Roman Coney Runs for 248 Yards and 5 TDs as St. Augustine Certifies the Bill Belton Era

This one came with more backstory than most regular season matchups. Bill Belton, who led Winslow Township to a state title before departing for St. Augustine this summer, was watching from the coaches box on Saturday night — sidelined with an injury but very much present for a meeting that carried plenty of weight on both sides. A handful of players followed Belton out of Winslow when he left, which sent ripples through the program and left plenty of doubters wondering if the Eagles could sustain without him. Winslow answered some of those questions last week by snapping Glassboro's 29-game winning streak. They came to St. Augustine looking to make another statement.

Roman Coney had other plans.

The St. Augustine running back was virtually unstoppable from start to finish, carrying 28 times for 248 yards and five touchdowns in a 42–14 Hermits win. He did it with power, with patience, and with the kind of burst that makes defensive coordinators run out of answers. His 70-yard touchdown run in the second quarter was the moment the game turned — Winslow had just pulled within seven at 14-7, and Coney took the very next carry the length of the field to flip the momentum entirely. He never gave it back.

Winslow actually started well. Trey Alexander punched in a five-yard run on the first possession to put the Eagles up 7-0, and for a brief stretch it looked like the underdog energy they brought in from the Glassboro win might carry over. Javon Thompson found Jayion Moss for a seven-yard score to make it 14-7 in the second quarter, keeping the game within one possession. But Coney's explosion run immediately answered, and by the end of the second quarter St. Augustine had scored 21 unanswered points to take a 28-14 lead into halftime. The Hermits added a Coney touchdown in the third and another in the fourth to finish the job.

St. Augustine's offense barely needed to throw the ball. Dylan Dellanoce completed two of six passes for 40 yards with a touchdown to Zehkiy DeJesus in the first quarter, and that was really all the passing attack was asked to do. The Hermits ran 38 times for 315 yards as a team and simply wore Winslow down. Coney's five touchdowns came in every quarter of the game, a consistent reminder that this ground attack has no off switch.

Winslow's three interceptions on the afternoon made it difficult to generate anything sustained offensively. Thompson finished 10-of-25 for 77 yards, and while the Eagles showed some fight early, the turnover margin and the inability to slow Coney ultimately decided this one well before the final whistle.

For St. Augustine, this win does more than just improve them to 4-0. It signals where this program is headed under its new staff. Belton, still pulling for some of his former players in green, helped build something at Winslow worth respecting and the Eagles aren't done proving that. But Saturday night belonged to the Hermits, and Roman Coney made sure of it.