Closing ceremonies

Penns Grove wins final high school football game on Salem’s Walnut Street Field, beating the Rams with a former Salem starter at the helm

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

SALEM – Penns Grove football coach and Salem alum John Emel did not pick up a handful of dirt or stick a commemorative clump of turf in his pocket on the way out of Walnut Street Field Saturday. The good feeling of getting the team’s first win of the season would have to be a sufficient enough memento of the historic day.

Emel’s Red Devils took control of the game early and then closed out the Rams 21-6 in what likely will be the final high school football game played at Walnut Street Field, where Emel played his home games as a Salem starting lineman back in the day.

The Rams are scheduled to move into a new on-campus stadium next month, a project precipitated by the city condemning the decades-old wooden bleachers at The Nut. City officials were working to bring the field back for its youth teams, but ramped up their work for the high school after the Rams ran into a conflict with a Labor Day weekend neutral site game.

The facility held up well enough for the Rams to move their Penns Grove game back there with, ironically, Emel providing the opposition for the venue’s final high school game. Salem’s on-campus stadium is schedule to host its first game Oct. 7.

“I did not grab any dirt in the moment,” Emel said. “Like I said before, it’s not something I make a habit of. My AD (Anwar Golden, also a Salem alum) came up to me at halftime and said it’s kind of sad this is the last game here, right. I said yeah, but we want to go out with a win.”

The Rams wanted to lock the gates for the final time with the same reward.

“Unfortunately we couldn’t get it done for the city and our seniors’ last ride there,” first-year Salem coach Danny Mendoza lamented.

Penns Grove took advantage of Salem’s continuing shortcomings on special teams to build a 15-0 halftime lead.

The Red Devils (1-3) blocked two punts. Isaiah Upshur snuffed one on the first series and almost returned it for a touchdown. Bryce Wright caught the second one in midair and he did return it for the game’s first score and then ran in the conversion to make it 8-0.

Wright scored the second touchdown with less than 90 seconds left in the half on a short run that capped a long drive. Anthony Brown kicked the extra point. Freshman Karon Ceaser scored their final touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

Wright finished with 118 yards rushing on 18 Carrie’s. Ceaser had 109 yards on 17 carries.

“Every time we’ve gone there, whether it was a big win or a heartbreaking loss, we always started fast and, really, that’s the key to beating those guys every time, because Salem is known to be a second-half team,” Emel said. “So, you have to really jump out on them and then hang on for dear life. That’s always how we played them.”

The Rams (0-4) made it interesting when Daveon Jackson scored on a short run with 10:01 to play. Jackson also recovered a fourth-down fumble on Penns Grove’s ensuing drive, but the Rams couldn’t take advantage of the turnover.

“Daveon Jackson is probably the heart and soul of our team and we should be inspired by his play,” Mendoza said. Expect to see more of Jackson next Saturday when the Rams play Cedar Creek in the Rumble on the Raritan at Rutgers’ SHI Stadium, he added.

“They’re athletic, they’re dangerous, so keeping those guys out of the red zone is a big key to defending them,” Emel said. “When you’re playing Salem, they’re notorious for big play.”

But the Rams couldn’t turn any on this historic day. They’ve scored only two touchdowns in their last three games. The biggest play they made Saturday was Ramaji Bundy’s run on third-and-9 from the 13 to keep the chains moving on their touchdown drive.

“We’re just so hot and cold,” Mendoza said. “We just haven’t put together four quarters of football. We have to understand it’s an 11-man game; sometimes we do, sometimes we don’t. 

“We’ve just got to keep chomping at the bit. We’ve got to understand it’s a four-quarter game. The fun part of the game is the battling, it’s the fight, and we’ve got to learn to keep fighting. I still think this team has the talent to win some games and beat some teams on our schedule, but we’ve got to do our talking with our pads and play for four quarters. That’ll be the make or break.”

Penns Grove 21, Salem 6

Penns Grove (1-3)	0	15	0	6 –	21
Salem (0-4)	0	0	0	6 –	6

Scoring plays
PG – Bryce Wright 15 blocked punt return (Bryce Wright run)
PG – Bryce Wright 5 run (Anthony Brown kick)
S – Daveon Jackson 5 run (pass failed)
PG – Karon Ceaser 25 run (kick failed)