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Woodrow Wilson bounces back by routing Triton, 41-6

Quarterback Nick Kargman passed for 272 yards and two touchdowns in the Tigers' South Jersey Group 3 opener.

Woodrow Wilson's Fadil Diggs hauls in a pass from Amari Clark for a touchdown in the second quarter.
Woodrow Wilson's Fadil Diggs hauls in a pass from Amari Clark for a touchdown in the second quarter.Read moreELIZABETH ROBERTSON / Staff Photographer

Refreshed and refocused, Woodrow Wilson looked like something old and something new on Saturday afternoon.

The old was that the Tigers were back to their early-season-selves, making big plays on both sides of the football in a 41-6 victory over Triton in the first round of the South Jersey Group 3 tournament on a bright, brisk day at Mike Rozier Stadium.

The new, was that the game marked a fresh start in the postseason, a welcome change for a team that lost two in a row after a 6-0 start, and also sat through a bye week before the beginning of the playoffs.

"I think the bye week was huge for us," Wilson senior quarterback Nick Kargman said. "We were able regroup, get back in a rhythm. It really helped us mentally, just being able to refocus."

Kargman was 18-for-27 passing for 272 yards and two touchdowns without an interception.

Senior wide receiver Stanley King, a Louisville recruit, caught six passes for 165 yards and a score for Wilson (7-2), the No. 3 seed.

"He makes me look good," Kargman said of King.

With the win, Wilson advanced to face second-seeded Delsea (6-3) for the fourth time in the last two seasons.

Delsea has beaten Wilson three times in the last 13 months, including by a 56-14 score on Oct. 13 in Mike Rozier Stadium in East Camden.

"That one got away from us," Wilson coach Preston Brown said.

Delsea also beat Wilson, 29-28, in the South Jersey Group 3 title game in December at Rowan University.

"Ever since that championship game I was hoping to get another shot at them," Kargman said. "They've beaten us three times, but luckily we get another shot."

Senior running back Eric Staton ran 18 times for 115 yards for sixth-seeded Triton (5-4).

Wilson broke the game open with big plays on each side of intermission. First, the Tigers broke out a trick play and scored on a 70-yard pass from Amari Clark, who took a lateral from Kargman, to Fadil Diggs with just 18 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

On the first series of the third quarter, Kargman completed passes for 33 yards to King and 38 yards to Naiem Simmons, and Myheem McCargo finished the 86-yard drive with a one-yard burst into the end zone.

Just like that, Wilson turned a 13-6 lead into a 27-6 advantage.

Later in the third quarter, Kargman and King connected on an 85-yard touchdown pass down the right sideline, and Marquay Graves returned an interception 55 yards for a score and a 41-6 lead.

"The bye week really helped us," Brown said. "We were able to get back a camp-style atmosphere and clean some things up."

Brown was asked if Delsea, which has won five of the last six South Jersey Group 3 titles, is the Tigers' nemesis.

"They're reigning Group 3 champions, so they're everybody's nemesis," Brown said.

Triton                      0    6    0    0    –    6

Woodrow Wilson   7   12   22  0    –    41

WW: Amari Clark 4 pass from Nick Kargman (Malik Harvey kick)

T: Devaun Payton 5 run (pass fail)

WW: Naiem Simmons 12 run (kick fail)

WW: Fadil Diggs 70 pass from Clark (pass fail)

WW: Myheem McCargo 1 run (McCargo run)

WW: Stanley King 85 pass from Kargman (pass fail)

WW: Marquay Graves 55 interception return (McCargo run)