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Sports

Chargers Overcome Pierce's Injury to Defeat Seneca

Running back Kevin Potter led the team with 65 yards rushing in relief of Pierce and quarterback Calvin Lowe threw three touchdown passes to improve Timber Creek to 7-0.

Friday night's game against Seneca was extra special for (7-0) running back Kevin Potter. It was breast cancer awareness night and his mother, who has been dealing with breast cancer, had the team dedicate the game toward her. Little did everyone know, it would be Potter himself who would be the main cog in leading the Chargers to victory.

After Charger running back Khalil Pierce left the game with an ankle sprain in he first quarter, Potter stepped in with his best game of the year, running for 65 yards and a touchdown in Timber Creek's 28-7 win over Seneca (3-5).

“He really came out and played hard for her,” said Timber Creek coach Rob Hinson. “The rest of team made sure they went out and kept him uplifted and he performed.”

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Potter's touchdown run came in the second quarter with the Chargers down 7-0. He took a carry around the right end and crossed over two Golden Eagle defenders with a couple of cut back moves to dance into the end zone. The score tied the game and gave Timber Creek a spark that had been lacking in the opening quarter.

Potter, along with fellow running backs Eric Church and Isaiah Austin, got extended playing time after Pierce sprained his ankle on his first carry of the game. Pierce suffered the injury after being tackled by a group of Seneca players and fumbling the ball.

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The injury looked worse than it actually was. Hinson opted to let Pierce rest for the remainder of the game. He said after the game that he would like to not use Pierce in next week's game against Highland and that Pierce should be good to go for the opening round of the playoffs in two weeks.

With the great job that the Chargers' run game did without Pierce, there was no need for him to play with an injured ankle. Timber Creek had nearly 200 yards on the ground. In addition to Potter's 65, quarterback Calvin Lowe ran for 52 yards and Church 39 yards on six carries. With all of the team's running backs similar in style, the transition from runner to runner was seamless.

“The only adjustment we had to make was to make up for what we knew that we were going to be missing,” said tackle . “So everybody had to get it together and start moving the ball more and start hustling more. All the runners are capable of running between and outside of the tackles. Everybody can do it all. That's what the coaches are teaching them in practice, to be versatile runners.”

The Chargers also threw a bit more without Pierce and took advantage of one-on-one matchups with their wide receivers. Lowe statistically had his best passing game of the season, throwing for 165 yards and three touchdowns. Most of those yards came on a 58-yard touchdown pass to Bryce Shade and a 75-yard touchdown to Andrew Brown where Lowe rolled out of the pocket and made an accurate 40-yard throw while on the run.

“That's what we need to do going forward against teams that put eight and nine guys in the box,” said Hinson. “So hopefully teams will keep packing them in on the inside and hopefully we can take advantage of some matchups like that.”

“All week in practice, we wanted to work on our passing game,” said Lowe. “Khalil going out was obviously a big loss to our offense but it just meant that the other guys around us had to step up more, including me and the receivers.”

The Chargers, who entered the week as the top-ranked team in South Jersey Group III, improved to 7-0. They are currently one of two unbeaten teams in their group, along with Hammonton. Entering the weekend, Timber Creek had 112 power points to Hammonton's 101, which lines them up for the top seed in the playoffs if they can defeat winless next week.

Despite being guaranteed at least the second seed in the postseason, Hinson said his team will be going full force into their game against their township rivals next week.

“I don't believe in resting starters and I don't believe in taking any opponents lightly,” he said. “We're going to go in and prepare the same way we prepare for everybody else.”

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