By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
On X @GDsullysays
SEWELL — Late in the first half of Thursday’s West Jersey Football League inter-division tilt between Rancocas Valley and host Washington Township, the Red Devils were threatening to blow the game open. They had a 13-0 lead on the hosts, and were driving inside the Minutemen 15-yard line. Junior quarterback Sayvien Adams was forced out of the pocket, scrambled to his right, cut back to the left, turned upfield and ran over a Township defensive back at the goal line to put RV up 20-0 heading into halftime.
Rancocas Valley made a trip down Route 295 to make a statement. That statement was made, emphatically.
The game was basically over after RV raced out to a 13-0 first-quarter lead, but the Devils tacked on two more touchdowns, including one on their first drive of the third quarter, to pull away for a 27-0 win over Washington Township, which came into the game ranked No. 5 in South Jersey in the South Jersey Glory Days/South Jersey Football Frenzy Show Best 11 rankings.
The Red Devils may have a claim to be included in the rankings this week after the way they performed on both sides of the ball on Thursday night. They rushed for 116 yards, got 115 receiving yards and three touchdowns from star senior wideout Brody Deiter, and held Township to less than 90 yards passing on only 50 percent completions.
“In the beginning of the season we were struggling to play as a group, and really struggling against the run,” said senior middle linebacker Aiden Kitts, who finished with 10 tackles, a fumble recovery and an interception. “But this week we dialed in, everybody was focused. We were all just trying to do our jobs on every single play.
“We all played with confidence, we did our jobs and played as a unit. I’m proud of the guys.”
“I thought we were very locked in this week in practice. Everyone was focused and doing their thing. We really put it together this week, and this is a big win for this program,” added senior outside linebacker Ryan Woodruff, who added another nine tackles. “We were struggling a little bit earlier in the season, and mainly it was all trying to get on the same page. I’m proud of everyone on the defense tonight, proud of the whole team. (The defensive line playing well) is a huge part of the game because that helps us as linebackers. Them doing their job really helps us out.”
Defensive linemen David Ogunsola, Michael Beasley and David Dones combined for 20 tackles as the Red Devils dominated in the trenches, and the combination of Adams and Deiter did the rest.
After Kitts picked off a pass on Township’s first possession, RV drove from midfield to the Minutemen 17-yard line, converted a fourth down, and then Adams hit Deiter on a fade in the right corner of the end zone. His one-handed grab and Jameson Hollander’s extra point gave the Red Devils a quick 7-0 lead.
They tacked onto that lead in the final minute of the first quarter as once again Adams teamed up with Deiter, this time on a 12-yard swing pass that Deiter took into the end zone, untouched, for a 13-0 lead.
“He’s tremendous, a very good player,” Township coach Mike Schatzman said of Deiter, who also had seven tackles as a defensive back and a punt of better than 50 yards. “One of the best receivers I’ve seen. Obviously Brooks (Lotzeir, Millville senior) is really good and he’s right up there with the top receivers, at least that I saw on film and in person. He’s special. They get the ball in his hands, he plays both ways, punts — he does a little bit of everything. He was good, and we weren’t.”
“He’s a great player. Offensively, obviously, but also his punts,” Kitts said of Deiter. “That’s something that goes unnoticed but that really helped us. Our field position was great, and that’s something we’ve been struggling with, getting good field position.”
Rancocas Valley (5-2, 2-1 West Jersey Football League Colonial) has won two straight since a 44-27 loss to Camden, and five of its last six since a season-opening loss against Pascack Valley at the Battle at the Beach. The Red Devils have scored at least 27 points in all of their wins, including more than 40 on three occasions, and in the last two games the defense has given up just seven points.
“We have another tough game next week, so we’ll learn from this one. There’s a lot to fix but we want to keep rolling and keep getting better every day,” Kitts said. “This is a statement win. We’re trying to go for that sectional championship.
Added Woodruff, “it’s going to take preparation and heart. That’s all it’s going to take.”
Washington Township (5-2, 2-0 WJFL Classic) needs to get back to the drawing board quickly, as it has tough games against Kingsway and Timber Creek to close out the regular season.
“The best thing is we have two divisional opponents coming up, Kingsway and Timber Creek, and we still have a shot to win our division, which is something we want to accomplish,” Schatzman said. “We haven’t really played well over the last couple of weeks and we’ve gotten away with it. It bit us tonight. We played about as poorly as we could have played. We didn’t coach well, we didn’t play well. Everything that could have gone right went wrong, so you learn and go from there. It’s something that happens. They are a great football team, and hopefully we get to see them again down the road (in the state playoffs).”
WHAT’S NEXT: Washington Township travels to Kingsway on Oct. 18 at 6 p.m. Rancocas Valley hosts St. Augustine Prep on Oct. 19 at 2 p.m.
Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com.
