New Egypt High School football coach Luke Sinkhorn offered a twist with tradition when he presented the game ball to assistant coach Uriel Morfin after the Warriors’ 41-20 victory over Burlington City on Oct. 29 at home in Plumsted.
“He is also an ex-player who was with the program when it started,” Sinkhorn said of Morfin.
The Warriors’ third straight victory clinched the school’s first division championship in the West Jersey Football League Freedom Division and tied the high mark for victories in a season at six.
New Egypt (6-1) was 6-4 in 2007.
The win also strengthened the Warriors’ bid for a home game in the upcoming NJSIAA state playoffs.
New Egypt scored 20 points before Burlington City (2-5) scored on a fumble return. The visitors did not score again until late in the game.
Jamel Smith had his second 200-yard rushing game of the season when he rushed for 208 yards and scored three touchdowns, giving him 12 TDs for the season.
Smith’s scores came on runs of 74, 55 and 10 yards as New Egypt racked up 352 yards on the ground.
Quarterback Dylan Wills scored on two touchdown runs and connected on a 22-yard scoring strike to Pascal Dieujuiste.
Dylan Horner led the New Egypt defense with two interceptions while linemen Lyle German, Curt Frimel, Aaron Reed, Sam Reynolds and Dieujuiste powered the charge on the defensive line that recorded four sacks and kept up the pressure on Burlington City’s quarterback throughout the game.
Their efforts will be needed on Nov. 5 when the Warriors travel to Florence to face a team they have never beaten. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Florence (4-3) runs a Delaware wing-T offense and plays a 4-4 defensive scheme.
“They [Florence] are playing with a lot of confidence and have a pretty good defense,” Sinkhorn said. “The thing is that our guys believe in what we are doing. If we get down and have penalties and they score, we have to bounce back. That’s the main thing.”