By MARK TRIBLE
South Jersey Glory Days Senior Football Writer
On X @Mtrible
GLASSBORO — While many in the Garden State stayed inside or dreaded the experience of a soggy and cold gridiron Friday night, Kenny Smith’s eyes lit up.
The senior Glassboro tailback couldn’t wait.
“As soon as I saw it was raining, I circled the calendar and I said ‘Yes!’” Smith said. “You see the rain, you know you’re going to get the ball a lot.
“… Smash-mouth football. Rainy game, cold weather, it’s playoff season. There’s nothing better than running the ball like that.”
Smith put his imprint on the Group 1 state semifinal from the very start. His 69-yard run set up the Bulldogs’ score on the first possession. He finished with 17 totes for 219 yards and a pair of scores as Glassboro romped over Woodstown, 36-0.
He also finished the rout just shy of 5,000 yards in his career.
“I just want to win the state final,” Smith said. “If I get 5,000 that’s a great feat, but winning is most important to me.”
Smith and his Bulldogs have done plenty of that in 2024. They are 12-0 with no triumph closer than 10 points (twice). They give up a measly 5.9 points per game, and Friday’s performance on defense stood as the fifth time they pitched a shutout.
It’s been a year of focusing on one purpose — getting back to the state finals, where Glassboro lost to Mountain Lakes a year ago by a 24-6 tally. This year, the foe will be Cedar Grove, 52-21 winners over Butler.
“That one hurt,” sophomore middle linebacker Ta’sheen Butler said. “We all got a chip on our shoulder.
“We’re coming to dominate. We’re coming to win. We have no other choice.”
Dominate would be an apt term to describe what the hosts did here against Woodstown (10-2). After Smith’s long run, Amari Sabb scored from 7 yards out. A botched kickoff after the touchdown ended up as a recovery for the Bulldogs.
Soon after, Smith got his first points on a 1-yard plunge.
An attempted onsides kick followed. Glassboro pounced on that one as well. Smith hammered in another 1-yard score to cap that drive.
With 2:07 left in the first quarter, only the final totals were left to doubt. The Bulldogs led 22-0.
“After that first drive when we’re making plays, there’s nothing you can do with us after that,” Butler said. “Once we get going, you can’t stop us after that.”
Jack O’Connell hit Xavier Sabb for 22-yard touchdown pass to make it 30-0 by half. Maurice Davis walked in on a short pick-six to slam the door in the fourth.
During last year’s playoff run, Glassboro knocked off the Wolverines in the state semifinal as an underdog, 14-10. Few expected the Bulldogs to go to the state final, but they got there on the strength of their defense and big plays.
With Smith involved this go ’round, it adds another dimension to the attack. A three-year starter at Hammonton, he’s been one of South Jersey’s best runners during the span of his career.
He transferred in the offseason and sat out the required 30 days as the slate opened. Now, he is in full gear. He showed off his impressive arsenal against Woodstown. He ran tough between the tackles to go with some wild open-field cutbacks. He made plenty of tacklers miss and disappear in the mud.
“I tell them all the time, ‘You guys have a chance to be the first ever to etch and sketch your name into history,’” coach Timmy Breaker said of the program’s shot at a first state championship in the short three-year history of it being awarded. “They love the idea of it because they always talk to me about our (sectional) championship teams.
“They’re always like, ‘We’ll be better.’ Honestly, they have the chance to do it. I’m excited for them to do it. They’ll accept the challenge. We’ll accept the challenge. It’s exciting to be back.”
This time, with Kenny Smith in the backfield.
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.
