By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
On X @GDsullysays
SICKLERVILLE — The Timber Creek High football team needed one first down to ice a victory over visiting Pleasantville in the season opener on Thursday night, and the Chargers got it via a Greyhounds penalty.
That play was emblematic of Timber Creek’s 21-14 win over Pleasantville, as both teams — each of whom lost a lot of starters from playoff rosters a year ago — struggled with penalties and fumbles the entire night. Pleasantville had a chance to drive down the field and tie the game after getting the ball back with seven minutes to go, but a couple of big sacks from Zyeir Green and Rosebey Lubitmus forced a punt and the Greyhounds never saw the ball again.
Timber Creek was able to run out the final 3:34, getting a big quarterback keeper from Tyrone Baker Jr. for a first down and getting another first down via a Greyhounds penalty.
“(The penalties) are to be expected, on both sides. We’ve shortened the preseason so much. We’ve been going since June, but the summer is so transient with kids on vacation and playing other sports. So it’s really about two weeks, so most of these Week 0 games come down to who commits the least amount of penalties. We started off the game with about five in a row, but they were a lot of fixable mistakes and it’s certainly a lot easier to fix mistakes after a win and learn that way,” said Timber Creek coach Brian Wright. “You’re going to see that in South Jersey football this year, the depth just isn’t there across the board except for maybe five or six schools. With kids transferring out to a couple major schools, you have to be able to just do a couple different things and do them well. You have execute better than people and have the ball bounce your way a little bit. That kind of happened tonight.”
Timber Creek (1-0, 0-0 West Jersey Football League Classic) got off to an inauspicious start as the Chargers fumbled the opening kickoff, but they made up for it with a blocked punt on Pleasantville’s first drive. The teams then traded fumbles before the Chargers got on the board when Baker found Quadir Baldwin on a big gainer down the left sideline to set up Baker Jr.-to-Kysim Khan on a 5-yard rollout play. That put Timber Creek up, 6-0, and the Chargers added to the lead late in the first quarter when Amir Reason-Dallas rumbled 13 yards down the right sideline. Baker Jr. converted the two-point conversion to put Timber Creek up, 14-0.
“Experienced players lead, and inexperienced players have to step up. We have some four-year starters on this team and that’s a big part of it. It’s football, anything can happen so nothing really surprised us,” said Reason-Dallas, a senior and four-year starter. “I’ve been thinking about this since we lost on this field nine months ago (to Cedar Creek in the sectional semifinals). This is the get-back for us. The season is just starting for us and we have a lot more to go. We have to clean up the small stuff, the flags and all that stuff.”
“Reason-Dallas is, far and away, one of the best kids in South Jersey. Any coach in the state would love to coach a kid like that,” Wright said. “He just does his thing, and he’s an old-school football player. He gets on me asking why we’re not hitting (in practice). He just wants to run the ball, run people over and tackle people. He’s a top kid, another four-year starter who now is getting his opportunity to be the main ball carrier, and we have something to work with. This is a great group of kids who have really come together.”
Pleasantville (0-1, 0-0 WJFL Continental) got on the board on the first play of the second half as running back Nazir Griffin busted loose for a 63-yard touchdown up the middle. He also ran in the two-point conversion to pull the Greyhounds to within 14-8. Timber Creek, however, responded later in the third quarter when Green raced around the right side and scored from 23 yards out, diving at the pylon to put the Chargers up 21-8 with 3:45 left in the third quarter.
Pleasantville responded on the ensuing drive, going 66 yards and getting some big plays from elusive quarterback Ahmad Jones. Griffin capped the drive with a 4-yard scoring run to get the Greyhounds to within 21-14 with 10:30 left in the game, but Timber Creek’s defense shut the door on Pleasantville’s final drive.
Baker Jr. came up big when the Chargers needed him, rushing for a first down on a play-action run that sealed the game in the final two minutes.
“He’s our guy,” Reason-Dallas said of the Camden High transfer. “He wasn’t able to play (at Camden) but he came over here and did his thing, like we all knew he could do. It was amazing to see my teammate and my friend do what he’s supposed to do and what he’s capable of doing. I love to see that.”
Wright said he was pleasantly surprised with how Baker Jr. ran the offense in his first varsity start.
“He’s a kid who is inexperienced. With the lack of depth and the way the preseason is set up, we didn’t know what we really had with him,” Wright explained. “We knew he was athletic and I’ve known the kid since seventh grade, he played with the Gloucester Township Stallions with all of our kids. But he’s never started a varsity game, so he was an unknown. Hopefully the offense continues to progress.”
Wright said Timber Creek fans shouldn’t expect to see the Chargers airing the ball out the way they did last year. They’ll be much more of a run-heavy team this season.
“The biggest development of this program has been the running game. Last year we went down to the shore and beat Highland and ran the ball well, and I had some (receivers) who were upset that they didn’t see the ball, and I get it, but we won by 40,” Wright said. “Tonight, my guys on the outside were like, ‘keep running the ball, coach.’ Not surprisingly, a couple of those guys are four-year starters, and to be a four-year starter at Timber Creek High School is a really big deal. As inexperienced as we are at some positions, those guys put us on their shoulders.”
WHAT’S NEXT: Timber Creek hosts Notre Dame on Sept. 6 at 6 p.m. Pleasantville travels to Rancocas Valley on Sept. 6 at 6 p.m.
Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com.
