Jefferis not sure of return

By: John E. Powers
   Sam Jefferis, who just finished his 40th year as head football coach at South Hunterdon Regional High School, won’t say if he will return for a 41st season.
   But it’s hard to imagine Jefferis leaving after such a difficult year.
   The Eagles finished with an 0-10 record, were outscored 386-38 and lost to Delaware Valley Thanksgiving Day 68-0.
   The Eagles, who trail the holiday series 28-26-2, were behind 55-0 at halftime. The Terriers managed just 32 offensive plays, largely because of the second-half clock that didn’t stop before 2,000 at Tap Webb Field.
   South Hunterdon junior receiver Carl Snell caught two of sophomore quarterback Dan Musselman’s passes for 21 yards. Delaware Valley finished with a 6-4 record, ending the season with a three-game winning streak.
   "(The season) wasn’t as tough, maybe exasperating at times, but let’s face it — now that it’s over — we had so many youngsters who were inexperienced and who might have been better served by playing a junior varsity schedule," Jefferis said. "We just caught up in a cycle. We got caught in a downside where it came to talent, age and numbers, and we only had one senior and not many juniors."
   The 67-year-old Jefferis said he wouldn’t let a season like the one the Eagles just went through dictate when to retire.
   "It’ll have nothing to do with 0-10," he said. "I made up my mind a long time ago that my retiring wouldn’t hinge on a player, a record. It’ll be me and how I feel. The most difficult thing was thinking we could steal a couple of games and not being able to do that. But it’s a year-to-year deal with me."
   Jefferis said he has taken only two or three games in his career home with him. In 1975, South Hunterdon, which went on to win a Central Jersey Group I title, lost to Central Jersey Group III champ North Hunterdon 14-8 in an early-season game.
   South was going in for a touchdown at the North 1-yard line when an Eagle fumbled the ball. Two years ago, the Eagles lost to Montgomery 27-21, another game Jefferis recalled hurt more than usual.
   "The loss in 1975; we scored like 330 points, and that was our only loss, and our best player was the kid who fumbled at the 1," said Jefferis, whose 1979 team also won a Central Jersey Group I title. "I mean, this is the kind of season you remember, but really, you couldn’t do anything about it. I used to think that sometimes coaching can make a difference, but I was taught a great deal of humility this year."
   Asked whether he had anything poignant to say after the loss to Delaware Valley, Jefferis chuckled.
   "I just made them face the scoreboard and told them to soak those numbers up, especially if you are preparing to come back next year," Jefferis said.
   He wouldn’t say whether he is.