Hamilton West picked up a big victory against Ewing on Saturday. Photo by Donna “Roll Tide” Brihn.
By Rich Fisher
Fish4scores.com
Oct. 24: It was a key Saturday for all three Hamilton Township football teams, and Nottingham and Hamilton West came up with what could arguably be considered their biggest victories of the season.
If anything, it certainly strengthened their hopes or positioning for the post-season.
It was without a doubt the biggest win for the Hornets, who took a 16-12 victory over Ewing to raised their record to 4-2 and keep their playoff hopes alive for a South Jersey Group III berth.
Hamilton High West’s Christopher Charles goes up and grabs a pass against Ewing. Photo by Donna “Roll Tide” Brihn
The previous two weeks Hamilton had beaten winless teams in Hightstown and Northern Burlington (who each got their first wins this past week). Their only other victory was also against a one-win team in Notre Dame.
But the Blue Devils (4-3) were being touted as one of the top CVC teams in the West Jersey Football League, so to defeat them legitimized Hamilton as a playoff contender.
“I think they knew they were getting better,” coach Tom Hoglen said. “It’s just nice to have everybody there (injury-free) for once. If we can continue it, then we can turn it into a very good season for us. I know these guys will work hard and prepare. That’s what they’ve done all year.”
Hamilton hit rock bottom on Sep. 29 when West Windsor-Plainsboro South snapped a 12-game losing streak with a 29-28 victory. At that point the players might have felt like packing it in with a 1-2 record. But they used a fourth-quarter rally to top Hightstown and then played stellar defensive games against Northern Burlington and Ewing, limiting them to a total of 18 points.
“I just think in the locker room, we’re getting good leadership now from our senior class; and our juniors could have hung their heads after (WWPS) but they didn’t,” Hoglen said. “They came back and worked harder. We started to get some bodies healthy again and back, that makes a big difference. Right now the kids are believing in what we’re trying to do, that goes a long way.”
One of the key contributors has been senior Reidgee Dimanche, who has been outstanding on both sides of the ball. When Mark Bethea got hurt in preseason, Dimanche’s role on offense went
Ewing running back is all tied up by Hamilton defenders. Photo by Donna “Roll Tide” Brihn
from tight end, to doing a little of everything and he has responded. On the other side of the ball, he continues to be one of the county’s top linebackers.
Hoglen also had praise for defensive linemen Rahmel Turner, James White, Marlon Peart and John Piotroski.
“White and Peart, our two tackles, have really done a good job,” Hoglen said. “And so have the other two, they’re doing a nice job for juniors.”
Hezekiah Patterson has also made his presence felt at quarterback.
“He’s played well all year,” Hoglen said. “He’s been a good leader in the huddle. He hasn’t panicked when we’ve had some dumb penalties in long distance situations. We’ve been able to bounce back. He had a big run for a touchdown (against Ewing) on a pass play. He saw a big opening and took it down and scored.”
Hamilton faces a tough foe Friday night in West Windsor-Plainsboro North, a team that can score with a dynamic passing attack. The Hornets now have a lot to play for as they currently sit in the eighth and final playoff spot with 64 power points, just two behind Lakewood and three behind Oakcrest. They are five ahead of Camden.
“We just have to keep improving,” Hoglen said. “The last few games we’ve been able make some adjustments and stop some things. Defensively we’ve been able to get a lot of confidence. That was a good win Saturday. The kids played well, they hung in there and they found a way to win.”
Finding ways to win has been the story of the season for Nottingham, which improved to 4-2 with a 28-21 win over Lawrence (5-2). It was the Stars’ third come-from-behind victory this year.
The Northstars needed the victory in a big way after being stunned by winless Notre Dame a week earlier. And much like Hamilton, they needed to beat an upper echelon team. Their previous wins were against Hopewell, Hightstown and WW-P North, the latter having the most talent and wins, but no depth. Lawrence came in at 5-1 with its only loss to Ewing.
As is usually the case, Nottingham fell behind early as the Cards jumped to a 14-0 first-quarter lead after two possessions. The Northstars rallied back for a 21-14 edge, the Cards tied it, and Nottingham got a game-winning touchdown run from Jon Jacobs with 58 seconds left.
Eric Mitchell fights for inches after the catch against Lawrence. Photo by Mary Malone.
Jacobs and Dionte Nicholson, who left with a slight fourth-quarter injury, each rushed for over 100 yards and two touchdowns. Jacobs, however, says the Stars can’t keep relying on second-half surges.
“We just have to start picking it up from the beginning,” he said. “We’re a second-half team, but we have to start playing full games now. It’s getting closer to playoff season.”
And while he’s happy that his team has been resilient, coach Jon “Big Dawg” Adams said the slow starts “are very worrisome.”
“I don’t know why we’re starting slow,” Adams said. “But if we get against the wrong kind of offense and wrong kind of team, we could be in trouble. We’re going to be in a lot of low scoring, really close ball games because we don’t have an offense that’s gonna drop back and throw and get that big play. We’re going to come out and run behind that strong offensive line.”
Translation – if a high scoring team puts up 21 points in a hurry, Nottingham doesn’t have a quick strike offense. It needs time to mount its comebacks. The Stars have been fortunate that the deficits have still been manageable and they can use the running game to get back in it.
John Jacobs shakes off a tackler. Photo by Mary Malone.
“Our kids were on their heels today,” Adams said after the Lawrence game. “They made some big plays and got that 14-0 lead. But we don’t die. We’re not afraid to play from behind, although their coach has a lot of gray hair from it.”
The biggest thing Nottingham has done, is wear people down with its size and depth. It was definitely the key to the WWPN win and most likely a factor against Lawrence.
“We’re a physical football team,” Adams said. “We’re not gonna come out and get cute and zone read and try to trick you. We’re gonna come out and challenge you and come right at you right up front. You better bring your hard hat that day, we’re gonna keep pounding for four quarters.
“Our conditioning program really has paid off over the off-season. The kids really bought into it. That’s the biggest difference you see between last year, when we would fade and fall apart. This year we start the same way offensively and end the same way. We keep coming at you.”
Especially an offensive line that Adams feels is vastly underrated. After the Lawrence win, he went on a monologue about how good the unit of Joe Csillan, Bryce Fremgen, Alex Luongo, Paschal Madu, Sylvester Freeman, Frank Hall and tight ends Glenn Dobron and Dylan Adams have been. The coach feels Fremgen is an all-state caliber lineman.
“Our offensive line is disrespected,” Adams said. “We have a superior offensive line. We have a freshman tailback (Nicholson) who’s probably run for 700 yards. No matter who we put back there they continue to block their butts off and they don’t get the credit they deserve.
“These guys are the reason we’re able to stay in the game and they know when we’re down we’re not out. We keep leaning on people and wearing people down with our big strong line. Our defensive line gets a lot of credit but I don’t feel our offensive line gets enough credit.”
Nicholson tweaked his ankle against the Cardinals and Adams said he could have played were it absolutely necessary. He will be back this week against Steinert, which needs some kind of spark.
The Spartans were looking to pull an upset over Allentown to keep solid playoff hopes alive, but dropped a 33-0 Homecoming decision to sink to 2-4. The Spartans would love nothing more than to turn things around against their Klockner Road rivals at James Wilno Field Saturday.
