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Sports

New Arrival Gives Timber Creek Football Huge Boost

Transfer junior Greg Webb gives Timber Creek a big force on the defensive line, joining senior linebacker Quanzell Lambert to create a powerful one-two punch.

In the 2010 season, football's defense allowed more than 24 points per game, at times offsetting a solid performance from the offense and leading to a 5-5 record one year after the Chargers went to the South Jersey Group 3 championship game.

This season, Timber Creek has a new weapon on the defensive front that could help them return to the top of Group 3.

Junior defensive tackle Greg Webb, who played the last two seasons for Paul VI High School, where he led the Eagles in tackles and was second in sacks last season, has transferred to Timber Creek and should give their defense an incredible boost in 2011.

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“Last year we had kids that really played hard and gave us everything they had,” said Timber Creek head coach Rob Hinson. “With that being said, one was maybe 170 pounds, another was maybe 190 pounds. So it's a big difference when you have a kid giving everything he has who's 170 versus a kid that gives everything he has who's 300.”

Webb had a team-high 54 tackles and made 5.5 sacks for Paul VI last season as the Eagles finished the year 8-2. He has proven to be a versatile athlete, able to beat interior offensive lineman and get to the quarterback on passing plays as well as clogging up running lanes against opposing rushers.

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Despite his success at Paul VI, Webb wasn't totally happy attending the school and after transferring and throwing shot put and discus for the track team in the spring, he feels fully apart of the Timber Creek family.

“I feel more comfortable,” said Webb. “I feel more acclimated to Timber Creek as a school and everything. It's more like a family. I just didn't feel as welcomed at Paul VI. It just really wasn't for me. I was searching for something else. Like Paul VI, we had good teams, we had a good product every year. But I think that was all it was about. It wasn't about being close to each other, it was just about football.”

Webb joins senior linebacker Quanzell Lambert, who was Timber Creek's top player on defense last season. Lambert had 112 tackles and eight sacks last season and could be even more dangerous now that offenses have two big-name players to worry about on the Chargers' front seven.

“When you have Quanzell behind him, you can balance things out between those two guys,” said Hinson. “So it's big to get a little more beef on the D-line.”

“He's definitely a great kid and a great athlete,” said Lambert. “He's going to be a big problem for offenses this year.”

The Chargers will look different on the offensive side of the ball as well. Star speedster Damiere Byrd graduated, as did both of the Chargers' starting wideouts, Dan Bednarik and Tyler Krusch. This puts the offense on the back of senior quarterback Calvin Lowe, who emerged as a dual-threat last season. Lowe threw for 1,210 yards last season, tossing 11 touchdowns and just 3 interceptions. On the ground, he ran for 350 yards on the year.

“Calvin is going to have to be an even bigger part,” said Hinson. “He's run a 4.5 consistently now. He went 80 yards against Clearview and no one could really run with him. We're going to rely on him a little more in the running game.”

The Chargers will look to spread the ball around more this season with Byrd gone. Hinson said that team hopes to give numerous guys, which include Kevin Potter, Khalil Pierce and Bill Burton, more touches this year and rotating backs and receivers in and out throughout the game.

“When we had Byrd, he was, in my opinion, the most dangerous kid in South Jersey,” Hinson said. “Now we have guys who are not as dangerous as he was, but more guys who are dangerous.”

As the leader of the offense, Lowe will be working with a lot of new receivers and running backs this season. With the likely pressure that defenses will key on him combined with guiding the younger players on the team, there will be a lot of eyes on Lowe to see how he performs.

“Now it comes down to me putting the ball in the right places and leading my young receivers and showing them how to do things,” said Lowe.

With a stronger front seven defensively and a big-name playmaker at quarterback, Timber Creek could be a team to watch out for in the West Jersey Football League's Royal Division. They will open the season with two divisional home games. First, they will play Cumberland Regional High School on Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. The following week, they will meet defending division champion and perhaps their toughest opponent of the season, Delsea, on Sept. 16 at 7 p.m.

A full schedule for Timber Creek's 2011 season can be found here.

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