Ewing clinches WJFL Valley title in wild fashion over Hamilton West

The roar of the crowd at Ewing High School on Friday night was louder than perhaps it has ever been, thanks to one of the most dramatic finishes you will ever see on a football field.

On senior night, one of Ewing’s veteran players helped clinch the program’s first WJFL Valley Division title and subsequent playoff berth since 2021 in a 30-24 win over Hamilton West in Ewing.

Blue Devils senior Dasan Jones returned a fumble 61 yards for a touchdown as time expired, closing out a fourth quarter in which Ewing outscored Hamilton 20 to 3.

“That’s a big win,” Ewing head coach Al-majid Hutchins said. “Especially for our seniors. They haven’t really won a lot of football games in their three or four years.

We faced a lot of adversity early in the game. I told them at halftime, this next half is going to determine what type of character you guys have. And they came out, owned the moment, and finished.”

As the clock ticked down in a 24-24 tie, Hamilton West tried to get into field goal range for junior kicker Grady Shaffer. He’d made a 49-yard attempt to tie the game with 3:28 left in the fourth.

With 14 seconds left, Hornets quarterback Cullen Bressler dropped back to pass on 1st & 10 from the Blue Devils’ 44-yard line. He quickly threw to his right and found Brandon Boswell, but Samuel Simpkins was right there to knock it out.

Jones scooped it up and raced down the Ewing sideline as the Blue Devils crowd entered a state of euphoria.

“I envision everything all the time,” Jones said following his unbelievable walk-off play. “I envision the impossible. I make sure I envision everything so when it comes to reality, I already know what to do.”

It was a remarkable ending to an impressive turnaround for Ewing, given how the Blue Devils played in the first half.

They did nothing on their first four drives, punting each time and gaining a net total of 13 yards. Additionally, they committed seven penalties in the first half.

It was Ewing’s defense that shifted the momentum at a time the home team desperately needed something to go its way.

Following a fourth Ewing punt, Hamilton began its fourth drive of the game early in the second quarter at the Blue Devils’ 43. The Hornets began three of five first-half drives in Blue Devils territory.

Bressler connected with Brandon Boswell down the left sideline for a 40-yard gain. That put Hamilton inside the five, but Bressler’s next pass was deflected and intercepted by Ewing’s Dominique Jones.

On the ensuing drive, Ewing rode senior running back Josh Missick. He tallied 65 rushing yards during the 77-yard drive, culminating in a one-yard touchdown run just after the two-minute warning.

Hamilton took a 14-7 lead into halftime, then wasted no time getting back on the board. Bressler launched a deep ball to Xavier Jenkins on the first play from scrimmage in the second half, which the sophomore standout caught for a 70-yard TD.

Ewing responded with a 49-yard Chris Jones field goal, then forced a turnover on downs. The Blue Devils drove 55 yards for another score to cut the lead back down to 21-17.

Quarterback Ryan Greig, who had taken a big hit earlier in the drive, escaped pressure and tossed a pass to a wide-open Dasan Jones on 3rd & goal from the eight. It was the first play of the fourth quarter.

Things started to unravel for Hamilton after that. Two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on the next Ewing drive put the Blue Devils in the red zone. The teams combined for more penalties (25) than first downs (20) in what was a sloppy contest at times.

Missick capped off the drive with a 17-yard rushing touchdown to give Ewing its first lead of the night at 24-21. Missick finished with 168 yards and eclipsed 1,000 for the season.

Behind what Coach Hutchins calls the “best offensive line in South Jersey Group 3,” Missick averaged 7.3 yards per carry.

“He wanted this moment,” Hutchins said. “All week, he told me to put the ball in his hands. He had a great week of practice and an awesome night tonight.”

Thoughts of playoff football are soon to become a reality for the 7-2 Blue Devils. Ewing entered the final week of the regular season as the 10th-ranked team in the South Jersey, Group 3 United Power Rankings.

Ewing not only clinched a spot in the playoffs with this win. The Blue Devils could potentially have a first-round home game.

“You saw the atmosphere tonight. It was electric. It’s hard to play here,” Hutchins said. “The people in the community are all in. The administration is all in. This is the new Ewing. This is how it’s going to be moving forward. I’m excited to be the head football coach here.”

The seedings for all public school brackets will be revealed on Sunday, after Saturday’s cutoff.

Hamilton West (5-3) is hoping it showed enough to earn a trip to the postseason. The Hornets entered the game ranked 14th in the South Jersey, Group 4 United Power Rankings.

Despite a strong showing from the passing game — Bressler finished with a career-high 289 passing yards — Hamilton couldn’t get going on the ground.

Nine second-half penalties didn’t help, but the Hornets had a chance to win the game at the end. Instead, they watched a once-in-a-lifetime play go against them and are left looking for answers.

“I’m proud of these guys. I love every one of them,” Hamilton head coach Mike Papero said. “They’re hurting right now because they care and they work so hard. I feel for them and feel for the coaches, because they’ve done everything we’ve asked.”

The Hornets now have to hold their breaths and wait to find out their postseason fate. Hamilton has not made the playoffs since 2019.

“Obviously, that was a quality opponent we just lost to, so we’re hoping that we can still make it,” Papero said. “These kids deserve it.”