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The 2024 NJSIAA/Xfinity Football State Championships have arrived. Sectional champions will be crowned over the next few weeks, with state championship games being played for the third year on the public-school side. The NJ.
com football staff is previewing every section, taking a look at the favorites, challengers, top players and more. Take a look below as we break down South Jersey, Group 2. South, Group 2 | Bracket Seeds 1-Camden (6-2) 2-Point Pleasant Boro (7-2) 3-Manchester Township (7-2) 4-Johnson (7-1) 5-Willingboro (6-3) 6-West Deptford (5-4) 7-Gloucester (3-5) 8-Middle Township (5-3) Favorite Point Pleasant Boro (7-2) : If you go solely by the numbers, there is nothing different from this Point Pleasant Boro team than any other one coached by Brian Staub since 2019.
However, a deeper dive shows this Point Boro team is different in one intangible category -- adversity. The 2024 Panthers have faced plenty of it and in their collective minds they are better prepared for the state tournament than the last two Point Boro squads, which were a combined 18-3, but failed in the sectional final. It played in a tougher division against Toms River North, Brick Memorial, Donovan Catholic, Jackson Memorial and Howell along with a non-division game against Rumson-Fair Haven.
Toms River North and Rumson-Fair Haven are both undefeated and ranked No. 7 and No. 9 respectively in the NJ.
com Top 20. Brick Memorial (7-2) in ranked No. 5 in the Shore Conference.
The games against bigger and better programs challenged not only the players but the coaches, who were pressed into preparing better, adjusting better and making decisions with games on the line. Point Boro lost to RFH 41-28, but outplayed the Bulldogs in the second half. It had a 21-14 lead over Toms River North until the Mariners put up 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.
It won a back-and-forth game with Brick Memorial, learning how to protect a lead. Its flexbone, double-wing, triple-option offense is still as problematic as ever for opponents. It has a three-sport star at quarterback in sophomore Jake Clayton, who gets better with each passing game and has 700 rushing yards.
It has a prototypical fullback in Dylan Reitmeyer, who gets the nasty yards between the tackles. He has nearly 700 yards rushing. It also has a rotation of wingbacks, who all bring something to the table.
Point Boro forces a defense to defend four backs on every single down plus receivers. Its offense is also Point Boro’s best defense, playing keep away and taking chunks of time off the clock. During one stretch versus Toms River North, Point Boro ran 23 plays to one for Toms River North.
On defense, Point Pleasant Boro is big and physcial up front. Its down linemen do a tremendous job of tying up blockers and keeping them off the linebackers. Senior Colin Obser is one of the state’s leading tacklers with 98 stops.
The secondary is athletic and plays with poise and trust in one another. Contenders Camden (6-2): As the No. 1 seed and the host through the sectional final, perhaps Camden would be considered the co-favorite in this section.
The Panthers won back-to-back Group 3 sectional titles in 2022 and 2023. Mahki Brunson has thrown for over 1,300 yards with 16 touchdowns, while Christian Braxton has run for 836 yards and six scores. Malik Redd-Hubbard has 30 catches for 547 yards and nine scores.
The defense has been dominant at times, holding playoff teams Kingsway, Shawnee and Timber Creek to one score or no score. Johnson (7-1) : The Crusaders are a run-first, run-second and pass-only-when-necessary outfit out of their triple-option attack. That can be the perfect offense come playoff time, but usually only if you can establish the early lead and keep moving those chains.
That has been Johnson‘s story most of this season with seniors Ryan George (952 yards, 15 TDs), Robert Gallagher (796 and 9) and Joshua Maltez-Torres. Gallagher is the Crusaders’ QB, having thrown a mere 20 passes all season, and completing 10. Gallagher, Maltez-Torres, Rya Volmut and Nic Carlucci are part of a defensive secondary that has been effective this season.
Top players Mahki Brunson, Camden, Sr., QB | Player profile Malik Redd-Hubbard, Camden, Sr., WR/DB | Player profile Jake Clayton, Point Pleasant Boro, So.
, RB/DB/PK/P | Player profile Nick Spanola, Point Pleasant Boro, So., RB/DB | Player profile Marquis Goins Jr., Manchester Township, Sr.
, WR/RB | Player profile Dante Mortellite, Manchester Township, Sr., RB/LB | Player profile Robert Gallagher, Johnson, Sr., QB/DB | Player profile Ryan George, Johnson, Sr.
, RB/LB/K | Player profile Sean Taylor, Willingboro, Sr., QB/DB | Player profile James Pemberton, Willingboro, Jr., WR/DB | Player profile Bryce Wright, West Deptford, Sr.
, RB/LB | Player profile Zamir Davis, West Deptford, So., RB/LB | Player profile Mason Widman, Gloucester, Sr., RB/DB | Player profile Ashton Wall, Gloucester, So.
, RB/LB | Player profile Remi Rodriguez, Middle Twp., RB/DB | Player profile Maurice Matthews, Middle Twp., OL/DL | Player profile Hottest team 8-Middle Township (5-3) : Not often is a No.
8 seed considered a hot team, but the Panthers have roared into the playoffs with wins in four of their last five. A big 28-12 win over Absegami - another playoff team - put Middle Township on the verge of the postseason and a 17-0 victory against St. Joseph (Hamm.
) clinched the spot. Remi Rodriguez has run for over 1,100 yards and is arguably the best back in school history. Middle Township is looking for its first playoff win.
Looking for a turnaround 7-Gloucester (3-5) : Maybe continuing a turnaround might be the better phrase because the Lions won their final game of the season, 19-16, over Pleasantville to punch their ticket to the postseason. But prior to that game, Gloucester dropped five straight after an 0-2 start. Offense has been the Lions’ biggest problem.
They haven’t scored more than 21 points in any game and scored just 44 points and were shut out twice during the five-game losing streak. Best first-round game 6-West Deptford (5-4) at 3-Manchester Township (7-2) : How do we know this will be a good game? Because it already was one. These teams kicked off the high school football season in New Jersey in the 10 a.
m. game at the Battle at the Beach and Manchester Township came away with a 26-21 victory with hobbled QB Aidan Lunn leading a fourth-quarter comeback. West Deptford had several chances to put the game away and couldn’t do it.
If Lunn is healthy he could run all over the Eagles like he did the first time, but that initial meeting didn’t include Bryce Wright, arguably West Deptford’s best player, who was sitting out his transfer. Projected final Camden vs. Point Pleasant Boro Mike Kinney and Joe Zedalis contributed to this story.
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