Atlantic City Press 11/15/08: Cherokee-EHT football
Cherokee runs over Egg Harbor Township in Group IVBy AARON BRACY For The Press
(Published: Saturday, November 15, 2008)
EVESHAM TOWNSHIP – Egg Harbor Township put on a gritty performance, but in the end the Eagles’ resilience wasn’t enough to overcome Cherokee’s talent.
A.J. Valentine rushed for 201 yards and four touchdowns to lead the second-seeded Chiefs to a 34-18 victory over No. 7 EHT in the South Jersey Group IV quarterfinals Friday night.
Valentine was part of a dominating Cherokee rushing attack that outgained the Eagles by 356 yards, 340 to minus-16.
Cherokee quarterback Major Mobley accounted for 128 of those yards and the Chiefs’ other TD.
“They were a little better up front and they just did a great job moving the football,” EHT coach Tony DeRosa said.
“They ran the football and that’s what you have to be able to do to win championships.”
While Cherokee clearly proved to be the better team, the game was not without controversy.
On a wet, misty night, DeRosa and his staff spent much of the evening lamenting the referee’s decision to forbid EHT from changing balls on offense.
Approached afterward, the head referee said the rule to change the ball was at his discretion.
“That guy just had an agenda,” a calm DeRosa said afterward.
“He took the game out of the kids’ hands and it was a silly thing. It did not have any effect on the (outcome of the) game, but it did have an effect on my quarterback.”
Eagles quarterback Tim Little refused to use the slick ball as an excuse, but it was obvious the senior had trouble on several throws – particularly long passes down the sideline.
Playing against an attacking defense he called the best he’d seen all year, Little completed 18-of-44 passes for 203 yards, two TDs and two interceptions.
His numbers were hurt by the fact that his receivers also struggled holding onto the wet ball.
“I was pretty upset about the wet ball, but there are no excuses out on the field,” Little said. “They’re just a good team and they outplayed us tonight.”
Cherokee looked too good for EHT in the first half. But somehow the Chiefs led only 14-0 at the break thanks to some key stops by the EHT defense – none bigger than Stephan Johnson’s pick of Mobley late in the first half as Cherokee was driving toward its third score.
The Chiefs needed just 11 seconds, though, to make it 21-0 when Valentine ran left on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter after Brian Brown’s 48-yard kickoff return and, just like that, it was 21-0 Cherokee.
At that point, the conclusion seemed certain.
But, after a three-and-out by EHT, the Chiefs missed a field goal and the Eagles’ spread offense started to click.
Little led an impressive 16-play, 80-yard drive that chewed up 6 minutes, 24 seconds, with Scott Miller hauling in an 8-yard pass on fourth-and-goal to put EHT on the board, down 21-6 after the missed extra point.
The game took a surprising turn on Cherokee’s next series, when EHT’s Tom Dugan jumped an out route and took the interception 37 yards to the end zone.
The Eagles couldn’t convert the two-point conversion, putting them down two scores, 21-12, but with plenty of life and plenty of time with 11:27 left in the game.
However, Mobley’s 65-yard scamper on a draw up the middle three plays later made it 28-12 Cherokee with 7:39, ending any hope the Eagles had of the upset.
“Hats off to Cherokee, they’re a great football team and did a lot of great things,” DeRosa said. “We were a little outplayed tonight in all three phases of football.”
That said, DeRosa had high praise for his players’ effort and their will to win.
“Our kids fought, we fought and fought until the very end,” he said. “There was no quit in our kids and I’m proud of the way they showed up and played.”
Contact Aaron Bracy at phillysportsbeat@gmail.com. Visit aaronswritingservice.com for information about his editing and writing services, and phillysportsbeat.com to read his blog on Philadelphia sports.
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