➤ Absences were key: No one on Eastside believes the Tigers played well enough to win, but it didn’t help that three of their best players – Shamir Boyd, Will Love and Terron Loyd – all sat out with injuries. ![]() Eastside was pinned inside the 20-yard line on three of those returns. ➤ Shawnee is going to win the field position game a lot: Senior kicker Darren Wu had four touchbacks on kickoffs and those that didn’t go into the end zone landed inside the five. “All during preseason we’re like do we move him up? Do we let him play freshmen? And the coaches are like coach, he has another gear that can really help us. “I saw him play a lot as an eighth grader and I said this kid really has some wheels,” Gushue said. Gushue doesn’t play freshmen often, but Nickles’ speed isn’t common within the program. Everyone was saying they’re cheering, ‘He’s a freshman,’ but I didn’t hear any of it. The freshman’s speed was on full display against Eastside as he pulled away on a 43-yard screen pass for a score as well as a 55-yard rushing touchdown. He had 3 catches for 25 yards and was tough off the edge on defense, which included a helmet-rattling sack of Brunson. ![]() Gilmore looks poised to become one of South Jersey’s breakout players this season. ➤ Watch out for Gilmore and Tyler Nickles. He might be a little bit sore tomorrow, but on another note, this is a quality experience for him and it’s going to help him to improve.” “At times it was just him out there running around, just trying to figure things out. “My young quarterback played his heart out today,” Brown said. He finished 12-of-18 passing for 161 yards, a touchdown and an interception. One highlight for Brown was first-year quarterback Makhi Brunson, who took some big hits, but kept on coming back. More: South Jersey high school football recruit profile: Eastside senior Shamir Boyd We just go ahead and circle the wagons and what went well today, what we need to improve, you just double down on it.” When you coach and play football long enough, you’re going to be on the right side of it and the losing side of it. “We came out here, didn’t play the best and we took it today, a little old-fashioned, behind-the-woodshed butt-whupping. This was not how first-year Eastside football coach Melik Brown saw his debut going, but he believes this is a valuable “learning experience” for his squad. Obviously tonight and last week, he met the challenge.” “Own it” He added later, “This week (against Lenape) is a big challenge. “We just felt he had the tools to be a good one,” Gushue said. It’s not what Papa wanted, but it was a vital decision for the program. “He’s really filled the spot,” Gilmore said. Papa showed off those tailback skills against the Tigers, breaking numerous tackles on his runs, including one on a 53-yard scoring scamper with 6:45 left in the first half to give his team a 14-7 lead it wouldn’t relinquish. ![]() “Running,” Papa said when asked to describe his favorite part of playing quarterback. It doesn’t hurt that the game plan has called for a lot of quarterback carries both inside and out. Papa added that Welsey was a great mentor as well. “He’s done a great job preparing Joe, no doubt about it,” Gushue said. Gushue and Papa credited the coaching, particularly quarterbacks coach Dennis Scuderi Jr., for his development at the position. football: Games to Watch, schedule, predictions for Week 1 in South Jersey “No,” answered Gushue when asked if Papa looks like a first-year varsity player. “No,” junior Liam Gilmore responded when asked if there’s been a drop off. Papa’s play has made the transition from four-year starter Matt Welsey, who set numerous school records and is considered the greatest quarterback in school history, seamless. Papa’s first varsity start was also impressive as he was 14-of-27 passing for 204 yards and 2 scores and ran for 115 yards and 2 more touchdowns as his team got by Northern Burlington 30-28 last week. “We put almost 50 points on the scoreboard, no mental errors today, held ’em to 14 points, that’s just great all around,” Papa said. Papa, now a junior, was magnificent Thursday as he ran 23 times for 173 yards and 4 touchdowns and was 8-of-11 passing for 86 yards, another TD and an interception as Shawnee defeated Eastside 48-14, the program’s first-ever win over the Tigers, according to Gushue.
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