MT. HOLLY – Eddie Yarngo jumped at the chance to be the teacher.
After a wild 42-21 victory over Shawnee on Senior Day, Yarngo busted out the dance moves, showing defensive coordinator Mike Wallace how it’s done as the Rancocas Valley football team celebrated another win on Saturday afternoon.
The senior defensive back showed off his football moves with a pivotal pick-6 in the fourth quarter. The play earned him the defensive game ball and gave him the chance to help Wallace learn the latest dance craze as the squad broke the post-game huddle.
“Trip Out, it’s the new TikTok dance,” Yarngo said.
There’s been plenty of reasons for the Red Devils to dance these days. Since losing the season opener, the team has won three straight and will begin preparation for another huge West Jersey Football League Colonial Division game, against Camden, coming up on Friday.
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With Rancocas Valley clinging to a 28-21 lead and Shawnee driving deep in Red Devil territory in the fourth quarter, Yarngo changed the momentum when he jumped a route and returned an interception 75 yards for a score.
“It being Senior (Day) for everybody, I’m a senior too and it felt great to have my dad up there (in the stands) and to catch that pick-6 for a touchdown,” Yarngo said. “Watching film, I was all ready for the hitch play and that’s what he does. I knew he was going to throw the ball to the hitch, I was playing a little off, and once I saw the ball I went for it and went for the six.”
Yarngo, a two-year starter, had come close to picking off a pass each of the previous three weeks.
“We’ve been kinda on him, so for him to actually house one, it’s just great,” Rancocas Valley head coach Garrett Lucas said. “It was a huge play. Eddie is such a unique individual.”
Rancocas Valley’s freshman phenom
It’s not easy for a freshman to break into the varsity lineup when playing for Lucas.
When he was a head coach at Delran, Lucas said star defensive end/wide receiver Kenny Fletcher never suited up as a freshman. Now, he’s the starting tight end at Rutgers.
So, it’s a bit of a surprise that 6-foot-3, 185-pound Michael Beasley is a starting defensive lineman for the Red Devils. That is until you see him play.
Beasley has been a constant disruptor for the RV defense and racked up his fourth sack in four games.
“Michael’s maturity level and the way he studies, I’ve never had a player like him,” Lucas said. “He’s up with me at 7:30, 8 in the morning for a tutorial. We’ll go through practice from the day before or little things to work on.”
RV’s defense was without starting linebacker Aiden Kitts, but Wallace got enough production from his defensive corps, including a fumble recovery by Aaron Bright and three inceptions, including picks by Montre Wilson and Devin Duana.
Lucas considers Wallace to be a hidden gem in the South Jersey coaching ranks. Wallace has been coaching since 1981 when he started at Cinnaminson and worked with Lucas at Delran.
“He’s been my right-hand man,” Lucas said.
Game notes
Rancocas Valley quarterback Sayvien Adams threw for two scores as the Red Devils took a 21-0 lead in the first half and ran for two more scores in the fourth quarter, including one on a nifty 65-yard journey to the end zone.
“He’s savvy, quick,” Shawnee head coach Tim Gushue said about Adams. “I don’t know how fast he is, but he looked fast.”
Rancocas Valley watched a 21-point lead sliced to 21-13 in the fourth quarter before Yarngo’s big pick.
“Lots of ups and downs in this game,” Adams said. “It shows that we’re not going to back down. We got hit in the mouth, we fired right back. We don’t back down.”
Lucas added, “Every football game is expected to be a roller coaster. Year One, we would not have been able to handle this situation. I’m proud of our seniors and captains (Brody Deiter, Wilson, Adams and Duana).”
Gushue said he was proud of how his team battled back, but “at the end of the day, you can’t start the game like that (mistakes that resulted in a 21-0 hole).”
However, Shawnee certainly didn’t have to look far for a silver lining.
Freshman Cole Anderson made his first start at quarterback and put together a really strong showing. The workhorse rushed 30 times for 210 yards and three touchdowns.
“You’ll see him in the spring too,” Gushue said, talking up Anderson’s ability on the baseball diamond.
Gushue is quite familiar with the Anderson family. Cole’s father, Brian, is the head baseball coach at Shawnee and was a running back for Gushue during his playing days in the early 1980s. Gushue also taught Cole’s mother, Jen, at Shawnee while his wife and youngest daughter were sitters for the younger Anderson kids growing up.
Shawnee (2-2), losers of two straight, will try to get back on track when it hosts crosstown rival Lenape on Friday.
Tom McGurk is a regional sports reporter for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for over 30 years. If you have a sports story that needs to be told, contact him at (856) 486-2420 or 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: Rancocas Valley football wins third straight with victory over Shawnee
