Clearview Regional High School football team is back on top.
On October 23, the Pioneers took home their first West Jersey Football League Royal Division title since 2019. They scored the title with a 43-7 victory against the Holy Cross Preparatory Academy Lancers.
While the entire team showed up and put in work for the big win, a few standout performances came from junior Landon Schlegel, sophomores Rob Seney, Antonio Green, Luke Landis and Bently Riggs and freshman James Grunwald.
Head Coach Mike Wilson, who started his role last season with an almost entirely new coaching staff, said this win has “been a year in the making.”
“We took our lumps last year. We were playing a lot of freshmen last year,” he said. “Then (we had) a good off-season with a lot of weightlifting, good summer (2026) work, good buy-in from the kids…We took a lot of losses last year and a lot of learning. The kids have really worked hard, and it’s paid off.”
The payoff? Winning eight regular season games, winning the division title and earning a place in the South Jersey Group 4 Playoffs, marking it as the Pioneers’ first playoff berth since 2021.
While the coaching comes from Wilson and his staff, he said the hard work and success is due to the teamwork and efforts of the entire team.
“We wouldn’t get this far if it wasn’t for a total team effort,” Wilson said. “It’s nice for (the players) to see that hard work does pay off. Like a lot of things that we do, this stuff prepares (them) for real life.”
Wilson said the team was excited, happy and emotional over the win, which was the first experience for any one on the team. And as happy as they were, Wilson said they all still came in the next morning for practice knowing they are not done yet and have more work to do to accomplish all their goals as a team.
“Our job is to guide these kids through what a playoff game feels like, and knowing these kids, they’re going to rise to the challenge,” Wilson said.
Clearview went up against Bridgeton High School on October 30 for the playoffs. (This story was sent to press before the game, but results can be found online). Ahead of playoffs, Wilson said the team is preparing to give it their all and continue their work as a team on and off the field.
Since the majority of the football team is underclassmen, the coaching staff is looking forward to furthering the success and skill of the individual players and team.
“The kids have played very well. We’re absolutely healthy, and I think they feel that they’re playing good football,” Wilson said. “None of these kids have played in a playoff game before, so it’s good for the program.”
“We’re still very young. We’re still playing 10 sophomores and we’re playing two freshmen this year, and we got a lot of good kids coming through,” he continued. “So I think this is the start of something special.”
Clearview’s football team earned its first division title since 2019 on October 23.
