Salem goes through its only preseason scrimmage Saturday in a jamboree format embraced by new Rams coach
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
When it’s the only scrimmage you’re going to have in the preseason you want to make sure it suits your needs to a tee.
Much like he did with his Week Zero game, new Salem football coach Danny Mendoza had a devil of a time finding a good preseason scrimmage for his team.
He didn’t want the usual 10-and-10 exercises followed by some situational work. He could get that in a typical practice. He wanted something that would simulate a game.
When he found a spot in Saturday’s tri-state scrimmage at Wilmington’s McKean High School, he suggested a style he favored from his days coaching in Florida – a preseason jamboree similar to a spring game.
Each team will play two 12-minute quarters of real football against each other. McKean and Philly’s Olney Charter will start it off at 5 p.m., followed by Salem and Olney, then Salem and McKean.
“When I talked to (McKean head coach Avery McMullin), he didn’t really know about the idea, but I thought it would be great for us to get that game scrimmage feeling,” Mendoza said. “We’ve got a Week Zero game, so we need that.
“I don’t do the tri-scrimmages. I don’t do quad stuff. The only reason I did them when I was here before was because I wasn’t the head coach. Now that I’m the head coach I want to do it how I’ve always done it: Have a kickoff classic, which is a preseason exhibition, and then we get into our season.
“Playing all these quads among all these other teams doesn’t really benefit me. I lose a day of practice. We don’t want everyone to see our stuff and we don’t want to give guys free film pretty much. I’ve never been a fan of that, so I got an opportunity to do it this way. Coach McMullin was on board.”
Mendoza found the scrimmage the same way he found the Rams’ Week Zero opponent, Executive Education Academy Charter School of Allentown, Pa.: On an Eastern Pennsylvania football website that lists team’s open dates. He called it “unfortunate” the Rams couldn’t get something with an in-state team, but a “blessing” they were able to find something.
“It’s just as important as any other game,” Mendoza said. “Obviously, it’s a game that doesn’t count, so it’s a game you just want to get better at and get your guys as much live looks and different scenarios that you can within a non-controlled scrimmage. We’d rather do this moreso than anything else and it worked out just the way we wanted to.
“This will let us know where we stand and what we need to work on and correct before we go up to Lafayette (for the opener) and it counts for real. It’s super important, our kids are fired up for it and we’re going to make the most of it.”
Several players are emerging as ones to watch since Mendoza opened his first camp. Senior RaMaji Bundy has moved from being the Rams top returning receiver to replace an All-Diamond Division quarterback and has picked up the offense well. Detric Simmons, a 6-3, 320-pound senior, has shown explosive quickness and a mean streak on the line, junior Jarred Pew has shown flashes of being a special talent at running back and junior Daveon Jackson is developing into a leader on the defense.
On the cover: New Salem football coach Danny Mendoza
Month: August 2023
Fingers crossed
Dynamic Woodstown running back looking forward to a positive report from doctor for return to practice from offseason knee injury
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN — James Hill is looking forward to Monday as much as any Opening Day he’s ever had before.
That’s the day he, his coaches and the South Jersey football world should learn whether the dynamic Woodstown running back gets to return to the field for his senior football season — six months after a devastating knee injury that threatened his high school playing career.
If he gets the positive report, the 3,000-yard career rusher could be back on the field as soon as the Wolverines’ Monday afternoon practice — 10 days before their season opener against Haddon Heights.
The options are return to football with no restrictions, return to football with no contact, or wait a while longer. He anticipates a good report and is eager to return.
“Monday will be my return back to sports,” Hill said. “I knew I had a great sophomore year, junior year, and I knew my senior year would be my breakout year, my time to go rush for 2,000 yards, go break more records than I’ve already broken.
“I broke the record I set last year but that wasn’t good enough for me. I knew my senior year was a make or break year, especially recruiting. People were skittish (after the injury) but now I have to prove to them I’m the same James Hill you were recruiting my junior year. I’m actually better than I was.”
He was pretty good then, rushing for 1,636 yards and 16 touchdowns. Then a few months later it all changed.
Hill tore an ACL jumping around in the wrestling room. Conventional wisdom suggests a recovery time of six to nine months. He was in therapy the day after his surgery and has continued an aggressive rehab for a return in an amazing six months.
Coaches and teammates have marveled at his commitment to rehab, which often has included three- and four-times-a-week therapy sessions. “Crazy recovery,” quarterback Max Webb told Riverview Sports News in July. “There’s not too many guys, even at the professional level, who are recovering in six (months).”
Hill’s most recent testing indicates only a three-percent difference in strength between his two knees and if the surgically repaired knee matches or exceeds the other in Monday’s test, he should be good to go.
He got around pretty good at Thursday’s scrimmage, where he was on the sidelines serving in a support role. Shortly before the start of the exercise, he checked something on his phone, then ran as naturally as ever down the path, over the pedestrian bridge and back to the school building before returning with two racks of water bottles.
“Right after surpery I had PT the next day and that day I knew I could make it to come back,” he said. “I knew that being James, I’m a kid of perseverance, I’ll battle through anything to get back to high school football because I love playing high school football. I love playing football in general.
“When I got told recovery time is between six and nine months I knew I’d be that type of athlete who’s gonna be making it back in six because I have trust in everybody around me. I knew it was going to be tough. It’s all a mental battle and if you’re mentally strong you’ll be able to do it and I was able to do it because I was mentally strong.
“I’ve had tons of people tell me you’re going to be able to do it James and I believed them because they believed in me.”
The plan for his return to the lineup will be a measured one. It likely will involve starting out on defense only to work back into in the game before subjecting his knee to the pounding that goes with being an elite back.
They won’t be giving him 28 carriers in each of the first two games like they did last year, when he rushed for 540 yards and five touchdowns. Saying he’s “1000 percent confident” in his knee, he’s OK with that, just as he’s confident in the other guys in the running backs room to keep the offense on track until his full return.
“We’ve got to take it day by day,” Wolverines coach John Adams said. “We’re gonna make sure he’s there by the end of it.”
“I’m fine with that; as long as I’m playing high school football,” said Hill. “Sometimes you’ve got to go slow to win the race. You can’t go speeding because if you go speeding you might blow a tire.
“I’ve got eight games. I know we’re going to make the playoffs as a good team, so there’s no reason to rush and go rush for 312 yards a game (like he did in last year’s season opener) where I know that the rest of my running back crew is going to be able to just handle it just as well.”
And just in case you’re wondering about wrestling, where he was undefeated at the time of the injury, he’ll be back on the mat this winter as well.
Photo: Woodstown running back James Hill works the Wolverines’ sideline in a support role during a recent scrimmage as he awaits his return to practice.
The James Hill File
| YEAR | RUN | YDS | TD | REC | YDS | TD |
| 2020 | 41 | 183 | 1 | 9 | 60 | 0 |
| 2021 | 166 | 1374 | 15 | 5 | 110 | 2 |
| 2022 | 237 | 1636 | 16 | 7 | 110 | 3 |
| TOTAL | 444 | 3193 | 32 | 21 | 280 | 5 |
Tall targets
Woodstown plans to pass the football a bit more this season and has two big targets for QB Webb to locate; RB Hill hoping for good news Monday
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN – The day Woodstown football coach John Adams told Max Webb he had every intention of throwing the football more this season the senior’s eyes got real wide and a broad smile crossed his face. What quarterback wouldn’t want the chance to air it out, especially when he has a couple 6-4 and 6-6 targets on either end?
It’s not like the Wolverines are going to air it out 30 times a game, maybe half that much depending on the circumstances, but enough to make opponents respect that part of the offense. They put that part on display in Thursday’s scrimmage with St. Joe of Hammonton and weren’t shy about showing it.
The most visible of their receivers is 6-foot-4 veteran Garrett Leyman and 6-6 newcomer Rocco String. If you can’t recognize them coming off the bus, you’re just not paying attention.
In the three 10-and-10 segments with the first two units, the Wolverines threw it 10 times. Webb threw it five times in the opening set alone, completing three for 56 yards and had another in the numbers dropped in the end zone. His first completion was nice downfield throw to Leyman for 33 yards after just missing on the play before.
“I saw he had a step on his corner and just gave him a chance and he finally jumped for a ball and made it look easy,” Webb said.
It’s the kind of pass you can complete when you’ve got guys with that kind of size.
“They can go get it where most of the other guys in high school can’t get it,” Webb said. “They’re more open with their height, you can just put it up above everybody else.”
If you think the quarterback is excited about the prospects of bringing more passing to the offense, imagine how the receivers feel.
“It’s going to be more exciting for all of us,” String said. “It gives us way more power, more confidence in order to go far in the playoffs and make the big step to where we’re trying to reach our goals.”
“It’s definitely going to make our offense a lot harder to defend,” Leyman said.
Leyman is a proven commodity. He played on last year’s 8-2 team and had five of the Wolverines’ 54 total receptions for 57 yards. He caught two balls from Webb Thursday for 45 yards and maybe even more impressive provided the main blocking for Bobby Donahue’s 34-yard run.
String is a little more unknown. He is back on the football field for the first time since the seventh grade. He was a 6-1 right tackle and defensive end then, but hung up the helmet through high school to concentrate on baseball. He returned this year because he “wanted to hit someone” and every day urging from Adams in Algebra II class.
He may become even more impactful as a rush end on defense, but he’ll make an appealing option for the Wolverines to move the chains.
String hasn’t caught a ball in a game ever, but he hasn’t dropped many in practice. He caught a 5-yard pass from backup QB Jack Holladay and missed one on the next play but more because he got tangled up in his route than any hands of stone; he still got his hands on it, though.
“We knew what Leyman had, he was starter for us last year and he’s gotten faster, runs smoother, catching the ball better, so he definitely progressed as the year went on,” Adams said. “But Rocco was a big question mark. He didn’t play since middle school, we had no clue what he could do and we get him out here running routes and stuff and he’s catching everything you throw to him.
“You just put that ball up a little bit, he’s so tall he can go up over anybody and get it. He’s also coming along in the blocking game, so we’re really excited about the ability to use him.”
To the point they just moved a tight end who had been in that mix to tackle to provide more depth and competition in that slot.
As for the scrimmage, the Wolverines saw everything they wanted. They moved the ball well — through the air and on the ground) – didn’t give up much on defense, got players lined up in the right spots and even rolled out a new legacy kicker who is sure to be a weapon this season. Even though they only scored one touchdown, the 1s twice were deep inside the red zone when they ran out of plays
Even running back James Hill was on the sideline in a supporting role as he moves closer to a potential return from his offseason knee injury next week. The Wolverines are hoping for some good news on that front Monday when Hill returns to his doctor for clearance, a date he confidently calls “my return to sports.”.
He’s likely to experience a measured return when he is allowed back, but he expressed confidence in the rest of the running back corps keeping the offense moving. The Wolverines showed plenty of capable ballcarriers in the scrimmage. Donohue had 59 yards on six carries, Bryce Belinfanti had 50 and a nice spinning touchdown on seven carries and Alex Torres had 28 on four carries.
The first two defenses held St. Joe’s offense to only 28 yards in 30 plays with Torres and Anthony Ford-Dale grabbing interceptions. And kicker Jake Ware, a mid-year transfer from Delaware whose grandfather’s name is on the field, showed a big and consistent leg in both placements and kickoffs.
“I was really pleased with our guys,” Adams said. “Every set of 10 that we ran, we ran 10 different formations with different things out of them, so I was glad we got lined up right. I was glad with how fast they were coming off the ball. I thought our backs ran the ball hard. I thought Max threw the ball pretty well
“Defensively we were flying to the ball. When they were out on defense I thought we were pretty stout against them not giving up anything big. I thought our first string on both sides did really, really well.”
The Wolverines scrimmage again Saturday at Overbrook.
Top photo: Woodstown receivers Rocco String (L) and Garrett Leyman (R) talk things over with quarterback Max Webb during Thursday’s scrimmage with St. Joe of Hammonton.
An overall good one
Pennsville has a positive first scrimmage, sophomore QB McDade has made ‘huge strides’ from last year; Penns Grove, Schalick also scrimmage Wednesday
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – It was only one play early in the second series of the first scrimmage of fall camp but it was a perfect example of how far Robbie McDade has come in one year as Pennsville’s QB1.
The sophomore smoothly sucked Pemberton’s defense into the pocket, then softly deposited a screen pass into the waiting hands of Skye Eppes, who took it 41 yards to get the Eagles across midfield on the way to their first touchdown of the scrimmage with Pemberton and Bishop Eustace.
A year ago that play wouldn’t have happened. Not because McDade couldn’t necessarily pull it off, but with the kind of team they had at the time the Eagles wouldn’t have even called it. Now, with a more confident McDade pulling the trigger it’s part of the mix.
“He’s definitely taken huge strides and the biggest thing with him is the amount of work he’s put in in the offseason and how much he’s worked to step into that job and take a leadership role from there,” Eagles coach Mike Healy said. “He’s still a sophomore and making some mistakes, but he is, to me, doing way better than last year.
“I’m very happy with his progress so far and he’s getting better every day.”
McDade split time at quarterback with Randy Hall last year, but his time increased as the year went along. He wound up completing 25 of 52 passes for 363 yards and two touchdowns. When Hall decided not to return, McDade won the position by default, but he still had to show his stuff.
The scrimmage Wednesday was his first opportunity with the offense in his hands alone and he was looking forward to the experience. He completed 10 of 15 passes for 152 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Malik Rehmer.
“I was really excited,” the quarterback said. “Coming off a bad year last year I really wanted to step it up this year and show everybody what we’ve got. I knew what we had to get done and we did it. We’re just going to keep building on it and get better and better.”
The Eagles got the best of both opponents in the varsity portion of the scrimmage and Healy proclaimed it “overall a good scrimmage.” In addition to McDade’s numbers, Rehmer caught three passes for 54 yards and scored once against each team, and Eppes had 105 yards rushing and receiving. The first-team defense gave up 21 yards, didn’t allow a touchdown and Hunter Hiles had a 25-yard pick-six against Eustace.
“Scoring touchdowns is a lot of fun,” McDade said. “We’ve got to keep it up.”
Of course, it wasn’t perfect, but even when there was a negative play McDade bounced back with a positive result.
He fumbled rolling out on the first play against the Eustace defense, then came back with a 13-yard pass play to Eppes. Later in that aforementioned drive against Pemberton Eppes had a screen pass touchdown called back by a blindside block. The very next snap the Eagles called a wider screen and Rehmer took it to the house for his first touchdown.
“That was something I was really happy to see today because last year that’s not something we would have done,” Healy said. “We would have been upset and angry and then not executed the next play. That’s what we really needed to work on. Whether it’s a good call or a bad call, the call’s made, there’s nothing we can do, bounce back, get to the next play, make up for it and that’s what we did.”
The Eagles scrimmage again Monday at home against Buena. That 10 a.m. exercise will be more drive-driven as they work towards a dress rehearsal scrimmage with Haddon Heights Aug. 24.
Schalick: Little bit of everything
LINWOOD – The Cougars saw “the good, the bad and the ugly” as they rotated a lot of players in their four-way exercise with West Deptford, Lower Cape May and host Mainland Regional.
They got 30 minutes with each team and saw “in limited small bursts what we wanted,” coach Mike Wilson said.
“It wasn’t all good, it wasn’t all bad and there were some ugly parts to it,” Wilson said. “Our goal was to get reps in by many people, get in and out healthy. It was exactly what a scrimmage was. We needed to get kids on tape.”
They had a big run against Group IV power Mainland called back for holding and scored against the other two teams. Quarterback Kenai Simmons played a limited number of snaps against each team but was “efficient” in the Cougars’ growing passing game with one incompletion.
“The last three years we could not do what we did today,” Wilson said.
Dylan Sheehan made two big catches, scoring a long touchdown against Lower Cape May and taking a slant for 60 yards against West Deptford.
“He was exactly what we thought he would be,” Wilson said of the sophomore receiver. “He was a freshman last year and played a little varsity at the end. We saw it in practice, but we really wanted to see it against other people and he stepped up and had a good day today.”
They’ll game scrimmage again Saturday 10 a.m. at Deptford Twp. The starters are expected to play at least two full quarters.
Penns Grove: ‘Happy with work we got’
MAPLE SHADE – The Red Devils were already back home by the time either of the other two county teams finished their scrimmages and by all accounts dominated their day.
Both teams got four series in the 8 a.m. exercise before doing situational work. The Red Devils were “a little sloppy” on offense, but their decision-making was adequate, had some big plays and they scored on their first two possessions. The defense coach John Emel called “as good as anybody in Group I in the state” was solid throughout against a scheme similar to what they’ll see in the season opener in nine days.
“It looked like a first scrimmage,” Emel said. “All in all, I was happy with the work we got. It’s a building block for the next one.”
The Red Devils will scrimmage again 10 a.m. Friday at Highland Regional, where Emel says they’ll be “trying to get game-quality reps but not try to show too much” to come out healthy for the opener.
Woodstown: Looking for ‘normal’ first one
WOODSTOWN – The Wolverines expect to do and see “normal first scrimmage things” in Thursday’s 9 a.m. workout with their visitors from Hammonton – 10 and 10 with the first and second groups and then some special teams work.
“We are just looking for the kids to execute our basic stuff,” Wolverines coach John Adams said. “We’re not going to show a lot, (just) see how they are hitting and facing another opponent.
“We want to see the quarterback command the offense, make sure people are in the right spots, make sure timing on motions and all are good and the line is blocking the right guys. Defensively, we want to make sure we are sound in getting lined up and making our standard checks and just see the kids play fast and physical.”
You know, normal first scrimmage stuff.
Ready for some football
Salem County teams scrimmage for first time Wednesday in the run-up to their season openers
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
Their season opener is still 10 days away and as far as the Schalick Cougars are concerned it can’t get here fast enough.
Well, that wait is almost over. It might not be a “real” game, but the Cougars get a chance to finally see what this year’s full squad looks like against somebody else Wednesday when they travel to Mainland Regional for their first scrimmage of preseason camp. Lower Cape May and West Deptford also will be there.
“Everything is going well,” Wilson reported earlier in the week. “We’re so much further along than we ever have been. We could play a game tomorrow if we had to.
“It’s Year 4 for us, the kids know the routine. Most of the junior class has been playing since they’ve been freshmen, so they’re used to the way we practice. We’ve gotten a lot of football stuff done. We’re ready to go. “
The Cougars are one of three Salem County teams scrimmaging Wednesday. Penns Grove gets the action started with an 8 a.m. joint practice at Maple Shade and Pennsville hosts Bishop Eustace and Pemberton at 2 p.m.
Woodstown hosts St. Joe’s of Hammonton in its first scrimmage Thursday (9 a.m.) and Salem goes for the first time Saturday at 5 p.m. in a tri-state scrimmage with Philly’s Olney Charter and host McKean in Wilmington.
In Schalick’s scrimmage the teams will get 30 minutes with each other however they want to play it. The Cougars’ rotation will start with Mainland. Their plan for that one is to go 10 plays on offense and defense with the varsity, 7 and 7 with the 2s, give the JVs some work and wrap up with some down-and-distance and goal-line work.
Wilson plans to approach it like an preseason NFL game. It won’t be quite like the Eagles’ exhibition opener with Baltimore where the starters didn’t play, but the Cougars will rotate a lot of players into the mix. The “real game” look will come Saturday against Deptford.
“There is a group of kids who are in our varsity group right now that we’re expecting some big things from,” Wilson said. “Right now, when we go first-team with subs we’re looking at 18 to 20 kids we’re considering varsity football players, all of whom have a legitimate shot to see the field Friday nights. We’ve got a lot of competitions going on right now.”
PENNS GROVE at MAPLE SHADE: Red Devils coach John Emel has a good idea what he’d like to get done in this early morning exercise – and it involves a little bit of everything and what he hopes will be a lot of live work.
“We want to get a lot of reps,” he said. “I want to see who can block and tackle. We want to feel good about our team going into Friday. We’re not going to run a lot of stuff, we’re going to shrink down the playbook and we’re going to give our guys an opportunity to play fast and be real aggressive. That’s what you want to see.
“We‘ve got to find out who can play football while we can still go live and we got an opportunity to go against somebody else. We haven’t played a game since early last November. This is the longest stretch we’ve had (off the field) so it’s an opportunity to go out there and play somebody else, so everybody should be excited.”
They certainly aren’t easing into it when it comes to their scrimmage opponents. Maple Shade played for the South Jersey Group I championship last year and Highland Regional, Friday’s foe in a more game-like exercise, is Group III.
In the past, they’ve had a regular preseason relationship with perennial South Jersey contender Delsea. Emel wouldn’t have it any other way.
“If you look at us the last few years, we always try to play a team better than we’ll play in the early part of the season or we play a team that gets us ready for the team we’re going to play,” he said. “We do try to scrimmage tough teams because I want my guys to get challenged when it doesn’t count, when there’s not a score or a loss.
“I want them to play somebody and get their butts kicked and that’ll make them better. I’m a big believer in that. It’s not good for your morale and maybe not your physical health, but you get better by losing, by failure. We want to simulate the game in the preseason so we can get better before that and we can see who can’t do what and who can do what.
“I don’t want a cupcake team. I’ve got a tough team and they’ve got to play a tough schedule so we have to get them ready.”
The Red Devils open their season Aug. 25 against Burlington City.
PENNSVILLE vs. BISHOP EUSTACE, PEMBERTON: The Eagles will see a little bit of everything from everybody, which will give them a better picture of the team they expect to be. It’s expected to be 10 plays on offense, 10 plays on defense and then rotating drives among themselves. The scrimmage was moved to 2 p.m. from an original 10 a.m. start.
“You just want the kids show they can be competitive and they’re doing what they’ve been taught, what we’ve been going over, spending so much time doing,” Eagles coach Mike Healy said. “And I want to know who are my players, who are they not.
“We’ve still got two scrimmages after that (but) I need to start getting an idea. I’ve got an idea who some are, but I need to figure this out.”
Photo: Penns Grove runs a play during Tuesday’s practice.
It’s all about respect
Pennsville coming to play every week so no one takes them lightly
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – Mike Healy didn’t grow up in Pennsville. He never played football for the Eagles. But he has been in the game around here long enough as a player and coach on the other sideline to remember when they were one tough team to play.
It’s been a while since they’ve enjoyed that status, and the Pennsville coach would love nothing more than to have them regain that reputation on his watch.
The sooner the better. Like now.
Every August teams come to camp with a theme that fits nicely on a t-shirt and spirit banner. The Eagles have rallied around “Live The Standard, FTC” – family, trust, commitment – as a consistent theme the last couple years, but this year the focus is also about raising their profile among the teams in the region.
“As every other team is working all the time, if we want to get back to where we were we’ve got to get it back to working out like we did,” Healy said. “For us, it’s all about getting respect back.
“We haven’t been good the past couple years; it’s very clear, you can look it up. The biggest thing for us is to get respect and be a good football team. Don’t worry about yourself, but really understand it takes all 11 guys doing the right thing. It’s not OK for somebody to say I did my job it doesn’t matter. No, no, no, no. We succeed or fail as a team to get that respect back.”
The fastest way to reach that goal is making the playoffs. The easiest way to do that is dominate their Royal Division of the WJFL that is likely to get only one team in the playoffs this year.
The Eagles have been a playoff team under Healy before, but always with less than .500 records and they haven’t had a winning season since 2016. They were 1-8 last year, winning only their season opener.
In the six years since that winning season they’ve been a combined 16-39. In the seven years prior they were 59-19 with six winning seasons, a South Jersey Group One championship and a sectional runner-up.
Healy remembers the atmosphere back then was electric and that’s what he wants to recapture.
“Every team talks about it, but for us … we’ve got to take it week by week and make sure every week we’re focused, we’re not letting anything slip by us,” he said. “We did not play good football last year, so, obviously, we don’t have any room for error. We’ve got to show who we really are and every game really show people we’re a different football team, we’re coming to play and then no one can take us easy.
“It’s something we want everyone to be proud of again. But as a team we want to be respected again. Regardless of what people say outside, we want to get back to doing what we know we can do.”
The Eagles went through a lot of growing pains last year with a roster full of young players who have returned with a year of valuable experience. Among the returnees is versatile Sky Eppes, their leading rusher (652 yards, six TDs) and tackler (42), Malik Rehmer, their leading receiver (23-268) and pass defender (two INTs), and sophomore quarterback Robbie McDade has made “a huge jump since last year.” They’ve also brought back the wisdom of three coaches from the successful staffs of the past, two of whom were head coaches.
“A lot of those kids have taken a big step, so far,” Healy said after Friday’s practice. “Obviously, it’s early, we haven’t even had a full padded practice yet where we can really start to see. It’s really going to come to when we start getting our scrimmages in to see who we are.
“We’re in a way better spot right now than we were last year, except we haven’t had full pads yet. We haven’t gone against another team to see how we react. We’ve talked a lot about things are going to go bad, how are the kids going to react in a game; nothing is ever perfect. Ever. That’s the stuff I want to see from them.”
The Eagles scrimmage for the first time Wednesday 2 p.m. against Bishop Eustace and Pemberton.
| DATE | PENNSVILLE SCHEDULE | TIME |
| Aug. 31 | at Lindenwold | 6 p.m. |
| Sept. 8 | Lower Cape May | 7 p.m. |
| Sept. 15 | Gateway | 7 p.m. |
| Sept. 22 | Schalick | 7 p.m. |
| Sept. 29 | at Cumberland | 6 p.m. |
| Oct. 6 | Overbrook | 7 p.m. |
| Oct. 14 | at Penns Grove | Noon |
| Oct. 20 | at Pitman | 7 p.m. |
Photo: Pennsville coach Mike Healy watches 6-7 Daniel Saulin (77) and Adrian Morgan (12) go through a line drill during a recent practice.
Full card
Salem locks up elusive Week Zero game with Pennsylvania charter school, has full nine-game slate
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
SALEM – Danny Mendoza has wanted to play a Week Zero game since the day he arrived as Salem’s new football coach, but it has been a difficult search. He finally found one, but, sticking to the theme for his first season, they had to go out of state to do it.
The Rams completed their 2023 football schedule shortly before opening fall camp when they landed an Aug. 25 game with Executive Education Academy Charter School of Allentown, Pa. The game will be played in Lafayette College’s Fisher Stadium.
“We just want to have the opportunity to play Week Zero and dictate our own destiny,” said Mendoza, who was formally approved in June to succeed Montrey Wright as head coach. “We don’t want our kids to lose games with the way they’ve got this schedule set up.”
The Rams were going to be a bunch of road warriors this season as it was as they await the completion of their football stadium later this fall, but with the addition of this game they now will travel 688 round-trip miles in the regular season and have three trips of 120 miles or more .
They will play in three states and in two college stadiums. Besides the game at Lafayette – where offensive line coach Eric Fizur is an alum – they will play in Rutgers’ SHI Stadium Sept. 23. They also have a game at Abessinio Stadium in Wilmington Sept. 2.
Mendoza said the Rams looked far and wide to find a game but even though it seemed many South Jersey teams didn’t have a Week Zero game they got no takers. They almost had a game with Neptune, taking Mendoza back to his old stomping grounds, but it fell through.
Finally, they found the Raptors on an Eastern Pennsylvania open date website and made the connection for a one-time game. EEACS is a third-year football program that has had two winning seasons and went 8-4 a year ago.
“We were checking through the mud for stuff, just trying to find anything,” Mendoza said. “We reached out to everybody. Everybody.
“Our kids are going to have to play in some environments and really understand you have to take this as a chip on our shoulders and embrace being road warriors and understand if we can play away in different environments and come out successful that’s going to build us up to, God willing, a long postseason and maybe be able to earn some home games in the playoffs.”
The Rams have only two home games this season, on back-to-back weeks in October. Athletics director Darryl Roberts said the stadium project is on track and he anticipates it being ready by mid-September.
The team just completed its second day of fall camp and Mendoza said things were progressing “surprisingly well.”
“They’re taking to our practice tempo, they’re taking to the new style of offense and defense that we’re going to play,” he said. “They’re flying around, a lot of energy … and definitely on the right track to put ourselves in a good position to be successful.”
Photo: The football team from Executive Education Academy Charter School lines up for a play. Salem landed the Raptors for its Week Zero game this season. (EEACS website photo)
| DATE | SALEM SCHEDULE | MILES |
| Aug. 25 | vs. Executive Education Academy; Lafayette College | 107 |
| Sept. 2 | vs. Camden; Abessinio Stadium, Wilmington | 21 |
| Sept. 8 | at Pleasantville | 61 |
| Sept. 16 | at Penns Grove | 13 |
| Sept. 23 | vs. Cedar Creek; SHI Stadium, New Brunswick | 97 |
| Sept. 29 | at Woodstown | 14 |
| Oct. 7 | vs. Paulsboro | HOME |
| Oct. 14 | vs. West Deptford | HOME |
| Oct. 21 | at Woodbury | 31 |
Scrimmage schedule
Here is a listing of this summer’s preseason scrimmage games for the Salem County high schools. A complete day-by-day regular-season schedule for the county schools, as well as schedules for football, field hockey, soccer and tennis can be found elsewhere on the website
Aug. 16
FOOTBALL
Schalick, West Deptford, Lower Cape May at Mainland Regional, 10 a.m.
Bishop Eustace, Pemberton at Pennsville, 2 p.m.
Penns Grove at Maple Shade
Aug. 17
FOOTBALL
St. Joseph Academy at Woodstown, 9 a.m.
Aug. 18
FOOTBALL
Penns Grove at Highland
Aug. 19
FOOTBALL
Schalick at Deptford Twp., 10 a.m.
Woodstown at Overbrook, 10 a.m.
Salem, Olney Charter at McKean (Wilmington), 5 p.m.
Aug. 21
FOOTBALL
Buena at Pennsville, 10 a.m.
Aug. 23
GIRLS TENNIS
Millville at Schalick, 9 a.m.
Vineland at Pennsville, 10 a.m.
Aug. 24
FOOTBALL
Haddon Heights at Pennsville, 6 p.m.
Delsea at Woodstown, 7 p.m.
BOYS SOCCER
Pleasantville at Penns Grove, 10 a.m.
GIRLS TENNIS
Salem at Deptford Twp., 9 a.m.
Woodstown at Triton Regional, 9 a.m.
West Deptford at Pennsville, 10 a.m.
Aug. 25
GIRLS TENNIS
Penns Grove at Pleasantville, 10 a.m.
Pennsville at Millville, 10 a.m.
Aug. 28
GIRLS SOCCER
Schalick at Kingsway, 9 a.m.
Cumberland at Penns Grove, 10 a.m.
BOYS SOCCER
Clearview at Schalick, 9 a.m.
FIELD HOCKEY
Woodstown at Timber Creek, 9 a.m.
Deptford Twp. at Pennsville, 10 a.m.
GIRLS TENNIS
Williamstown at Pennsville, 10 a.m.
Woodstown at Ocean City, 11 a.m.
Aug. 29
FIELD HOCKEY
Salem at Hammonton, 4 p.m.
BOYS SOCCER
Cumberland at Penns Grove, 10 a.m.
Woodbury at Salem, 10 a.m.
GIRLS SOCCER
Pennsville at Buena, 10 a.m.
Salem at Woodbury, 10 a.m.
GIRLS TENNIS
Woodstown at Kingsway, 9 a.m.
Aug. 30
FIELD HOCKEY
Salem, Schalick, Bridgeton at Cumberland, 8:30 a.m.
GIRLS SOCCER
Schalick at Cumberland, 9 a.m.
Penns Grove vs. Gloucester Co. Christian at Paulsboro, 10 a.m.
BOYS SOCCER
Cumberland at Schalick, 9 a.m.
Williamstown at Woodstown, 9 a.m.
Paulsboro at Penns Grove, 10 a.m.
GIRLS TENNIS
Cumberland at Schalick, 9 a.m.
Woodstown at Timber Creek, 9 a.m.
Pennsville at Deptford Twp., 10 a.m.
Aug. 31
GIRLS TENNIS
Delsea at Pennsville, 10 a.m.
Penns Grove at Haddon Twp., 10 a.m.
Salem at Bridgeton, 10 a.m.
GIRLS SOCCER
Gloucester City at Woodstown, 9 a.m.
Haddon Heights at Pennsville, 9 a.m.
Penns Grove at Salem, 10 a.m.
BOYS SOCCER
Salem at Bridgeton, 10 a.m.
Sept. 1
FIELD HOCKEY
Salem at Buena, 10 a.m.
BOYS SOCCER
Woodstown at Haddon Twp., 4:15 p.m.
GIRLS SOCCER
Haddon Twp. at Woodstown, 4:15 p.m.
Sept. 5
GIRLS SOCCER
Bridgeton at Salem, 4 p.m.
Clayton at Penns Grove, 4 p.m.
Pennsville at Gloucester City, 4 p.m.
Timber Creek at Woodstown, 4 p.m.
BOYS SOCCER
Gloucester City at Pennsville, 4 p.m.
Penns Grove at Clayton, 4 p.m.
FIELD HOCKEY
Woodstown at St. Joseph Academy, 9 a.m.
Our Lady of Mercy at Woodstown, 3:30 p.m.
Highland Regional at Salem, 4 p.m.
Millville at Pennsville, 4 p.m.
Everybody loves a parade
Pennsville Senior Softball team honored with a parade down Broadway after World Series trip, take the plunge at the end of the ride
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – It doesn’t get any better to welcome home a local hero than a ticker-tape parade down Broadway, right. Well, there might not have been any ticker tape Monday, but there was a parade.
The players on the Pennsville Little League Senior Softball team received one final tribute for making the Little League World Series when they paraded through the center of town against a backdrop of sirens, lights, honking horns and appreciative fans.
The players climbed aboard a Pennsville fire truck with a big “Eagles Softball” banner draped across the side in the parking lot of the Little League complex and set off on the four-mile trip to their manager’s house. The parade was led by a Pennsville PD cruiser, two fire trucks, manager Chris Watson’s truck and a train of 16 other cars.
“That was incredible,” Watson said. “I didn’t think they would be allowed to ride up on top, so to be able to do that, that was another once-in-a-lifetime kind of opportunity for them. They’re going to remember riding through their hometown on top of the fire truck forever. “
Catcher Kylie Harris called the experience “awesome.”
The parade was put together somewhat hastily since the team wrapped up their week-long World Series experience late Saturday night. Still, there were friends, family and supporters at several spots along the parade route. Even the people in the cars coming the other way honked horns and waved when the parade went by.
There was a large group on both sides of the road at the Acme light waving and taking picture. A white-bearded man standing in front of the package goods store waved enthusiastically. A bike rider on West Pittsfield tipped his hat.
“I felt like a little princess on top of a firetruck having all eyes on me,” outfielder Savannah Palverento said. “It was not a very convenient time, but there were still people out to support us. I thought that was really nice.”
When the parade turned onto Fort Mott Road, neighbors were out on their lawns applauding and taking pictures. Perhaps the neatest part of the trip was when the caravan passed a large Atlantic City Electric crew working on the lines and the guys way up in the buckets waved down to the players.
“I wouldn’t want to go out any other way,” said third baseman Bella Farina, the oldest Little League player in the program and one of two players on the team aging out of the system. “It was a really good way to go out. Losing (in Saturday’s consolation game) was a heartbreak, but we still made it far.”
The Eagles swept through district, sectional, state and regional play to reach the World Series in Roxana, Del. They went 2-4 in the Series, beating teams from Puerto Rico and The Philippines in pool play.
The celebration didn’t end when the parade stopped. The players reconvened at Watson’s house for their annual season-end dip in the manager’s pool. They lined up at the edge of the deep end wearing their East jerseys from the Series and jumped in for a collective cannonball.
“It felt good today; everything felt good,” Watson said. “It was a relief, I guess, to jump in the pool with them one last time.”
That’s a wrap
Pennsville LL drops final game in the Senior Softball World Series, 9-0 to The Philippines; reserves start, everybody plays
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
ROXANA, Del. – With all the pressure to win the championship off, Pennsville Little League’s final game in the Senior Softball World Series was all about having one final fun game together, play a little loose and give everyone a piece of the action.
Manager Chris Watson promised the reserves would see time in Saturday’s consolation game and he started most of them.
Everyone got to play, hit and field. Some played multiple positions, some even played unusual positions. And if the way they cut up with the other team after the game was any indication they all seemed to have fun despite a 9-0 loss to The Philippines that sent the Eagles home tied for seventh in the 10-team field.
“The reserves work just as hard as the starters and they don’t get the same playing time throughout the tournament because we’re usually jammed up in tight games; we’re trying to win every night,” Watson said. “They put all that work in, so today was like a nice reward for them to get out there and show how close they are to the starters when it comes to the talent and ability. It was great to showcase that.”
Five of the six reserves who played support roles in Pennsville’s historic 15-4 run through the entire tournament started the game: The entire outfield (Gina Shinn, Gracie Mease and Audrey Claybourn), catcher Lilly Birney and third baseman Sawyer Simmons. Gabby Farino was inserted in the third inning and played third base and right field.
“I thought maybe I’ll get one or two innings and they’ll put the rest of the team in so we can finish up the game and have one final win before we go home,” said Forino, an incoming sophomore at Pennsville High School. “But when he put reserve players in at the start I was like, oh my gosh, this is going to be a big chance for me to figure out where I belong (position wise).
“Being on such a good team like this, you don’t get as many opportunities if you’re not one of the best and having a game like this really gave me an opportunity to find where I fit in and feel where I’m confident against such good competition.”
Forino saw a lot of action at both her positions, but was most comfortable in right field. Shinn caught a fly ball in left field for the last out of the second inning. Mease and Claybourn caught balls in the outfield. Simmons made a play at third and Birney played the whole game behind the plate and got one of Pennsville’s five hits.
Overall, Watson thought the backups “did well” in their new-found, albeit brief, roles.
Watson sent a text to the entire team the night before reminding them the reserves were going to play. Shinn, who has been used as a regular pinch-runner throughout the tournament, didn’t see the text but knew of the plan and it made “the smile on my face was as bright as day.”
“It was really important for me as a player to get out there and show what I can do because I strongly believe I can do it,” Shinn said. “To know that Chris trusts me enough to put me in the game to help him out means a lot to me. I love running, but outfield is my home.”
Claybourn learned she was in the starting lineup about five minutes before the team took the field, but she had a similar reaction as the others.
“I thought it was pretty cool,” she said. “They said the subs are playing today and I was like, ‘oh, cool, I get to play.’”
Pennsville beat The Philippines in pool play, but the Asia-Pacific champions took control of this one with three runs before Pennsville ever came to bat. They extended the lead to 7-0 in the fourth and capped it with a pair of runs in the seventh.
There was a scary moment in the first inning. Pennsville pitcher Savannah Palverento, making just her second appearance and first start of the tournament season, had a comebacker glance off her glove and catch her on the left cheekbone. She came out of the game and Kloi Tighe pitched the rest of the way.
Pennsville had only two runners in scoring position in the game. They had only Lily Edwards’ bunt single until Birney’s single in the fourth. Avery Watson had a two-out single in the fifth. Bella Rappa, in her final Little League at-bat, and Tighe had back-to-back two-out singles in the seventh.
Pennsville went 2-4 in the World Series. They split their four pool games and beat The Philippines in the game that went into Wednesday morning to win the tiebreaker for the No. 2 seed in their pool. But they only scored one run outside the pool and hadn’t scored since pushing across a run in the first inning of their quarterfinals loss to Hawaii.
“We ran out of gas; frankly, we ran out of energy,” Watson said. “It was exhilarating going all the way through district, sectionals, states, regionals, but it was exhausting, too. … I had a ton of girls not home for extended periods of times. A big portion of my team and a big portion of my starters haven’t been home for maybe a day in the last month.
“Out of the five meaningful games we played, we only played three of them the way we play. We lost one and won two. Those other two games wasn’t us. That was the road wearing on us. The Texas game and Honolulu game, that was a lot of fatigue contributing to that and it’s unfortunate that that’s what brought us down. But it was a fun run, a lot of fun.”
The entire experience was rewarding, a once-in-a-lifetime thing for most of the players, but getting to play in the final game made it even more.
“I thought it was pretty nice I actually got a spot on the field and I got to play my old position – and I actually got a ball hit to me,” Mease said. “I was pretty happy I got playing time, I had like one last chance to be on the field and do what I’ve got to do.”
Philippines 9, Pennsville 0
Philippines 300 400 2 — 9 9 0
Pennsville 000 000 0 — 0 5 6
WP: Jeryll Duller. LP: Savannah Palverento. 2B: Jeanne Ubay 2 (Ph).
SENIOR SOFTBALL LL WORLD SERIES
Saturday’s games
Quarterfinal: Central (Illinois) 16, Latin America (Puerto Rico) 0
Quarterfinal: Southwest (Texas) 15, Southeast (Georgia) 1
Delaware 19, Czech Republic 8
Consolation: Asia-Pacific (The Philippines) 9, Pennsville LL 0
Semifinal: Central (Illinois) 9, West (Hawaii) 0
Semifinal: Southwest (Texas) 2, Canada (Alberta) 1
Consolation: Southeast (Georgia) 7, Latin America (Puerto Rico) 5
Sunday’s games
Third-place game: Canada (Alberta) vs. West (Hawaii), 11 a.m.
Championship game: Southwest (Texas) vs. Central (Illinois), 7 p.m.
Top photo: The players from Pennsville and The Philippines get together for one last hurrah before heading home from the Senior Softball Little League World Series.
Riverview Sports News 