"I'm just glad we woke up in time," Timber Creek coach Rob Hinson said.
The Chargers really didn't oversleep on Thursday morning. They just found themselves in a tough battle with a big, strong, motivated opponent on a quagmire of a field - and with a little bit of a tricky task in terms of motivation.
It's always this way for teams set to play in championship games the first weekend in December. That complicates the approach to the annual Thanksgiving weekend game and creates a dilemma for coaches in terms of injury risk.
Ultimately, Timber Creek received a big lift in the fourth quarter from senior quarterback Calvin Lowe and secured the victory that clinched the West Jersey Football League Royal Division title and recaptured the "Turkey Bowl" trophy for the Chargers.
Oh, yeah. Timber Creek also improved to 11-0 entering the South Jersey Group 3 championship game against Hammonton on Dec. 3 at Rowan University.
"Every game is a big game when you are undefeated," said Lowe, who ran for Timber Creek's first touchdown and passed 8 yards to sophomore Isaiah Austin for the second.
Every game is a big game for the opponent of an undefeated team, too. That's what makes 12-0 so difficult for public-school programs - the bull's-eye on the back of the uniform that gets bigger and bigger every week during an undefeated season.
Triton was open for business in this game. The Mustangs entered play with an 8-2 record, with both losses to Pennsauken. They had a chance to win the Royal title, keep the trophy they won with last year's stunning victory, and cap a remarkable bounce-back season.
"I'm so proud of my seniors for what they did this season," Triton coach Pete Goetz said.
The conditions were good for a Triton upset - a slow, sloppy field that played more to the Mustangs' strengths (power, ball control) than the Chargers' (speed, big plays).
