H.S. football: Roundup of Week 1 games for South Jersey

Rancocas Valley matched its win total from each of the past two seasons on Thursday as Nick Marco’s deflected pass on a two-point conversion with 30.7 seconds remaining lifted the Red Devils to a thrilling 21-20 triumph over Eastside (Paterson).

Malachi Castle scored a pair of rushing touchdowns for the winners and quarterback Kevin Burr Jr. connected with Jameir Rollins on multiple passes, including a 49-yard touchdown in the third quarter that proved to be the difference.

Rancocas Valley is now 2-0.

Here’s a closer look at Thursday’s other South Jersey contests:

Shawnee 48, Eastside 14: Shawnee quarterback Joe Papa had a monster evening as the Medford program beat Eastside for the first time in school history, according to head coach Tim Gushue. Papa ran 23 times for 173 yards and 4 touchdowns and was 8-of-11 passing for 86 yards, another TD and an interception.

Freshman Tyler Nickles showed off his second gear as he took a screen pass 43 yards to the house and added a 55-yard rushing score. Nick Rusinski also found the end zone for the victors on an 18-yard scamper.

Schalick 36, Pitman 8: Kenai Simmons had 4 catches for 103 yards and a touchdown and ran 15 times for 58 yards and a score to lead the Cougars past Pitman 36-8 on Thursday. Jackson Schalick also had a big day as he had a 74-yard scoring scamper as well as a 62-yard pick-six. Fuquan Sutton added 58 yards and a TD on the ground.

Ocean City 21, Mainland 20: The Red Raiders rallied from a 20-7, third-quarter deficit to upend the Mustangs. Quarterback Riley Gunnels connected with Jack Hoag for a pair of touchdowns – a 90-yarder and a 1-yarder – and Duke Guenther’s 29-yard TD run with 9:58 remaining put Ocean City in front. Ricky Wetzel had a game-sealing interception.

Deptford 48, Triton 18: Six different Spartans found the end zone as Deptford earned its first season-opening win since 2019.

Kevin Mosley had 3 receptions for 63 yards and a score and added 7 carries for 76 yards and a touchdown, quarterback CJ Carter was 7-of-8 passing for 203 yards and 2 scores and ran for a TD, Mikey Long had 2 grabs for 76 yards and a touchdown, and Lathan Brown, Saleem Washington and Quinn Burnette all found pay dirt on the ground.

Glassboro 26, Burlington City 20: Zaivon Burt-Graves opened the game with an 83-yard kick return score and had a receiving touchdown as the Bulldogs started 1-0 for the third consecutive year. Quarterback Jhaisir Harden threw for a score and ran for two more.

Pennsville 34, Lindenwold 26: Sky Eppes had 24 carries for 200 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Eagles soared in their first game of the year. Randy Hall also scored twice for the winners and Kollin Baker crossed the goal line once.

Haddon Twp. 33, Gateway 16: Junior quarterback Zack Kocher threw three touchdowns, including a pair to senior Jairo Padin, as the Hawks soared to a ‘home’ win over the Gators in a game played at Bishop Eustace Prep.

Padin had a pair of nifty moves to find the end zone on both of his grabs, including one at the buzzer of the first half that gave the Hawks their first lead of the game.

Senior Zach Gruber caught a touchdown pass and picked off a pass – a pair of firsts on the season for the Hawks.

Township’s defense had four takeaways and the special teams produced a score when Tommy Weikel scooped up a blocked punt and returned it for a touchdown.

Pennsauken 47, Cherry Hill West 30: Dante Viccarelli threw two touchdown passes to Kahlil Ali and ran 4 yards for a score as the Indians scored 33 unanswered points in a span of 4:18 in the fourth quarter. Ali and Elijah Jennings added interception return touchdowns. Jennings also carried 10 times for 116 yards, including a 91-yard touchdown.

Cherry Hill West rolled up 288 rushing yards, including 114 from Kevin Rorke and 108 from Gary Rowe.

Cinnaminson 31, Collingswood 12: Kyle Willis carried 15 times for 118 yards and two touchdowns to help push the Pirates to victory. Cinnaminson quarterback Jack Zarnawski was an efficient 6-of-7 passing for 98 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown pass to Mike Beers.

Noah Waldron accounted for the lone Collingswood touchdown.

Maple Shade 30, Audubon 20

Palmyra 33, Gloucester Catholic 16

Friday's Games

Woodstown 46, Haddon Heights 19: Behind a six-touchdown performance by junior James Hill, the Wolverines rung up a whopping 549 yards on the ground en route to their season-opening win on the road.

Hill was a one-man wrecking crew, compiling 368 total yards of offense including 312 on the ground. He rushed for four touchdowns and caught two passes from Max Webb, including a 21-yard leaping grab in the end zone on the final play of the first half.

Woodstown's season started with a bang as Bryce Belinfanti returned the opening kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown.

Haddon Heights' quarterback Andrew Harris tossed a pair of long TD passes with a 96-yarder to Matthew Iuvara and a 77-yarder to Malachi Terrell.

Williamstown 28, Kingsway 14: The Braves scored 21 unanswered points with help from quarterback Drew Craig, who threw a 5-yard score to Julian Noel to knot the game at 14 before putting Williamstown ahead for good on a 1-yard touchdown run.

Noel iced the game with a 3-yard trip to the end zone in the fourth quarter.

The Braves enjoyed a 7-0 first quarter lead courtesy of a 31-yard touchdown pass from Craig to Aubrey Green.

Kingsway briefly rallied for a 14-7 edge in the second quarter behind short touchdown runs by Nate Maiers and Camillo Marusco.

Vineland 28, Bridgeton 0: Sophomore quarterback Daniel Russo opened the scoring with a 27-yard touchdown pass to James Hitchens and later found the end zone on a short run to help the Fighting Clan to their first win of the young season.

Ryan Carter starred on defense with a 26-yard interception return for a touchdown, while running back DJ Clark capped the scoring on a 5-yard run.

Washington Township 45, Eastern 12: Junior quarterback Jared Dzierzgowski scored on a pair of touchdown runs and chipped in on defense as well with an interception return for a score in the second quarter of Washington Township's win Friday night.

John Williams opened the second half with a 75-yard kick return for a touchdown, while sophomore Darion Joyner added a 12-yard touchdown run in the victory.

St. Augustine 30, St. Joseph 10: Senior Terrin Walker dropped the punter for a safety on the game’s first possession and the Hermits never looked back as they responded to their season-opening loss with a victory in the Holy War.

Walker finished the game with 3 catches for 128 yards, including an 85-yard touchdown from Rory Friel that put the Prep up 16-3 in the second quarter. Ryan Gambill, Tristan McLeer and Na’Cire Christmas all had rushing scores for the winners too.

Legendary St. Joseph coach Paul Sacco was at a loss for words following the game, his final in the rivalry as this will be his final season leading the Wildcats.

“I guess every week when I walk in, I’ll know it’s one of the last and I’ll try and do the best I can. That’s all,” he said.

Woodbury 14, West Deptford 7: Senior JaBron Solomon hauled in a pair of TD passes from 34 and 57 yards, but it was his fourth-quarter interception that proved to be a huge play as the Thundering Herd earned their win over the Eagles since 1998.

Senior quarterback Bryan Johnson connected with Solomon twice, the second giving Woodbury the lead for good early in the second quarter.

West Deptford had the ball on the Woodbury 20 with less than five minutes to play in regulation when Solomon picked off a pass.

Woodbury’s defense, which didn’t allow a point over the final three quarters, iced the game with a sack on the final play.

Hammonton 24, Cherokee 14: Kenny Smith tallied a pair of touchdown runs, the second a 44-yard dash that put Hammonton ahead by two scores in the fourth quarter. Justin Doughty accounted for the other Blue Devils touchdown on a 4-yard run in the second quarter. Drew Fields also converted a 21-yard field goal for Hammonton.

Ray'Mir Johnson got Cherokee on the board in the second quarter after finding the end zone on a 15-yard run. Chiefs quarterback Ryan Bender hooked up with Cameron Burti on a 19-yard score in the fourth.

Gloucester 35, Buena 7: The Lions saw five different players reach the end zone, starting with Ibyn Obey, who opened the scoring with an 85-yard kickoff return.

Quarterback Jake Seibert connected with Trevin Burkhardt on an 8-yard touchdown pass and later found Jaden Garris through the air on a 20-yard score. Seibert closed the scoring with a 4-yard touchdown run.

Jacob Zearfoss converted a 6-yard touchdown run in Gloucester's win.

Irvington 25, Millville 17: The Thunderbolts stumbled at the Rumble on the Raritan at Rutgers SHI Stadium, squandering a 10-6 third-quarter lead en route to their first loss of the season.

Millville captured that second-half advantage on a 79-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Zamot to Thomas Smith but Irvington responded with two unanswered touchdowns to take a 19-10 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Bolts (1-1) climbed back into the game on a 3-yard scoring run by Naeem Sharp but the Knights sealed their victory thanks to a 9-yard Fahmah Toure touchdown run with 2:34 to go in the game.

Timber Creek 56, Camden Catholic 0: Nasir Reason-Dallas carried 11 times for 105 yards and three touchdowns, and added a fourth score on a fumble return as the Chargers improved to 2-0. Zyheem Coleman-Frazier added a 62-yard TD catch and a 14 yard scoring run.

Timber Creek held the Irish to 72 yards of offense, including minus-9 on the ground.

Delsea 47, Delran 7: Senior Jared Schoppe led the way with three touchdown runs as the Crusaders rolled to a season opening victory.

Holy Spirit 35, Egg Harbor Twp. 7: Jahcere Ward ran for three touchdowns, including a pair in the first quarter, to key the Spartans' win. Holy Spirit's Gavin Roman had a second quarter interception return for a score and hauled in a touchdown pass from Sean Burns later in the contest.

Oakcrest 24, Middle Twp. 10: Falcons quarterback Marcus Lee tossed a pair of touchdown passes and Amir Tinsley added a 3-yard scoring run as Oakcrest moved to 2-0 in the early going.

Ramapo 48, Willingboro 20: Derrick Bryant scored a pair of touchdowns, the first on a 37-yard run in the first quarter, but it was not enough for Willingboro. Derek Fryer added a 1-yard touchdown run in the Chimeras' loss.

Seneca 40, Sterling 0: Zac Fearon scored four touchdowns to power the Golden Eagles to a season-opening win.

Saturday's Games

Haddonfield 44, Paulsboro 26: Junior quarterback Declan McCarthy completed 16-of-19 passes for 251 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for another score as the Haddons open their season with a convincing win over the Raiders, spoiling Kevin Harvey's head coaching debut.

The 6-foot-2, 230-pound McCarthy fired three TD passes in the first quarter, connecting with Patrick Ryan, Dominic Hahn and Cole Forebaugh as the Haddons took a 20-0 lead in the first 10 minutes. Matt Zappetti made an incredible catch in the back of the end zone for McCarthy's fourth TD pass of the first half.

Paulsboro's Rocco Pellegrini threw three touchdown passes to Preston Moore and Blaise Green returned an interception 65 yards for a TD for the home team.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Roundup of Week 1 games for South Jersey high school football