Eagles Football Faces Unknown in Overbrook

Blowouts have been frequent this season for the West Deptford High School football team, but at least they have come against teams bringing out their full varsity roster.

That won’t be the case Saturday at 2 p.m.

The Eagles travel to face what is basically a junior-varsity Overbrook squad, after the program dismissed 24 members from its varsity team last week.

The situation is hardly ideal for West Deptford, which will open Group 2 playoff action next week. At 2-5, the Rams were unlikely to give the Eagles much of a challenge even at full capacity. Now, Saturday’s contest will serve as little more than a scrimmage with West Deptford head coach Clyde Folsom likely to get his starters out of the game by the second quarter.

“Our goal is to get better each day,” Folsom said in diplomatic fashion. “When we line up on Friday or Saturday, it is just a test to see how much we improved during the week. It doesn’t matter who we are playing. Obviously, we want to come out, play well and establish tempo. If we get up on them, then we will make decisions from that point on regarding what we are going to do.”

Senior lineman Jamil Pollard stressed the importance of having a good week of practice to make sure the Eagles are heading into the playoffs with the right mindset, regardless of what players Overbrook shows up with on Saturday.

“Right now, we are pushing to improve each other,” said Pollard. “We are not pushing to beat Overbrook, we are pushing to be a championship team.”

Last Thursday, 24 Overbrook players were suspended for the remainder of the season after putting together a protest in defense of one of their teammates. Days earlier, a player had been kicked off the team after openly criticizing the coaching staff with inappropriate language.

In an attempt to convince the coaching staff to allow the player back on the team, 24 players were unified in not attending last Wednesday’s practice and planned to hold a sit-in.

As the players sat in the locker room, head coach Wade Inge reportedly told them they had 10 minutes to dress and or put their equipment in a bucket and no longer be a part of the team.

The issue was not resolved, and the following day the players were brought into a meeting with Superintendent Kenneth Koczur, principal Paul Harmelin, Inge and the coaching staff, and were told that they were being suspended for the remainder of the season.

Overbrook forfeited last weekend’s game with Haddonfield, citing the need to get the rest of the roster filled out.

With the forfeit victory, Haddonfield remained the No. 1 seed in the NJSIAA power points, with West Deptford just behind. Both teams are a lock to host a first-round playoff game.

Editor's note: Due to the unprecedented nature of Overbrook’s situation, there will not be a football forecast this week.