West Deptford tops Paulsboro for Mayors Cup

When it came time to decide on a most valuable player in his team's victory over rival Paulsboro in the annual battle for the Mayors Cup, West Deptford coach Clyde Folsom was flush with options.

He could have chosen his offensive line, which cleared the way for 509 rushing yards in a 55-27 victory in the Eagles' stadium on Friday night.

He could have chosen senior running back Anthony Seas, who jammed 137 of his 204 yards and all three of his touchdowns into the second half.

Or senior running back Gio Gismondi, who ran for 131 yards and a touchdown and also made the hit of the game as a defensive back.

Or sophomore running back Kenny Lim, who ran for 124 yards on just 14 carries, returned an interception for touchdown and went over 1,000 yards for the season.

But the trophy went to junior quarterback Peter Orio, who ran for 49 yards, scored on a bruising 20-yard run, threw a 33-yard touchdown pass and directed an offense that neither punted nor committed a turnover.

"These guys, they make my job easy," Orio said of his teammates. "It's so much fun to be part of this."

The imposing victory improved West Deptford's record to 11-0 in advance of the Eagles' clash with defending champion Cedar Creek (10-1) in the South Jersey Group 2 title game Dec. 4 at 11 a.m. at Rowan University.

Paulsboro (9-2) also will be playing in a sectional title game at Rowan that weekend. The Red Raiders face Salem (9-2) for the South Jersey Group 1 championship next Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

Junior Dehron Holloway was Paulsboro's undisputed choice as MVP. The speedy all-purpose athlete scored four touchdowns in three ways - on a kickoff return, reception and two runs.

"Man, he was shot out a cannon," Folsom said of Holloway.

It was a back-and-forth battle of big plays between fierce and familiar rivals before West Deptford pulled away thanks to a relentless ground game and a defense that came up with a key turnover when senior linebacker Mike Oldt forced a fumble late in the third quarter.

The Eagles drove 80 yards and stretched their lead to 48-27 when Orio rumbled around the right side, busted a couple of tackles and crashed into the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown.

After senior linebacker Kyle Garrison made a stop on 4th-and-1 at the West Deptford five, the Eagles went 95 yards on 11 plays, with Seas scoring his third touchdown of the second half with a 10-yard burst around left end.

Seas said the Eagles' success on the ground is predicated on the work of the offensive line as well as the unselfish approach of the team's trip of 1,000-yard rushers.

"It's a beautiful thing," Seas said.

The game served as a good tune-up for both teams in terms of the style of play of their respective opponents in the sectional finals.

Paulsboro will face a strong Salem running game featuring senior back Jon Taylor, a Wisconsin recruit who has set the South Jersey single-season mark with 2,626 yards.

West Deptford will face a Cedar Creek offense that likes to spread the field and throw the football, with an all-purpose player in Rutgers recruit Bo Melton who might be even more dangerous than Holloway in space.

Paulsboro 13 8 6 0 - 27

West Deptford 14 14 14 13 - 55

P: Dehron Holloway 95 kickoff return (Ricky Wolf kick)

WD: Kenny Lim 14 run (Mike Bilodeau kick)

P: Holloway 52 run (kick fail)

WD: Gio Gismondi 31 run (Bilodeau kick)

WD: Jason Collier 33 pass from Peter Orio (Bilodeau kick)

WD: Kenny Lim 45 interception return (Bilodeau kick)

P: Holloway 9 pass from Kyle Jones (Deandre Blue-Eli pass from Jones)

WD: Anthony Seas 3 run (Bilodeau kick)

P: Holloway 13 run (kick fail)

WD: Seas 2 run (Bilodeau kick)

WD: Orio 20 run (kick fail)

WD: Seas 10 run (Bilodau kick)