2022 New Jersey Football Team Preview: Audubon Green Wave
The Audubon Green Wave had a very successful year for the first time in awhile. They went 8-2 with their two losses coming to Camden Catholic in Week 4 and Salem in the sectional semifinal round.
Leading the way was then Junior QB Scott Lynch fresh off of his outstanding Sophomore campaign in Florida at North Shore Christian Academy where he played under former NFL running back, Mike Alstott. Lynch threw for 2,002 yards and 25 TDs to go along with 7 INTs. At the running back position, Junior Luke Hoke is filling in for Derrick Bryant who transferred to Willingboro. Hoke was used as a utility skill player taking 47 carries for 418 yards and 6 TDs. He also hauled in 36 catches for 643 yards and 8 TDs. Senior Billy Lindemuth will step into the WR1 role this year with Hoke heading to the backfield. Lindemuth had 32 catches for 620 yards and 7 TDs. Audubon also gets back another WR in Zach Beebe who had 10 catches for 207 yards and 3 TDs. Lynch’s security blanket at TE also returns. Charlie Grady looks to build onto a solid career after having a career year in his Junior season. Grady had 19 catches for 249 yards and 4 TDs. For a level of football that rarely utilizes the TE position, Grady’s numbers are very solid in a spread offense.
The Green Wave only return 2/5 of their starting offensive line but head coach Dan Reed doesn’t have much worry about the players filling in the open spots. “Our offensive line and defensive line are where we lost guys the most. Those are our two biggest question marks right now. We lost all 4 of our starting defensive linemen along with 3 offensive lineman. We do have guys that were on the team last year that played JV so they know the playbook and are familiar with the team. We also have some freshmen and transfers who have really excited us so far that we’re looking forward to seeing them play. It’s only the first day of training camp so we’re shaking the rust off and going to iron out any wrinkles we see”. Besides the defensive line Audubon returns pretty much every contributor from last year’s team.
The expectations are high this year for the Green Wave as last year they made it to the sectional semifinal last season but ran into the Regional Group 1 champion, Salem. Junior Luke Hoke feels confident in his team’s ability being that the team has a lot of experience returning on both sides of the ball. Hoke went on to say “Last year was super fun but we just couldn’t get past Salem. But coming back this year where everyone is older and has a chip on their shoulder I think we’ll be poised to make a deep playoff run again”. Coach Reed reiterated Hoke’s point of “playing with a chip on their shoulder” coming into this season. “My expectations for this year is to play competitively and have the mindset of going 1-0 every week. Regardless of who we’re playing we’re going to treat every team the same and go out and play football. We have to have the mindset of attacking every team at the same level and not looking past anyone”. Audubon opens up their season on the road against Maple Shade for a 6PM kickoff on Thursday, September 1st.
Chris Baker from NJ Athletics. You can reach Chris on Twitter (@cbaker_nj) or you can reach him by email (cbake2025@gmail.com). Be sure to check out NJ Athletics on Instagram (@NJAthletics) and on Twitter (@nj_athletics)