WJFL preview: Freedom Division Players to Watch, predictions

The Freedom Division should be another interesting race for the title in the West Jersey Football League.

All six teams appear to be evenly matched and most have the ability to make a run at the title.

Vineland made significant strides during its first season under head coach Jose Guzman. The Fighting Clan strung together four straight wins, including victories over Pennsauken and Eastern by a combined five points and a triumph over playoff qualifier Atlantic City.

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Eastern and Cherry Hill West will look to throw their names into the running as both teams return their quarterbacks.

Pennsauken lost a couple key pieces to graduation and transfer, but Code Red always possesses enough skill to make a difference.

Highland will enter a season with a new coach for the first time in a decade and must replace most of the skill positions left by graduation.

Clearview’s win total improved by two victories last fall over the previous season. One of those wins was a 17-13 triumph over Vineland. A more competitive schedule will give the Pioneers an opportunity to keep the upward trend going.

Mark the Calendar

Vineland at Eastern, Sept. 13, 6 p.m. A win in this Friday the 13 ^th matchup will be anything but bad luck since it could be a deciding factor in the race for the title. Vineland won a 21-19 in the consolation round of the postseason last fall.

Players to Watch

Cherry Hill West : Hayden Baker, junior, QB; Asa McMillan, senior, LB

Clearview: Sean Ralph, senior, RB/DB; Anthony Salerno, senior, RB/LB

Eastern: Terry Cook, sophomore, WR/DB; Logan Dawson, senior, QB

Highland: Eli Thompson, senior, OL/DL

Pennsauken: Giovanni Da Silva, senior, G/DT; Nazyr Negron, sophomore, QB; Jayden Polk, senior, WR/CB

Vineland: Mason Afanador, senior, WR/S; Noah Cruz, senior, LB; Zha’vian Diaz, senior, WR/CB

New Coach

Sean Daniels takes over the helm at Highland after Brian Leary led the program to 55 victories over his nine seasons.

Predicted order of finish:

1. Vineland
2. Eastern
3. Cherry Hill West
4. Pennsauken
5. Clearview
6. Highland

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: WJFL preview: Freedom Division Players to Watch, predictions