South Jersey's all-decade football team

Two-time Inquirer South Jersey players of the year Albert Young of Moorestown and Turk McBride of Woodrow Wilson are the players of the decade on The Inquirer's all-South Jersey all-decade football team.

To be considered for the team, a player had to be selected at least once to The Inquirer's first team all-South Jersey squad. Special consideration was given to players who were named offensive or defensive players of the year.

Young was offensive player of the year in 2000 as a sophomore and 2002 as a senior. He was the first South Jersey player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in two seasons. Young enjoyed a successful career at Iowa and is a member of the Minnesota Vikings, with whom he saw his first action of the season in Sunday's 30-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

McBride was first named South Jersey defensive player of the year in 2001, when he led Woodrow Wilson to a 12-0 record and The Inquirer's No. 1 South Jersey ranking.

He was also the defensive player of the year as a senior for the 2002 season. In his final two high school seasons, McBride totaled 28 sacks.

McBride played at Tennessee and was a second-round draft choice of the Kansas City Chiefs. After being released by Kansas City earlier this season, he was picked up by the Detroit Lions.

The quarterback on the all-decade team is Tom Reilly of Holy Cross. When he graduated, Reilly, now at Marist, owned the South Jersey career mark of 64 touchdown passes; that was broken this season by St. Augustine's Dustin Thomas.

The receivers are Glassboro's Terrence Holmes, a three-time first-team all-South Jersey selection who attended Florida, and James Townsend of Holy Cross.

Holmes is the career South Jersey leader with 47 touchdown receptions.

During his senior season at Holy Cross in 2002, Townsend became the second player in South Jersey history to have consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons. He first attended Iowa and finished his career at Rutgers.

The tight end is Camden Catholic's Mike Ragone, who is at Notre Dame. Ragone caught 35 passes for 720 yards and nine TDs as a junior at Camden Catholic but missed his senior season with a knee injury.

The offensive linemen are Tom Curl of Paulsboro, Phil Trautwein of Eastern, Dennis Landolt of Holy Cross, Ryan Blaszczyk of Shawnee, and Melik Brown of Woodrow Wilson.

Paulsboro's Curl was a two-time all-South Jersey selection who wrestled at Lehigh. Trautwein is with the St. Louis Rams after being a starter on two national championship teams at Florida.

Landolt, a four-year starter at Holy Cross, was an all-Big Ten choice at offensive tackle this season for Penn State.

Blaszczyk is a third-year starting center at Rutgers. Brown went on to play in college at North Carolina.

The placekicker is Eastern's Will Carney, who went 11 for 14 in field-goal attempts in 2004, including a 47-yarder.

Wali Lundy of Holy Cross, who began his career at Florence, is the all-purpose back. Lundy earned honors as an all-purpose performer in 2000 before being named a first-team running back and the South Jersey offensive player of the year in 2001. He played at Virginia and for a season in the NFL with the Houston Texans.

Besides McBride, the other first-team defensive linemen are Sherard Cadogan of Camden Catholic and Paulsboro's Alex Silvestro and Mike Mendenhall. Cadogan has recorded 26 sacks over the last two seasons.

Silvestro was The Inquirer's South Jersey defensive player of the year in 2006. He is competing for Rutgers, where he has recorded 40 tackles this season.

Mendenhall, a two-time all-South Jersey selection, was a four-year starter at Temple and is a graduate assistant at the University of New Mexico.

The linebackers are James Hargrave of St Joseph, Tom Walls of West Deptford, and Marcus Witherspoon of Holy Spirit.

Hargrave was a two-time first-team choice who attended the University of Connecticut and started 46 games for the Huskies. Walls was selected as an Inquirer first-team linebacker in 2002 and a running back the next year, when he was Inquirer offensive player of the year in 2003. He earned a football scholarship to Boston College.

Witherspoon was a two-time first-team selection. He briefly attended Michigan and is at Rutgers.

The defensive backfield consists of Logan Ryan of Eastern, Anthony Scirrotto of West Deptford, Paul Gause of Schalick, and Antwine Perez of Woodrow Wilson.

Ryan was the defensive player of the year in 2008 and is redshirting his freshman season at Rutgers. Gause was a first-team selection on defense as a junior in 2003 and the offensive player of the year as a running back in 2004. He played basketball at Seton Hall.

Scirrotto is the only defensive back who was a three-time all-South Jersey choice during the decade. He was a three-year starting safety at Penn State and was briefly a member of the New York Giants' practice squad this year.

Woodrow Wilson's Perez was a high school all-American and The Inquirer South Jersey defensive player of the year as a senior during the 2005 season. He first attended Southern Cal but is now at Maryland.

Ocean City's Chris Curran, a first-team all-South Jersey pick in 2008 and this year, is the punter. The kick returner is Paulsboro's Lionel Sharper, who had four touchdown returns during his senior season in 2001.