 High School Football:
Defense Combined With Passing Gives Irish The Win
Saturday, September 22, 2001
By Art Redd
SJSports Staff Writer
Getting that first win of the season can turnaround a team's confidence after losing a game. Both Pennsauken and Camden Catholic lost their season opener at home and were looking to capture that elusive victory. The Pennsauken Indians were hosting their second consecutive home game against the Irish of Camden Catholic in an Olympic Conference meeting. The visitors integrated a well balanced attack which saw Nick Cangelosi throw for three touchdowns, Marquis Beverly rush for two and the defense coming up big in an 46-21 victory.
 You could tell that the coaching staffs from both of these teams were eager to start their second game of the season. Extra long practices and preparation for this game could now be executed on the playing field against their next opponent. Emotional speeches were made to gain the confidence of their players, pumping them up and getting them ready to play.
Coach Dennis Scuderi watched his starting quarterback struggle with his passes early in this game. The Camden Catholic receivers were able to break free from the line of scrimmage, but were not connecting with the pass thrown. It didn't take too long for Cangelosi to heat up and connect with his passes. Byron Williams got free and caught a nice pass over his defender and rumbled down to the 15-yard line. On the very next play, Cangelosi connected with Terrell Smith who caught the ball at the 2-yard line and ran in for the score. Camden Catholic took an early 7-0 lead with 3:16 remaining in the quarter.
 This game became very entertaining when Pennsauken, catching the Irish secondary off guard, used an option pass on the ensuing drive. Pennsauken's running back Reggie Miller took the handoff and then dropped back and tossed an 82-yard touchdown pass to Tawan McNair with 2:15 left in the first quarter. Camden Catholic's Kellen Holly blocked the extra point to preserve their one point lead. The scoring was not completed in the initial quarter. Cangelosi's confidence grew when he connected with Terrence Long who caught the ball around the 35-yard line. Long wasn't done on the play as he got free in the secondary after the reception and ran for a 73-yard touchdown with 27 ticks left on the first quarter clock.
Now with Cangelosi recognizing the ability of his receivers success of getting open, Byron Williams was the end results of the third touchdown pass being thrown. Streaking down the right sideline, Williams got past his defender and sprinted by the safety for a 63-yard score. After the extra point, the Irish was ahead 21-6 with 8:11 remaining in the half. Not to be left out, the defense was playing a good game. That defense came up big when Joe Kedra recovered a fumble with 4:56 still in the half. The ground game took over and was rewarded with yet another first half touchdown when Marquis Beverly crossed the goal line with a 3-yard run.
In the second half, the Indians were forced to go to the air to stage a comeback. The Irish defense stood in their way a Terrell Smith intercepted the pass and ran in for a 29-yard touchdown. Joe Kedra also intercepted and scored a 48-yard run back for the Irish. Marquis Beverly scored his second touchdown to round off the scoring for Camden Catholic. Pennsauken had an 84-yard kickoff return by Tawan McNair run.
Photos by Art Redd
           
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High School Football:
