By MARK TRIBLE

South Jersey Glory Days Senior Football Writer

On X @Mtrible

SEWELL — The home-side lights went out midway through the National Anthem here Friday night at Tom Brown Field.

After a 20-mintue delay, the Central Jersey Group 5 semifinal got underway. When it did, Cherry Hill East kicked a low line drive off a Washington Township up-man and the Cougars recovered.

And that’s about all that went wrong for the Minutemen.

The top seed in the bracket, Washington Township passed, ran, thumped and defended its way to a 35-7 blowout of the upstarts, fifth-seeded East.

“We were pretty locked in,” junior linebacker and running back Jaylen Robinson said. “We’ve been waiting for this all week. We had a very long week of practice and we were just ready to play.”

Now, for an occasion the town has waited for a lot longer than a week.

The Minutemen (9-2, 4-0 West Jersey Football League Classic) will host Atlantic City next Friday with a chance to win the school’s first sectional title since 1995. The Vikings (8-2, 3-0 WJFL Constitution) topped Cherokee in the other semifinal, 28-18.

“It was obviously not the start we wanted,” Minutemen coach Mike Schatzman said. “I thought our defense responded really well and our offense was firing on all cylinders there, both run game and pass game.

“We’re trying to hit our rhythm here.”

The effort seemed successful in this one.

After that odd kickoff scene, Township forced a quick punt and marched right down the field. Keyed by two long passes to Isaac Parra, the hosts got on the board with Colin Beeler’s 6-yard run at the 7-minute, 7-second mark. A quick three-and-out by East (9-1, 5-0 WJFL Memorial) provided Township with another possession soon after and it started at the 31-yard line.

A false start pushed the set of downs back to the 26.

It took three plays to hit the end zone. A completion of 16 yards and a 20-yard run led to a first down at the Cougars’ 38-yard line. Robinson burst through the middle of the line and rolled for six.

East, a fantastic story all year — the Cougars got their first playoff win since 1991 last week — mounted its first strong drive of the contest after Robinson’s score. It ended with Ethan Binder’s interception at the 15-yard line.

It didn’t take long for Aquino to hit Parra for a 31-yard score. At 21-0 with 4:26 left in the second frame, the rout was on.

“The experience that the returning senior and junior class brought from last year, just learning from those guys,” Aquino said. “We know we’ve got to finish the job this time.

“Last year, we were just excited we made it. This year, we know this was one of our goals and we need to finish the job this time.”

In the second half, Aquino found Da’Shawn Long for a gorgeous jump-ball grab in the end zone. Robinson motored for a 34-yard score to make it 35-0. Denzel Lee of East crossed the goal line late to erase a shutout.

Aquino alluded to the 2023 sectional final trip that ended with a 49-14 loss at Toms River North.

Back again, this time the round isn’t uncharted territory. It’s where the Minutemen aim to hoist hardware.

In an interesting twist, last year’s playoff run featured wins over Atlantic City and Rancocas Valley before the loss to the two-time defending state champ Mariners. Those are the other three teams left in this season’s South/Central Group 5 pools. Top-seeded Toms River North hosts No. 2 Rancocas Valley next Friday in the South Jersey Group 5 championship game.

“We’re looking forward to the opportunity next week,” Schatzman said. “We’re excited to be back here, which is always a plus.

“That was about as good as it could get for us tonight.”

After the first 10 seconds, anyway.

Mark Trible is the host of the South Jersey Football Frenzy Show. You can check it out every Wednesday at 7 p.m. at facebook.com/sjglorydays. The show features highlights, analysis, rankings and more.