Burroughs, Atlantic City earn first banner since 99 with win over Millville

ATLANTIC CITY — A year ago on this field, the Atlantic City High School football team wanted it so badly. The Vikings ached to bring their school its first sectional title since 1999. They forced the issue too much. They chased the game. They fell to Kingsway by 17.Now, the drought is dead.Thanks to a roster full of guys who matured after that tough loss and a sluggish start to this campaign, Atlantic City found its way back to the top here on Friday night. The Vikings (8-3) claimed the Central Jersey Group 4 title by virtue of a 35-14 rout of Millville (6-5).“We just want it more,” junior quarterback Marvin Burroughs said. “Last year we felt like we had it more with all the seniors and all the offers we had, this year I feel like we have a way hungrier team.“… We are way more experienced and playoff experienced, especially stepping up our competition. If I played out how I played last year, it would have been way worse. Just taking what they’re giving, not trying to force anything.”Atlantic City showed its poise on the first touchdown drive of the game. The Vikings converted on 3rd-and-7, 3rd-and-3 and they scored when Burroughs hit Kenai Austin for a 25-yard strike up the seam on 4th-and-17.That made it 7-0 late in the opening quarter. The score stayed there to intermission. Just before the break however, the game took a major turn when Thunderbolts do-it-all star Reggie Holley left the game with what appeared a shoulder injury.Holley, who’d been the offensive catalyst through extensive Wildcat packages, did not return to the game.Once the second snap of the third quarter occurred, Ahmad Chambers took a handoff and raced 65 yards for six. At 14-0, all the patience for AC started to pay out.Burroughs found Austin again for a 23-yard score to make it 21-0 late in the third and the final totals were all that remained left to decide.That and which big orange Gatorade jug was to be emptied on coach Keenan Wright.“Our kids don’t get too up, they don’t get too down,” Wright said. “Last year, I thought we were pressing a little bit and we didn’t have to“… That was kind of like our theme this week, ‘Hey listen, we don’t have to make the big play, it’s going to come. Eventually it did.”4TH AND 17?NO PROBLEM!MARVIN BURROUGHS HITS KENAI AUSTIN FOR A 25-YARD SCORE!ATLANTIC CITY 7MILLVILLE 047 SECONDS LEFT 1QCENTRAL JERSEY GROUP 4 FINAL pic.twitter.com/xwYzOJhZem— Mark Trible (@Mtrible) November 13, 2026Or, in other words to Wright — course management. The avid golfer explained it in those terms as the wind whipped through the night — British Open-esque.“I don’t have to hit driver, I can just put it in the fairway, take my 5-iron and just put it out there,” Wright said. “Not my 4, my 5. Depending on the hole, this is where I’ll probably use a 3-wood.”He’s got clubs with all types of uses on this team. Don’Taye Thompson, one of South Jersey’s most talented players, grabbed two late touchdown catches. Austin, underappreciated outside of campus but definitely not within, proved himself a force. Chambers kept everything on time. Burroughs, made the throws.The defense teed off.So will Wright on Sunday at Seaview’s Bay Course. When he walks the course, that’s his meditation — no matter the season. However, the 7 handicap admitted this weekend’s round may be awkward for a few holes.One of his regular playing partners is a lifelong friend. It just so happens to be Winslow Township first-year coach Jamal White. White’s Eagles topped Shawnee in the South Jersey Group 4 final on Friday, 26-23.Two-time defending state champ Winslow (8-3) will host the Vikings next week with a ticket to the state championship on the line.They met earlier in the season, a wild 36-30 victory that Wright’s bunch needed to pull its season together. They entered 1-3 with tight losses to Shabazz, St. Augustine and Washington Township.“Every year is a different team,” Wright explained. “I think this team kind of felt we were 10-2 from the previous season.My Hat's Off to Atlantic City junior quarterback Marvin Burroughs!He threw four touchdown passes as the Vikings rolled past Millville in the Central Jersey Group 4 final, 35-14!It is AC's first sectional title since 1999! pic.twitter.com/3HogjyKiRT— Mark Trible (@Mtrible) November 14, 2026“In their minds, it was like ‘Oh yeah, it’s just going to happen like last year.’”A 29-point outburst in the second quarter paved the way for Atlantic City. It hasn’t lost since.Credit Wright, the Blackwood native who took to a once-proud program that had long suffered in the doldrums before he arrived. He created a culture of accountability. It shows in how assistant coach Buddy Mancuso makes sure the team does pushups for each point it lets up after the game — win or lose.Senior defensive tackle Anas Newsome admitted they were the best 14 pushups he’d ever done in his life.Then, he spoke about the man who helped bring this once-proud program back to glory.“He leads by example, he does everything with us,” Newsome said of Wright. “He lifts with us, he works with us, he runs with us, he’s like one of us.“… We put the work in and everything came out tonight and we dominated.”Where those the best 14 pushups he’d ever done?“Yes sir,” Newsome said his wide smile.In 2025, the pushups came accompanied with tears and silence, yells of frustration and disappointment. It felt almost as far away as 1999 on this blustery night when the team mobbed its leader after No. 14.They let the game come to them and the trophy came too. Fairway finder. Right down the middle.Mark Trible is a freelance reporter for the Courier-Post. He can be reached by email at cpvarsity@gmail.comThis article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Burroughs, Atlantic City earn first banner since 99 with win over Millville