Sean Moylan Sports Writer
There were no rocks, dirt clouds or dips on the field — only lush, thick grass which was so green that its vibrant hue was impressive even on a dark, warm September night.
As always, most of the hometown crowd arrived early. Yet, unlike previous years, no one had to fight for a good seat. There was plenty of room to accomodate everyone in a very large opening night crowd. This was certainly not “The Pit” everyone who ever wore the “Blue and Gold” had known and loved.
Yet the moment Florence’s Quentin Loftin waltzed into the end zone from three yards outs after his offensive line had created a hole for him which was big enough for a small parade to pass through, there could be no mistaking that one was in Florence, the home of the four-
time defending Group 1 Central Jersey Champs.
The Florence football team christened its new field with a lopsided 28-12 victory over the Palmyra Panthers last Friday in the first Florence home football game ever played under the lights.
“If you tell us to play in a parking lot, we’ll play in a parking lot. ‘The Pit’ was a place and this is another place,” said Florence’s legendary head coach Joe Frappolli, whose lifetime record improved to 299-99-5, which is now just one victory shy of former Delsea head coach John Oberg’s record for most wins in South Jersey. “This is a great facility and we sell the kids ‘The Pit Mentality’.”
The mentality has nothing to do with fields. It has a lot to do with showing toughness under adversity. And that’s just what the Flashes did on Friday night. Loftin’s three-yard run and the first of four Matt Belcher PAT’s staked the Flashes to an early 7-0 lead. On the subsequent kickoff a slew of Florence tacklers popped Palmyra’s Quron Pratt on the 40-yard line to jar the ball loose. Unfortunately, the ball took a forward bounce right to Lynden Alfred, who picked it up and ran it in for a 40-yard score.
Seconds later Loftin picked off a Palmyra pass on a two-point conversion attempt. Despite a few uncharasteristic penalties, Florence controlled the rest of the game on both sides of the ball. The Panthers used two quarterbacks, Morris Atkins and Alfred, who both came out slinging from the get-go.
In order to counteract the Panthers’ passing game, Nick Lubrano, the best small school defensive coordinator in New Jersey, put in a brilliant game plan based on containment. Consequenty, the Flashes defense gave up just 159 total yards and did not give up any big plays until the game was well in hand. And Florence, which suffered several preseason injuries, had to do it all with a pieced-together secondary.
Stu Foulks was in on a big sack as was Chucky Taylor. As always, lineman Chris Salaga played well on both sides of the ball. But the defense, as a whole, was sensational.
“Coach Nick (Lubrano) did a great job. We played a lot of different looks. I don’t think they thought they could run (on us),” Frappolli said.
Midway through the second quarter, Loftin scored on a 14-yard run and he deflated Palmyra’s hopes for a comeback further with a five-yard score just before the half to give Florence a 21-6 edge. On his third touchdown, Loftin took off the left sideline and slipped a toe into the endzone a split second before falling out of bounds. It was a play only a ballet dancer or, as in Loftin’s case, a great football player could have made. Moreover, he had an awe-inspiring 34-yard punt return as well.
“It always feels good when you score touchdowns. I didn’t think I was going to score (the third touchdown),” said Loftin, who sported an ultra-cool haircut with the word “Lightnin’ 28” carved in the back. On defense Loftin was hitting so hard that several of the players he tackled stayed on the ground for several minutes after being tackled “Lightnin’ 28” style.
“I definitely wanted to punish some people,” said Loftin, who felt that the Panthers showed the Flashes very little respect. “We go out there and do what we have to do. It doesn’t matter who we play.”
Loftin, a senior star who has Virginia State and Connectucut on his short list of colleges, could have easily ran for over 100 yards. But it was hot night, so Frappolli decided to test his other offensive weapons. One of the Flashes’ other stars, Anthony Krause, had been injured most of the training camp and was limited to just a few plays here and there. Even so, he scored a six-yard touchdown on his only carry of the game in the third quarter. Joe Price, who is also just coming back from a preseason injury, stutter-stepped his way to an 18-yard first quarter run. Marcus Curry rushed for 28 yards, including a 19-yard run. Drew Johnson (three carries for 35 yards), Josh Stillwell (five carries for 30 yards) and Marcus Rawls (18 yards on three carries) also ran very well. Furthermore, a few of Stillwell’s more amazing runs led to Krause’s score.
“Josh doesn’t know how good he can become. Josh has natural running ability which is hard to teach,” said Frappolli. “And Quentin Loftin had a great, great camp. He was first in everything. ‘Q’ is coming into his own a little. When you play in the shadow of other people, sometimes when those people leave, then you shine.”
Meanwhile, quarterback Jimmy Martinson ran the offense well and completed two passes of six passes for 27 yards. Florence had 206 yards on the ground.
Take away seven penalties for 60 yards and a fumble and Florence’s 400th all-time win was a great one.
At the field gate, wooden nickels were handed out to commemorate Florence’s first game at its new field, Cedar Lane Stadium. Florence fans wore “Rocks and Bottles” t-shirts in honor of “The Pit Mentality.” Before the game, Frappolli spoke in front of the large crowd and with a few well-chosen words ushered in the new “Friday Night Flashes” era.
Florence will host Maple Shade on Friday night.
