By MARK TRIBLE
South Jersey Glory Days Senior Football Writer
On X @Mtrible
EAST RUTHERFORD — From a humid August afternoon at Haddon Heights at the season opener, the two-page stapled Game Day press guide for Glassboro’s football team had the itinerary.
On the bottom right of the front page sat the team schedule.
Dates were listed out with opponents, one-by-one. The last one said STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME.
The letters “TBD” did not sit next to the listing.
Many predicted for the talented bunch what “Chug” Mangeney’s typed-up slate indicated. The team statistician for 54 years, he knows a thing or two. And in the 557th game with Mangeney on the sideline, the Bulldogs provided one of the best performances in a decorated program history on that very stage.
With a 56-14 blowout of previously unbeaten Cedar Grove at MetLife Stadium, the Bulldogs (13-0) got their first state title in the third year the trophy’s been given.
They did so with the help of a historic display from senior tailback Kenny Smith. Smith ran 20 times for 402 yards and four touchdowns in the game — an average of 20.1 yards per carry.
“Being able to come out here and play in a big game like this and make big plays, it means a lot,” Smith said. “In order for me to call myself a big player, I’ve got to show up in big games like this.
“That’s what I was telling myself all week. To be able to do it, that’s nothing but a blessing.”
He eclipsed 5,000 rush yards for his career and took the South Jersey lead for ground yards this season (1,808 yards). The star missed the first three games due to transfer rules, and likely would have gone better than 2,000 for the season had he been able to play in those games.
His presence made last year’s 24-6 loss to Mountain Lakes in the championship seem like it couldn’t have been further away.
Although early on, the teams traded blows that seemed to foreshadow a back-and-forth affair. The Panthers (13-1) scored on a 9-play drive to open the game. Star quarterback Stephen Paradiso ran in from 8 yards to open the tallies.
Soon after, Amari Sabb plunged in with a 10-yard scamper to cap a 9-play drive for Glassboro. The next drive featured one of the plays of the game when cornerback Kenny Johnson crushed a receiver and forced an incompletion. His hit reverberated through the cavernous stadium.
“He set the whole entire game off,” coach Timmy Breaker said. “… I tell them all the time today, over and over, ‘What does a hungry dog have to do?
“Eat. And we ate. And we ate for sure.”
Cedar Grove showed its wherewithal by cashing in the next drive on Paradiso’s toss to Nick Russo. After a touchback, Smith announced his presence. He, a one-man, one-play drive of 80 yards on a run.
A turnover on downs followed for the North Jersey finalists, who had to commute roughly 20 minutes for the game — opposed to the champs’ 104-mile commute.
The Bulldogs went into power mode on the next set of downs. Star defensive tackle Brandon Simmons and linebacker Tasheem Butler stood offset in their “Big Back” package. That’s roughly 490 pounds of the team’s strongest players in the backfield.
Smith simply ran behind them and capped the drive with a 1-yard run. Two plays later, the dam broke and the rout began when Davon Barr snatched an interception and returned in 45 yards for six.
For good measure to cap the half, Xavier Sabb took a slant and broke tackles, ran around players and scored from 56 yards out with 34 seconds left in the half to make it 35-14.
He said he believed it’s the best play he’s ever made in his life. He’s not alone.
“Once I got the ball, I knew by all means necessary, I had to score,” he said. “There was nothing else to do, I was not going to go down.
“I’m going to have to watch the reply [to know what happened]. I was just trying to get a touchdown.”
On the first play of the second half, Smith again provided a one-man, one-play drive on an 80-yard run.
“Coach told me at halftime, I’m coming back to you,” Smith said. “We’re going to run it until they stop it. They couldn’t stop it.”
This one ended up as lopsided as it looked at the lines of scrimmage. After the first score, a Glassboro player yelled out in the huddle, “They know they can’t beat us!”
It would be hard to fault anyone with doubt in black and gold. The Bulldogs held a healthy advantage in size and speed. It showed in the final ledger.
They outgained the Panthers on the ground, 452-to-negative-3.
They outgained them overall, 597-to-197.
They had eight touchdowns to Cedar Grove’s eight first downs.
They forced three turnovers and had four sacks, with zeroes in both categories on the other side of the ledger.
Quarterback Jack O’Connell went 12-of-14 for 145 yards and two touchdowns.
“All season, after every game we were prepping and we were only prepping for the state championship,” Xavier Sabb said. “We weren’t worried about anything but the big one.
“It feels great, we got Glassboro history. And not only did we win, we blew a team out for the state championship.”
The Bulldogs dominance showed all year. They didn’t play a game closer than 10 points and allowed 5.9 points per game.
“We just outdid ourselves today,” Amari Sabb, who scored twice, said. “We played better than we ever had and that’s how it showed on the scoreboard.
“And Kenny Smith? He’s just a different guy. 400 yards?! That’s just a different man.”
Smith & Co. were whisked into the hallways here as the celebration began to die down. They were set for the best long bus ride of their lives, fresh off a domination that will live in the record books.
“We knew we had to come out here and prove a point that we’re the best team in Group 1,” Simmons said.
The point couldn’t have been made any more emphatically.
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME.
STATE CHAMPIONS.
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.
