On an unseasonably warm Friday afternoon in November, the Pirates visited Pemberton for a 1pm Liberty Division tilt. The Hornets came in undefeated, while the Pirates boasted a 6-1 record. When the dust settled in this shootout, the Pirates and Hornets sported matching 7-1 records as Cinnaminson came away with a 45-34 victory.
Both teams are in a three-way tie for the Liberty Division lead with Holy Cross following the outcome today.
“They’re a very good team. There’s no doubt about it,” head coach Mario Patrizi said. “We felt good coming in. We felt we matched up well and we thought we were better in some areas. For us to withstand that, that flurry, and to go run that clock out down and score is a credit to the staff and the kids.”
The Pirates got the scoring started first when quarterback Shaun Davilla scampered into the end zone from two yards out with 5:40 remaining in the opening quarter. Tyler Simcoe added the extra point to give Cinnaminson a 7-0 lead.
The Pirates would never trail in this game, despite Pemberton coming close to tying things up in the second half.
The Hornets answered with a three-yard run from Robert Forchion, but could not tie the game after a two-point conversion pass attempt failed.
Early in the second quarter Davilla hit Frank Stepnowski for a 15-yard touchdown pass to give the Pirates a 14-6 lead. Cinnaminson then went up 21-6 when Rashad Raymond dashed 37 yards for a touchdown.
Pemberton quarterback Joe Benson threw one of his two touchdowns to Taro Gaither with 3:12 left in the first half to cut the Pirates lead to 21-12 after another failed two-point conversion.
Cinnaminson wasn’t done scoring in the first half, adding another touchdown with 40 seconds left when Davilla found Devon Taylor for a 35-yard score.
“He’s (Taylor) a playmaker,” Davilla said. “He told me he’s gonna make plays so I threw it up to him. He was going on a nine-route. I threw the back shoulder ball and he caught it.”
The Pirates led 28-12 at halftime as Pemberton limped off the field with the deer-in-the-headlights look on their faces. The final play of the half was a sack by Naudica Flagg of Benson, who fumbled the football. It was recovered by Dom Cicale, but time had expired.
“When halftime came, we said it was 0-0,” Davilla said. “The score’s 0-0. We just said we’re gonna go out there and beat them up some more.”
On Pemberton’s first play of the second half, Benson tossed an interception to Taylor. The Pirates converted the turnover into three points on a 30-yard field goal from Simcoe.
The very next offensive play for Pemberton, just their second of the second half, was another interception by Taylor of Benson. Cinnaminson could not come away with any points and had to punt.
“Pemberton has been doing a great job passing all season,” Taylor said. “Our mindset as a secondary coming in was force a lot of picks, force turnovers, bat some balls down and that’s what we did.”
Pemberton connected on an 88-yard touchdown pass to Antoine Wilson from Benson to cut the lead to 31-18 after another failed two-point conversion.
The Hornets scored on their next drive when Forchion found the end zone on a three-yard run. The Hornets finally converted a two-point conversion to make it a 31-26 game, but that was as close as it would get.
“Our defense stepped up,” Patrizi said. “It’s a shame because the one long was was 3rd-and-15 for them to get back in the game. Coming back from that was huge. That was a great pass and throw. We had good coverage on it, the kid just made a great play.”
“I’m proud of the kids. I really am. Our program right now is where we envisioned it years ago. We’re only gonna keep getting better.”
Cinnaminson would tack onto their lead when Davilla relied on his massive offensive line for a one-yard keeper with 3:42 left in the game. The lead now stood at 38-26.
“The line has been doing great,” Taylor said. “They all push. They all work hard. They all dig in. And that’s what they did that last drive.”
“They absolutely won the game late in the game,” Patrizi said. “That last drive to set-up the winning score, that was it. They won the game there. I can’t ask anything more.”
The Pirates defense dug in as Pemberton began another drive. Defensive back Kevin Schoch had other plans though as he intercepted a Benson pass to give the Pirates the ball on the Hornets 37. Raymond bolted 32 yards down to the Hornets five and Stepnowski picked up the final five for the game-clinching score.
Pemberton added a touchdown late on a one-yard run from Benson, but the Hornets wasted a ton of time on their final drive, playing with little to no urgency.
“We knew we were going to finish this game, finish them,” Davilla said. “Punch it down their throat the whole second half. Frank Stepnowski stepped up big, scoring and getting those tough yards.”
Davilla finished the day with 83 yards passing and 137 yards rushing. Davilla accounted for four of the Pirates touchdowns, two rushing and two passing. Taylor finished the day with two interceptions and a touchdown catch.
Cinnaminson held on to take down the Hornets 45-34 for their seventh victory of the season. The first round of the playoffs begin next week.
“We’ve had some good, quality wins, and this is a great win for us,” Patrizi said. “We gotta enjoy it tonight and move forward because it looks like we will get either Buena or Haddonfield next week. Group 2 is gonna be tough. We gotta go in there and play our hearts out and do what we gotta do. Come Monday, we’re ready to roll.”
Stick with Cinn City Sports for who, when and where the Pirates will be playing in the opening round of the state tournament.
[…] Pirates are fresh off an impressive, 45-34 victory over previously undefeated Pemberton. All facets of the offense exploded in the victory as the Pirates led 28-12 at […]