Gloucester football flexes defensive strength in bounce back division win over Willingboro

Gloucester's Ibby Hudwell runs with the ball against Willingboro in the football game played at J.A. Lynch Field on the campus of Gloucester City High School in Gloucester City, New Jersey on Thursday, September 18, 2025. Jeremy Roemmich/856 Photography for D2 Sports Network

GLOUCESTER CITY (N.J.) - The Gloucester City High School football team rolled into the week reeling from a division loss at home to Paul VI.

The Lions picked up the pieces and grabbed a key 25-15 victory over division foe Willingboro.

The Chimeras came out firing early, pounding the rock rolling to an 11-play, opening-drive score to go up early on Gloucester. The Lions responded in kind by scoring three straight unanswered touchdowns, with two coming from Ibby Hudwell and one coming from Jayden Tillman.

"I gotta give all of the credit to my offensive linemen tonight," Hudwell said. "They put the work in and opened up the holes for me. If they didn't create space for any of us, then we probably wouldn't have scored. They're my guys up there. No one works harder."

Willingboro pieced together another long drive off a turnover to start the second half. A 12-play scoring drive put the Chimeras within three points with a little over two-and-a-half minutes left in the third quarter.

Gloucester opened the final period of play by draining about half of the game clock, capping their drive with a touchdown by Kevin Boulden.

The Lions' defense then clamped down, putting the game on ice. Harry Ulmer came up with back-to-back momentum-deflating sacks to force a turnover on downs for Gloucester to continue to drain the clock and secure its first division win on the campaign.

Gloucester's defense has been its strong suit for most of the season, averaging an allowance of 18 points per game. Ulmer has been the motor of the defense, coming up with tackles for a loss, sacks, or pass deflections from the linebacker spot when needed.

"We got a little too ahead of ourselves in the first quarter," Ulmer noted. "Once we settled in and found a groove, then we made the change mentally and physically. Everyone knows they have a job to do out there, and everyone did it enough for us to win."First drive nerves or jitters on either team usually hit both sidelines right before kick-off or the first few drives after it. Once either side gets a feel for

how the other has a plan, you'll start seeing more explosiveness and confidence.

"After the first drive, I think we had an idea of the direction we wanted to push it in. We ended up doing just that after the huge run from Hudwell. I think we got our spark," Gloucester coach Rob Bryan added. "We let the moment get a little too big for us at first, but then the players settled down and we were able to control our game plan."