Moorestown

If his game were basketball, Shaun Turner would be a great sixth man. "Remember Vinny 'The Microwave' Johnson for the Detroit Pistons?" Winslow Township football coach Mike McBride said. "Shaun is my Microwave. " Turner heated up in a hurry on Saturday, bouncing off the bench to score three touchdowns in three ways as Winslow Township beat Moorestown, 47-21, in a first-round game of the South Jersey Group 3 football tournament. Turner, a senior running back, scored on a 15-yard run, a 28-yard reception, and a 65-yard punt return.

Four years ago, the Moorestown wrestling program hit rock bottom. The Quakers' team consisted of just six wrestlers. Forfeiting seven weight classes resulted in 42 lost points and an 0-17 record. In just three seasons, Moorestown has regrouped. The Quakers have won nine of their first 10 matches, including a 40-25 win over Delran on Saturday. It was the team's first victory over its neighboring rival since 1987. "It's been a building process for the program," Moorestown third-year coach Chris Heilig said.

The Moorestown football team's miracle ride through the NJSIAA playoffs crashed at Rutgers University yesterday afternoon in the Central Jersey Group 3 championship game. The eighth-seeded Quakers, who upset top-seeded Lawrence and fourth-seeded Hamilton West to advance to the final, collided with a freight train named Middletown High School South. The Eagles' big-play offense led them to a 38-0 victory and their fourth consecutive Group 3 title. "I'm very surprised," Moorestown coach Russ Horton said.

Moorestown confident, despite a tough schedule NO ONE KNEW what to expect from Moorestown's football team this season. That includes veteran coach Russ Horton. "There were times when we thought we would struggle with anybody," Horton said. "And there were times we thought we could hang with everybody. We just didn't know what this year would bring. " After two games, Horton can see clearly now that his Quakers, who might not beat everyone on their brutal schedule, but will certainly find a way to compete with everyone.

The Cherokee boys' soccer team was a decided underdog in the state Group 4 title game against Clifton on Nov. 17. Then again, the Chiefs were underdogs for most of the season after being decimated by graduation. Clifton dominated the first 10 minutes of the game, and it looked as if it would be a long night for the overachieving Chiefs (18-4-3). Then, slowly, Cherokee regained its composure. All season, midfielder Keith Pareti had been the team leader, and he saved his best for last.

Every year, there is a slogan - splashed across T-shirts worn by all the players, usually yellow letters on black cotton. This year's is as fitting as any has ever been: The endless pursuit of perfection. Hyperbole for some teams. For the Moorestown girls' lacrosse squad, it's a way of life, a standard of working and playing, proven repeatedly across generations. The Quakers are fresh off a 26-0 campaign, including a Tournament of Champions title - a perfect season. They are replacing eight starters, including Inquirer South Jersey player of the year Steph Toy, arguably the greatest player ever to represent the greatest high school girls' lacrosse program in the nation's history.

Beau Sherry is not a new coach looking to drastically change the Moorestown football program. Sherry, 32, was named Moorestown's coach by the Board of Education on Tuesday night. He hopes to build on the foundation created by former coach Russ Horton, who resigned after last season. "I look at this as a continuation," Sherry said. "It's important that the kids know what is expected of them. We might have new wrinkles here or there, but I want to continue with what Russ has done.

At last season's end-of-year banquet, Steph Toy handed Marie McCool a gift bag with a handwritten note inside. "I opened it, and the note said that it was my turn to lead this team," McCool said. "It said that she was handing me down the No. 51. " The Moorestown girls' lacrosse program is steeped in numerous, often quirky traditions. They have songs and chants and slogans, and they make videos and shirts - all with some kind of deep-rooted meaning, all part of the singular experience of being part of the Moorestown team.

Shawnee High put an end to Moorestown's 56-game unbeaten streak in girls' lacrosse yesterday and won the state championship game, 7-4, at Trenton State College. The win ended a two-year hold by Moorestown (16-1-1) on the state title. The Quakers have won four state titles since 1976 and have been runners-up five times. "I can't imagine any group of girls deserving this more," said Shawnee coach Susan Rudderow. "We watched the videotape of our previous game with Moorestown at least one million times.

After her team lost to one of the country's top-ranked girls' lacrosse teams, Strath Haven coach Rachel Busza was indifferent. She said the competition was nothing new to her Panthers. "Do I think they're better than us? No," Busza said after a 9-5 loss to Moorestown on Saturday. "I think if they were in the Central League, they'd be right up there with us, Conestoga . . . all the regulars. " The Panthers lost to the Quakers, ranked No. 1 in the area phillylacrosse.com and No. 3 in North America by TopLaxRecruits.com, on a sunny afternoon at George L. King Field in Wallingford, Pa. Moorestown improved to 15-0, but the Panthers gave the Quakers their closest game of the season.