Bill Belton, once a Penn State standout RB, is putting alma mater Winslow Township on the map

There are certain athletes who come from your hometown who will always be remembered. Bill Belton is one of those names for the Sicklerville area.

Once a dual-threat quarterback at Winslow Township High School, Belton, who was the first player in state history to record two consecutive seasons of 2,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards, is considered one of the best football players from South Jersey.

Those who coached him knew he was special. Those who played against him haven’t forgotten it.

“We played Winslow against Timber Creek, that rivalry goes back many years,” said Myles Nash, a graduate of Timber Creek and former tight end at Rutgers. “The nature of the business is there are two teams in Sicklerville and only one can be the best.

“I knew Bill as the best player on the Winslow football team. He made plays that quarterbacks in high school really aren’t supposed to make.”

After receiving 30 scholarship offers from Division I programs, Belton chose Penn State, where he had a stellar four-year career as a running back. He set a program record for longest scoring play — a 92-yard touchdown run against Indiana in 2014 — and became the 41st Nittany Lion to surpass 1,000 career rushing yards during his junior campaign.

The next step Belton aspired to achieve was a professional career. However, he quickly realized it would be a difficult feat. In 2015, a year after playing at Penn State, Belton was cut from the New York Jets. He continued to look for opportunities elsewhere with an NFL team or in the Canadian Football League.

“You never know if your career is going to be over or if there’s another opportunity,” Belton said. “It was more so one of those things where I kept working my butt off, and then it ended up not working out.”

But as one chapter closes, another opens. Belton never envisioned getting into coaching, but now the second-year Winslow head coach has a new purpose and it’s “to help other people.”

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Belton wants to build a legacy that involves putting Winslow (4-1) on the map while elevating his players to the next level.

So far he has brought in former collegiate players to his staff, including Nash (defensive coordinator); former Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg (quarterbacks coach), who played in NFL including a preseason with the Eagles in 2018; and former Rutgers defensive lineman Quanzell Lambert (linebackers coach), a graduate of Timber Creek.

“I just want to build a place that I’m proud of,” Belton said. “Growing up here, you want to be proud of something, give back to a community that gave so much to you, so that’s ultimately what I want.”

Belton had a simple — but eye-opening — way of describing the transition when it was time to hang up the cleats:

“One day you’re playing in front of 80,000 fans, people see you on television, scoring touchdowns,” he said. “Then next thing you know you’re working at a T-Mobile store, trying to figure out life.”

Belton’s life was all about playing football, and when it suddenly wasn’t, he questioned who he was and what he would do next. He didn’t confide in anyone, nor did he watch football for a period of time.

“I kind of isolated myself,” Belton said. “Just went through the darkness alone. Kind of rolled with the ups and downs. You spend your whole life playing football, and that’s your identity to people in the area, then you’re looking at yourself and not knowing who you are.”

Eventually, Belton started talking to a therapist to release those emotions. He moved back to the area and worked on the side as a personal football trainer. Now, Belton works at Winslow Township Middle School as a youth development specialist.

Kenny Scott, a former defensive back at Towson, was once Belton’s position coach for the Eagles. When he discovered that Belton was looking for coaching opportunities after a stint at Timber Creek, he knew he had to bring Belton back to his alma mater.

In 2018, Scott landed the head coaching position at Winslow Township. Belton joined Scott’s team as an offensive coordinator, but before he earned that title, they had a two-hour conversation at a local restaurant.

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“He asked me what my vision was,” Scott said. “And I quizzed him up and down; he didn’t blink. Once those things aligned, we talked about the vision — how we can take Winslow to the next level and make Winslow a state power amongst all the schools in New Jersey. But it was really about the passion and the desire to leave a stamp on this community.”

Scott stepped down after the 2021 for personal reasons. In his final season, he helped the Eagles achieve a Group IV state title. When the school district started to interview candidates for the coaching position, Belton was a finalist and by the end of the process he was named head coach.

“He’s a Winslow alum, it means something,” Scott said. “He’s going to take that program to the heights of what I believe to be a national powerhouse. He has the roster, he has an elaborate coaching staff that has Power Five college talent, and that’s going to resonate with kids around Sicklerville.”

In Scott’s first year as head coach, the Eagles finished 4-6, and he said the program was at a low in terms of talent. When Belton took over, that started to change.

“Winslow has always been a hotbed for talent,” Scott said. “What I’ve seen is neighboring high schools within maybe 15 to 10 square miles of the school — private and public schools — coming into our community and taking our kids. Now you’re starting to see some success on the football field, because you have college-quality coaches that have played the game, coming back and paying it forward.”

Belton and his staff have implemented workouts and routines that are similar to what they did in college. Outside of teaching them the X’s and O’s of the game, the staff shows players weightlifting techniques and training specific muscle groups in their bodies to prevent injuries.

And in terms of the roster, Winslow Township has a handful of Division I recruits, including senior receiver/defensive back Jaylan Hornsby (committed to Texas A&M), junior receiver/defensive back Cameron Miller (with offers from Ohio State and Georgia), and freshman edge rusher Ausar Heard (offers from Georgia and Penn State).

“We want to be one of the best schools in South Jersey,” Nash said. “We’re trying to put Winslow back on the map. Every college coach that’s coming to New Jersey, we’re trying to make Winslow a priority stop. And the only way we’re going to do that is by winning games and continuing to develop our kids.”

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Last season, the Eagles finished 6-4 and made a state semifinal appearance. This year, the team has made a statement on the field with an upset win against Delsea of Franklinville and one regular-season loss against Cherokee (22-19). Next up, Winslow Township will take on Ocean City on Friday at 6 p.m.

When Belton looks back on the journey that landed him at his old stomping ground, it’s nostalgic. He reminds his team, though, that “You only get one shot at it, so be where your feet are, and just enjoy the moment.

“We have some special talent here,” he added. “The biggest thing is staying healthy and playing as a team. If we’re able to do that, then there’s no telling how far we can go.”