By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
@tortreports on Instagram
MILLVILLE — The Rancocas Valley Regional High football team hasn’t had to face much adversity this season, shutting out opponents in four of its first five contests in blowout affairs.
But after building a two-score lead over No. 3 Millville by halftime on Friday night on the beautiful turf of Wheaton Field, No. 2 Rancocas Valley saw its grip on The Stucco Pros Game of the Week begin to slip away. Despite being held scoreless in the second half, the Red Devils held on for a 21-20 victory over the Thunderbolts.
“Last year, I definitely think we would’ve folded in some areas,” Rancocas Valley coach Garrett Lucas said. “The adversity that we faced, putting it together for four quarters, it really shows who we are.”
The narrow triumph improves Rancocas Valley to 6-0 overall, as the Red Devils are opponents 190-26. Standout senior Mikey McQueen sealed the victory with a game-winning interception on Millville’s final drive.
“The quarterback threw it up and I made a play,” McQueen, a Syracuse University commit, said of his interception. “We knew they were a good team going in, so all practice we played our butts off. We came in here and dominated.”
Rancocas Valley (6-0, 3-0 West Jersey Football League Colonial) scored first when quarterback Zach Merhar found Michael Beasley for an impressive 31-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter. The Red Devils took a 14-0 lead with a 28-yard touchdown reception by McQueen with 1:59 left in the first half.
On the play, a Millville defensive back was injured and the game was stopped for approximately 25 minutes. According to Rancocas Valley Athletic Director Mike Lamb, the player had movement when he was eventually taken out by an ambulance. Millville coach Humberto Ayala said it was a “precautionary” measure, and the player is expected to be okay.
On the first play from scrimmage after the injury, Millville quarterback Robbie O’Connor threw a 64-yard touchdown to Amir Roberts for the Thunderbolts’ first score. A nice kickoff return put Rancocas Valley in a decent position and the Red Devils capitalized with a Merhar touchdown pass to Andre Byrdsong for 15 yards with 42 seconds left in the half to make the advantage 21-7. Jack Powers made a 45-yard field goal for Millville (3-2, 2-1 WJFL American) in the final seconds of the half.
Rain started falling in the second half, which severely limited Rancocas Valley’s electric offense. Millville was able to score 10 more points with a Reggie Holley touchdown reception and another Powers field goal, but came up empty on the final drive.
“We fought through a lot of adversity,” said Merhar, who threw for three touchdowns. “The rain really started coming down, so it was rough to throw. Even with that, our defense held them to 20 points. We had a great first half and we have a bunch of weapons. We can get the ball to anyone and they can make plays.”
Merhar credited arguably the program’s top weapon in McQueen for his big-play ability shown throughout the game.
“He is one heck of a player,” Merhar said of McQueen. “On offense and defense. At corner and at safety. This was his first game of the year at corner, and he is just lockdown.
“That touchdown grab, I put the ball up and I couldn’t really see much because I got drilled,” he continued of his second quarter touchdown pass to McQueen. “Next thing I know, I hear the crowd cheering.”
Rancocas Valley now turns its attention to Eastern next Friday at 6 p.m. Along with top-ranked Washington Township, the Red Devils are expected to be in the running for the Group 5 state title come playoff time, and having a game like this surely prepares them for the postseason.
“This is huge, this is everything,” Lucas said. “We take it one game at a time. We’re going to learn from a lot of mistakes tonight, and we have Eastern next week. Let’s go get those Vikings.”
“We loved it. This is what we like,” McQueen added. “We don’t like the blowouts. We want this dogfight right here.”
WHAT’S NEXT: Millville hosts Mainland Regional on Thursday at 6 p.m. Rancocas Valley hosts Eastern Regional on Friday at 6 p.m.
