Jackson pops for Salem

Rams come to life offensively in second half behind Daveon Jackson, but fall short in Rumble on the Raritan

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PISCATAWAY — Salem’s offense was stuck in the mud in the first half, if you can really be stuck in the mud on a stormy day on artificial turf, but the Rams turned to Daveon Jackson in the second half and almost got their first win of the season.

Jackson was involved in all but three of the Rams’ plays in the second half. He was driving them towards a go-ahead touchdown when he was intercepted at the 30 with 28 seconds left to dash the comeback bid, preserving Cedar Creek’s 20-14 win in the Rumble on the Raritan at Rutgers’ SHI Stadium.

“Pop Jackson is the heart and soul of our team,” Salem coach Danny Mendoza said. “If you want to talk about the next great back to come out of here, I think he needs to be mentioned in that right now.

“He said he wanted it and he wanted it again. When you’ve got guys who want it and want it and want it, give it to them because those guys are special players. There aren’t many ballplayers who have that mentality. You look for inspiration as a coach and what that kid did today, even with the loss, is inspirational.”

Jackson was thrust into the spotlight because quarterback Ramaji Bundy didn’t make the trip. Mendoza declined to comment on the situation except to say it’s “to be continued” this week in the run-up to the Rams’ WJFL Diamond Division game at Woodstown.

The Rams (0-5) were held to just 16 yards net offense in the first half by the deep Group III Pirates (4-1). They made adjustments at halftime that were favorable for their offense line, turned it over to Jackson and he took over.

Of Salem’s 26 plays in the second half, Jackson was in on 23 of them. He had 19 rushes and threw all four of the Rams’ fourth-quarter passes. Jarred Pew had the other three rushes and took a pass Jackson salvaged from a broken play 30 yards to keep the final possession alive.

Jackson rushed for 154 yards in the game (on 30 carries), 126 in the second half and 78 in the fourth quarter. He got the Rams on the board with a 1-yard run in the third quarter and scored their second touchdown on a 26-yard run two plays into the fourth quarter.

He also had a 68-yard touchdown run in the second quarter called back for a hold the Rams are still trying to find on the film and was the subject of a questionable spot midway through the fourth quarter that forced the Rams to turn it over on downs at the Pirates’ 15.

Cedar Creek took advantage of the short field in the first half to open a 20-0 halftime lead. The Pirates ran only three plays on their side of the 50 in the half.

But the Rams shut them out in the second half and held them to 56 net yards to give themselves a chance.

“We finally played four quarters of effort football,” Mendoza said. “You’re talking about Cedar Creek, one of the top teams in Group III and a two-platoon team and we’re a team with a ton of guys going both ways and we stood toe-to-toe with them. You’re never happy with a loss, but if you’re going to lose, lose the right way.

“If you looked at the effort from our team and how we rallied around and the type of defense we played against a high-powered offense, this was the team we were waiting to see. We fought our tails off. The sky’s the limit for what we do when we play that way.”

Cedar Creek 20, Salem 14

CC (20)		SAL (14)
14	1st Downs	11
37-143	Rushing	41-142
7-14-0	Passes	1-6-1
74	Passing	30
5-1	Fum-lost	3-1
4-26.7	Punts-avg	4-15.3
5-50	Penalties-yds	5-25

Cedar Creek (4-1)	6	14	0	0 –	20
Salem (0-5)	0	0	8	6 –	14

Scoring plays
C – Jahmir Campfield 17 run (run failed), 5:59 1Q
C – Alim Parks 10 pass from Billy Smith (PAT kick), 8:32 2Q
C – Aamir Dunbar 2 run (PAT kick), 3:37 2Q
S – Daveon Jackson 1 run (Daveon Jackson run), 3:55 3Q
S – Daveon Jackson 26 run (run failed), 11:33 4Q