Group III Regional Championship Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As we head into Regional Championship weekend, we will finally determine who-will-face-who to earn the right to be named the outright Group Champion. Group III's playoff bracket features two games on Friday, November 17 where West Morris will travel to West Essex and Camden will travel into Delsea.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Below are a handful of athletes that I suspect to have big games and play key roles in determining the outcome of each.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">West Morris @ West Essex</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For West Morris [player_tooltip player_id='1088364' first='Tom' last='Borgia'] has done a tremendous job in the trenches. Only a sophomore, Borgia finds himself in the mix on defense quite a bit. Borgia has been credited with 83 tackles (31 solo), 14 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, and 1 blocked kick. Unquestionably, Borgia is a leader along the offensive line as well as he leads the way for several rushers for West Morris. With too many contributors to count, West Morris has <em>seven </em>rushers with at least 125 yards on the season, with no one ball carrier having more than 675 yards. The distribution actually has <em>eight </em>different players with over 20 carries on the season. All-in, West Morris' rushing attack has totaled 433 carries on the season for 2289 yards and 24 touchdowns.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For the last two weeks West Essex's [player_tooltip player_id='1085722' first='Anthony' last='Drago'] has totally snapped on the defensive side of the ball. Playing like a man possessed by championship aspirations, Drago has come on extremely strong the last two weeks (17 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss, 3 interceptions) - supplementing an already outstanding junior campaign where he has made 79 tackes (41 solos), 1 tackle for loss, 1 sack, and 4 interceptions in all. No slouch on offense either, Drago has slashed 28/526/4 when split out wide. At quarterback for West Essex is senior [player_tooltip player_id='1088360' first='Sam' last='Long']. Long paces an steady offensive attack where he is allowed to make plays and make others look good. On the year Long has gone 65 of 109 for 982 yards with 8 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Long adds a dimension to account for with his legs too as he has slashed 87/326/4 as a runner. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Camden @ Delsea</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One thing is certain about a Rob Hinson-ran program: they compete at a high level on the state stage - no matter what program he is leading. Quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='185725' first='Judah' last='Anthony'] is taking snaps under center or in the gun for the Panthers and has produced solid numbers. On the season Anthony has been credited with 813 yards and 8 touchdowns on 101 attempts. Two-way lineman [player_tooltip player_id='366492' first='Richard' last='James'] protects Anthony when he is in the pocket and terrorizes opposing quarterbacks when they are in theirs. James has been credited with 15 tackles on the season, including 5 tackles for loss and 6 sacks. Given the amount of data available on Camden, I suspect these stats are severely underrepresented. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The home team Delsea features two, two-way players who form a two-headed monster at tailback for the Crusaders. [player_tooltip player_id='1031726' first='Dan' last='Russo'] typically gets the first crack at things when rushing. Russo has scampered for 1394 yards on 187 yards with 22 touchdowns on the year while scoring in every game but one. Spelling him - and having a season that most starters would die for in their own right - [player_tooltip player_id='220077' first='Wayne' last='Adair'] has done a tremendous job as well. Adair has gone for 830 yards on 69 carries for 15 touchdowns. Where Adair plays defensive secondary (31 tackles, 20 solos, 1 tackle for loss, 1 forced fumble, 1 interception), Russo is a linebacker (79.5 tackles, 47 solos, 11 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, 1 interception).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->