Players don’t shy from drastic position changes

Published in The Daily Journal, Jan. 27, 2010

When Marcus Ware graduated, he left a huge hole in the middle of the Vineland High School boys’ basketball team’s lineup. A 6-foot-7, 230-pound hole, to be exact.

The most likely candidate to fill that position was Josh Ashley, a 6-6, 178-pound junior who played beside Ware as a role player last season. But rather than shifting deeper into the post, Ashley glided out to the wing.

“My coach (Jack Martine) wants to get the ball more in my hands, not only to score but to make plays for my teammates,” Ashley said.

Anatomy of an upset

Published in The Daily Journal, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2009

MILLVILLE, N.J. — Dale Moore wasn’t exactly angry. Exasperated was a better word to describe the coach’s emotion as the players on Millville High School’s boys’ basketball team struggled through a defensive drill in practice last Wednesday.

“We have to improve our help defense, guys,” Moore implored. “Oakcrest killed us because we didn’t help in our man defense yesterday. If we don’t do that against Egg Harbor, we’re going to lose by 30!”

The Thunderbolts had won the previous game against the Falcons, but it was far from a convincing win. Looming was a showdown with Egg Harbor Township, one of the favorites in Division I of the Cape-Atlantic League American Conference.

As the players tried to shore up their shortcomings in practice, little did they know that in a little more than 24 hours, they would pull off one of the many surprising upsets South Jersey basketball has seen this season.

Year One: Student-athletes make adjustments in first year of college

Published in The Daily Journal, Friday, Dec. 25, 2009

Marcus Ware is a freshman men's basketball player at Monmouth University. (Ben Watanabe/The Daily Journal)

As Marcus Ware showed a visitor around the Monmouth University campus this week, the informal tour was occasionally interrupted with a wave from a smiling girl or a brief greeting from a classmate.

Every interaction revealed that while Ware had only just finished his first semester, the Vineland High School graduate was already on his way to making himself at home.

“I think I’ve adjusted well,” said Ware, a freshman on the men’s basketball team. “I have a lot of friends here. If you play sports, a lot of people know who you are. First, I got close with my roommates, then my teammates. Then I started meeting new people and building friendships with those people.”

The first year of college requires adjustments for student-athletes, who juggle additional responsibilities to those of average students. First-year student-athletes quickly learn to manage their time, since falling behind in the classroom or on the playing field can mean a hard climb to get back on track.

Medley ran wild for Delsea

Published in The Daily Journal, Friday, Dec. 11, 2009

A spot in the record book is assured for the Delsea Regional High School football team, which this season set a new South Jersey mark for points scored in a single season. But the player who may have been most responsible for attaining that feat never got the witness the record-setting play.

When Sean McPherson crossed the goal line in the Crusaders’ victory over Haddonfield in the Group II South championship game, fullback Austin Medley was face-down on the turf his own head ringing from a block that helped spring his teammate.

“I was actually on the ground, because I made a block,” Medley said. “I didn’t see it, but I heard everyone screaming, so I guess he made it.”

Building blocks

Published in The Daily Journal, Friday, Dec. 4, 2009

FRANKLIN TWP. — As a freshman, Jon Hickman had very little going for him. In the words of Ronn Flaim, the offensive line coach for Delsea Regional High School’s football team, Hickman “was just another kid on the team.”

Determined to crack the varsity starting lineup, Hickman became a different player. Helped by a natural teenage growth spurt and hours in the weight room, he gained 45 pounds between his freshman and junior seasons. Now a senior, Hickman will be firmly entrenched at left guard when Delsea hosts Haddonfield tonight in the Group II South championship game.

“I knew if I wanted to play, I had to do it,” Hickman said of his fitness program. “This offense is all about strength and staying low. In order to do that, you have to be strong and fast.”

A.I. is the best answer for now

Published in The Daily Journal, Dec. 3, 2009

Allen Iverson is back where he started his pro basketball career, and when he takes the court Monday at the Wachovia Center, many fans will have visions of the 2001 NBA Finals run dancing in their heads.

There is little harm in that. It is the holiday season, after all. Belief and good will are popular at this time of year.

Beyond the irrational exuberance, however — which ignores the fact that Iverson, 34, is not the same player physically who won four scoring titles and a Most Valuable Player Award — there is a more logical reason to cheer the move. Due to failures by management over the last three seasons, the Sixers cannot make a significant move to improve themselves for at least three more years.

In the meantime, the Iverson signing is the most inspired move possible.

Bolts borrow from Tebow

Published in The Daily Journal, Friday, Nov. 27, 2009

MILLVILLE — If there were a page in Daron Moore’s and Khalil Wallace’s playbooks that was dog-eared and wrinkled from constant study, it was the one they dubbed “Tebow pass.”

Before Thursday, Moore and Wallace, two of the top playmakers on Millville High School’s football team, had only been given one opportunity to run the play. The play borrows from a short-yardage play popularized by quarterback Tim Tebow at the University of Florida, which borrows the play from the old-time single-wing at the dawn of the forward pass.

Grinding away

Published in The Daily Journal, Nov. 13, 2009

BRIDGETON — A light rain moistened the grass at John Hursey Stadium as the 23 remaining members of Bridgeton High School’s football team practiced Wednesday.

That’s right, 23 players are all that are left after a midseason spate of injuries and departures by key players gutted a team that began the season as one of South Jersey’s biggest surprises.

Among the remaining players was senior running back Mike Cisrow. He stuck around, and the Bulldogs are lucky he did.

“He can carry the team,” said sophomore Sean Henigin, a 6-foot-6, 319-pound two-way tackle who helps clear the way for the 5-foot-7, 175-pound Cisrow. “He doesn’t need much room. You give him a little window, he’s gone. The window doesn’t have to be there long. A couple seconds, that’s all he needs.”

Worth the weight

Published on The Daily Journal, Nov. 6, 2009.

FRANKLIN TWP. — Austin Medley expected to make an impact eventually with Delsea Regional High School’s football team.

“I was waiting for my senior year,” he said. “I always thought my senior year would be my time to be great. My coaches told me, ‘Don’t wait.’”

Drawing on a work ethic instilled in him by his father and older brother, Medley transformed himself from a diminutive freshman fullback into a 5-foot-11, 198-pound tough-yardage machine.

The Crusaders have a bye this week, and Medley could use the rest. His senior year has arrived, and he has indeed been great thus far. Medley leads South Jersey in with 158 points, including 26 touchdowns, and is second in the area with 1,065 rushing yards on 132 carries. He enjoyed a field day last week against Highland, scoring six touchdowns before the third quarter had expired.

The game did not always come so easily for Medley.

Who will catch No. 65?

Published in The Daily Journal, Oct. 30, 2009

BUENA VISTA — To reach the cusp of setting a new record for career touchdown passes, a quarterback needs to spread the ball around.

Dustin Thomas, the St. Augustine Prep senior who tonight may become the most prolific touchdown passer in South Jersey history, has distributed the football to plenty of targets in his four-year varsity career.

Still, every great quarterback has his favorites. If and when Thomas throws his 65th touchdown pass to slide past Tom Reilly of Holy Cross for the most all-time, the odds are good his target will be Gabe Voumard or Jimmy Goodroe, senior wide receivers who both have played with Thomas since they were sophomores.