EWING, N.J. - August's champions finally showed up in December.
This was the Holy Spirit team that earned the No. 1 spot in the preseason Top 10, that generated all that buzz, that created all those expectations.
It was better late than never for the Spartans, who steam-rolled to a 51-7 victory Camden Catholic Friday night in the Non-Public Group 2 state championship game.
They looked like the best team in South Jersey on paper in the middle of the summer. They looked like the best team in South Jersey on the field at the end of the fall.
No, they're not No. 1. St. Joseph earned that distinction with a 34-7 victory over Holy Spirit on Oct. 1, and the Wildcats have done nothing but tighten their grip on the top spot since.
The point is that Holy Spirit finally looked like Holy Spirit in the last game of an odd, 11-game season that began with so many dreams, collapsed in so much disappointment, and ended with so much domination.
"I did a bad job with these guys early on," Holy Spirit coach Chalie Roman said. "We let things get a little too lax in practice. Once we changed the practice mentality, we changed this team."
Maybe it was that. Maybe it was the maturation of the younger players. Maybe it was the urgency of the seniors.
It probably was a combination, plus the motivation that fueled the Spartans as they entered the title game as underdogs to the top-seeded and undefeated Irish.
"We heard that it should have been Camden Catholic against St. Joe's," Holy Spirit senior running back Nigel Jones said. "That was a chip on our shoulder."
Holy Spirit finished a strange season with an overpowering performance. The Spartans were No. 1 in the preseason rankings, based on all the talent that was returning from last year's 12-0, Non-Public 3 champions.
They had Jones and Donta Pollock, the only classmates in state history to both rush for 4,000 career yards. They had that burly, bruising offensive line. They had sensational linebackers in Dan Mastromatteo and Ethan Gambale.
But the Spartans lost three of their first six games - one by forfeit for using an ineligible player but the other two by large margins against St. Joseph and Hammonton.
"I watched them eight times this season," Camden Catholic coach Gil Brooks said. "I knew how much talent they had on that team."
The Spartans were a mystery team - talented, seasoned, accomplished, but never quite operating on all cylinders, never quite reaching their potential.
