VIDEO: Middle overcomes Wildwood’s fast start, numerous penalties to remain unbeaten in WJFL United Division play

Posted: January 1st 1970

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

WILDWOOD – The Wildwood High School football team hasn’t defeated Middle Township since 1966, when gasoline cost 32 cents per gallon, Instagram was still nearly 45 years away from being created and Lyndon B. Johnson, who’s been dead for more than 53 years now, was President of the United States. 

To be fair, the teams haven’t met every season since, particularly in the last 20 years or so, but you get the point – it’s been an awfully long time since the Warriors beat their county rival.

So when Wildwood forced Middle to go three-and-out on its first possession and proceeded to march straight down the field to take an 8-0 lead in Friday’s game, it was no surprise that many in the large crowd at Maxwell Field started dreaming of the home team finally breaking the long drought against its opponent.

Middle, however, had other plans.

The Panthers responded to Wildwood’s opening salvo by dominating the game from that point. Middle scored five straight touchdowns to turn the game into a rout and eventually settled for a 35-14 victory.

“I don’t think we blinked and that’s something we really stressed this season,” Middle coach Gavin Liepe said. “After all the adversity we faced last year, where there were people pointing fingers and blaming each other, we didn’t do that. We stuck to the fundamentals and executed our plays and it turned out getting us the win in the long run.”

After Trevor Troiano’s touchdown reception from Gianni Troiano and Rasheem Jones’ two-point conversion catch gave Wildwood the early lead, Middle immediately responded. The Panthers, on a fourth-and-18 play, somehow got Kaihem Atkinson behind the Wildwood defense for a 37-yard touchdown catch of a beautifully thrown ball by quarterback Julian Broughton.

Following a Wildwood three-and-out, Middle took the lead for good late in the second quarter by going on an 11-play, 92-yard drive that culminated with a four-yard scoring run by Hunter White that gave Middle a 14-8 lead at the half. The key play on the possession was a 27-yard completion from Broughton to Nick Meehl on a third-and-12 play.

Middle went on to control most of the second half. After stopping Wildwood on downs deep in Warrior territory on the first possession of the third quarter, Davon Anderson rushed into the end zone from 18 yards out to make the score 20-8.

After Michael Ratchford’s interception again set up Middle deep in Wildwood territory, White scored his second touchdown of the game on an 18-yard run with a little more than eight minutes remaining. He also added the two-point conversion on a 13-yard catch and run after Middle was penalized twice for illegal procedure.

After another interception, this time by Atkinson, Broughton hit Atkinson for a 38-yard catch-and-run for Middle’s final score.

Wildwood finished the scoring on the game’s final offensive play as Trevor Troiano made a diving reception of a Gianni Troiano pass in the front of the end zone from 30 yards out.

The win improved Middle to 2-2 overall, 2-0 in the West Jersey Football League’s United Conference. Middle is trying its best to get out of what’s perceived as the league’s bottom division after being relegated there following last season’s 1-9 finish.

“We always want to be taking a step forward,” Liepe said. “We definitely feel as a program that we want to continue to build and climb. A big part of this season is being where our feet are. We’re here in this division for a reason and our job is to rebuild and try to get back where we feel we belong.”

Despite the convincing victory, Middle was far from perfect. The Panthers were whistled for a whopping 167 yards in penalties on 17 accepted infractions. Seven of the accepted penalties were personal fouls. Two other personal fouls were flagged on Middle but one wasn’t accepted and another was offset by a personal foul on Wildwood on the same play.

“Emotions were high,” Liepe said. “Anytime you play school that’s about five miles down the road there’s going to be extra intensity in it. We knew that going in. Ultimately, we let the emotions get the best of us at times and that’s something that’s going to be addressed.”

Wildwood (1-3, 0-2) wasn’t flagged nearly as much as Middle. The Warriors committed just two accepted penalties. But Wildwood coach Ken Loomis also thought his team was hurt by a lack of discipline at times. The Warriors also dressed just 20 players while Middle had more than 40 in uniform. Middle’s depth certainly played a factor as the game progressed.

“Awesome start for us but then we let emotions get the best of us,” he said. “Obviously there’s a lot of tension and there’s a lot of pride because of the rivalry. Their size was a big factor. They leaned on us and kind of wore us down. And then I thought we got a little hot headed and didn’t stay focused.”