Woodbury

Same teams, same time, different location. Paulsboro High will host Saturday's key Colonial Conference Patriot Division football game against Woodbury, which had been slated to be the home team, at 10:30 a.m. The site was switched because Woodbury's home stands have been deemed unsafe by the school's insurance company, according to Woodbury athletic director Grant Shivers. "We'd have to put all the fans on one side, and it's a big rivalry and a big crowd is expected," he said yesterday.

The Woodbury school system will continue its policy of starting each school day with a moment of silence, despite a decision last week by the state legislature to abandon its fight to defend a state law requiring that public schools set aside a daily moment of "quiet contemplation or introspection. " "Our situation has not changed," said Claudio Arrington, Woodbury's schools superintendent. "Unlike the state law, our (moment of silence) policy was never religious in its intent.

After nearly three years of playing football games on the road, Woodbury is finally going home. The Thundering Herd, whose stadium and field have been undergoing renovations, will host Haddonfield (3-3) today at 1:30 p.m. The stadium received a temporary certificate of occupancy yesterday, permitting the homecoming game to be played, Woodbury athletic director Grant Shivers said. "A lot of people put in a lot of hard work to get it done," Shivers said. Despite playing all road games, including two at Rowan University in Glassboro, Woodbury is 4-1. "All day long, the kids have been stopping in and asking if we were playing at home," Shivers said.

Maybe it was the first play. Or maybe it was the first five series. But on a day when Woodbury officially dedicated its refurbished stadium, it was the visitors who made themselves at home. Paulsboro scored touchdowns on its first five possessions, building a 32-0 lead at halftime en route to a 38-13 victory over Woodbury yesterday in a Colonial Conference Patriot Division game. "They came in here today wanting it more than we did," Woodbury coach Zach Valentine said.

Zack Valentine, a former NFL player who once played with the Eagles, has been named Woodbury's football coach, athletic director Grant Shivers announced last night. Valentine, 44, replaced Jim Boyd, who resigned last month after compiling an 84-38-1 record and winning three South Jersey Group 1 titles during his 12 years as the Thundering Herd's head coach. "It should be a smooth transition," Shivers said. "[Valentine] knows what the program is all about. " Valentine has been Woodbury's defensive coordinator the last five years, during which time the Herd allowed nine points per game.

One of South Jersey's richest rivalries took another twist Saturday. In the unfamiliar role of underdog, Paulsboro rose up with a sensational defensive performance and scored a 10-0 victory over recent nemesis Woodbury in the semifinals of the South Jersey Group 1 tournament. "In our heads, the whole mind-set was 'Can we beat Woodbury? Can we beat them?' " Paulsboro senior running back Aaron Tilden said. That uncertainty was something new for Paulsboro, one of the most accomplished programs in South Jersey.

Woodbury junior fullback Todd Jones, who had lost his starting job the previous week, bounced back in style yesterday to lead the visiting Thundering Herd to a 32-0 blanking of Colonial Conference football rival Haddon Township. Jones scored on touchdown runs of 5, 4, and 1 yards in helping the Herd extend South Jersey's longest unbeaten streak to 25 games. He finished with 48 yards and three touchdowns on just six carries. Woodbury (2-0 overall and 2-0 in the conference) has won 30 straight regular-season games in the Colonial Conference, dating to 1987.

For Woodbury High's future football opponents, here's a sobering thought: The Thundering Herd is undefeated despite getting less-than-glittering offensive production from highly recruited Jimmer Bundy, the 246-pound fullback/tractor. Bundy gained a modest 55 yards on 11 carries yesterday. He also contributed to Woodbury's four turnovers by losing two fumbles. But it didn't matter. Woodbury, No. 5 in The Inquirer's South Jersey ratings, scored a 7-6 Colonial Conference win over visiting Haddonfield before 1,500 spectators.

Joseph Monroe Reichert Jr., 81, of Woodbury, retired co-owner and president of Norwood Construction Co., died at Cooper University Hospital Monday, Dec. 24, of a head injury from a fall at home. In 1975, Mr. Reichert established Norwood with partner George Congdon. Developer Willard G. Rouse 3d was a major client of the company, whose local projects included the Ikea store in Plymouth Meeting, Lehigh Valley Corporate Center in Allentown, Great Valley Corporate Center in Malvern, and Lenape Center in Woodbury as well as projects in Florida, Maryland and other states.

It started with a phone call two years ago from an English gentleman asking a simple question: Had the city administrator ever heard of a man named Henry Wood? Tom Bowe initially thought the call was a prank. How could he - the city administrator - not know who the founder of Woodbury was? But he listened to Melvin Magnall, a shipbuilder from Bury, England, describe his fascination for the persecuted Quaker who left Magnall's home town at the age of 80 to make a better life for himself in America more than 400 years ago. And Bowe decided to help make Magnall's dream a reality: a cross-cultural exchange between the two cities culminating in a 10-day Millennium Celebration to be hosted in Woodbury this summer.

Even as thousands of people commute to Woodbury every day to work in Gloucester County's administrative offices and Underwood-Memorial Hospital, the city faces a vexing problem: They don't stay past 5 o'clock. Lacking customers, Woodbury, population 10,174, is losing retail to nearby towns with big malls such as Deptford and Cherry Hill. Even among the businesses that line the city's main street, turnover is high. City officials are working in earnest to revitalize downtown. In 2009, City Council designated the downtown business district as an area in need of redevelopment, and officials adopted a long-term strategy soon after.

John Atkinson sat quietly in a folding chair behind home plate watching his grandkids play baseball for Woodbury. Atkinson has seen a lot over the years. He coached Little League in town and called games behind the plate. Three of his sons even played at Woodbury on the 1980 team. His oldest, Jay, who graduated in 1980, has two sons playing at the school, Matt and David. But John Atkinson has never seen anything like the current team, which features four sets of brothers among the 12 players.

GIRLS Teams: 1 Columbia, 64; 2 Penns Grove, 54; 3 Buena, 52; 4 Winslow, 46; 5 Millville, 46; 6 Kingsway, 42; 7 Delsea, 34; 8 Woodstown, 33; 9 Woodbury, 30; 10 Egg Harbor Township, 29. GROUP RESULTS Group 1 4x100: 1 Penns Grove (Richarrd Nichols, Jaye Pollard, Faleesha Dowe, Kianje Pollard), 49.32; 2 Haddon Heights, 51.88; 3 Woodbury, 52.48. 4x200: 1 Penns Grove (Jaye Pollard, Jocelyn Brown, Kianje Pollard, Faleesha Dowe), 1:43.39, 2 Audubon, 1:50.28; 3 Woodbury, 1:51.55.

Preview of 41st Annual Woodbury Relays Saturday, 9 a.m. at Woodbury High School. Field: Sixty-five teams are expected to vie for championships in Groups 1, 2, 3, and 4 in boys' and girls' competition. Honoring a past champion: This year's meet is dedicated to former Haddonfield star and Olympian Erin Donohue, a three-time winner of the Woodbury Relays' Most Valuable Girl Athlete Award. Donohue, a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic team, is a 2001 Haddonfield graduate.

Al Mailahn doesn't believe in change for change's sake. Especially not when it comes to the Woodbury football program. "It's not broke, so I'm not going to try to fix it," said Mailahn, who has been named Woodbury's football coach. "I'm just going to try to keep it going. " Mailahn's appointment was announced Thursday by Woodbury athletic director Grant Shivers. Mailahn was an assistant for the last six years under Zack Valentine, who resigned after the 2012 season. Valentine was 82-37 in 11 seasons, and his 2009 team won the South Jersey Group 1 title.

Pitman police early Monday solved a classic crime - a holdup at a convenience store - with the help of a ubiquitous piece of modern technology: a smartphone. Just minutes before midnight Sunday, police were alerted to a holdup at a 7-Eleven on the 300 block of North Broadway, where a clerk used a baseball bat to fend off two teenagers wielding fake handguns and wearing bandannas and gloves. While the would-be thieves fled with no money, the clerk managed to swipe one of their bags.

Facing a 12-point deficit early in the second quarter, Seneca rallied to upset second-seeded Woodrow Wilson, 51-47, Thursday in a South Jersey Group 3 girls' basketball quarterfinal. Guards Erica Snow and Molly Garthwaite hit three-pointers early in the fourth to give the seventh-seeded Golden Eagles a lead, and sophomore Dani Tejada's late free throws put the game out of Wilson's reach. Snow dropped in 16 points to lead all players. Tejada and Danielle Hubbs added 12 apiece.

The Salem girls' basketball team won its high-scoring battle with Wildwood, edging the visiting Warriors, 69-67, in a South Jersey Group 1 opening-round game in which each team had two 20-point scorers. The eighth-seeded Rams were led by junior Kayla Chapman (27 points) and Tiasia Tatum (20). For Wildwood, Leishly Reyes scored 21 and Jessica Freeman added 20. Woodbury 52, LEAP Academy Charter 23 - Woodbury senior Danesha Triplett crossed the 1,000-point mark for her career, scoring 13 points to lead the sixth-seeded Thundering Herd to victory in their first postseason game in 25-plus years.

From the start, the Cape-Atlantic League girls' basketball final Saturday was a thriller. Holy Spirit went on a 16-7 run in the fourth quarter to register a 39-38 victory Saturday over Sacred Heart. Gina Lewis broke a 33-all tie by sinking two free throws with 2 minutes, 46 seconds to play, then scored the game-winner with 2.1 seconds left. Lewis scored 13 points for the Spartans. Kennedy Johnson led Sacred Heart with 15 points. Mandy Buirch added. Burlington County Freedom.

From the start, the Cape-Atlantic League girls' basketball final Saturday was a thriller. Holy Spirit went on a 16-7 run in the fourth quarter to register a 39-38 victory over Sacred Heart. Gina Lewis broke a 33-all tie by sinking two free throws with 2 minutes, 46 seconds to play, then scored the game-winner with 2.1 seconds left. Lewis scored 13 points for the Spartans. Kennedy Johnson led Sacred Heart with 15 points. Mandy Buirch added. Burlington County Freedom.