After an outstanding 8-3 regular season, the RV Red Devils came up short in a competitive 19-7 road game against Washington Township on November 3.
Heading into the matchup, Washington Township had a regular season record of 7-2, defeating tough teams such as Kingsway, Winslow, and Shawnee. The first of their losses came in the first game of the season against Mainland during their “Battle at the Beach” matchup. However, there is no shame in losing to a team who ended up going undefeated on the season, blowing out every opponent that was in their path.
The Minutemen were coming in off the back of a 43-14 blowout victory against Atlantic City, who were an above .500 team, in the first round of the playoffs.
The Red Devils also finished their season with a record of 7-2, splitting losses with one at home and one on the road at Hammonton.
Rancocas Valley was fresh off of a convincing victory, defeating Lenape 13-3 at home to advance to the semi-finals for the first time in five seasons, with their last semi-finals appearance coming in the 2018-19 season. Coincidentally, the last time the Red Devils advanced to the second round, they dismantled Lenape in a 28-7 victory to advance to the final round. Unfortunately, they went on to get blown out at Williamstown.
Despite giving up 19 points total, the game was tightly contested in the first quarter, as both teams were held scoreless until the final seconds. With six seconds remaining in the first quarter, Washington’s sophomore quarterback Cole Aquino threw a 15 yard pass to his Junior wide receiver Dashawn Long, who fell into the endzone to score the first touchdown of the game, putting Washington up 7-0 going into the second quarter of action.
With 8:30 remaining in the first half, RV’s senior quarterback Nick Marco handed the ball off to sophomore running back Jameer Bellamy, who rushed about 12-yards for what initially appeared to be a touchdown as he fell into the endzone, however, he was about one yard short. The very next play, the Red Devils were set up for a qb sneak, but Marco instead quickly tossed it to Bellamy who ran right into the endzone to tie the game 7-7.
Although both teams played outstanding defense throughout the remainder of the half, Washington headed into halftime up 10-7 after senior kicker Josh Franci scored a 15-yard field goal with just under four minutes left in the quarter.
The defensive effort from both teams in the second half was just as great if not greater than it was in the first half, as the only points scored in the third quarter came at the 7-minute mark. RV successfully held Washington to 4th and 4, which lead to Washington electing to once again kick a field goal, which put them up 13-7 heading into the final quarter of action.
In the fourth quarter, the Red Devils got as close to a touchdown as you could imagine. With just over nine-minutes left in the game, the Red Devils were 3rd and 8 at the 15 yard line. The ball was snapped and Marco backed up to the 20-yard line. In that time, junior wide receiver Brody Deiter had gotten himself in perfect position to catch a wide open pass in the endzone to put the Red Devils up 14-13. However, Marco overthrew the pass, putting the Red Devils at 4th and 8.
Despite being in field goal range, RV elected to go for it, leading Marco to float the bell into the endzone to sophomore Sayvian Adams, however the pass was broken up by Washington’s senior defensive back Logan Perez. The score remained 13-7 less than 9 minutes remaining.
Washington had the ball at their own 13-yard line when Aquino passed about 15 yards to senior wide receiver Logan Perez, who received the ball on their own 25-yard line. Perez went on to run the length of the field after shaking off two RV defenders to seal the game up 19-7, as both teams went scoreless for the remainder of the game. Washington went on to lose to Toms River North in the final round of the playoffs.
Although they didn’t win the tournament, the Red Devils still showed tremendous improvement and gave everyone reason to believe that they will be an amazing team next season. Rancocas Valley head coach Garrett Lucas spoke highly of his players and the leaps they have taken from last season.
“I think the overall maturity,” said coach Lucas when speaking about the teams biggest improvements the team made since last year. “They knew what was expected of them, and they took that seriously to show up and work harder each and every week.”
We also touched on the trust that coach has in his players to stay focused and prepared for next season by putting in work over the offseason.
“The amount of work and effort that is needed to get to that point over the offseason” stated coach Lucas. “It’s not just something that you can show up in June that you can just miraculously do, you have to take care of your body and do the little things leading up to the season.”
Overall, the Red Devils should hold their heads high, prideful of what they have accomplished this season. It takes hard work and dedication to have a regular season record of 7-2 and make it to the semifinal round of the playoffs.
Sky is the limit for this team and I cannot wait for next season.
