The Winslow Township Eagles took on the Phillipsburg Stateliners for the NJSIAA Group 4 Football State Championship on Wednesday night at SHI stadium.
After being forced to punt on their first drive by the Stateliners, the Eagles forced a three-and-out to get the offense back on the field. It did not take long as just on their second play, sophomore quarterback Jalen Parker found his receiver, University of Kentucky commit senior Cam Miller, for a 26-yard touchdown. On the next series, the Eagles would establish their dominance on defense. Rising Junior Nyquir “Boomer” Helton intercepted a pass and returned it for a 67-yard touchdown to make it 14-0.
After the dominant first quarter, the Eagles did not look back and kept dominating on both sides of the ball as they won the game 35-0. On offense, Jalen Parker would finish the game with a 77 percent completion percentage, throwing for 238 yards and a pair of touchdowns; Cam Miller was the leading receiver with four receptions totaling 67 yards and two touchdowns.
On the other side of the ball, the defense suffocated Winslow’s offense, allowing zero points and just 66 yards of total offense throughout the night. Some key contributors to the defense were Nyqir Helton, who finished the night with two interceptions. The defensive front got to the quarterback all night long, totaling seven sacks. Sophomore linebacker duo Ausar Heard and Ben Carter were outstanding; Ausar finished with 1.5 sacks, while Ben added 2.5 sacks. Junior defensive lineman Robert Carstaphen also had 1.5 sacks on the night.
After the game, Nyquir Helton spoke about the team’s dominant performance and his big interception return for a touchdown.
” We did not want to go home… we worked all offseason for this, we had a tough loss last year to Mainland, and we know how that felt, so we just wanted to come back and take it all this year,” said Helton speaking on the team’s mindset.
“It was a great feeling… I had to step up and make that play; I had the great blockers in front of me with Robert Carstaphen and Nahmir Tucker so I don’t even count the pick-six for myself, I count it for them being able to be there for me and block like the brothers that they are,” said Helton on the pick six.
