‘Guys, this is it’

 Absegami advances with first-round playoff win over Cherry Hill East

By R.J. LIBERATORE JR.

Sports Editor

GALLOWAY TOWNSHI-- In the few moments before he called what would turn out to be the game-clinching play, Absegami High School varsity football quarterback Mark Schenauer measured the determination in the 10 pairs of eyes that faced him in the huddle.

“Guys, this is it,” the senior signal caller told his players with three minutes remaining on Friday night. The Braves would eventually win 21-20 over Cherry Hill East in a first-round NJSIAA Group IV South playoff game.

“This could be our final game on our home field,” Schenauer continued as he looked left and right and waited for a response.

Schenauer and his Braves faced a fourth and two on their own 35 and needed a first down to get a chance to run out the clock. If they failed, Cherry Hill East would get the ball in great scoring position with enough time to reach the end zone.

If the Braves punted, Cherry Hill East still had enough clock left to march down the field for the go-ahead points.

Schenauer waited for a response and the crowd grew noisy in anticipation of a do-or-die play. Schenauer had already received directions from Absegami head coach Doug Colman.

“Let’s do it,” was the reply from a huddle full of players who had paid their dues in sweat and bruises.

“OK, we’ll run it,” Schenauer said, “and Hevalow’s getting the ball.”

“I’ll take it,” Hevalow said.

 “Winners always want the ball,” Schenauer would say later.

On the play, Hevalow, the team’s workhorse running back, snared Schenauer’s pitch and darted through the No. 4 hole and over a seemingly helpless Cougar player, who collapsed backward at the point of impact.

“As soon as I got the ball, I saw the hole open up,” said Hevalow, who eclipsed the 1,000-yard barrier for the second year during the game. “I squared up my shoulders with the line of scrimmage and ran for it.”

Hevalow bulldozed over the player for more than enough yards to make the first down.

“I’m a senior,” Hevalow said, “and as a senior, I have to lead this team.”

As a result of the successful fourth-down conversion, the Braves were able to run out the clock and hold on for the win.

“It was a gutsy call,” Colman said, “because we couldn’t give the ball back to Cherry Hill East with enough time to them to score.”

Hevalow rushed 26 times for 170 yards during the game. He also scored on a six-yard pass from Schenauer and on touchdown runs of 26 and 18 yards.

Hevalow has rushed 207 times for 1,087 yards and posted a 5.25 yards-per-carry average this season.

Absegami improved to 8-1 overall with the win and now faces Pennsauken, which defeated Atlantic City 20-7 in the other South Group IV final.

In the 2005 semifinal, Absegami defeated host Pennsauken 28-0.

Schenauer finished the game by completing 10 of 18 attempts for 149 yards, one touchdown with no interceptions. For the season, Schenauer has completed 76 of 156 attempts for 1,024 yards, eight touchdowns and four interceptions. He enjoys a 115.7 passer rating.

Absegami’s win came despite the double-century effort of Cougar running back Mike Drake who ran for 205 yards on 24 carries.

However, Absegami outgained Cherry Hill East 358 to 265 yards and prevented Cougars quarterback Kevin Guinta from completing any passes.

Absegami scored first when Schenauer found Hevalow from six yards out to cap a 10-play, 65-yard drive in the first quarter.

However, Cherry Hill East needed just four plays to march 61 yards and tie the game 100 seconds later.

Hevalow crashed in from 26 yards out to put Absegami up 14-13 with 7:03 remaining before halftime.

But Cherry Hill East answered the challenge again when Drake scored from three yards out with 2:08 to go before halftime.

However, Cherry Hill East’s point-after attempt sailed wide left and the Braves entered the locker room with a one-point advantage.

The advantage was short-lived.

Drake ran 58 yards on the first play from scrimmage in the second half to set up a one-yard plunge by quarterback Guinta and the Cougars went up 20-14 just 56 seconds into the second stanza.

Then Hevalow capped an eight-play, 77-yard drive with an 18-yard touchdown run to put the Braves up for good at 21-20 with 8:57 to go.

Unsung Heroes

Hevalow and Schenauer had a strong supporting cast of players during Absegami’s victory over Cherry Hill East:

Charles Wynn seemed to be everywhere there was an opening in the Cherry Hill East secondary. He pulled down five passes for 83 yards, including a 33-yard reception.

Matt Inger

Junior tight end Matt Inger made three gutsy catches over the middle in no-man’s-land where middle linebackers line up receivers in the same way bulls line up matadors.

“Everybody else did the hard part,” he said. “I just have to catch the ball. Mark gave me perfect passes and our offensive line gave him a lot of time.”

Inger pulled down a 25-yard, third-down pass in the fourth quarter that enabled the Braves to sustain the drive and run out the clock on Cherry Hill East.

Dustin Schaffer

The Braves’ senior place kicker continued to show the form that has enabled him to remain among the Cape Atlantic League’s top five scorers all season long. Schaffer was perfect on all three of his point-after attempts and provided the winning difference in the final score.