Penns Grove plays like ‘grown men’ overcoming adversity

WOODBURY — After handling its first three opponents rather handily, about the only thing Penns Grove had yet to experience this season is any kind of serious adversity. 

The Red Devils had plenty of it in the first half here Monday, but they weathered the storm well enough for coach Damian Ware to be impressed.

Three turnovers and a late touchdown in the second quarter sent the Red Devils to face their first halftime deficit of the year. They bounced back with three scores in the second half, held Woodbury off the scoreboard and won 24-12 to remain undefeated. 

They’re 4-0 for the first time since 2019, which is also the last time they beat the Thundering Herd.

“The story was showing some resiliency and learning how to win a tough game,” Ware said. “We’ve been having these blowout games, but today we had a tough game.”

Penns Grove’s Thomas tandem – freshman Jaivon and senior Terrell – combined for 211 yards rushing and four touchdowns. Jaivon Thomas rushed for 145 yards on 21 carries and scored on runs of 13 and 9 yards. Terrell Thomas rushed for 66 yards, scored on runs of 5 and 11 yards, and played a big role on a defense that held Woodbury to minus-32 yards of offense.

The Thundering Herd had minus-2 yards of passing and minus-30 yards of net rushing. The Red Devils held Dale Thomas, one of the top 10 rushers in the WJFL, to minus-17 yards on 13 carries.

“Our defense was really the stalwart today,” Ware said. “Our defense was lights out.”

The two touchdowns Woodbury scored came on a fumble return in the first quarter and a blocked punt that set up a short field for Dale Thomas’ 1-yard run in the final 30 seconds of the first half. The Red Devils trailed 6-0 and 12-6, but outscored the Herd 18-0 in the second half.

Penns Grove almost scored after Woodbury took its 12-6 lead. The Red Devils got the ball back with 14 seconds left in the half. Jaivon Thomas broke off a long run to get to the 5. Terrell Thomas looked to get in the end zone on the final play of the half, but the officials ruled he was out of bounds before hitting the pylon.

“Today was a game of learning how to win through adversity,” Ware said. “When we had three turnovers in the first half we could have easily felt sorry for ourselves, but they just kept fighting. They scored on two plays we gave them and we moved the ball at will. If we didn’t turn it over a couple times we probably would’ve scored two more touchdowns in the first half and been up and they wouldn’t have had any points.

“That was the game today, learning how to win through adversity when it’s not easy. That was a growing up game for us. I told the guys we played like some grown men today because we didn’t cower down, we didn’t feel sorry for ourselves, we just kept fighting and punching and punching and punching. It showed me a lot today.”

SCORING SUMMARY
WB-Kayir McIntosh 43 fumble return (kick failed)
PG-Terrell Thomas 5 run (PAT failed)
WB-Dale Thomas 1 run (run failed)
PG-Jaivon Thomas 13 run (run failed)
PG-Terrell Thomas 11 run (run failed)
PG-Jaivon Thomas 9 run (pass failed)