National Signing Day at Pleasantville draws quite a crowd

By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
During the past four years, a lot has changed for Pleasantville football coach Chris Sacco. He’s added a couple of kids to his family, and his football family also has begun to grow and prosper. When Sacco took over prior to the 2015 season, the Greyhounds were in the midst of a long losing streak, and in his first season that continued, as they went 0-10. Pleasantville wasn’t even much of a destination for fans on Friday nights, much less college recruiters.
But Sacco and his staff, and the group of freshmen he had back in 2015, set to work on changing everything about Pleasantville football, from the uniforms to the attitudes of fans and opponents, the offseason condition programs — everything.
The fruits of their labor was realized in the school’s library on Dec. 19 when a National Signing Day ceremony was held for seniors Mohamed Toure, Jabril Shakur, Sahmir Jones and Elijah Glover, the players who have been instrumental in rebuilding the Greyhounds’ football and track teams and making them state championship contenders. Toure (Rutgers), Shakur (Monmouth) and Glover (Villanova) all signed Division I football scholarships, while Jones, the quarterback, signed a D-I scholarship to run track at Boston University. The ceremony drew a huge crowd of friends, family and faculty, and even some younger athletes who came over from Middle School of Pleasantville, some of whom might be sitting in those very chairs in just a few years.

“This means a lot, just to know that you can come from Pleasantville (and get this kind of attention.) We were counted out so many times but we just persevered, and this will be good for the youth to see guys in college representing our town. Since I came here, our football team has been really good and (in track) we won a state championship, so we just want to improve from here,” said Jones, who led the football team to 15 wins in his two varsity seasons after transferring back home from Mainland, where he was a choice school student his freshmen and sophomore years. “This means that the community is really rooting for us and has our backs, and we want to help them put a name out there for Pleasantville and help some of the younger kids get to where we are today. It’s a great feeling just to know I did it with my brothers, we’re a family, and for all of us to do this together just means a lot to us.”
After that 0-10 freshman year, the Greyhounds went 4-6 when these four were sophomores, then went 7-3 a year later and this fall posted an 8-3 record that included a trip to the South Jersey Group 2 semifinals and a big win over rival Ocean City on Thanksgiving. They also scored their first state playoff win since 2003.
“When we first got here, our record was 0-and-I-don’t-even-know, now we have four D-I scholarships, and hopefully many more to come. It’s a great accomplishment over the last four years. Freshman year, I didn’t think something like this would be possible, to be honest, but after sophomore year, I thought it was possible. We stayed true, we stayed home and got it done,” Glover said. “This is better than winning a championship. A championship would have been nice, but to see my friends going to college for free and the future of the program looking good — this is the ultimate accomplishment. This is special and something I’ll never forget.”

Toure was Glory Days Magazine’s overall Player of the Year for the 2018 season, a hard-hitting linebacker who led the team in tackles and also doubled as its featured running back and gained nearly 1,000 yards. Glover was one of the top defensive backs and wide receivers in the West Jersey Football League, and Shakur helped anchor one of the toughest defenses in South Jersey as a linebacker. Jones was one of the most dynamic dual-threat quarterbacks in the league and also helped lead Pleasantville to a state championship last spring during the track season as one of the area’s top sprinters.
“This is an outstanding, beautiful day. I see alumni, I see parents, family members, students, middle school students — this is a long time coming, and I definitely want to thank these athletes for their hard work and dedication, that’s the reason we’re here. And for staying in Pleasantville — and for coming back to Pleasantville — to let the world know that you can receive a D-I scholarship from Pleasantville High School. I want to thank the parents for pushing them when they were young and keeping them going, and impressing upon them that it’s all about not just athletics, but academics as well,” Athletic Director Stephen Townsend said during the ceremony. “I hope they can inspire and motivate students that are in this library to do better, to represent themselves, their parents, their school and the community in a positive direction.”
“I just want to say that this is a blessing to have all four of these guys signing,” added track coach Alan Laws. “I’m proud of every one of them, and like coach Sacco said, it can get done at Pleasantville. I had a son sign from here years ago and he’s now a state trooper, a Delaware State graduate. So, it can get done out of Pleasantville.”
The event was a crowning achievement — at least so far — in Sacco’s young career as football coach.
“Like Mr. Townsend said, this has been a long time coming. We have four high quality kids, high quality athletes and they absolutely deserve what they have right now in front of them,” he said. “This is four high quality educations for four high quality kids. We’re very proud, the school is very proud and the community is very proud. (For younger guys) this just goes to show that if you work hard, you can come here and really perform well and do well for yourself moving forward.”
Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays