The Cinnaminson Pirates have gotten off to a fast start this season, entering their final regular season game with a 6-1 record.

Going into the season Coach Patrizi had to replace 13 seniors including a three-year starting quarterback in Nick Thevanayagam but also realized that even though, “We lost a lot of seniors, the kids have stuck together they worked hard in the off season and its paying off. They’re [underclassmen] stepping up big time.”

The biggest challenge this season was showing that getting the younger players CHS was using to build up the leadership and confidence to take charge of the team. Senior lineman Sean Christian views the team’s biggest success this season as coming, “together and proving all the doubters wrong. We [didn’t get a lot of] publicity for this year because we were supposed to be an afterthought because of all the seniors we lost, but clearly that isn’t true.”

The team has dominated most of their opponents thus far this year, averaging almost 33 points per game and holding the lead for each game at halftime.  The only game the Pirates lost this year, a 34-33 nail-biter to Holy Cross, looked like a blowout after CHS held a 21-0 halftime edge.  The only other time that CHS has even trailed this year, was after Hamilton West took a 9-7 lead in the third quarter against the Pirates before Cinnaminson came back to win 15-9.

The one other close game that the Pirates had this year, a 23-16 victory over Willingboro, came after a 16-0 lead over the Chimeras at halftime.  While CHS allowed a deceiving Willingboro back into the game,  they ultimately had the firepower to hold off a game Willingboro squad.

“We have freshmen, sophomores, and juniors doing a great job for us and the seniors we have this year are great, their leadership has been great.” Patrizi pointed out.

Senior captain Paul Silver also agrees that, “When we lost our seniors from last year, everyone doubted us. But our team is resilient. For every star we lost, another one stepped up.”

One of the underclassmen that has really stepped up is Junior Shaun Davilla, who has moved to quarterback after a sophomore season spent as the main receiving weapon for Thevanayagam. Filling the starting quarterback position of a player that had it locked down for three years, but Davilla seems to be filling the spot quite nicely,  and has developed a relationship with first-year senior wide receiver Devon Taylor that has resulted in Taylor being among the county leaders with seven touchdown receptions.

“(Shaun) knows our offense a lot better than I even anticipated because he’s never played quarterback [but] he’s picked up the offense and has been doing a great job with it,” Patrizi shared.

Taylor agrees with Patrizi that although he lacks the experience and the height of your average quarterback, “He has a killer instinct in him that makes him a great player to play with.”

A new quarterback is not the only thing that has been different about this year. Along with an influx of new players, there is also a change in the coaching staff as alumnus Dan Ennis has joined the coaching staff this season.

Adapting with these changes, the common core goal of Cinnaminson High School Football hasn’t changed.

However, this week, the goal is a mighty one – to take down undefeated, 7-0 Pemberton.  The game was moved to 1 p.m. on Friday afternoon of Teacher’s Convention weekend and will be a stern test for CHS.  Pemberton has played a schedule similar to CHS and is outscoring their opponents by an average of 33-8, very similar to CHS and their 32.9-16 score.  Outside of one bad half of football, CHS looks to be very even with Pemberton with big receiving and running weapons.

“The common goal: to be the best we can be,” Patrizi stated. Looking ahead to the final regulation game against Pemberton, he thinks that, “It will be a good game. Pemberton has 15 seniors starting right now, this was supposed to be ‘their year’ but we’re gonna do our thing. We’re gonna do what we do best.” A win against Pemberton will clinch the Pirates the division title.

Every player on the team is ready for their game against Pemberton, and the seniors on the team are ready for one of their last games in pirate pads.

Even sophomore Kevin Shoch has felt the urgency of the games, “at this point in the season it is all or nothing.” He claims that the intensity of the games have helped to bring the versatile team together.

The bond that the team has goes outside of the locker room, and the field which helps to bring the team together as a family during games.

The success of the defense can be seen in games such as Robinsville, Bordentown, and Burlington City as they all ended in shutouts and a pirate victory.

Taking note of the power of the offense, sophomore Frank Steponowski described how, “Our team has a substantial amount of depth and we can score so many different ways, with touchdowns scored by Shaun Davilla, Devon Taylor, Mike McAndrews, Paul Silver, myself, Rashad Raymond, Kevin Schoch, and others. It makes it tough for other teams to contain us.”

However, no matter the team or score, “in football, each team and each game is important,” stated Patrizi.

Going into the game Davilla feels confident, and plans, “on playing Cinnaminson football, keeping our momentum going, and making Pemberton worry about us.”

No matter how the game against Pemberton goes, or the playoffs, the Pirates can still look at the box score and see their positive record. Looking to next year, Steponowski believes that, “The team will be very successful. Whereas we will be losing most of our line and some very talented seniors, Cinnaminson football, and the coaching staff, as always, will find a way to win.”