"I love playing with these guys," Anderson-Copes said after making a brief but well-deserved appearance in the spotlight after a season in the shadows. "They're like my family."
Anderson-Copes has been a dependable player for the 9-1 Indians. Before Saturday's game, he had 16 catches for 378 yards and three touchdowns as a tight end, and was second on the team in tackles with 72 as a linebacker.
Plus, he's one of those solid guys whose down-to-earth personality and good work in school - he pulled a 3.7 grade point average in the last marking period - serves as a positive example for his teammates.
"He's one of our captains," Pennsauken coach Clinton Tabb said. "He's just a great all-around kid. He does all the little things."
It's easy for a blue-collar guy such as Anderson-Copes to get lost in the shuffle as Pennsauken's more spectacular players ring up points like pinball wizards.
That happened again Saturday. Cortez passed for five more touchdowns, giving him 36 this season. He's four short of tying the South Jersey record of 40 set by Holy Cross' Jason Amer in 1999.
Williams was sensational, as usual, catching two touchdown passes and returning a punt 62 yards to set up another score. He also had a 77-yard kickoff return for a touchdown nullified by a penalty.
Sweet made one of the best catches of the season, a twisting, one-handed snatch of a 17-yard touchdown pass from Cortez.
But amid all those fireworks, Mr. Sure and Steady made a couple of big plays of his own.
Anderson-Copes took a short pass from Cortez late in the first quarter, broke a couple of tackles, and rumbled into the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown.
"I've been trying to watch Amar and Anthony and learn some things about getting off the line and making guys miss," Anderson-Copes said.
