By MARK TRIBLE
Staff Writer
MONROE TOWNSHIP — Lenape’s football team waited 54 days for the shot at redemption. With one loss to its name, it traveled 21 miles south and slightly west to return to the lone scene of defeat.
In that one, the Tribe held a 13-0 lead before a ferocious Williamstown comeback ended with a touchdown in the final minute to seal a 28-21 Braves’ triumph.
On the 55th day, the field sandwiched between the high school and middle school served as a plot of horrors again.
Down 10-0 at halftime, Williamstown rallied and sophomore Turner Inge plunged in from a yard out to finish the deal with 42 seconds left.
Make it 14-10 for the Braves (11-1), who gleefully danced on the field and again in the fieldhouse here. Make it two consecutive South Jersey Group 5 finals. Make it two classics, two never-say-die performances and one word, according to coach Frank Fucetola.
“Character,” he said when prompted to sum it up.
That would be the case in the sequel, as it was in the opener. And for a club that lost two starting linebackers through this campaign, a testament to its defensive strength for which the hat emblazoned with a W is hung.
In the second half, coordinator Mike Seidenberg’s unit allowed 13 yards before Lenape’s final possession that ended with a fumble on the last play inside Williamstown’s 30-yard line.
“Honestly, it all comes down to great coaching,” Michigan-bound lineman Aaron Lewis Jr. said. “The coaches made their adjustments and they came out firing in the second half.
“Our defense was just unstoppable and that’s how it’s been all year. Our defense comes up in big moments.”
That defense forced a three-and-out after it seemed the Braves were out of good fortune. Before 3rd-and-Goal, a penalty for too many men pushed back the offense. That came after a fumble on second down.
The next snap ended with a dropped touchdown pass. A field goal attempt then sailed wide left. It stood at 10-7, where it had been since Jon Wood’s tiptoe 3-yard catch for six came in the third quarter.
A high snap set back the Tribe (9-2) on its first play. Soon after, Lenape punted.
With 3 minutes and 11 seconds left, quarterback Dougie Brown led his offense onto the field at the Tribe 42.
He threw incomplete. Then, found Brody Colbert for six yards. Inge pounded for seven. A defensive pass interference gave Williamstown a first down at the 15.
Colbert for seven. Colbert for four more. Inge for three.
Inge. In.
“We knew we had to get in, we had less than a minute left,” the sophomore hero said. “We knew we had to push the ball in.
“… I told coach he could trust me, I promised him I was getting in the end zone and that’s exactly what I did.”
It all seemed so surreal, especially to those who’d been there for Round One. The universe offers up a chance at revenge and there stood a team as tough as any around, ready to pounce at its second opportunity.
The inches weren’t there for them. That’s due to a stingy bunch that turned up the heat and an offense that found its feet.
Coordinator Pat Gallagher made some tweaks to his run game at intermission. Seven different players toted it in the final 24 minutes.
“It’s in our DNA, man, we do it all the time,” Colbert said of the comeback. “We just know how to come back. We’re a second-half team. No one was worried, we knew we had it.”
Brown thought back to the moment he’ll remember for the rest of his life.
“We just said, ‘Give it to Turner, he’s going to get in,’” Brown said.
Next up is Rutgers University and the South/Central Group 5 bowl game. Last year, MetLife Stadium was the scene of a heartbreaking 14-7 loss last year to Sayreville. This time, Williamstown will face WJFL American Division rival Cherokee — 35-18 victors over Kingsway in the Central Jersey Group 5 final.
The Braves won 24-7 in the regular season matchup on the road.
“Coach Fuce has been saying it since we started lifting in December, that we’re going back to make it right,” Wood said. “We have that bad taste in our mouths to try to get rid of. We’re going to go up there with the same mindset.
“We all have that feeling in our stomachs, you get a little queasy thinking about it. We have to make it right.”
That emotion and drive will be one Williamstown can channel for the big game. Its foe here on Friday nearly had it channeled, too.
On the 55th day, the Braves broke their hearts again.
Then, they danced into the night with the hardware hoisted above their heads.
Mark Trible is a former sports reporter for the Courier-Post in Cherry Hill and one of the most popular high school writers in South Jersey. Follow Mark: @Mtrible on Twitter; facebook.com/marktriblewords/