HADDON TWP. – Austin Bailey and the rest of the seniors on the Paul VI High School football team don’t know what it feels like to lose to rival Camden Catholic.
And they never will.
The Eagles’ senior class completed the sweep with a 42-16 victory over the Irish before a huge crowd at Major Timothy M. Curry Field and even more listening to the game broadcast on SportsRadio 94.1WIP-FM on Thanksgiving Eve.
“It’s the biggest game we play all season,” said Bailey, a Sicklerville native who recently committed to Wagner University. “It doesn’t matter if we are 9-0 or 0-9, this is the game you have to win.
“Being a part of this, four years with all my brothers, I couldn’t ask for anything more than to go out with a win like this one.”
Senior Jaylen Bishop added, “To finish it with some of the guys I grew up with and played football my whole life, it means everything. We had a lot of ups and a lot of downs (this season). We just kept fighting through it all.”
Paul VI has won five straight in the series, trimming Camden Catholic’s series lead to 32-25-1, going back to 1968. It’s also one of just eight remaining rival games played around the holiday in South Jersey.
The Eagles’ senior class has become a cornerstone of the program’s rebuild. The team has gone 31-11 over the last four seasons, including an 8-3 mark this fall.
“I’m not sad it’s over, I’m just glad I was part of the beginning (of something special),” said senior Mounir Keshen, a Burlington Township native who is headed to Monmouth. “It hits you when that clock hits zeroes, but I was glad to be a part of it.”
That’s why along with many of the team’s seniors, head coach Dennis Scuderi was also emotional after the game.
“This senior class is really special to me,” Scuderi said. “They were the first class we brought in and a lot of these kids are four-year starters. They are more than football players, they are like my kids, they are like family, like my sons.
“I don’t know how I go next year and not see their faces. They really helped us to build the program here. Now, the younger kids have to keep it going.”
Scuderi, who has coached on both sides of the rivalry, said he was happy that the two teams still play around the holiday.
“This is like Army-Navy, they are five minutes away,” Scuderi said. “It’s a great rivalry.”
In good hands
While Paul VI will say goodbye to the seniors, the Eagles will have plenty of standout players returning next year, including current sophomores Nate Klecko and Anthony Jackson. The tandem are both two-year starters and major disruptors at defensive end.
Klecko has also emerged as a punishing running back. He ran 16 times for 141 yards and two touchdowns against the Irish. For the season, Klecko had over 800 rushing yards and nine TDs.
Game notes
Camden Catholic jumped to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter on a quarterback sneak TD by Michael Moritz and a 39-yard field goal from Matthew Kilic.
Paul VI scored 35 straight points, including a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to start the second half by Bailey.
“I called it right out of the locker room,” Bailey said. “I said one of these, I’m going to break it. Sophomore year, we played them here and I almost broke one. I had to get one.”
Bailey also had a clutch catch to set up Paul VI’s second TD of the game in the first half
Tyree Roane and Elijah Wilson also ran for touchdowns while Jake Andrewlevich scooped up a fumble off a Bishop interception and ran it in for a TD for Paul VI.
After going 4-15 combined in its previous two seasons, Camden Catholic capped this campaign with a 9-2 record. It’s the most wins for the Irish since the team went 9-1 in 2016.
Camden Catholic’s Terence Barnes had an incredible interception in the end zone while Nymir Daily closed out the scoring with a TD run in the fourth quarter.
WIP broadcast its Turkey Bowl VI from the game. Morning show hosts Joe Decamara and Jon Ritchie handled the play-by-play duties while Howard Eskin and Devan Kaney filed reports from the sidelines. Former Philadelphia Eagles and current hosts Ike Reese and Hugh Douglas were honorary captains for Paul VI and Camden Catholic, respectively.
The radio station also donated $3,000 to each school in a postgame ceremony.
Tom McGurk is a regional sports editor for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for over 35 years. If you have a sports story that needs to be told, contact him by email tmcgurk@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @McGurkSports. Help support local journalism with a digital subscription.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: PauI VI extends winning streak to five over its rival Camden Catholic.
