Camden Eastside football dominates division rival Gloucester in bounce-back win

Camden Eastside's Zi Harvey returned a pair of punts for touchdowns in the Tigers' 35-0 win over WJFL Freedom Division foe Gloucester at JA Lynch Field on the campus of Gloucester City High School in Gloucester City, New Jersey, on Thursday, September 3, 2026. Chris Baker/D2 Sports Network

GLOUCESTER CITY (N.J.) - The Camden Eastside High School football team dropped a season-opening contest to Simon Gratz (PA) in heartbreaking fashion, 37-28.

The Tigers rebounded from the loss with a 35-0 thumping of West Jersey Football League Freedom division rival Gloucester on their home field. From the opening kick, it was all Eastside. A 75-yard punt return for a touchdown by freshman Zi Harvey opened the scoring and gave the Tigers a lead they'd never falter with.

"I found some lanes once I looked down after getting the ball," Harvey said. "I had faith in my guys that they'd get a few blocks and just give me space to do my thing. They did the same thing on both punts, just giving me some extra room to work, and I knew I could outrun everyone else."

After forcing a Gloucester turnover on downs, Caleb Shores linked up with a wide-open Daivon Dixon for a 60-yard catch and run for a touchdown to give Eastside a 14-0 lead to take into halftime.

In the second half, the beat stayed the same as the Tigers upped the tempo and poured on the scoring, causing a running clock. Harvey returned a second punt for a touchdown, and Na'eem Dale found Raheem Blackwell Jr. and Preston Brown Jr. for touchdowns through the air all in the third quarter.

The Tiger defense stifled Gloucester all night long. The unit, some may know as "Fed Row" from previous years, looked the part holding the Lions scoreless and to only 62 yards of offense, and only five of those yards came in the second half.

In that dominating second half, Eastside only allowed eight plays of positive yardage out of Gloucester's 17 offensive plays in the latter half. Temple commit Amara Dolleh led the defense with a pair of sacks and a handful of tackles for a loss. Ka'Heem and Tristain Hamilton both paced the defensive front, with Dolleh finding their way into the Gloucester backfield all night long as well.

"We look for guys with certain body types to get put in key spots," Camden Eastside coach Melik Brown stated. "Everyone up and down the line stayed in their lane and played their role successfully."

Before the loss to Simon Gratz last week, Eastside was without a scrimmage opponent, leaving the Tigers unable to simulate game action before the season kicked off.

"We had a last minute cancellation with our game scrimmage before our first game but we can't use that as an excuse. We're going to line up and play whoever is across from us, no matter if we get a scrimmage or not."