Through the dense fog at Tap Webb Memorial Field in Frenchtown, you could (just barely) make out two teams with their eyes on a chance at a trophy for the first time in over a decade.
In the end, third-seeded Pennsville made the bigger plays, and pulled away in the second half to defeat second-seeded Delaware Valley 49-21 in the South Jersey Group 1 semifinals.
The Eagles (6-5) advance to their first sectional final since 2015, and will rematch with top-seeded Schalick, after the Cougars defeated fifth-seeded Shore Regional 21-0 on the other side of the bracket. Schalick defeated Pennsville earlier this season.
In a game with twists, turns, and some wacky weather, the Terriers (8-3) saw one of their most successful seasons in recent memory come to a close, advancing to the sectional semifinals for the first time since 2015.
Delaware Valley junior quarterback Chase Kraucheunas put up another strong outing on both sides of the ball in the loss, completing seven of 20 pass attempts for 83 yards, while rushing for a team-high 128 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries. He also threw four interceptions against a Pennsville defense known for taking the ball away, and the Eagles capitalized with 21 points off of them.
On the other side, Pennsville quarterback Jake Layfield threw for 206 yards, with four touchdowns and three interceptions of his own, while running back Aiden Collazo took over in the second half, finishing with a game-high 147 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries.
The evening started fairly normally, as the Terriers made their way to midfield before punting, and the gunners downed a good kick at the Pennsville four-yard line.
But the Eagles marched down the field, escaping the end zone on a 20-yard run by Tristan Horner on the drive’s first play, and Layfield threw a long bomb down the sideline to wideout Danny Knight, who won at the catch point and sprinted into the end zone for a 61-yard score.
Delaware Valley punted again on its second offensive drive, but the defense came up with a big play on the other end. Backed up in his own territory once again, Layfield threw an interception over the middle to defensive back Lhiam Murphy, setting up the Terriers with excellent field position. Kraucheunas scrambled to his left and rumbled into the end zone for a game-tying 16-yard score on the very next play.
The next drive spanned the end of the first and beginning of the second quarters, as the Eagles methodically worked their way down the field, staying ahead of schedule and converting on third down. On the first play of the second quarter, Layfield found Lucas Thomas on a shallow crosser for another third-down conversion, taking it into the end zone for a 12-yard score. A missed PAT put them up 13-7
The Terriers once again worked their way back down the field, but on the doorstep of the red zone, sophomore cornerback Chase Johnson outmuscled his opposing receiver on a corner route for an interception. But Murphy came up big once again, winning at the catch point himself for his second interception of the night on defense. A good return once again set up Delaware Valley nicely within the Pennsville 40, as the fog from a chilly-yet-humid evening started to roll in.
The ensuing drive stalled, but on a 4th-and-11, Terriers’ head coach Ben Ibach opted to leave his offense on the field. Kraucheunas and Murphy connected — with the wideout showing strong hands on the offensive side this time — for a big conversion into the red zone. Kraucheunas took a designed keeper 15 yards for his second rushing touchdown of the night to put Delaware Valley ahead 14-13.
Later in the first half, after a roughing the kicker penalty gave the Terriers a fresh set of downs in their own territory with under two minutes to play. On the first down, an incompletion by Kraucheunas on a rollout, a Pennsville linebacker went down with an injury. His jersey number was not visible as trainers tended to him, and later cut his jersey open to remove his pads.
After an extended injury timeout, the defender was taken off the field in an ambulance. There was no update on his status at the time of writing.
But the Eagles rallied for their fallen teammate. On the next play, Grady Sanders picked off a pass over the middle, and Layfield found Thomas open in the end zone for a 28-yard score to put Pennsville back ahead.
Balancing the clock, the Terriers went with the run game, and Kraucheunas broke free for a 39-yard run into the red zone with just 19 seconds left. After a called timeout, Kraucheunas attempted a pass over the middle but was hit as he was releasing, causing the ball to flutter, and linebacker Dante Cummings plucked it out of the air, and ran it back 88 yards for Pennsville’s second touchdown in as many minutes to go up 26-14 at halftime, and would get the ball to start the third quarter.
But Delaware Valley’s defense stood tall, and Kraucheunas got his revenge at safety with an interception of his own on third down.
The drive once again stalled, but once again, the Terriers worked some fourth-down magic. Ibach dialed up a fake punt, and tight end Brayden Picardo-Leask muscled forward six yards off the direct snap to convert a first down. Kraucheunas ran in another keeper from eight yards out to pull Delaware Valley within a score midway through the third quarter.
That was as close as the Terriers would get.
The Eagles methodically marched down the field, utilizing the run game at a higher frequency, but were stuck at fourth-and-eight at the Delaware Valley 13-yard line. Layfield dropped back, rolled to his left, and lofted a touch pass towards the back of the end zone. Wide receiver Javion Sydnor went full extension and hauled in an impressive touchdown to put Pennsville back up two scores.
On the ensuing drive, the Terriers went three-and-out, and down two scores, could not convert on a fourth down, giving the Eagles the ball back. They worked their way down the field once again, taking four minutes off the clock, and Collazo scored the first of his two fourth-quarter touchdowns to go up three scores.
A desperation heave by Kraucheunas on the next drive was intercepted by Knight, putting the game away. Collazo ripped off a 44-yard run to work back deep into Delaware Valley territory, and later scored from eight yards out to officially put the game away with two minutes remaining.
The Terriers took a step forward in Ibach’s fourth year at the helm, snapping a decade-long postseason victory drought, with a strong nucleus of veteran seniors and young talent stepping up into big roles. Their season comes to a close with eight victories, their most since that same 2015 season, under former head coach Mike Columbo.
Despite losing some of those seniors, Ibach has built a strong core to continue competing as the years go along.
Click below to hear Delaware Valley head coach Ben Ibach recap the Terriers’ playoff loss to Pennsville and look back on the season with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel:
