Rams beat Paulsboro to get first win of the season in final game on historic Walnut Street Field, debut on-campus stadium next week
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
SALEM — The Salem Rams ignored all the negativity that had been building as the losses mounted during the season and scored a win that was historic on so many fronts.
The Rams closed out historic Walnut Street Field in style on an otherwise dreary Saturday afternoon, beating Paulsboro 28-8 for their first win of the season in the final high school game at Walnut Street where they have played for generations.
It also was the first win for coach Danny Mendoza as their head coach.
“What a way to end it here,” Mendoza said. “We needed a win bad, they needed a win bad; we came out victorious. We made a couple adjustments in the week. What they had to understand is if we limit the negativity, if we limit the distractions and play as a team, the sky is the limit.
“It’s been like that all year. We’ve been so close, we were there, we just haven’t put four quarters together. We finally put four quarters together of team football and a lot of young guys got to show what they could do today. The future of Salem football is so bright.”
Next week they move to their bright new on-campus stadium. School officials had hoped the team could be in it this week but recent rainy weather created construction delays so they put it off to next week’s Homecoming. There also was an issue with not being able to get electricity to crucial areas in the facility until Wednesday of next week.
“We know what Walnut Street has been; they’ve been playing football here forever,” Mendoza said. “All the great guys who have played here, just to honor them with the last game here is just a special and magical thing. We’re happy we’re able to honor this field and honor the community and put ourselves in the win column.”
The Rams went into the season expecting their days at Walnut Street were done and scheduled all their games before October for the road or neutral sites, but there were two other “last games at Walnut” before the end actually came.
They were forced to find a new venue for their Camden game when a conflict arose with the game in Wilmington and city officials worked diligently during the week to get the facility ready for them. It worked so well they moved their originally scheduled rivalry game with Penns Grove back to there even with fan restrictions. Now there is no tomorrow for the field as far as the Rams are concerned.
“It’s the last time I’m ever going to play on this field as a high school player and we went out with a W,” Pop Jackson said. “We’ve had a lot of last times, but this is actually the last time. I might get emotional.”
“I’ve been playing here all my life, ever since I was 5,” Ramaji Bundy said. “To actually play the last game on Walnut and then come out with a win, it feels good.”
Paulsboro remains winless and is 0-6 for the first time since 1970.
The stars came out for the Rams (1-6). Jackson burst on the scene as an offensive threat when the Rams played at Rutgers, rushing for 249 yards and two touchdowns on 33 carries and he had the same kind of impact Saturday. He rushed for 190 yards on 30 carries and a touchdown and threw a touchdown pass to Bundy 15 seconds before halftime to put the Rams up for good.
“We kind of got back to the original plan of what we were going to do,” Mendoza said. “Pop Jackson is probably one of the most special backs to ever come out of here. If he keeps this up, you can start mentioning him with the great backs who have come out of here. His size, his speed, his balance, his grit, you can’t ask for a better running back than that. They don’t make them like that anymore.”
It took a couple weeks to Jackson to emerge, he said, because he was trying to develop across the board.
“It was getting my coach to trust me with the ball and proving everyone wrong with them saying we’re gonna lose every week,” Jackson said. “I just used that as motivation to do good in a game.”
Jared Pew gave them 41 hard yards and two touchdowns. He scored the touchdown that got the Rams started and the one that sealed the deal.
“The first win of the season obviously means a lot to me, but I’ve been playing here since I started football, so it means a lot,” Pew said. “Especially ending it off on a win and sending it where it needs to be. It was good to set off on a win and bigger and better things.”
Junior Mando Johnson had his coming out party in New Jersey. The 6-4, 230-pound junior transferred in from Florida a month ago to get out of a tough situation and, in just his third game eligible with the Rams, showed why he is one of the top 100 rush ends in the country and has 18 Division I offers.
He was simply a terror on defense Saturday with several tackles for loss, at least two sacks, a near fumble recovery and also produced some had-to-have gains and a pair of hard-running conversions when they gave him a chance to run the ball.
“He is one of the most talented players I’ve ever been able to coach these past few years,” said Mendoza, who had Johnson at Wellington, Fla. “The sky’s the limit for him. You’ll probably see that kid playing on Sunday one day.”
For now, Johnson is just trying to fit in and do what he can.
“I’m trying to win with the family,” he said. “I’m at a new program now. I’m just trying build a connection, get to the playoffs, do good in the playoffs and try to see if we can get that third ‘ship.”
Salem 28, Paulsboro 8
| PAULS (8) | SALEM (28) | |
| 7 | 1st Downs | 11 |
| 21-30 | Rushing | 55-204 |
| 5-17-1 | Passes | 5-7-0 |
| 42 | Passing | 72 |
| 2-1 | Fum-lost | 1-1 |
| 4-29.0 | Punts-avg | 1-20.5 |
| 4-31 | Penalties | 8-62 |
| Paulsboro (0-6) | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 – | 8 |
| Salem (1-6) | 6 | 6 | 0 | 16 – | 28 |
Scoring plays:
S – Jared Pew 2 run (run failed), 10:21 1Q
P – Eithand Clark 35 pass from Roman Onorato (Sharif Green run), 6:49 2Q
S – Ramaji Bundy 3 pass from Pop Jackson (run failed), 0:15 2Q
S – Pop Jackson 38 run (Mando Johnson run), 11:51 4Q
S – Jared Pew (Mando Johnson run), 4:21 4Q
Riverview Sports News 