High School Football:
Woodbury Defense Dominates 'Dawgs

Saturday, December 5, 1998

By Mike Costantino
SJSports Staff Writer

The Woodbury Thundering Herd defeated the Glassboro Bulldawgs in the Group 1 title game 21-6, which was played in front of a crowd of over 2,300. The Herd defense set the tone early as they held the 'Dawgs to negative yardage on their first 3 possessions and no first downs. On Woodbury's first possession, senior quarterback Ryan Kent ran 76 yards for the game's first touchdown and the Herd were up 7-0 with less than 2 minutes into the game.

Coming into the game, Glassboro was averaging almost 25 points a game, but it was clear that this day would belong to the Woodbury defense. That defense forced 4 turnovers and were led by senior lineman Jadie Barringer and the linebacking corp of Malachi Allen, Chuck Adair and Jon Stites. Glassboro finally picked up its initial first down at the start of the second quarter but could only generate 50 yards total offense as the half ended with the Herd holding a slim 7-0 lead.

With both defenses dominating the third quarter, the teams exchanged fumbles with Jadie Barringer recovering for Woodbury. Two plays later, Sean-Michael Cleary recovered another fumble for Glassboro and after an exchange of punts, the key play of the game was an interception by junior Marcus Money at the Glassboro 10 yard line. On third down and goal from the 12-yard line, the Herd ran a reverse to junior Arthur Lewis who went in untouched. With the extra point Woodbury led 14-0 with just over 2 minutes left in the third quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, Glassboro finally started moving the ball as they drove 62 yards in six minutes, with the final 31 yards coming on a halfback option pass from junior Julian Worley to senior Chris Sheridan. With almost 9 minutes left it was now 14-6. Glassboro's defense rose to the occasion, led by Cleary who seemed to be in on almost every tackle. The offense got the ball back on the Woodbury 45 with 6:30 left. However, the Herd defense rose to the challenge. Following a sack by C.J. Maurer, Woodbury would get its last turnover as Chuck Adair intercepted a Derek Sottile pass and took over on their own 28 with 4 minutes left in the game. Two plays later, senior Paris Minor went 71 yards for the game's final touchdown and a 21-6 lead. The title was Woodbury's first since 1991 and their fifth overall.

Photos by Forrest Robleto