October 27, 2004

Big numbers being put up in CAL football

By TOM WILLIAMS
Sports Columnist


We are a little past the halfway mark in Cape-Atlantic League football and 2004 continues to shape up as a very exciting season.

Hammonton, Holy Spirit and St. Joseph can start scouting for the NJSIAA playoffs. Absegami, Atlantic City, Bridgeton and Middle Township are very much in the picture. Ocean City has a shot, albeit a long shot. Egg Harbor Township, Buena, Vineland and Millville are in real tough spots.

That means there should be at least six teams playing in the post season, giving fans another dozen or so games at the end of the season that really mean something. Not to mention the games over the next two weeks that will determine qualifiers and seeding.

And the conference races are still tight. Holy Spirit and Hammonton play for the National Conference lead Friday night in Hammonton. If Absegami beats Ocean City Friday, it will play for the American Conference title on Nov. 5 against Egg Harbor Township.

This is also a good time to look at the numbers, the statistics after six full weeks of CAL football. The normal stats should be elsewhere in this paper. These are some others worthy of mention.

Ryan Simone of St. Joseph has thrown five TD passes this season, to five different receivers. St. Augustine Prep has three TD passes this year, each thrown by a different player.

Pleasantville has not scored a single kicking point this season. Absegami’s Cody Sawhill has scored 30 points with his leg, just three short of the school record for one season.

C.J. Palmer of Middle Township is the only CAL player with two defensive touchdowns. Absegami has scored four defensive TDs as a team. Mainland, Pleasantville and St. Augustine have each allowed three defensive touchdowns.

There have been 10 field goals kicked this year, the four longest by Sawhill. And three of them have been kicked against Vineland.

Sawhill’s 46-yard field goal against Vineland was the longest by an Absegami kicker and the ninth longest in CAL history. The longest is 49 yards set by Harry Montero of Millville in 1993 and equaled by Lower Cape May’s Ron Halbruner in 2002.

With 30 kicking points in six games, Sawhill has a good shot at reaching the Top 10 in CAL history. The record – 72 points by Hammonton’s Jim Galea in 2000 – might be out of reach. Sawhill has four field goals and the CAL record is nine by Millville’s Scott Shea in 1989.

Mike Isgro has thrown 16 touchdowns in the first six games for the Braves and Mainland’s Matt Flynn has 13 for Mainland. The CAL record for a season is 24 by Al Mallen in 1988. Isgro also has 1,187 passing yards this season and Flynn has 1,039. The single-season CAL record is 2,104 by Mallen in 1988. But the highest total by a junior is 1,515 by Ocean City’s Al Genz in 1998.

Omar Vidro has caught nine touchdowns for Absegami. The CAL record in one season is 12, set by Ocean City’s Scott Lipford in 1996 and equaled by the Raiders’ Ray Rogers in 1998. Vidro has caught 32 passes. The league record for a season is 61 by Kevin Hallman of Holy Spirit in 1988.

There could be even more excitement – record-breaking excitement – as the 2004 season moves toward a conclusion.



Read more of Tom Williams' columns