The football team at South Brunswick High School will start off with a bang – just how the Vikings ended last fall.
South Brunswick capped the 2017 season with a thrilling 18-14 victory over Manalapan High School in the Central Jersey, Group 5 state sectional playoff championship game at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway last December.
That state playoff title was the third in six years for South Brunswick.
Now, the Vikings will return to the pressure tank when they challenge the 2017 South Jersey, Group 5 state sectional champion, Lenape High School, in the season opener on Aug. 30 at South Brunswick.
Coach Joe Goerge will call on seven starters from the 2017 team to lead this fall’s Viking unit.
“Lenape will be a challenging game right off the bat,” Goerge said about the South Jersey power that is located in Medford . “The first month will be full of real big tests.”
South Brunswick also won state sectional playoff titles in 2012 and 2015.
South Brunswick will also play Old Bridge High School, Piscataway High School, Perth Amboy High School and Union High School in September.
The seven returning starters include three two-way linemen, two safeties, a running back and a middle linebacker.
All three linemen, Sean Goldsmith, Jalen John, Darren Seavers, plus senior and first-year starter Kyle White, could power South Brunswick’s triple option attack.
“We hope they are a good group. It’s a hard working group for sure,” Goerge said. “We’re a triple option offense, and we were able to run last year. They did some really good things, but we had some really good senior skill players.”
Those skill position players are mostly gone. Which is why Thomas Joe-Kamara, who is committed to Temple University to play safety, will also play running back this year.
“We’ll be counting on him in a big way as a back too. We lost a lot of quality senior skill players,” Goerge said. “He played mainly defense but still some offense.”
Middle linebacker Mike Slover is South Brunswick’s defensive leader, and a really good one.
“He’s a really hard worker, hard nosed kind of kid. We need him to play big, no question,” Goerge said. “He doesn’t miss anything, lifting, practice. Right from January on. He’s a blue collar guy. Loves to play football.”
One other returning defensive starter is Katibu Martin, who played safety next to Joe-Kamara last year. Between the linemen, the safeties and Slover, South Brunswick should have an elite defense in 2018.
“We’re counting on those seniors,” Goerge said. “They’ve got to be the ones who take charge defensively, and offensively.”
It is hard to tell if South Brunswick has state title potential again this year. The Vikings are strong on the lines and on defense, clearly. But Goerge is just not sure who will step up at the skill positions, outside of Joe-Kamara.
He only mentioned one guy who is emerging right now, junior Ezekiel Johnson.
“We have six or seven guys competing. Ezekiel Johnson is really starting to come on. He played really well in our scrimmage Tuesday,” Goerge said. “It’s a work in progress, but we’re seeing things there.”
Goerge, though, is used to replacing talent. He does it almost every year.
“It’s high school football. It changes year to year. But it will be a challenge. You look forward to it. This is what it’s about,” he said. “I’m not a guy that does much prognosticating. We’re a team that will compete every week. We’ve got to stay healthy. We play one game at a time. That’s all we can do. We’ll be ready each week.”
