Barnegat Ready to Wrap Up Division

If you have any doubt about how proud Rob Davis is of his 2011 Barnegat football team, spend five minutes with him.

“We’ve played five playoff games in just six years of existence,” he will remind you. “We’ve never been ranked. Now we’re ranked in the Shore Conference for the first time.

“We have kids getting looked at and recruited by Division I schools.”

And on Thanksgiving morning, the Bengals will be playing for their first Shore Conference division championship when they host Pinelands at 10 a.m.

After a tumultuous season in Class B South, where Barnegat lost to Manchester but beat Central while Central beat Manchester, the Bengals came out in the driver’s seat with a chance to win the division outright with a victory over Pinelands. The Wildcats have had it tough this fall, taking a beating at the hands of their opponents all season, and Thursday morning looks to be no different.

That doesn’t mean Barnegat is taking Pinelands for granted.

“We have to come ready to play,” quarterback Mark McCoy said in the aftermath of Barnegat’s loss to West Deptford in the semifinals of the NJSIAA South Jersey Group II playoffs.

Winning that division title will be a big accomplishment, but it also speaks to the consistency Davis has created. It’s also a testament to the feeder programs within the community, which have led to a junior varsity team that Davis praised for playing with heart every game and a freshman team that finished 8-2.

Now, the varsity can finish off a season in which it shook off an 0-2 start that included a loss to unbeaten Rumson with a championship.

“We’re going to win a title,” Davis said as he walked off the field at West Deptford. “We can win it outright.”

And that’s a whole lot to be proud of.