Woodstown, Salem resume rivalry with Homecoming game; Penns Grove, Pennsville look to enhance playoff positions, unbeaten Schalick open after forfeit win
SALEM COUNTY FOOTBALL
Friday’s games
Pennsville at Cumberland, 6 p.m.
Salem at Woodstown, 7 p.m.
Schalick 1, Lindenwold 0, forfeit
Saturday’s game
Paulsboro at Penns Grove, noon
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN – They might not play the game on Thanksgiving anymore because it’s too valuable in the current playoff formula, but it still carries the same amount of pageantry and stakes.
Woodstown and Salem meet for the 114th time Friday night in a game that holds a lot of meaning for both teams.
The Wolverines (3-1) are looking to get back on track after last week’s overtime loss to Glassboro that knocked them out of the top spot in the South Jersey Group I UPR power ratings that determine playoff seedings.
The Rams (0-5) are looking for their first win. It’s their slowest start since 2012 when they went 0-10. They’re used to a season starting in the other direction, but they did give Group III Cedar Creek all it could handle in the rain at Rutgers last week and their offense showed signs of coming around with the emergence of now lead back Pop Jackson.
Quarterback Ramaji Bundy didn’t make the trip for undisclosed disciplinary reasons, paving the way for Jackson’s breakout game (30 carries, 154 yards). And while Rams coach Danny Mendoza said the evaluation was “to be continued” into this week, the player’s status for Mendoza’s first Woodstown-Salem experience remained unclear even as he and the Rams practiced Thursday.
“Any time you play Salem it’s a huge game because of the rivalry,” Woodstown coach John Adams said. “I know their record doesn’t reflect how well they’ve played. They’ve had a tough schedule and they have some good players and they started getting things clicking there the last game and had a shot to win that. We can’t have any missed opportunities like we had last week and we can’t lose the turnover battle and the penalty battle.”
It was a big deal when the teams always played on Thanksgiving, such a big deal, in fact, that when the date change came about officials from both schools met with their constituencies to explain the situation. It had to move it off the traditional date when the current scheduling model and playoff system went into effect but, in a nod to pageantry and tradition, for these last two years at least the schools decided to make it their respective Homecoming games.
“We knew there was tradition, but we had to talk about the players now and what was in their best interest,” Adams said.
It is such a big deal they’ve gotten in writing that if at any time they find themselves in different WJFL divisions they’ll still be guaranteed to be regular opponents.
Adams said the date change and the impact the game has on the post-season formula has ”definitely added” to the meaningfulness of the game.
“When you became the coach here it was like, ‘You’ve got to beat Salem,’” Adams said. “That’s what everybody in town focused on because back in the day they didn’t have playoffs, that was the last game of the year, that was like the final game, so it always came down to Woodstown-Salem at the end of the year.
“Even when we did keep it on Thanksgiving and both programs got to the point where we were going far in the playoffs, it was like bragging rights. A couple years we played them back-to-back. In 2019 they beat us in the playoffs and then we played them the next week and beat them on Thanksgiving. I think it was redemption.”
This might be just his first run through the rivalry, but Mendoza knows what it means to play in a traditional game and is well-versed in the history of this one.
“It’s a little bit different this year with us being a little bit down and them being a little bit up, the buzz around it may not be as big ,” he said, “but I’m sure tomorrow night it’ll be a sight to see.”
Salem leads the series 64-39-10. Woodstown has won three of the last four, but all four have been decided by six points or less (14 points total). Last year’s game was 7-6 and, Adams said, “just as crowded as Thanksgiving would have been.”
PENNSVILLE (2-2) at CUMBERLAND (2-3): The Eagles play one of the most pivotal games of their turnaround season.
They currently sit at No. 17 in the South Jersey Group I UPR ratings – one spot out of the 16 playoff qualifiers – less than a half-point off the cut and two points ahead of No. 18. They’ve already won more games than they did a year ago, but they’ll likely need to double that total coming out of the Royal Division.
There’s a lot of football left to play in what Eagles coach Mike Healy calls “an interesting year” and lot of shuffling that’ll go on before the playoff field is ultimately determined, but beating a Group III division rival certainly would score them a lot of points.
“We’re halfway through the season so it’s getting to the time where every game is going to be (pivotal),” Healy said. “We’re one spot out of the playoffs right now and we really want to get a shot to get in there and see what we can do.
“Beating a team that has a couple wins, get some extra power points, things like that, is definitely big for us because you’re going to start running out of chances eventually, so we really have to focus now and get this. I think the kids realize it’s getting late in the season, we’ve got to make sure we’re not having more letdowns. We can control our own future if we want. If we take care of business we don’t have to worry about anything else.”
The Eagles are coming off a 38-20 loss to Schalick in a game they were in through the middle of the third quarter. They did a lot of good things in the game, they just needed to be more consistent.
After drawing to within 17-14, they gave up a long touchdown pass and then failed to move the chains in their next two offensive series as the Cougars pulled away.
“It’s time for us to take the next step now,” Healy said. “Get rid of these mental mistakes. We need to be more disciplined as a team and that’s what’s going to get us to that next level of the teams we want to be playing with and beating.
“We mentioned where we are in the playoffs (picture), but it’s more every game we’ve got to get better and keep getting better every game and doing what we should. It’s not so much it’s make or break (this week), but there is a part of that where we need this game to do what we want to do.”
LINDENWOLD (0-5) vs. SCHALICK (5-0): The undefeated Cougars found themselves with an unscheduled open week after accepting Lindenwold’s forfeit due to a lack of numbers in the Lions’ program. Riverview Sports News first reported the forfeit last week.
When advised of the Lions’ plight, the Cougars sought an alternate opponent, but after deeper consideration decided to accept the forfeit “in the best interest of the team,” becoming the state’s first 6-0 team this season in the process. They’re one of 36 undefeated teams in the NJSIAA this week.
Without a game to play, the Cougars had a reduced practice week, but as they say, there may be off days but there are no days off, so they did have some football activities.
“I told the kids flat out everything you haven’t been able to do the last 6-8 weeks, go get it done, because that’s what I’m doing,” Cougars coach Mike Wilson said. “Not playing allows us to rest up a bit mentally and physically to get ready for the second-half push. With the new schedule and not playing on Thanksgiving teams have lost their bye weeks. This was unexpected, but we will take it and get better.”
Earlier in the week the Cougars moved into the No. 1 spot in the South Jersey Group I UPR rankings that determine playoff seedings for the first time in Wilson’s tenure. The top four teams in SJ-I this week are Schalick, Florence, Glassboro and Woodbury. Last week’s No. 1, Woodstown, fell to No. 6 after its overtime loss to Glassboro.
“Is it nice to see our players hard work has paid off to this point; yes,” Wilson said. “But we’re only halfway through the season, we’re turning to the October, which is the second-half push.
“One thing I did tell the kids about all this – and it was before the rankings came out – we control our own destiny. Last year we kind of had to cross our fingers that last week. If we go 1-0 every week everything will take care of itself. The best thing about where we’re at right now is we control our own destiny, we don’t need anybody else’s help.”
Saturday’s game
PAULSBORO (0-4) AT PENNS GROVE (1-4): The Red Devils have been struggling to find consistency this season, but they can greatly enhance their playoff position with a win Saturday. They got in last year without winning a game in the WJFL’s black-and-blue Diamond Division – all five division teams got in – but they’re already ahead of the game with one this year and could effectively punch their ticket by winning Saturday.
Paulsboro may be winless, but its not punchless and Red Devils coach John Emel is wary. The Red Raiders have a storied program that this year has fallen victim to a brutal schedule (highest OSI outside of the SJ-I top 16). They played their closest game of the year last week, losing 14-13 at West Deptford. Last year they started 0-3 and wound up playing Salem for the Central Jersey Group I title.
“I think they’re a Group I playoff team in terms of caliber of talent,” Emel said. “They played some really good teams. Haddonfield, Woodstown and Woodbury are the top of Groups I and II. A lot of people might be 0-4 playing that type of schedule.
“I don’t pay attention to the records. We’ve only got one more win than them, so we don’t have any room to be resting on laurels.”
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