By MARK TRIBLE
South Jersey Glory Days Senior Football Writer
On X @Mtrible
SEWELL — Here it was on Friday night in the chilly temperatures for the Central Jersey Group 5 championship. Yes, here it was, a chance for Atlantic City’s road upset bid to breathe its way back to life. Down 20-6, the Vikings had the ball at the 16-yard line. Here it was, a snap, a roll right and a scramble to the left. A pass to the end zone. A chance for redemption.
And there it went. No. 28 in the home blue jersey, his mitts on the pilfer in the end zone. Parker Reese undercut the ball and began the return. Down the sideline he galloped, 103 yards and with every step another painful memory of the past three decades began to heal here at Washington Township.
In a moment that will live forever in this town, Reese made his way to the end zone to make it 27-6 with 6 minutes, 36 seconds left. His play put the exclamation point on a night of catharsis. Around here, it was actually more of a cannon blast.
For the first time since 1995, the top-seeded Minutemen (10-2, 4-0 West Jersey Football League Classic) are sectional champions after their 27-6 win over No. 2 Atlantic City.
“Best feeling in my life,” Reese said. “There’s no other moment. I’m going to remember this for the rest of my life.
“Sectional champs. Haven’t done it in 29 years.”
Gone is the whisper that used to circulate South Jersey: How can Washington Township not be great at football?
Now, they are. But it didn’t just happen now.
When coach Mike Schatzman took over in 2018, the class of 2008 alumnus knew his task wasn’t to win football games as much as it was to unite a community. With that unification, the results would come. Bit by bit, the peak could be reached for all locals. It would take everyone’s best effort and buy-in to create the type of program everyone could cheer, as they say, Together With Pride.
“It’s a long time coming, a lot of work and time invested from when we started to this point,” Schatzman said. “I know I get a lot of credit for it, but realistically our assistants are the same guys year in and year out who really dedicated themselves.
“I know my name’s at the top but it’s players, coaches, parents buying in, the community buying in. It feels good. It feels really good.”
This roster exemplifies those efforts with a cohesive, physical, talented and balanced team that proved extremely worthy of the crown.
Minutemen strength was embodied by a 25-play drive that took up all but 15 seconds of the first quarter. Though the possession didn’t end in points, it set the tone of physicality with 19 run plays, most between the tackles.
Their knack for the big play kicked in midway through the second quarter. First, DaShawn Long ended the Vikings’ long drive with a 4th-down interception at the 1-yard line. On the ensuing third down, Cole Aquino launched a deep pass down the middle to Paris Pratt, who grabbed it and rolled for the 91-yard touchdown.
After a three-and-out, the Minutemen showed off more firepower with a minute-long 91-yard touchdown drive that utilized that balance — four passes and two runs, capped by Jaylen Robinson’s 25-yard run up the gut.
“We practice the two-minute drill every week, we really emphasize it,” Aquino said. “All that stuff right there, by now that’s second nature.
“We’re used to moving the ball down field and moving it efficiently.”
The 14-0 halftime lead proved more than enough. Robinson tacked on another score in the third. Reese snagged his first pick of the night in the third. This, too, came in the red zone. He went out of bounds at the 4-yard line on the grab along the sideline.
A.C. (8-3, 3-0 WJFL Constitution) scratched the scoreboard with Zephaniah Bradley-Brown’s 13-yard run early in the fourth frame. After a quick defensive stand, the Vikings got the ball back and marched quickly into the red zone.
Then, Reese made a memory.
“I said, ‘I’m getting this ball,’” Reese recalled. “The ball’s in the air and I break on it. I’ve got the ball and I’ve got my guys with me, having a blast and embracing the moment.”
Next Friday, the Central Group 5 champs will head to Toms River North to face the 12-0 Mariners, two-time state champs and owners of a 37-game win streak against public teams.
Two of those wins came against Township — 28-21 in the 2022 Battle at the Beach and 49-14 in last year’s sectional final.
Attention to the next game could wait after this long-awaited celebration.
“This is what I imagined it would be,” Schatzman said. “It’s a surreal feeling. The kids deserve it.”
He took a second and thanked those who dedicated their time and effort to make this occasion a possibility.
“The guys in the program who were part of the program when we took it back are the building blocks,” Schatzman said. “They’re not going to get the credit, but they really built the program for kids to want to come here and be proud of something.”
Those players — and hundreds more from the last 29 rosters — exhaled on Friday night as No. 28 ran down the sideline; his teammates, program and community in tow.
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.
