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Pirates respond in CJ IV

South football marches into semifinal

By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
   Even after Middletown North marched right down the field for a touchdown on its opening drive, there was no sense of panic for the West Windsor-Plainsboro South football team.
   The Pirates have not been asked to respond much this season. There aren’t many chances to respond when you’re 9-0 with an average margin of victory of 25 points. But in this case, the Pirates needed to respond.
   ”They came out and just ran the ball right down our throats and we knew that was what they were trying to do coming into the game,” said Pirate senior David Twamley. “We had that happen to us last year. Last year in our first round game (Jackson Memorial) ran the kickoff back for a touchdown. We’re used to coming back. I was confident in our guys. I think it was just first-game jitters. After that we settled down and started to play good football.”
   The Pirates answered Middletown North’s touchdown drive with one of their own, capped off by a Twamley touchdown run. When Middletown North fumbled the ensuing kickoff return, the Pirates were in business. Twamley scored on an 11-yard run six plays later and South was on its way to a 40-22 win in the opening round of the Central Jersey Group IV playoffs.
   The Pirates, who improved to 10-0 with the win, are now just a victory away from a return trip to the CJ IV finals at Rutgers. They will host Sayreville on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the CJ IV semifinals.
   ”Our offense has been clicking all year,” said Twamley, who finished with 132 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns. “And defensively, we’re getting better each game. The biggest thing is we want to win the state championship. We want to go 12-0 and be perfect. From the beginning we have just tried to set the tone, both offensively and defensively.”
   In addition to the two touchdown runs by Twamley, Connor Farrell threw three touchdown passes — two to Jack Dennehy and one to Max Merkovitz — and Henry MacQueen also ran for a 40-yard touchdown.
   It was yet another impressive offensive display from the Pirates, who have scored 44 or more points eight times this season. Trying to figure out how to defend the South offense is no easy task.
   ”We talk about that all the time,” said Twamley, who also had a key interception late in the fourth quarter. “How do you defend us? One of our offensive linemen counted and we have 17 different offensive formations. It’s crazy how our coaches put that in. And how we can all just know the plays so well. I am so thankful to be around such a great group of guys and great group of coaches.
   ”We have a lot of weapons. Max Merkovitz had 96 yards receiving against Princeton. He had a lot of catches today and scored his first touchdown of the season. Jack Dennehy is doing what he does. And Jeff Riemann today, he was outstanding blocking. Both of my touchdowns, I just found Jeff. He’s been a great blocker and he’s a great teammate first and foremost.”
   The defense also bounced back nicely after the opening drive.
   ”We just started to play like we know how,” Twamley said. “Our defensive coaches are the best. They teach us rules and we just follow those rules so we’ll be in the best position to stop the play.”
   In four of the last five games, the Pirates have played with a running clock (at least a 35-point lead) for a majority of the second half. This time, they were prepared for four quarters of hard-hitting football.
   ”I’ve only played in the second half of two games this year,” Twamley said. “This is the third. So I was questioning how I would feel playing a whole game. But I felt great today. That’s our coaches preparing us hard and making sure we were ready to go.”
   WW-P South coach Todd Smith knew this game would be much different than the previous few, and made sure his team was prepared.
   ”We make sure we work them hard in practice,” Smith said. “We ran them real hard this week to make sure we got them ready because we knew we’d have to play four quarters. They worked real hard in practice and it paid off.
   ”We talked to our kids and told them they’re going to have to adjust to playoff football and the speed and tempo and Shore Conference toughness. And that first drive was a typical Shore Conference opening drive. But we came right back and scored and capitalized on some turnovers.”
   And now the Pirates are just one win away from getting back to Rutgers, where they’ll be looking to go one step further than a year ago.