Brittingham tilts field in Camden's favor as Panthers roll over Paulsboro
CAMDEN – Taquan Brittingham felt it coming.
Or at least he said he did.
“I told my team, don't worry about it – I'm about to make the game-winning play,” he said. “I'm about to change the game. And that's what I went out there and did.”
Brittingham fielded a short punt at the Paulsboro 36-yard line and brought it back for a back-breaking touchdown, as Camden defeated the Red Raiders, 41-0, in their West Jersey Football League game Friday.
Just 14 seconds later, Brittingham compounded his big play with another one, when he returned a Paulsboro fumble 14 yards to give the Panthers a 28-0 lead.
“I saw that ball loose, I saw an opportunity and I took it,” he said. “I took it right out of his hands, man.”
Jahleer Stanley scored the only points of the first half on a 7-yard run with 8:20 left. Deante Ruffin added a 3-yard TD run with just under three minutes left in the third quarter.
Brittingham doubled the Panthers' lead in those three minutes.
Ruffin went 19-for-31 passing for Camden for 291 yards, including a 46-yard pass to Hamin Anderson early in the fourth quarter. Anderson's highlight-reel catch set up a 9-yard TD pass to D'Hani Cobbs a few plays later.
Israel Clark-White added a 42-yard TD run on his only touch of the game to finish it off.
3 things we learned
The sky is literally the limit for the Panthers: The scoreboard said they dominated this game, but Hinson thought otherwise. It was 6-0 at halftime, and seven possessions up to that point yielded a red-zone turnover on downs, two punts, Stanley's touchdown, and then three more punts. There were three three-and-outs. “We just didn't do well enough in the first half – I'll leave it there – for us to really feel like we can build off of this. We can just take that we're in shape from this game, but in terms of execution, I felt like we didn't execute at all.”
You don't want to be the team on the other sideline when they put it all together.
Attrition: For about two and a half quarters, it was a physical game. The Panthers were the team still slugging in the fourth. “I think it's because of the conditioning we've been doing since July,” Panthers' defensive end James Heard said. “We're physical and we finish the play. Four quarters is nothing to us. After a while, the other team starts getting worn down and we take advantage.”
No-rush zone: Defensive linemen Heard, Jahmere Tyson, Richard James and Haleem Muhammad turned in a shift up front for Camden. Paulsboro had just 12 rushing yards, even before you figure in the 37 the Red Raiders lost on five sacks. Paulsboro gained 29 yards on a halfback pass on the first play of the game. They had just two other plays that went for as many as 10 yards – and they were both Pellegrini passes that went for exactly 10 yards.
Game balls
For Paulsboro, Damire Avant had a frustrating night trying to find room to run, but he got to Ruffin three times and finished with 2 ½ sacks.
For Camden. Anderson caught five passes from Ruffin for 93 yards and set up a touchdown. He also caught one from Pellegrini – his interception brought an end to Paulsboro's first drive of the night.
They said it
Paulsboro coach Kevin Harvey:
“We're going to teach off of it. We're going to keep working and teach off of it. It ain't rocket science. We're in the game – we just made mistakes. Mistakes against a good team are going to hurt you.”
Ruffin, on Camden's second-half success:
“Really it was just going in at halftime and figuring out what they wanted to do on defense. We always start kind of slow; that's something we've got to pick up on. But really it was just understanding their coverages, and our conditioning taking over. We're the more in-shape team in the second half.”
And looking ahead:
“I'm excited, man. The playoffs are coming soon. I mean, this is just the start. We celebrate tonight and Monday it's back to work.”
This article originally appeared on Burlington County Times: Brittingham walks it like he talks it in Camden win over Paulsboro
