Band on the run

Schalick uses running attack, strong defense to shut down Audubon in Central Jersey playoff opener; Salem falls at South Hunterdon

CENTRAL JERSEY GROUP I PLAYOFFS
Friday’s games
No. 1 Schalick 35, No. 8 Audubon 0
No. 4 Shore 14, No. 5 Clayton 0
No. 3 Glassboro 28, No. 6 Keyport 0
No. 2 South Hunterdon 16, No. 7 Salem 6
Semifinals games
Shore at Schalick
Glassboro at South Hunterdon

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PITTSGROVE – Old habits die hard.

Whenever he was asked about it, Schalick coach Mike Wilson said the reason the Cougars invested so much time in the offseason improving their passing game was because they got exposed for the lack of one in the playoffs last year.

If you’re going to beat the better teams, especially those you’ll see in the playoffs, he said, you have to throw the football.

But two weeks after quarterback Kenai Simmons set all kinds of career highs passing the football and now in the first round of those playoffs, the Cougars were back to pounding the ground. They ran it 42 times for 269 yards Friday night and threw only five passes (completing three).

But you can’t argue with the results. They beat Audubon 35-0 for their first playoff win since 2007 and their first playoff shutout since 2003.

The undefeated top seed in the Central Jersey Group I playoffs (10-0) will now host Shore Regional (6-3) in the sectional semifinals Friday.

“It was odd because our game plan coming into this week was really to pass the ball more,” Simmons said. “We saw last year, first round of the playoffs, that’s where we failed at. We ran the ball so much and Woodstown stopped us, so we felt we had to step it up and pass the ball.

“But after we saw Reggie Allen breaking a couple plays we figured like he was hungry so let’s feed him and keep it on the ground.”

Allen led the rushing attack with 117 yards on 21 carries. He scored two touchdowns. Simmons had 98 yards, including a 60-yard dash in the fourth quarter that was more than the Green Wave rushed as a team the entire game. Levi Feeney-Childers had 44 yards on eight carries and a touchdown.

Eighteen of the Cougars’ first 19 plays were runs and they only really started throwing it on their last possession of the first half. They threw one pass in the second half, a 34-yard completion to Jake Siedlecki.

“Here’s the thing, as that game went on we threw when we had to,” Wilson said. “Last year we couldn’t do that. So it’s not the volume, it’s can we make the timely pass when you need it.

“We liked the tempo of the game, we were playing great defense, the stuff they gave us was (by) us not them; we were getting a surge all night. The gameplan was with the question mark on Kenai’s (shoulder), we’re just going to run the football this week. And then Kenai looked like his old self so the training wheels are going to come off.”

The Cougars’ defense also played a big role in the win. It was led by Dylan Sheehan’s one-handed pick-six and three sacks by freshman first-time starting nose Aiden Torres. 

Wilson said the Cougars were back to the form they displayed prior to the slowdown brought on by back-to-back forfeit wins in the middle of the schedule.

“It was a good, complete first-round game,” he said.

Sheehan played with a thick black cushion wrapped around his right hand to protect a fractured knuckle in his pinky he suffered in last week’s game. It didn’t hurt his chances making the interception, though, as he snared it with his left hand and used the pad to help bring it into his body.

Then he took off down the left sideline for the first pick-six of his high school career. It gave the Cougars a 14-0 lead they carried into halftime.

“As soon as it was in my hands I knew it was in the crib,” Sheehan said. 

Torres, meanwhile, had been elevated to the varsity three games ago after giving the regulars fits on the scout team and originally was used as a rotational player. He was told after last week’s regular-season finale he was going to start in the playoff game, had a whole week to mentally prepare for the biggest game of his life and made the most of his opportunity.

“First play I’m always nervous, but it wasn’t anything really big, I just had to play like I always play, do what I’ve got to do,” the 5-10, 250-pounder said, clutching a game ball in his massive hands. “It was fun. I like it. I really like it. It’s more intense, everything is more fast paced. I like it way better.”

No. 1 Schalick 35, No. 8 Audubon 0

AUD		SCH
12	1st Downs	16
14-56	Rushing	42-269
11-22-2	Passes	3-5-0
100	Passing	46
0-0	Fum-lost	0-0
2-30.5	Punts	1-44.0
4-33	Penalties	7-62

Audubon (3-5)	0	0	0	0 –	0
Schalick (10-0)	0	14	7	14 –	35

Salem haunted by missed opportunities

LAMBERTVILLE – Salem missed several opportunities to take control of the game in the first half and it came back to bite it in the end.

Second-seeded and once-beaten South Hunterdon stopped turning the ball over in the second half and scored 16 straight points to end the Rams’ playoff dreams and first season under coach Danny Mendoza 16-6.

The Rams stopped South Hunterdon four times with takeaways in the first half, all of them setting up inside the Eagles’ 30, but had only a 6-0 lead on Jared Pew’s 13-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to show for it. The defense collected three interceptions and a fumble recovery to hold the Eagles (9-1) back. They returned one of the picks for a touchdown, but it got called back for a block in the back.

As the seventh seed in the Central Jersey Group I bracket, the Rams (2-8) were destined to play on the road throughout the playoffs. But it wouldn’t have fazed them. They played four of their previous, but were only scheduled for two before their old field was reopened after undergoing repairs.

South Hunterdon 16, Salem 6

Salem (2-8)	0	6	0	0 –	0
South Hunterdon (9-1)	0	0	7	9 –	16