on their third head coach, as Wayne Gilliam II took over last year and guided the Irish to a 3-7 stint. The wins, over West Deptford, Sterling and Riverside, were nice, but some of the losses were pretty tough — most notably a 55-0 drubbing at the hands of Paul VI on Thanksgiving. The Irish also began last season with a 68-0 pounding against a Timber Creek team that went on to have just one loss last year.
So, this offseason, coach Gilliam II came up with a new mantra that would, he hoped, lead the Irish into a new era of competitive, state playoff caliber football. It’s a simple phrase — “Plus 1.” Meaning, whatever his players are doing, whatever drill, whatever play, even watching film, Gilliam II tells his players to give him their best — plus one more.
He’s challenging players who are coming off a lot of losing — two years ago Camden Catholic was 1-8, so prior to this year the Irish were a combined 4-15 the past two years — and that’s not always an easy tightrope to walk. As a coach, you don’t want to ruin any players’ confidence, but you also have to get them to understand that their efforts and expectations weren’t good enough.
“The coaching staff is in its second year, and after a rough year last year knowing we had to come back all summer and work harder. We have young guys who have to play and they have to step up. Everyone has to contribute,” said senior tight end Sean Welde, a Villanova University recruit. “We don’t have a 100-man roster like some teams, so it’s ‘next man up.’ Freshmen are going to play, seniors are going to play. All summer we’ve been putting in the work and it’s showing.”
“The energy around the team (is different). The last couple of years we weren’t the best and you could see it — around the school, around the team. Guys weren’t excited to play and not as thrilled about (practice) drills,” added senior quarterback Mike Moritz. “Obviously, when you’re 0-and-4 you don’t really want to do that. But this year we’ve brought a certain type of energy and we’ve been playing great. We have a lot more confidence. We’re excited about the next couple of games; we have PVI on Thanksgiving, a playoff game.”
Gilliam II said he didn’t have to teach his guys to play football, he had to teach them how to WANT to play football again. To go through every rep in practice with purpose, rather than just going through it because you’re at football practice.
“Our guys learned a lot from the year prior. Just learning how to want to play football again. If you’re a senior on this team, I’m your third head coach,” he explained after Camden Catholic beat Overbrook 41-6 on Saturday. “We’re trying to get these guys to believe that, hey, we might only have 25 kids in here, but we have to get it figured out. We were able to go 3-7 (last year) and a lot of those games were close. We were in a lot of those games at halftime, but with (limited) subs and things like that (we couldn’t finish). But in the offseason, the amount of participation was top notch. We created a mantra of ‘Plus-1.’ Give me everything you have — plus one more. Now that’s engrained in their mind and they want to do that every week. I say it at halftime, ‘I need your Plus-1 now. You guys played to your potential and now I need more.’ And that’s what we kind of rally on every single game.”
Gilliam II said he saw a change in his squad earlier this year when Camden Catholic squeaked out a one-point win over Paulsboro in overtime.
“I tell the guys we have the 24-hour rule. After that, we’re 0-0 and we have to focus on what’s in front of us every single day,” he said. “In order to compete we have to win when we’re supposed to win, and if it’s a tight game we have to figure out a way to pull it out. Ever since that Paulsboro game (a 29-28 win on Sept. 14), with it being so close at the end, I think a switch flipped for our guys that we’re not the team from last year and we can win tight games when we need to.”
MR. DO-IT-ALL
If high school football players were getting paid, Ocean City’s J.P. Forster would be getting his money’s worth. In a thrilling win over Middle Township on Friday night, Forster racked up 201 receiving yards — tying a 28-year-old single game school record — and he scored 20 points via two touchdowns, five PATs and a field goal. He also chipped in seven tackles on defense!
KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE YOUNG GUYS AT RV
Rancocas Valley has been on a roll since a loss to Pascack Valley in the season opener, winning 5-of-6 games while allowing just seven points the last two weeks in wins over Williamstown and Washington Township, which came into Friday night’s game ranked No. 5 in the South Jersey Glory Days/South Jersey Football Frenzy Show Best 11 rankings.
The Red Devils dominated the Minutemen because their front seven has really come along the last few weeks, led by some young guys on the defensive line. David Ogunsola is a beast of a sophomore and Michael Beasley (6-3, 190 pounds) is still raw but is already looking like a future star at defensive end. He has 53 tackles already, including 13 TFLs, five sacks and a forced fumble. Ogunsola has been just as impressive, racking up 50 tackles, including five sacks and 11 TFLs. Those two guys have 10 of the team’s 16 sacks and about 20 percent of the defense’s total tackles. It’s going to be fun to watch these guys develop the next couple of years!
GO MIDSHIPMEN!
Congrats to St. Augustine Prep senior running back Julian Turney, who just committed to the United States Naval Academy. Turney is one of the Hermits’ best all-time running backs, having rushed for 2,899 yards and 39 touchdowns during his career.
PLAYING WITH HEAVY HEARTS
When Holy Spirit travels to Ocean City on Friday at 6 p.m. the Spartans will have more on their minds than just football. The Spartan family suffered a tough loss this week as assistant coach John Bewley died today after a months-long battle with cancer. This past Friday, John, a 2005 Spirit graduate, went to Holy Spirit to see the team off to their road game. A post on the Holy Spirit High School Football Facebook page said, “That’s just the type of guy John was, always putting others before himself.” Rest in peace, coach.
Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com
