Through his years with the Pinelands Regional football squad, senior quarterback Jamie Jenkins has learned many valuable lessons from head coach John Tierney.
“One of them is ‘Don’t talk with your mouth. Talk between the whistles.’ That’s what I did,” said Jenkins, who completed 14 of 17 passes for 111 yards and a touchdown during the Wildcats’ 20-12 victory over Toms River South on Oct. 23, solidifying a perfect regular season and an outright Shore Conference B South division title. “Their guy got in a dirty shot on me, and I didn’t say anything about it. But the refs didn’t call it, either, so I had to take things into my own hands.”
On second-and-5 from the South 32-yard line, with Pinelands nursing a 14-6 lead as the fourth quarter began, Jenkins attempted to run around the right end and was forced out of bounds 2 yards short of the line of scrimmage. The “dirty shot” occurred when an opposing defensive back hit Jenkins as he stepped out of bounds, sending him flying along the Pinelands’ sideline.
As the opposing player skipped his way back toward his teammates, Tierney muttered something to the player, who stopped in his tracks, turned and glared at the coach. “You want some of this?” Tierney yelled at him.
On the next play, Jenkins ran by the same player as he was being blocked, then took the ball to the end zone.
“Coach called my favorite play, and I saw an opening and had to go,” said Jenkins, who ran counter to the right side, slipped a tackle just beyond the line of scrimmage and then outran several defenders to score on a 34-yard run to stake the Wildcats (9-0) to a 20-6 lead with 10:54 to go. “I knew I was going to the end zone, and that’s the fastest you’ve ever seen me run before.”
However, the epitome of what this season has become showed on the next possession, when Toms River South marched down the field and had first-and-goal at Pinelands’ 10.
BOOT IT THROUGH: Pinelands Regional’s Rex Kline sets the ball for the extra point as Alex Hickey makes it 14-6 in the second quarter on Oct. 23.
“Defense is the key to success. Defense wins games,” said junior linebacker Montrell Carter, who helped lead the Wildcats’ defense with 10 tackles, including three for losses. “My boys were telling me, ‘Monty, we need this,’ and I said, ‘All right, I’ve got you guys.’ I wasn’t going to let them down.”
After junior defensive lineman Ralph Kline made a big stop on third down to push the Indians back to their 16-yard line, Carter delivered a sack on opposing quarterback Xavier Santiago to give Pinelands the ball on its 22 with 5:25 left.
“Monty and I hang out almost every single day in the off-season. We work out together in school all the time, for hours, and on the field it shows,” said junior linebacker Paul Veneri, who registered 11 tackles, including two for losses. “There’s just something about our defense; we’re really connected and work hard. After we stopped them on that drive, I knew we were doing this.”
To make the regular-season finale a tad more interesting, the Indians managed to score another touchdown with 2:37 to go – it was the first time this season the Wildcats gave up more than one touchdown in a game – and then it was on the offense to deliver the last nail to the Toms River South coffin. The nail was Jenkins.
After Veneri corralled the subsequent onside kick, Jenkins ran the ball three straight times to set up fourth-and-11 from the Pinelands’ 45 with 3.6 seconds on the clock. Following a Pinelands timeout, Jenkins received the snap from the shotgun position, ran backward about 25 yards and ended the game with a victory slide.
SNATCHED: Pinelands Regional wide receiver Dom Colosi hauls in a pass from Jamie Jenkins for a 45-yard touchdown in the first quarter on Oct. 23.
“Taking that dive was a lot of fun. This is going to be one of the greatest days of my life until I have kids,” Jenkins joked. “This is a great day, truly a blessing, and I’m grateful to be here with such a great team and O-line and an amazing coaching staff. I wouldn’t want to do this with any other team.”
After senior Sam Kilasi picked off a Santiago pass to give the Wildcats the ball on their 41-yard line, they opened the game with a five-play scoring drive that culminated with Jenkins heaving a 45-yard touchdown pass to senior Dom Colosi along the left sideline. Alex Hickey provided the extra-point kick to make it 7-0 with 8:27 to go in the first quarter.
The Indians scored a few minutes into the second quarter but missed the extra point, and Pinelands maintained a 7-6 lead until junior running back R.J. Clark carried the ball into the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown and Hickey added the PAT with 3:27 left in the half.
“I can’t even put this into words,” Colosi said of the Wildcats’ perfect regular season. “It’s one of those moments where we thought about the unthinkable and made it happen with hard work and dedication. We come out here and do what we have to do and have fun. That’s the most important thing.”
After South scored to cut the lead to eight points with its second TD, Kilasi blocked the extra-point attempt.
“Nobody was thinking 9-0 at the beginning of the season, but we just wanted to finish the job tonight,” Kilasi said. “We wanted to keep going forward and get the first undefeated regular season in Pinelands history. This team is about FAMILY – Forget About Me, I Love You – and we’re made of a lot of heart. We never give up, and when one of our brothers is down, we pick him up and keep going. That’s what we do.
NOT GOING ANYWHERE: Pinelands Regional junior linebacker Montrell Carter grabs hold of a Toms River South running back and tackles him for a loss during the first quarter.
“But I never imagined I would be part of something like this, being 9-0 on a Pinelands football team. It’s absolutely insane.”
Before the student section made its way from the bleachers and bolted onto the field to celebrate with the team, Tierney snapped his customary post-game selfie.
“Against Central two weeks ago, I was a tight play-caller, afraid to make a mistake,” Tierney said. “Tonight I wanted to open up a little bit. I was going to be loose with our offense and let our players make plays. It didn’t matter which play I was calling, whether J.J. touched the ball, or R.J. touched it, or Dom or Anthony (Bonds). They were all really good options, so my focus was to let the players make plays.”
Now, for the first time in 22 years, the Wildcats get to focus on the NJSIAA playoffs – they lost in the playoffs in 2002, then won and lost games in 2004. As the third seed in South Jersey Group 3, Pinelands will host sixth-seeded Triton on Friday, Oct. 30 at 6 p.m.
“It’s been a while since we’ve been in the playoffs, 20 years at least, but I’m pumped,” Carter said. “I’m fired up and can’t wait for it. But we have to work really hard this week and stay mentally in shape.”
