Given time to reflect over the weekend, Jamie Jenkins went into the Pinelands Regional football team’s film session on Oct. 19 with a clear understanding of what’s at stake later this week, when the Wildcats square off with Toms River South.
“Since freshman year, my class always talked about being the best, the one to change the program and turn things around, to do things no other Pinelands team did,” said the senior quarterback. “And now, seeing how much work we’ve put in the past four years, we’re finally showing what we can do. It feels good knowing that this program is finally getting what it deserves.”
However, Jenkins had a greater realization following the Wildcats’ 12-6 victory over Barnegat last week, and he it’s likely that he will remind himself and his teammates right up until the opening kickoff on Friday.
“We’ve been getting too cocky lately, and it’s making us get a little lazy,” he said matter-of-factly. “We have to stop that now. We have to lock in and play our game. We have to approach this game like we’re both 0-0 and everybody has something to prove.”
On their home field against the visiting Indians, the Wildcats have an opportunity to do something extraordinary as they attempt to solidify their position in the NJSIAA playoffs for the first time in 22 years — not just win a division title outright but complete the regular season undefeated.
But despite Pinelands’ 8-0 record, junior running back R.J. Clark says every player on the Wildcats’ sideline needs to be sharp, focused and prepared to work hard to win.
“Right now, we need to get back that will to win, that fire, like we had at the beginning of the season,” said Clark, who carried the ball 18 times for 98 yards against the Bengals. “Back then, we believed we could make the playoffs, but I think we believed it too much. Right now, we’re playing like we expect to win, but now’s when we have to work harder to win. We made a lot of mental errors last week, and we need to fix that. We have to get on the same page with each other.”
During a game in which Pinelands committed 12 penalties totaling 110 yards, the Wildcats managed to take a 12-0 lead into the second half against Barnegat, which had lost the previous week for the first time this season.
After Jenkins tossed a 36-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Anthony Bonds, who finished with seven catches for 87 yards, to make it 6-0 early in the second quarter, Jenkins later delivered a 14-yard strike to senior receiver Sam Kilasi, giving the Wildcats a 12-point cushion heading into the third quarter.
Neither team scored during the third, but the Bengals (6-2) trimmed the lead to six points in the fourth when freshman quarterback Zach McCrohan, who completed 12 of 17 passes for 63 yards and threw two interceptions, fired a 22-yard TD pass to senior receiver Blake Pezzuti.
The Bengals didn’t score again, thanks to a Pinelands defense that continued to be stingy about giving up points — no team has scored more than a touchdown against the Wildcats in any game this season. Linebackers Paul Veneri and Montrell Carter led the charge on defense, racking up 13 and 12 tackles, respectively.
Still, the Wildcats committed too many mistakes, according to Jenkins, who completed 13 of 17 passes for 150 yards.
ON THE LOOKOUT: Pinelands Regional senior quarterback Jamie Jenkins eyes his receivers as he gets set to make a pass during the Wildcats’ win against Barnegat. Pinelands remains undefeated at 8-0.
“We have to stop letting our emotions take control of us and just play the game,” he said. “When something doesn’t go our way, we can’t panic, and that goes for me as well. I have to be the leader I am and execute better.”
Toms River South enters Friday’s game, which kicks off at 6 p.m., at 3-1 in the division and a chance to tie Pinelands for the Shore Conference B South top spot with a win. The Indians are coming off a 42-0 loss to crosstown rival Toms River North.
“We’ve been sleeping on teams the past couple of weeks and underproducing on offense,” Jenkins said. “We can’t take this matchup as lightly as the others we just had. No matter what our record is, we can’t take any team lightly. I hope the last two weeks have been a wake-up call for us.
“We have to remember for Friday that Toms River South is a great team, and they’re going to come at us to punch us and knock us down. They’re not coming here for no reason. We have to realize we’re not invincible and they’re coming to give us a game. We have to be ready.”
Pinelands enters Friday’s game as the only undefeated team left in NJSIAA South Jersey Group 3. Heading into the week, the Wildcats were ranked sixth in the section.
Southern Falls in Overtime to Middletown North
After Middletown North scored to tie the game in the fourth quarter and was the first to score in the ensuing overtime, the Southern Regional football squad had a shot to win after senior running back Levi Foote scored on a 25-yard TD run in OT. The Rams chose to go for a two-point conversion and fell short, dropping a 21-20 decision on Oct. 16.
With the game tied at 7-7 after junior running back Niko Iliescu carried the ball into the end zone and Foote booted the extra point to knot the score in the first quarter, the Rams (5-2) took the lead, 14-7, when senior quarterback Carson Abbato tossed a 24-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Chris Raub and Foote add the PAT.
Southern was still up by seven points heading into the fourth, before the Lions scored on a 42-yard pass and tied the game with the extra point, ultimately forcing overtime.
Abbato completed 12 of 16 passes for 126 yards and Foote tallied 93 yards on 12 carries from the backfield. Raub hauled in six passes for 89 yards as well. Foote led the team on defense, totaling eight tackles and a sack.
Fortunately, the loss didn’t seem to damage the Rams’ state playoff chances. Southern is in the fourth position within South Jersey Group 5 with a clash against Brick Memorial (7-1) slated for Friday, Oct. 23. The game is in Brick, starting at 6 p.m.
