When coach John Emel walked out of MetLife Stadium almost a year ago, he knew he had something special.

Penns Grove had just wrapped up a 13-0 season, the best in school history. And with a ton of talent coming back, the potential was certainly there for that success to continue just down the road from Exit 4 off Route 295.

"It's tough when you have such high expectations, but that's what you want. We had a target on our back all year," Emel said.

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No team was able to hit that target.

Behind a potent ground attack and a rugged defensive effort Saturday, top-seeded Penns Grove defeated No. 2-seed Paulsboro 30-0 to capture its second straight NJSIAA/Rothman Orthopaedics South Jersey Group 1 championship.

Penns Grove players pose with their trophy after winning the Paulsboro vs. Penns Grove football, South Jersey Group 1 final game, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019.Al Amrhein | For NJ Advance Media

Winners of 25 straight, Penns Grove (12-0) - No. 15 in the statewide NJ.com Top 20 - will take on Central Jersey champion and No. 17 Willingboro (11-1) for the second year in a row in the South/Central Group 1 regional championship. The game is scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 8 at Rutgers. Kickoff is 7 p.m.

"We came out and balled hard," said junior Nasir "Hollywood" Robinson, who rushed for 144 yards on 31 carries, scoring on a 1-yard run in the second quarter. "I woke up and felt good. I knew it was going to be a good day. I just came out and pounded and pounded and pounded.

"It can't get any bigger than this. It feels amazing."

Added senior Jamar Johnson, who added 72 yards on 12 carries: "We just try to stick together and play hard right through the whistle.

"It's a bond bigger than football. We've been around for a long time and know how to play together."

After a scoreless first quarter, Penns Grove scored on all four of its second-quarter possessions to take a 27-0 halftime lead.

"We just couldn't get enough offense going to keep their offense off the field," veteran Paulsboro coach Glenn Howard said. "We just didn't do enough offensively to keep the game close."

Following Robinson's TD run, Penns Grove senior quarterback Kavon Lewis hit Torvon Ransome on an 83-yard scoring strike down the middle and later scored on a 7-yard keeper. Lewis then connected with Jymir Gilliam on a 10-yard scoring pass and the game was pretty much over.

"We do it for the community," said Lewis who completed 4-of-8 passes for 118 yards, while rushing for 39 yards on two carries. "We have to keep pushing each other, pushing each other.

"We just practiced hard. Practice makes perfect."

Penns Grove's Nasir Robinson (5) tries to escape from the pursuit of Paulsboro's Ameer Bateman (21) during the second quarter of the Paulsboro vs. Penns Grove football, South Jersey Group 1 final game, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019.Al Amrhein | For NJ Advance Media

"We definitely have a lot of weapons. Kavon managed a great game and defensively we set the tone," Emel noted. "Today we were a tremendous team."

Penns Grove collected 460 yards of total offense and 24 first downs. Paulsboro (8-3) was held to 150 yards, picking up just 44 in the first half. Bhayshul Tuten rushed for 115 yards on 23 carries for the Red Raiders.

"We wanted it really bad," Penns Grove junior linebacker Aaron Fraizer said. "When you want something that bad, and you have home-field advantage and practice hard all week, that's what the outcome is going to be.

"It's just been about working hard, staying together. We don't doubt each other and we didn't look ahead. We took every game as it came."

The only scoring in the second half came on Jared McNair's 26-yard field goal with 10:06 left in the fourth quarter.

Penns Grove also beat Paulsboro during the regular season, 42-26 on Sept. 21.

"Twenty-five in a row is special. To go 12-0 with what we felt was a very competitive schedule, especially Paulsboro on the road early in the year ...," Emel said. "We threw everything we could at these kids and they definitely answered the bell. Every week it was next man up.

“We thought we had the deepest team and that’s why we’re standing at the top. You still have to come out here and do it. To beat those guys and get a third title in the playoff era, to go back-to-back when you have this type of talent is not easy to do.”

Kevin Minnick focuses on the WJFL and can be reached at kminnick@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @kminnicksports. Like NJ.com HS sports on Facebook.