GMC Football: Woodbridge's offense gets going in win over South Plainfield
WOODBRIDGE – Woodbridge High School football coach Kevin Coleman knew all week that in order to jumpstart the Barrons’ offense, he needed to get the ball in his playmaker's hands.
The Barrons (1-2) failed to score a point in their first two games of the season, and it seemed as though Woodbridge would once again get shut out as South Plainfield (2-1) led the Barrons 7-0 to start the fourth quarter on Friday night at Woodbridge High School.
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“Our kids play hard, we work very hard. We’ve been playing good defense but offensively we’ve been struggling,” Coleman said of his team, which failed to put points on the board for over 135 minutes of play. “I knew all we had to do was execute a play with our explosive player.”
That explosive player was junior running back Kesean Glover, who put the Barrons on the board for the first time this season with a 66-yard touchdown catch on a halfback screen to tie the game at 7-7 with 9:15 remaining in regulation. On the following offensive snap for the Barrons, Glover broke out for a 75-yard touchdown run to give the Barrons their first lead of the season.
Woodbridge's defense sealed the victory as the Barrons defeated the Tigers 13-7.
“We were down, we didn’t think we could score,” Glover said. “I just went into the huddle and told my line, ‘I’m running behind you, I’m putting my helmet in your back. You better get a block.’ They did it, they’ve been working hard in practice and they deserve it.”
The Barrons’ offensive line was able to come up with huge blocks in the fourth quarter, but in the first three quarters the offense was once again struggling. The defense was able to keep Woodbridge in the game as it held the Tigers scoreless in the first half.
“Our defense has been outstanding,” Coleman said. “We’ve been giving up some scores but it’s because we’ve been wearing down.”
South Plainfield quarterback Charles Lovett marched the Tigers down the field on the first drive of the second half for 57 yards, which was capped off with a three-yard touchdown run by fullback Zachary Del Vecchio.
With a 7-0 lead with 7:25 remaining in the third quarter, the Barrons needed a break to get their home crowd on their feet. That break came at the end of the third quarter when the Tigers muffed a punt and the Barrons recovered on South Plainfield’s 42-yard line. Unfortunately for the Barrons and their fans, the great field position didn’t lead to points as Woodbridge was once again forced to punt.
Despite being on the field most of the game, the Barrons' defense remained stout and never once put blame on their struggling offense.
“We just work hard as a unit,” said senior Nick Nyers, who is Woodbridge’s all-time leading tackler. “Our defense has guts. Everyone works hard. No one puts each other down, we lift each other up as a unit and we just work hard every play.”
The Barrons’ defense forced another punt to start the fourth quarter and just hoped the offense could get going to tie the game up.
With starting quarterback Donovan Tabon injured, Woodbridge's coaches knew they needed to get creative in order to get past the tough Tigers defense.
In his second start commanding the offense, junior quarterback Ryan Hinkle faked a pass to the right before finding Glover wide open on a half-back screen pass to the left side of the field with three linemen leading the way and just one defender to beat.
“I just looked to see the opening and then exploded,” Glover said. “Coach (Coleman) always tells me, ‘When you see an opening, turn on the jets,' and that’s what I did.”
With the game tied at 7-7 the defense once again forced a punt, putting the ball back in Glover’s hands. Hinkle handed off the ball on a dive play and Glover burst through the line untouched for a 75-yard touchdown run to put the Barrons up 13-7 with six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
The defense was able to give Woodbridge its first win of the season as South Plainfield’s potential game-winning drive stalled in the Barrons' red zone when Woodbridge recovered a fumble with 30 seconds remaining on the clock.
“The guy snapped, he dropped the snap and we jumped on it,” Coleman said. “We do practice fumble recoveries. You get a chance to jump on it, you jump on the ball.”
With stellar defensive plays and two huge plays from their premier playmaker, the Barrons will look to improve to 2-2 as they get set to travel to Metuchen to take on an undefeated St. Joseph team next week.
Coleman knows his offense needs to play much better come next week, but following the big win on Friday night, he was just thankful his team was able to score some points.
“I tried not to get on the kids about not scoring,” Coleman said. “The kids know I love them. I try to coach with my heart. I always talk about karma and today we had some good karma.”