The Ravens’ defense played with remarkable poise and intensity in the Sept. 7 game against Hopewell Valley. And while the offense made its share of mistakes, for the most part they were correctable ones.
By Sean Moylan, Sports Writer
After a 13-0 loss to Hopewell Valley in front of a packed house at home last week, Robbinsville High boys varsity football coach Jason Gray didn’t talk about needing to make wholesale changes in the lineup or the play book. He simply looked at the tape of the game and realized that it wasn’t all bad.
The Ravens’ defense played with remarkable poise and intensity in the Sept. 7 game. And while the offense made its share of mistakes, for the most part they were correctable ones.
”Defensively, we really brought our A game,” said coach Gray, who acknowledged he felt his offensive line struggled.
On Robbinsville’s defensive line, Christian Nemeth handled double-teams so well that Ravens linebackers Mark Panes, Cody Birdsall and Andrew Harvilla were able to step up and fill gaps and make several tackles.
Nonetheless, Robbinsville did miss the play of Chalie Nocera, a senior starter at fullback and linebacker, who was out with a concussion. Every time it looked as though Robbinsville’s talented junior running back Brian Alston was going to break free for a long gain he was stopped by Hopewell’s stingy defense.
”Brian Alston has a lot of ability. It’s a shame we couldn’t create any gaps for him to run through. Their defense stifled us,” said Gray.
”Our quarterback (senior Matt Hill) was under a lot of duress the entire game.”
Even so, Gray was happy with the way Hill handled pressure and the toughness he showed by getting up quickly after taking some big hits. Ryan DeAngelis also took some snaps for the Ravens at quarterback.
Despite its offensive woes, Robbinsville managed to stay in the game until the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. In fact, the Ravens kept the Bulldogs off the scoreboard until Drew Semple scored a touchdown in the closing minutes of the first half. And Hopewell Valley’s second score didn’t come until late in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Robbinsville’s Matt Roeloffs made the game a little more interesting when he stripped a Bulldogs ball-carrier of the football and took it in for an apparent touchdown. Unfortunately for the Ravens, that play had already been whistled dead, which enabled Hopewell Valley to maintain possession of the ball.
Considering Hopewell Valley had beaten Robbinsville 35-0 last season, some considered it a good game for the Ravens. But Gray was not one of those people.
”We play to win,” said Gray, whose team finally got an opportunity to play a home night game under the portable lights.
The coach said he hopes the standing-room-only crowd at the game can pave the way for Robbinsville to purchase permanent lights.
Last year, Robbinsville beat Allentown for its first varsity victory ever. And the Redbirds are scheduled to host the Ravens tonight.
Gray knows Allentown will be out for revenge and has probably had this game circled on its calendar since last season. Therefore, he said, he will work his team extra hard in practices this week.
”Practice should be harder than the game,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Robbinsville freshmen football team clobbered Hopewell Valley 44-16 on Sept. 7.

