West Deptford Football Gets First Preseason Test

After weeks of lining up and taking on their teammates, the members of the football team finally got an opportunity to size up an opponent. The Eagles held their first scrimmage Tuesday afternoon, and looked solid on both sides of the ball against Arthur P. Schalick in a scripted warm-up.

Each offense took turns running 10 plays and then one regular drive, as both first and second team players saw plenty of action.

Although there is no official score during these exhibitions, the Eagles offense had plenty of highlights.

Starting quarterback Jake Hannan, in his third year, looked sharp connecting with Tom Jakubowski for a couple of would-be first downs, and also ran in a score from the 2-yard line. It was a good start for Hannan, who is expected to take on an increased role this season.

“Everybody is doing what they are supposed to do,” said Hannan. “We did a good job today, and we are only going to get better.”

The running game saw big contributions from Josh Cornelius, Arrin Bundy and Phil Fisher. Cornelius had a touchdown run of nine yards and Bundy broke free for a 35-yard touchdown. Fisher had the longest play from scrimmage on the day, breaking off a 55-yard run that set up another score.

“As far as offensively, I think we did a great job,” said Cornelius, who figures to carry much of the load this season. “We put in what we needed to get in. We didn’t go through our whole offense, but our core plays looked real good. Our lineman looked good and our backs were hitting the hole real hard.”

West Deptford, which finished 11-1, won the Colonial Conference Liberty Division and reached the Group II finals, lost a good chunk of its offense last season, most notably All-South Jersey running backs Robbie Fearon and Vaughn Scott.

The current trio of backs is not looking to duplicate what those runners did, but rather form a new identity. Head coach Clyde Folsom said his team will be more apt to run inside this year.

In the first test of the preseason, the results were solid.

“Vaughn Scott and Robbie Fearon are hard names to replace, but [the new backs] are doing a heck of a job,“ Hannan said. “They are working their butts off day in and day out to try to get up to their level. We have a different team, but with different teams come different strengths and weaknesses.”

“We’re a very hard-nosed running team, very hard to stop,” added Cornelius.

Not surprisingly, given the calendar, Folsom saw plenty of things to like and plenty of areas of improvement.

“We did some things well but there are a lot of little things we have to improve on still,” said Folsom. “The speed of the game, we don’t see in practice, so what we got done today I think is positive. It’s a step forward, but as I said we still have a ways to go.”

West Deptford will be back at practice the next two days before hosting Kingsway on Friday at 11 a.m. in another tune-up. The regular season begins Sept. 16 vs. Sterling.