TIChris Melchiorre, For The Inquirer
Posted: Saturday, October 26, 2013, 1:07 AMJustice Davila's first reaction was to chuckle.
The Timber Creek senior was thinking the obvious.
"Nope," he said, "definitely not the final score we were expecting. But we'll take the win."
In a matchup featuring some of the area's most highly touted big-play threats, a shootout was all but assumed in Friday night's matchup of Timber Creek, ranked No. 3 in South Jersey by The Inquirer, and No. 15 Paul VI.
"But this is why you play the game," Davila said after his Chargers walked away an 8-7 winner on the road in a critical West Jersey Football League Constitution Division matchup.
The team's top players neutralized each other through most of the game.
Davila, a defensive back, held 6-foot-4, 205-pound junior receiver Irvin Charles to three catches for eight yards. Charles entered the game with 422 receiving yards.
But Charles, who doesn't usually play entire games on defense, did an admirable job defending Timber Creek's 6-3 receiver Cameron Chambers, who entered with 602 receiving yards but was held to one catch for 11 yards.
Timber Creek's Rutgers recruit, 6-3 Adonis Jennings, was also relatively quiet. The senior receiver entered the game with 706 receiving yards but finished this one with just seven catches for 55 yards.
He did score his team's only touchdown on a 15-yard grab over the middle with 3 minutes, 43 seconds left in the first half. Shocking to most, those were the last points scored in the game.
"It was a tough game," said Timber Creek coach Rob Hinson, whose team improved to 6-1 overall, 3-0 in the division. "Both teams have explosive offenses, and we basically neutralized each other. I have to give our defense credit.
"We just kept preaching not giving up big plays."
The Eagles (4-2, 1-2) scored their only points on the game's opening drive, which ended with a Lonnie Moore 2-yard run.
Paul VI continued to move the ball relatively well for most of the game but was hurt by two costly second-half turnovers, including a fumble on the Timber Creek 12-yard line in the third quarter.
Fitting of the three quarters that preceded it, Timber Creek essentially iced the game with a 17-play, fourth-quarter drive that ate up more than nine minutes.
"We didn't want their receivers to beat us, and they didn't," Paul VI coach John Doherty said. "The loss hurts, but we lost to a great football team."
Timber Creek 0 8 0 0 – 8
Paul VI 7 0 0 0 – 7
PVI: Lonnie Moore 2 run (Gavin Sentak kick)
TC: Safety
TC: Adonis Jennings 15 pass from Dan Williams (pass failed)
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/high_school/new_jersey/20131026_Timber_Creek_edges_Paul_VI.html#V8wtYLs4w4zmfcpK.99
