By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
On X @GDsullysays
WINSLOW TOWNSHIP — Two of the best public high school football teams in New Jersey came together here on Saturday afternoon, and, as expected, the trip to the Group 4 state championship game came down to the wire.
With the game tied, 7-7, midway through the third quarter, it was bound to come down to who could make that one big play. As it turns out, Winslow’s Nakeem Powell made several of them. Early in the fourth quarter, he pounced on a fumble inside Millville’s 10-yard line, and a couple plays later he did the honors by running it in from a yard out to give Winslow a 13-7 lead with 8:44 left in the game.
The Eagles’ defense made that tenuous lead hold up, and Winslow escaped with a 13-7 victory, punching the Eagles’ ticket to the state championship game, where they’ll face North Jersey champion Phillipsburg in early December at Rutgers University.
“I’m feeling good right now. We had to fight through adversity. The first half was a little bit of a struggle, but we just had to push through that. I’m just happy that nobody gave up, not the coaches, not the players, and once you give us life, it’s over. That’s all I can say. I’m excited,” said senior safety Marcus Upton. “Everyone plays a part on this team; nobody is really a superstar. Everyone does their own thing. I’m just excited that everyone — the coaches, the O-line, running backs, our quarterback — everyone did their part to push through, fight through adversity and get the victory. I’m just happy that we got through it.”
The blustery conditions seemed to favor Millville (9-3), as nearly two-thirds of Winslow’s offensive output this season has been through the air. The Thunderbolts scored on their second possession of the game as they converted a big fourth down that kept the drive alive and set up a 12-yard scoring strike from Robbie O’Connor to star receiver Lotzeir Brooks. Millville took a 7-0 lead, but that’s all the points it could muster as Winslow’s defense put the clamps down the rest of the way.
“There wasn’t much said during halftime, we have a great defensive coordinator and he drew up some things, he saw what we needed to fix, and the defense played a great game,” said junior defensive back Nyqir “Boomer” Helton.
Winslow’s first drive of the second half ended with a Brooks interception, but the Eagles finally got things going offensively on their next possession as quarterback Jalen Parker connected with Powell on a big play that set up first-and-goal at the Millville 4-yard line. Parker then hooked up with Helton on a fade into the right corner of the end zone, tying the game at 7 with 7:31 left in the third quarter.
After the game was tied, Millville’s possessions went punt, punt, fumble, interception, as a pick by Wisconsin University recruit Cam Miller with a little more than three minutes to go effectively ended the game.
“We started off a little slowly, but once things get clicking in this offense there’s not much (the opposing defense) can do,” Helton said. “We have Marcus, Cam, myself, Nakeem. We just have to keep working every day. We have to put in that work.”
Winslow remained perfect at 13-0, with Millville the only team coming within one score of beating the Eagles. Winslow was 10-3 last year and got trounced by Mainland, 41-7, in this same round of the playoffs.
“We fell short last year, and in the weight room during the offseason everybody worked hard. We never wanted to have that feeling again,” Helton said. “We came out here very prepared. We knew Millville is a great team. It was a great game. (Getting the win) is the best thing. We came up short last year, and I told Cam (Miller) that we were going to get him a state championship before he leaves here.”
WHAT’S NEXT: Winslow vs. Phillipsburg in the Group 4 state championship at Rutgers University, time and date TBD. Millville travels to Vineland on Thanksgiving Day at 10:30 a.m.
Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com
