By TOM WILLIAMS
It was another exciting season for high school football.
It all started in August at Ocean City’s Carey Stadium with The Battle at the Beach and ended earlier this week for 14 schools in SHI Stadium at Rutgers and MetLife Stadium. Of course, the season was also strangely over for a number of schools on October 21st. But that is another story.
Every year in this column, we try to keep the long history of Cape-Atlantic League football alive, even though CAL teams are now blended into the voluminous West Jersey Football League. By the way, CAL teams were spread out over seven WJFL divisions this season and were the champions in five of them. No other conference won as many – not the Olympic Conference, Tri-County Conference or Colonial Conference.
Anyway, the big story was Mainland, which won one of those games this week to actually claim a state championship. Through the years, public schools have awarded jackets, shirts, rings and plaques that declared they were state champions when, in reality, they were South Jersey sectional champions. The Mustangs now join Millville in 2022 to become the first two CAL school to legitimately earn the title – state champion.
Along the way, Mainland became the first South Jersey team to win 14 games in a season and dominated three very good teams in the sectional final (Millville, 35-13), state semi-final (Winslow Township, 41-7) and the state final (Ramapo, 56-0).
STAT LEADERS: Mainland senior Stephen Ordille ran for 1,840 yards and five other backs also gained more than 1,000 yards. Among other leaders, Millville junior Lotzeir Brooks caught 61 passes for 1,295 yards; Millville QB Jacob Zamot threw for 2,340 yards and 26 TDs; Mainland sophomore John Franchini had the highest pass efficiency rating (192.3) among CAL QBs for the second straight year; and Oakcrest sophomore Donovan Linthicum averaged 12.3 tackles per game. The stats of 93 athletes, the leaders in rushing, passing, receiving and tackles, are available HERE.
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE: Mainland and Pleasantville were both undefeated on their home fields. The Mustangs have now won 11 straight at The Corral. The Greyhounds have won 10 straight home games since the 2021 season, when they finished 0-10. The final records of all CAL teams are HERE.
BIGGEST IMPROVEMENTS: Though most CAL teams had 2023 records somewhat similar to 2022, Cedar Creek was the winner. The Pirates went from 4-7 in 2022 to 8-4 this season. They were third in their very tough division of the West Jersey Football League (behind Winslow and Delsea), and reached the championship game in Central Jersey Group 3. You can check the final Online 25 rankings of South Jersey teams HERE.
FIELD IMPROVEMENTS: New turf fields at Absegami, Millville and Oakcrest were welcome additions to the CAL football scene, not only for the home team but for the visitors, as well. And not only for football teams, but for soccer, field hockey, lacrosse and more. Cedar Creek will reportedly join the group next fall.
IN THE RECORD BOOK: Lotzeir Brooks of Millville finished his junior year as the most successful wide receiver in South Jersey history. In his first game next year he will probably become the all-time state leader. He also became the first CAL receiver to catch 5 TDs in one game during that Thanksgiving game with Vineland that was marred by some questionable decisions by his coaches. It was the second time that Zamot threw five in one game, the most by a CAL QB. Holy Spirit grad Fred Dalzell was the first to do it, back in 1968. Absegami’s Kendall Armstrong and Cedar Creek’s Billy Smith also threw 5 scores in a game. It was the second time for Armstrong, who is a junior. And Mainland sophomore Nate Kashey kicked 74 extra points this season, the most ever by a CAL kicker and one short of the South Jersey record. Add in his one field goal and his 77 kicking points is also a CAL record.
STREAMING SEASON: Live video streams continued to increase this year, Matt Ulmer again played a key role (in between trips to Key West). Bill Shallcross who, despite his youthful appearance, has been recording high school football for over three decades, continued to expand his role with Prime Events and Crossover Productions. BFA Productions, led by Doug Stasuk, increased its involvement. Brian Cunniff spread his wings on Cape-Atlantic Live, whose coverage also featured the inimitable Buddy Tarbotton. Quinn Broadcasting covered Millville, Vineland had coverage from its school TV and Hermits Broadcasting covered St. Augustine. Most of those streams are still available online. And there are lots more as streaming played an even bigger role.
LEADING SCORERS: Stephen Ordille ran for 30 touchdowns and was one of six players to score more than 100 points. Atlantic City’s Joe Lyons threw 30 touchdowns, Holy Spirit’s Mason Forte kicked 6 field goals and Pleasantville’s Kwalil Shepperson returned 4 kicks for TDs – 2 punts and 2 kickoffs. You can see all the CAL scoring leaders HERE.
TRANSFER OF THE YEAR: There are always some transfers who had an impact. This year a number of players from St. Joseph Academy sought playing time elsewhere after their longtime coach, Paul Sacco, was forced out. But the transfer that made the biggest impact was sophomore Donovan Linthicum of Oakcrest. After seeing some action at St. Augustine his freshman year (he made 22 tackles) he moved down Route 40 to Mays Landing and led all CAL defenders with 123 tackles, 26 for losses.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Last year Holy Spirit had a record-breaking quarterback in Sean Burns. He graduated. The Spartans needed someone to replace him. They found someone. Sophomore Ty Costabile completed 55 percent of his passes for 1,609 yards and 22 touchdowns. Only three CAL QBs threw for more and they will all graduate. He spread out the passes – four of his receivers had 250 or more yards this year. His efforts helped guide Spirit to another division championship. Ty Costabile is this year’s Rookie of the Year.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Many CAL teams played good defense this year and a large number of talented players were the reason. You can see some of the top tacklers in our stats list (the link is above). But the most significant defensive player is not on that tackles list. He made his impact in other ways that led to victories and championships. Jamie Tyson intercepted 12 passes this season, best in the state and best ever for a CAL player. He returned four of them for touchdowns. And, in two very big challenges, he helped limit Brooks and Winslow’s Cam Miller, two of the top recruits in the country, to a combined four catches for one touchdown. Mainland’s Jamie Tyson is the Defensive Player of the Year.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: There are a number of players who could be selected. Most of them are mentioned already in this column. But Lotzeir Brooks is the choice for the second straight year. The Millville junior holds every CAL and South Jersey record for career pass receiving and is just one good half away from breaking the state records.. He set a new receiving yards record for a CAL junior this year, beating the mark by Mark Schenauer at Absegami in 2005. He has also recorded the most ever by a CAL sophomore and a CAL freshman. Will be fun to see what he does as a senior..
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: As a junior, Stephen Ordille backed up Ja’Briel Mace, Mainland’s multiple all star and record-breaker in the backfield. He gained more than 500 yards, averaged close to 10 per carry and scored eight times. There was interest in whether he could step up when Mace moved on to Villanova. He did. Ordille ran for 1,841 yards, averaged about nine yards per carry and scored 30 touchdowns – the most since Qwahsin Townsel scored 30 for St. Joseph in 2017. And, most remarkably, he scored 9 touchdowns in the last three games against three of the best public school teams in New Jersey. Against Millville, he scored four times. The Thunderbolts had only allowed three rushing TDs combined in their first nine games. In addition, he made 67 tackles, 13 for losses, intercepted four passes and recovered a fumble. He also returned one punt for a touchdown. Stephen Ordille is the MVP of CAL football in 2023. You can see our exclusive All-CAL football teams, plus the names of all the CAL players selected as WJFL all stars, HERE.
FOOTBALL COACH OF THE YEAR: The CAL football teams wouldn’t be as successful as they were this season without good coaches. There are many of them who earned praise. A special nod, by the way, to Lance Bailey at Lower Cape May and Malachi Timberlake at Pleasantville who brought those programs, which once struggled to exist, successful seasons. But the Coach of the Year is Chuck Smith. Sure, he had loads of talented, dedicated football players and a coaching staff with probably the greatest resume in CAL history. But he brought it all together, kept it all together and achieved the ultimate goal.
GAMES OF THE YEAR: Mainland’s three final games, though one-sided, peaked interest throughout the area. Also, Holy Spirit’s double overtime win over Washington Township decided a division championship; the back-to-back Ocean City-Hammonton games were thrillers (Raiders won 24-21 on Week 8 and the Blue Devils won, 23-22, a week later in Group 4); Pleasantville’s second half rally over Middle Township decided a division title; and the Holy Spirit-Atlantic City game brought some excitement back to Thanksgiving. There is also the best game that never got played – Lower Cape May vs Middle Township.
RUNNING CLOCK: As you know, when a team leads by 33 or more in the second half the clock only stops for scores, timeouts, injuries and penalties. It continues to run unless the margin is reduced to 24 points or less. The theory is it reduces blowouts and encourages sportsmanship. What it really does is reduce the amount of time reserve players might get to spend on the field. As far as the “eliminate blowout” concept, lets pick a week at random. Make it Oct. 6-7. Here are some New Jersey scores from that weekend – 62-0, 54-14, 52-0, 49-0, 56-0, 46-0, 40-0, 55-7, 46-0, 49-6, 41-0, 49-0, 56-0, 50-7, 42-0, 41-0, 50-14, 58-0, and the big winner was Weequahic, 63-0. Not insinuating that all the winners intentionally ran up the score, just that the running clock doesn’t really work.
SAD FAREWELL: Frank Riggitano finished this season with 111 career victories at Middle Township in two separate stretches as head coach. He was second this year among active CAL coaches in wins and 10th among active coaches in South Jersey. He is currently ninth all-time in wins in the CAL and No. 1 in Cape May County. Riggitano stepped down as coach at the end of the season. He has been a major force in high school football, especially south of Exit 10. It always hurts to lose a quality coach like him but, if you need him now, he can be found in his new RV.
LOOKING TOWARD 2024: The new divisions of the WJFL have been announced and there will be some major changes for CAL teams. There are more CAL teams grouped together – Atlantic City, Cedar Creek, Hammonton, Holy Spirit and Ocean City in one division. Mainland, Millville and St. Augustine in another. Absegami, Lower Cape May, Middle Township, Oakcrest and St. Joseph are together. Atlantic Tech, Bridgeton and Egg Harbor Township are in the same division. The only CAL teams thrown into a division filled with strangers are Buena, Pleasantville and Vineland.
Though the all star teams are loaded with CAL seniors, there is lots of talent returning. Consider this – of the top 10 players in rushing yards, six will be back. Three of the top seven QBs with the highest pass efficiency ratings will return. Four of the top six in receiving yards will be back in 2024. Lotzeir Brooks, Kenny Smith, Sah’nye Degraffanreidt, John Franchini, Julian Turney, Darian Blachewicz, Rocco DeBiaso, Donovan Linthicum, Aamir Dunbar, Nick Medina, Matt Bonczek, Ahmad Jones, Marcus Offer, Remi Rodriguez, Walker Bailey, Ty Costabile, Christian Medina, Darius Benjamin, Clifford Dirkes, Paris Pratt – just to name a few – will all be back. Hopefully they will bring fans more of the excitement we experienced in 2023.
And, next week, we will examine the place in history for the 2023 Mainland team.
Tom Williams Sports 