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VIDEO: Wild state playoff game ends in heartbreak for Middle as Gloucester hangs on

Posted: October 27th 2023

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

GLOUCESTER CITY – There were dozens of high school football state playoff games played across the state Friday evening.

None could have matched the intensity and excitement of Middle Township’s first-round South Jersey Group II game against Gloucester.

Despite running just two offensive plays in the first quarter, despite trailing 14-0 to start the game and despite turning the ball over three times, Middle had a glorious chance to win. But a two-point conversion pass was batted down at the line of scrimmage with 2:40 to play and a last-gasp Middle drive ended with an interception deep in Lion territory as Gloucester held on for a wild 35-34 victory.

The loss dropped Middle to 0-7 in state playoff games. None of the previous playoff losses was as gut-wrenching as this one. Middle players and coaches had tears in their eyes as they hugged family and friends in the aftermath.

“This is the worst thing in the world right now,” Middle senior wide receiver and safety Michael Zarfati. “We wanted to win a state championship and we fell short here in the first round. We had a chance to win the first playoff game for the school. It’s tough.”

Middle (7-3) drew to within a point late in the fourth quarter on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Mark Oliver to Shaun Watkins. The Panther coaching staff quickly made the decision to go for two rather than attempt to tie the game with an extra-point kick. But Oliver’s pass was batted down at the line. It appeared a Middle player was open in the end zone had the ball not been tipped.

Still, sixth-seeded Middle had a chance. The Panthers made No. 3 Gloucester punt after three plays and got the ball back at its own 38-yard line with a little more than two minutes to play. A hook-and-lateral play that involved Zarfati and Remi Rodriguez gained seven yards, before another pass to Zarfati moved the ball into Gloucester territory. The drive was stopped with 1:22 to play, however, when Gloucester’s Mason Widman picked off a pass at his team’s 26-yard line.

Gloucester (8-1) appeared poised to run away with the contest at the game’s outset. The Lions scored on their first possession on a 44-yard touchdown pass from Jake Seibert to Justin Frazer, before scoring again on an 11-yard pass from Seibert to Rylin Coffigny eight plays after a Middle Township fumble.

But Middle responded with vigor.

A wonderful 34-yard run by Rodriguez was followed three plays later by Rodriguez rushing in for a score from one yard out. After turning Gloucester over on downs, Shaun Watkins used a lethal combination of power and speed to romp into the end zone from 42 yards out to tie the score.

Middle’s Jeremiah Jones blocked a punt to set the Panthers up deep in Gloucester territory late in the first half. But after moving the ball to the two-yard line, a penalty followed by two incomplete passes forced Middle to settle for a 24-yard field-goal try that missed with less than 30 seconds to go in the half.

Undaunted, Middle managed to take its first and only lead on the second offensive play of the third quarter, Rodriguez racing in from 61 yards out.

“We fight, we fight and we don’t give up,” Zarfati said. “We face adversity and we fight back.”

Gloucester responded with two straight scores, though. Widman ran in from 19 yards out and then later rushed in from 11 yards out seven plays after Middle fumbled during the previous kickoff return.

That set the stage for the wild finish, with Middle trying to win the game rather than potentially force overtime.

“We played our hearts out,” said Middle senior two-way starting lineman Marco Salgado. “We were determined to win and nothing else, but we came up short. Things happen. I know we played our hearts out. Every single player is going to be able to look back and say, ‘I gave it all I had.’ That’s the one good thing about this. We gave it all we had.”

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