Shawnee reign of success continues

It is a story of remarkable consistency, so it shouldn't be surprising that Shawnee's football team has yet to collect the uniforms.

The Renegades (10-1) will face Timber Creek (11-0) in the South Jersey Group 4 final at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. For the Renegades, it is their 10th sectional-final appearance in the last 20 years.

Considering Shawnee annually plays among the most difficult schedules in South Jersey, that is truly an amazing feat.

All this has come under Tim Gushue, a 1972 graduate of Shawnee who is in his 32d year as head coach.

To show how difficult it is to win a sectional title, Shawnee made its first appearance in 1995 and lost its first four championship games.

Yet the Renegades have won their last five, including last year's 31-22 victory over this same Timber Creek team.

"We are proud of our accomplishments, but a lot of our philosophy is that of [Alabama coach] Nick Saban and even Chip Kelly," Gushue said. "You hear those guys talk about the process, focus on the next play and what you have to do, and don't look at the scoreboard."

Gushue has gotten to know Kelly and even visited his staff a few times while Kelly was coaching at Oregon.

Just like the Kelly's Eagles, nobody on Shawnee should be bigger than the program.

And the biggest thing that Gushue and his staff have done is adapt and change with the times. The Renegades used to run a power-I offense. Then they used the wing-T.

Now, it's a spread offense.

"As far as our success, we have had great players who really buy into the system," Gushue said. "We have a lot of successful sports teams at our school, and everybody has set the bar high."

Yes, Shawnee has had many great players, and yet, it's not an assembly line for Division I prospects. Take, for instance, this year's team. One of the top players is senior linebacker Curtis Corley, who has 102 tackles and 12.5 sacks.

Corley is a Division I athlete, but he will attend Maryland on a lacrosse scholarship.

Corley, whose brother Mike played on Shawnee's sectional-title teams in 2007 and 2008, thinks the biggest reason for the program's success is the attention to detail.

"Even with tackling, every practice, Coach Gushue and the coaches go over some kind of tackling or blocking technique, no matter what," Corley said.

Since there is only so much the coaches can do, the seniors are expected to lead both on and off the field.

"We have 30 seniors on the team, and we have taken responsibility in showing the younger players how it is done and the tradition here," Corley said.

Shawnee doesn't have a secret formula. Most successful teams have great coaching, outstanding senior leaders, and talented athletes. It's just that the Renegades have kept this rolling for two decades against the highest of competition.

When a program enjoys such sustained success, it is sometimes taken for granted. Gushue never does that.

He appreciates how difficult it is to mold each group into a competitive unit.

What he also learned is that not every team is the same, and neither is every situation. The ability to adapt in these ever-changing times is just one reason that playing in December has become common at Shawnee.