By BRIAN TORTELLA

Correspondent

On X @tortreports

HADDON HEIGHTS — The Woodstown High football team came out firing on all cylinders on Saturday, recovering a fumble on the opening kickoff and marching down the field for a touchdown immediately after.

Not long after that initial score, senior kicker Jake Ware gave the Wolverines a 10-0 lead in the second quarter and it seemed all but likely that Woodstown would cruise to victory. 

Then adversity struck.

Starting quarterback Jack Holladay, a senior, left the game toward the end of the first half with an injury, forcing Woodstown to play “old school” football. 

Despite offensive struggles in the final 24 minutes, Woodstown held on for a 17-8 victory.

“We all knew we needed to step up for each other and definitely for him (Holladay),” said senior back Bryce Belinfanti, who scored the opening-drive touchdown. “That’s bad for him, but we knew we had to step up, rally on defense and keep it going on offense.

“Football is all about facing adversity. That’s what we had to do is face adversity. It’s a football game, and at the end of the day we still had to go out and win the second half.”

Belinfanti was a bell cow for Woodstown throughout the entirety of the game, especially in the second half with Holladay out. Junior backup Lucas Fulmer filled in at quarterback, seeing his first varsity action at the position.

“Obviously with Jack going out at halftime, we had this plan,” said Woodstown first-year coach Frank Trautz. “We knew if Lucas was ready to go, obviously we have to cut the playbook down for him. Halftime is not a lot of time to get ready, so we talked it over and came up with a plan. I give him all the credit to be able to step in. That’s his first real varsity action as a quarterback. I’m very proud of the way he was able to conduct himself in the second half and get us this win.”

Woodstown’s running room was hard to come by in the second half with the Garnets’ defense expecting more carries. The Wolverines were held to primarily 2- to 3-yard gains, but controlled the clock exceptionally well. 

“We needed to play old-school football,” coach Trautz continued. “Rely on our line up front, they’re a great group. We know we can lean on them. Bryce is a great back and we have a great team. They were able to pick each other up and take it home for us today.”

Woodstown’s defense is no joke either. The Wolverines have allowed just 26 points the last three weeks, good for a little more than eight points per game. Whenever a team has a defense like that, it really takes the pressure off the offense.

Junior linebacker Garrett Leyman recorded an interception to seal the game up with 4:21 remaining in the fourth quarter. It set up a touchdown run from Bobby Donahue with 39.7 seconds left to give Woodstown a 17-point lead — an advantage that was cut to nine after Camaj Matthews scored on a 75-yard kickoff return for Haddon Heights in the final seconds. 

“I knew that we had to make a play on defense, our offense was struggling in the second half there,” Leyman said. “I had to step up, make a play, and I made it happen. I think we should make a good run.

“I think it was a great team win, we faced a lot of adversity. We knew we had to bounce back and have some big plays, and we did. We know what we have, we just wanted to keep pushing.”

Leyman also caught a 40-yard pass from Hollaway in the first quarter down the sideline. (See video below)

Said coach Trautz: “It’s special. For us, our focus is always on the next game. That next game is the most important one. We’ll look back after the year is over and appreciate what we did. That’s a sign of a good team. We were able to come together and fight for each other.”

Woodstown improved to 6-0 after Saturday’s victory and closes out its season on the road at Salem and Glassboro. Haddon Heights fell to 1-5.

GAME NOTES: Ware scored five of Woodstown’s 17 points, connecting on both PATs and a field goal. 

Contact Brian Tortella: btortreportssj@gmail.com.