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High School Football:
Florence Upset Gloucester in Overtime

Saturday, November 23, 2002

By Vincent Lewis
SJSports Staff Writer

This is why most of us enjoy the post season. When hearing of an upset by a lower seeded team, that team gets most of the attention and they are branded as the "Cinderella" or "Underdog" team. Not expected to even win their first game of the playoffs, Florence has shocked most people as the sixth seeded Flashes gave Gloucester City their first loss of the season. In this game, neither team was unable to score during regulation. Jorron Jenkins' 9-yard run in overtime won the game and Florence advanced to the finals against the number one seed Paulsboro for the South Jersey Group 1 title.

Number 3, then 2 and could it be number 1. Those were the seeds that Florence (8-2) has defeated in this year's group playoffs. The Flashes rolled past the third seeded Burlington City by a 20-6 margin. After today's upset, next up are the Red Raiders from Paulsboro sitting in the top spot with victories over Lindenwold and Salem.

Florence elected to put their defense on the field first in overtime after winning the coin toss. For 4 quarters, the Flashes were able to keep their opponent off the scoreboard and felt confident they could do again during the extra period. Gloucester would not be able to pick up a first down on their first possession and punted the ball over to Florence. With excellent field position, quarterback Ryan Shafer moved the team down to the 10-yard line. Two plays later, Jenkins bullied his way through the tackles and pass the defense for the game-winning touchdown.

Photos by Mark Fletcher

©2002 South Jersey Sports Online Inc.