By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
On X @tortreports
GLASSBORO — Amari Sabb had a bittersweet feeling, rightfully so, after playing for the final time on his hometown field on Friday night.
However, the Glassboro High senior held back from showing any emotion after his two-touchdown performance in the Bulldogs’ 44-8 rout of Burlington City in the Group 1 state semifinal.
Perhaps it will come next week.
“I almost started to cry when the game was over, but we have one more,” said Sabb, who also notched an interception in the triumph. “To finish out my last game at Glassboro High School, it means the entire world to me. We started at 5 years old, and for us to stay together and finish out in our hometown, it means the world.
“It means the world to us, going back to the state final. It’s been the plan since we were kids. It just means the world to us. Built this from the ground up. My last year with the guys, to finish it out in the state final, that’s a surreal thing.”
Behind a stout defensive effort and an overwhelming offensive attack, Glassboro easily punched its ticket to its third straight Group 1 state final. The Bulldogs will take on Cedar Grove in a rematch of last year’s final — which Glassboro won, 56-14 — at Rutgers University on Sunday, Nov. 30 at noon.
“That’s a blessing,” Coach Timmy Breaker said of the dominant victory. “It’s a great group of kids. For a coach to have a great group of kids like this, resilient, tough, family. This is a family team. They’re coming together as a family and you can see it. They all got each other’s backs. They all have the coaches’ backs. They jell so nicely and we’re able to display that on Friday nights.
“(Amari) has played for Glassboro his entire life. Since he was 3 or 4 years old, he couldn’t fit a helmet and his pants were too big. But that’s a kid that’s going to show up every single time the lights are on. You’re going to get his best, his 130 percent. He’s a leader of this team, and he’s been his whole life. He’ll do whatever you ask him to do. That’s a big-time football player, and to be truthfully honest, he’s one of the best in the country.”
The Bulldogs sure have jelled nicely, and that couldn’t have been on better display.
Glassboro recorded three interceptions — including two by Kenny Johnson — and six offensive touchdowns. Amari Sabb, Xavier Sabb and Jojo DeLecce each recorded two scores for the Bulldogs.
The defensive line also generated a plentiful amount of pressure, wreaking havoc on Burlington City’s offense and allowing little running room and barely any time to pass.
“I’d say this is the most dominant defense in the state,” said senior defensive lineman Brandon Simmons, last season’s state Defensive Player of the Year. “The physicality and the energy. People who come out here and try to gas other teams up in the media, say they’re going to dominate our defense, but we get out there and show y’all.”
There was a belief in the days leading up to the game that Burlington City would be Glassboro’s toughest challenge of the postseason. But that didn’t matter, as the Bulldogs did what they have done to every other squad they’ve faced this campaign.
“You can do a lot of talking, but once you get some helmet in your chest — once we get out there and start head-banging — there’s not much you can do,” Simmons said.
“I don’t feel the emotion now, I feel joy,” he added of his final home game of his career. “But once I get home, I’m going to be like ‘man, that was really my last time on this field’.”
Added Amari Sabb: “It’s no real thing. Everyone is going to talk until you get on the field. You can keep talking, but when it comes down to proving it, you really have to prove it.”
The Bulldogs have taken a “one game at a time” mentality under Breaker. He frequently uses the line, “day-by-day, play-by-play.” It’s worked 26 times in a row.
And on Monday, it’s right back to work. The unbeaten (13-0) Bulldogs are far from finished.
“It’ll be big for the program,” Breaker said of potentially winning back-to-back state titles. “That’ll be something special that goes down for ages, decades. Going into it undefeated, we’ve been blessed with having great games, tough games. We’ve been blessed with watching these boys become men throughout this entire season.”
“To tell the truth, we’re not done yet,” he continued. “We still have another height to reach. They still have some left in the tank. When they lock in on that, you’ll see this team soar through the roof. We’ll focus on getting back and watching the film, and on Monday we start again.”
Added Amari Sabb: “To go out that way with my boys that I grew up with; to go out like that with them, it would mean the world to me.”
“It would mean the world,” Simmons said. “I hope there’s not a game after us next week, because they’re going to have to drag me off that field after. I’m going to be crying.”
