Salem shut out by Willingboro in Carr’s first game as Rams’ head coach; Chimeras win first opener in 13 years
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
SALEM – It was about a half-hour after the game had ended. Kemp Carr had finished talking to his players after a disappointing season-opening loss and there was still a lot about it he didn’t like.
But as the new Salem coach walked back to his office, his youngest grandson Nathaniel raced across the field and jumped into his arms. Carr held him tight and in that moment all was right with the world.
“You’ve got to separate the two, right?” he explained. “You’ve got to know how, you’ve got to know when, even though you’re an emotional human being, right. We go through it, we’ve got to process some joys in life. You’ve got to take the ups with the ups and the downs with the downs.
“That was my youngest grandson. That’s the future. Anytime you see the future running up and it’s part of your DNA, your bloodline, you get excited about that, right.”
WILLINGBORO 35, SALEM 0 Next: Cinnaminson at Salem, Saturday, noon
But soon after that interaction it was back to what the day was all about. And that would be Salem’s 35-0 loss to Willingboro in Carr’s first game back as a head coach in six years and what the Rams were going to do about it going forward.
While there were some things the coach found to his liking, there were a lot of others things the Rams need to correct to be the team Carr knows it can be.
They gave up two short-field touchdowns early in the game because of turnovers to fall behind 14-0. The running game, which was expected to be a strong suit, had too many carries of negative or zero yards. They didn’t come close to scoring, although they looked headed that way in the fourth quarter until the running clock caught up to them.
“It’s all about that magical box,” Carr said. “We weren’t able to establish the run, which is always going to be an issue if you can’t do that. They beat us in the TBR – tackle, block, run. If we can’t do the TBR against teams you’re going to have a hard time beating them. Your special teams better be real special in order to win games if you can’t TBR. We didn’t TBR well.
“We thought we were built for this. I thought we had a great pre-game. I thought we looked like, before we out there, we had that mojo, that ‘it’ factor, and it just never showed up on the field, but I promise you it will. This ain’t no 2-7 football team.”
Willingboro’s James Pemberton scored two touchdowns and had an interception on a tipped ball. Mekhi Cottle did some “purposeful” running and scored a touchdown in the final minute of the third quarter. Jamier Harper and quarterback Sean Taylor also found the end zone. Taylor threw three touchdown passes.
For the Chimeras, it was their first Week Zero or season opening victory since 2011 (Cinnaminson).
“This team is gritty, they’re hard working, they show up and bust their humps every day,” Willingboro coach Kenny Scott said. “We just wanted to make a statement. They haven’t won a Week Zero game in over a decade, so they earned that one.”
On the positive side for Salem, Carr was happy with the active and disruptive play of defensive ends Michael Green and Antwan Rogers and the running of sophomore Jamaal Shockley, who had two nice runs in the fourth quarter when the Rams’ offense finally seemed comfortable.
“I think if he’s willing to learn I think he’ll be decent player here,” Carr said of Shockley. “He’s fast, he’s strong, he’s active. Once he starts to understand his development, once Pop (DaviYonn Jackson) is gone, who’s it? The job’s open right. So those guys should be fighting and clawing. I’m looking for the next guys and he showed some bright signs that he can be it.”
Willingboro (1-0)
7
7
14
7-
35
Salem (0-1)
0
0
0
0-
0
SCORING SUMMARY W-Brandon Cox pass from Sean Taylor (James Pemberton kick) W-James Pemberton pass from Sean Taylor (James Pemberton kick) W-James Pemberton pass from Sean Taylor (James Pemberton kick) W-Mekhi Cottle run (James Pemberton kick), 0:48 3Q W-Sean Taylor 1 run (James Pemberton kick), 2:41 4Q
Willingboro quarterback Sean Taylor (1) accounted for four touchdowns against Salem Saturday.
Penns Grove, Salem drop season openers in their head coaches’ return to the sidelines; PG’s Maccarone on being back: ‘Like riding a bicycle’
SATURDAY’S WJFL SCORES Diamond Division Paulsboro 12, Penns Grove 7 Willingboro 35, Salem 0
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
PAULSBORO – The Penns Grove offense had the Red Devils right where they wanted to be. They were in a position to win their new coach Mark Maccarone’s first game with little time left on the clock.
All they had to do was make a play. But it was a high-pressure play. Fourth down and 5 yards to move the chains, 16 yards to pull off a thrilling win. A head coach couldn’t have asked for anything better in his first game back in charge in seven years..
The Red Devils got the look they wanted, but apparently Paulsboro wanted it more. The Red Raiders chased down Penns Grove quarterback Melo Erickson and sacked him with 13 seconds left to kill the threat and secure a 12-7 victory.
“Playmakers have to make plays; we didn’t make plays,” Maccarone said. “Playmakers have to make plays. Theirs made plays and we didn’t. Plain and simple. Cut and dry.”
The defense had kept the Red Devils in the game and gave the offense the chance to win it at the end. Twice during the game it turned back the Red Raiders on fourth down inside the 10.
It all came down the final drive. The Red Devils took over at the 40 with 6:52 to play and with KaRon Ceaser back in the backfield, where he was a 1,000-yard rusher a year ago, got it into the red zone with less than a minute to play.
A short pass from Erickson to Anthony Brown got them to the 16. Erickson’s third-down pass over the middle to Knowledge Young was a tad too hard leaving the Red Devils with their fourth-and-5 for the game.
The play was supposed to be a misdirection screen and Devine Arce was wide open, but it never connected. Erickson rolled to his left and was chased down by Red Raiders’ junior Jason Yandach and sacked for a 12-yard loss. All the Red Raiders had to do was take a knee and they had their first win in a season opener since 2021.
“I feel like I could’ve gotten a little bit more help on the outside, but then again I’m the quarterback so I have to step up and make that throw,” Erickson said. “We were really forcing the ball down the field, we just had to complete the passes. If we complete the passes then we’ll be in there. We’ve just got to get back in the Lab, get back at it.”
There really was no science to it on the defensive end.
“I just saw he had the ball and tackled him,” Yandach said. “That last drive was tough. We had to push it. Our D-line did good.”
Penns Grove quarterback Melo Erickson (R) rolls out looking for a receiver on the Red Devils’ potential game-winning fourth-down play in the final minute Saturday. On the cover, Mark Maccarone calls a play in his first game as the Red Devils’ head coach.
Maccarone was in his first game as a head coach since stepping down at Glassboro in 2017. He was the Red Devils’ defensive coordinator the next two years and helped them in a less formal capacity post-COVID. He was approved as their head coach in March, just their third head coach in the last 25 years.
“Like riding a bicycle,” he said of the return. “Just trying to get the kids to adapt to how it is on game day; it’s a little bit different than what they’re used to.”
Maccarone’s return got off to a balky start. The Red Devils’ first two possessions ended in lost fumbles. The second came at the 1 after their defense had just stopped quarterback Malakhai McKenzie short of the goal line on fourth down on Paulsboro’s first drive of the season.
McKenzie didn’t miss the second time around, pushing his way into the end zone on the first play. But the Red Raiders didn’t get the extra point.
Penns Grove answered on the ensuing drive and took a 7-6 lead on Erickson’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Young and Anthony Brown’s PAT. Erickson completed 8-of-13 passes for 90 yards.
The TD pass to Young was the first of his career. He didn’t throw one in 54 passing attempts his first two seasons.
“I feel like I’m taking a lot more accountability and stepping up to be a leader,” he said. “I feel like I’m taking control of the offense more and moving the ball, as you can see.”
Paulsboro retook the lead on the next drive. KyAire Harvey took a toss and threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Jeremiah Carr, who went over Penns Grove’s Kylee Goodson to make the grab. The Red Raiders missed the extra point again, giving the Red Devils the opening to win it at the end.
“It’s a game of who makes the least amount of mistakes wins,” Maccarone said. “We made more mistakes than they did.
“To have the ball going in to score to win the game at the end, that’s the position you want to be in. They gave us what we were looking for defensively on that last drive, we didn’t execute. That’s about as cut and dry as it can be. We didn’t execute.”
Paulsboro 12, Penns Grove 7
PG (7)
PB (12)
11
1st Downs
8
33-101
Rushes-yards
23-65
8-13-0
Passes (C-A-I)
8-15-0
90
Passing yards
130
2-2
Fumbles-lost
0-0
2-28.5
Punts-avg
2-35.0
7-53
Penalties-yards
6-45
Penns Grove (0-1)
0
7
0
0-
7
Paulsboro (1-0)
6
6
0
0-
12
SCORING SUMMARY PB-Malakhai McKenzie 1 run (pass failed), 6:06 1Q PG-Knowledge Young 7 pass from Melo Erickson (Anthony Brown kick), 7:09 2Q PB-Jeremiah Carr 21 pass from KyAire Harvey (pass failed), 5:25 2Q
Willingboro 35, Salem 0
Willingboro (1-0)
7
7
14
7-
35
Salem (0-1)
0
0
0
0-
0
TOUCHDOWNS: James Pemberton 2, Jamier Harper (W), Mekhi Cottle (W, 0:48 3Q), Sean Taylor (W, 2:41 4Q).
Schalick was looking to launch a season of high expectations with a big start, but instead found the opposite
WJFL SCORES Patriot Division Friday’s Games Collingswood 30, Clayton 26 Diamond Division Friday’s Game Cedar Grove 41, Schalick 3 (BATB) Saturday’s Games Penns Grove at Paulsboro, 10 a.m. Willingboro at Salem, noon
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
EGG HARBOR TWP. — The Battle At The Beach was no paradise for the Schalick football team Friday morning. That, ladies and gentlemen, was on the other sideline.
Quarterback Stephen Paradiso threw for 227 yards and four touchdowns as Cedar Grove had its way with the Cougars 41-3 in the Day Two opener of the BATB at Egg Harbor Twp. High School. The Labor Day weekend series opened in Ocean City Thursday night, but had to move inland due to a scheduling conflict with the stadium there.
“We were not ready to play and that falls on me completely,” Schalick coach Mike Wilson said. “As the head football coach I have to prepare my staff better, I have to prepare the players better. We weren’t ready to play and it showed today.
“Schematically we were well prepared. I think we were. We’ve got to go back and watch tape and obviously re-evaulate that because it didn’t work. But mentally. Personally I think a lot of the kids have been hanging on that 11-win season last year that carried on through the summer. We’ve had our off-the-field issues. We’ve not had a good week of practice. I’ve been doing this for 20 years, you don’t do it in practice you’re not going to do it today. So, the mistakes we made all week in practice we made today.”
It was an ill-fated trip for the Cougars from the start, even though they did have a 3-0 lead after an early takeaway.
Schalick senior quarterback Kenai Simmons didn’t make the trip, left back in Salem County as a “team internal decision” related to accountability and program protocols.
His absence threw sophomore Ayden Jenkins directly into the fire. Jenkins had been practicing to be prepared to play because Wilson said he didn’t want a situation similar to last year’s Gloucester Catholic game happening again, but he was told just three days ago he’d be drawing the start.
In that game, which Schalick won by three touchdowns to complete an undefeated regular season, Simmons went out early in the second quarter forcing Matthew LaMazza to run the offense the rest of the game. The Cougars reduced the offense that night on the fly to make it easier on their backup, but this time Jenkins had the full package at his disposal against a vastly stronger opponent.
Jenkins admitted he didn’t sleep very well overnight as he thought about the game ahead and his first play as a varsity quarterback — the first play from scrimmage in the game — resulted in a fumbled exchange with Levi Feeney-Childers in the backfield. Fortunately, the Cougars recovered, but for a loss and moved the ball only nine more yards on Jenkins’ first career completion to LaMazza.
“It was a lot of pressure on me,” Jenkins said. “This is my first year ever playing quarterback. I never played quarterback before. My goal was to show everyone I wasn’t just a backup quarterback and wasn’t going to be a walk in the park.”
The Panthers had prepared all summer for Simmons, but coach Rob Gogerty said they changed very little when they discovered Jenkins was the starter. They did pressure the sophomore hard. He completed 5 of 9 passes for 57 yards and had 13 rushes for 2 net yards.
“We prepared four months for the quarterback, so we really didn’t change much,” Gogerty said. “We just stuck to our guns, stuck to our reads, things like that. We had some spies set up for pass situations, which we kind of dropped them off. I think that was the biggest change with the quarterback not playing.”
Cedar Grove kept the pressure on Schalick sophomore quarterback Ayden Jenkins (11) all game. (All photos by Heather Papiano)
Wilson didn’t throw his sophomore quarterback under the bus; truthfully, there was trouble across the board. The Cougars had less than 100 yards of net offense, only 39 yards rushing, and four fumbles. They finally lost a fumble in the fourth quarter when a center snap hit a player in the backfield who had gone in motion.
“Nothing against his effort; he’s played hard, he was locked in,” Wilson said. “But we as coaches have to do a better job of putting him in a better position to succeed.”
Wilson said the coach in him was preparing for Simmons not playing all season, but that didn’t seem likely. The senior easily could return to the starting spot next week against rival Cumberland.
But if that’s the case and they don’t have Simmons, Wilson is confident Jenkins can hold up against the gauntlet that is the WJFL Diamond Division schedule where every game projects to be as intense as this one.
“I’ve been in many programs before that have started sophomore quarterbacks,” he said. “But that’s on us to put that young man in a better position to succeed. We didn’t do that today offensively.
“I have full faith in our talent and our ability to play with anybody. I truly do. That’s why we scrimmage the way we do. That’s why we wanted to play this game against these guys. We have to do a better job. We did not put the best effort out there. That wasn’t Schalick football today.”
But it did start out well. Kicker Hunter Dragotta, Schalick’s MVP for the game, gave the Cougars a 3-0 lead midway through the first quarter with a 36-yard field goal. The drive was set up by Nick Lopergolo’s interception.
And then it went south in a hurry. The Panthers scored touchdowns the next five times they touched the ball and 41 straight points altogether. Paradiso threw two touchdown passes each to Jackson Morrice and team MVP Nick Russo among his 19 completions. Morrice also returned the second half kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown that devastated the Cougars.
Paradiso completed 9 of 11 passes in the second quarter and 11 of 13 with three touchdowns at one stretch in the game.
“I thought we came out of the gate a little slow,” Gogerty said. “I kind of expected that. It’s the first game of the year, we’re not really going live in the scrimmages and getting those looks, so I think it took us a quarter to really get going, especially Jackson and guys like that, but Nick made some big plays early on to kind of weather the storm a little bit until everyone kind of started clicking.”
EXTRA POINTS: Schalick is the third Salem County team to participate in the four-year history of the BATB. The other two — Salem (2-0) and Penns Grove — were 3-0 … Schalick had won 10 straight regular-season games. The Cougars’ last regular-season loss came to Cumberland on Oct. 22, 2022.
Schalick kicker Hunter Dragotta (12) makes a last-ditch effort to keep Cedar Grove’s Jackson Morrice from returning the second half kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown.
Cedar Grove 41, Schalick 3
SCH (3)
CG (41)
6
1st Downs
14
34-39
Rushes-yards
29-73
5-9-2
Passes (C-A-I)
19-27-2
57
Passing yards
227
4-1
Fumbles-lost
0-0
7-34.6
Punts-avg
1-29.0
8-53
Penalties-yards
4-35
Schalick (0-1)
3
0
0
0-
3
Cedar Grove (1-0)
7
20
7
7-
41
SCORING SUMMARY S-Hunter Dragotta 36 FG, 7:28 1Q C- Nick Russo 49 pass from Stephen Paradiso (Sebastian Kovacs kick), 5:13 1Q C-Jackson Morrice 27 pass from Stephen Paradiso (Sebastian Kovacs kick), 11:13 2Q C-Anthony Tronio 5 run (Sebastian Kovacs kick), 8:26 2Q C-Nick Russo 8 pass from Stephen Paradiso (kick blocked), 4:58 2Q C-Jackson Morrice 94 kick return (Sebastian Kovacs kick) C-Jackson Morrice 27 pass from Stephen Paradiso (Sebastian Kovacs kick), 4:20 4Q
WJFL STANDINGS
DIAMOND
DIV
ALL
Glassboro
0-0
0-0
Penns Grove
0-0
0-0
Salem
0-0
0-0
Schalick
0-0
0-1
Woodbury
0-0
0-0
Woodstown
0-0
0-0
PATRIOT
DIV
ALL
Audubon
0-0
0-0
Camden Cath.
0-0
0-0
Collingswood
0-0
1-0
Overbrook
0-0
1-0
Paulsboro
0-0
0-0
Pennsville
0-0
0-1
West Deptford
0-0
0-1
Schalick’s David Stewart (0) reaches back to make a spectacular one-handed interception close to the goal line in the third quarter Friday against Cedar Grove.
Schalick linebacker Riley Papiano (16) tries to bring down Stephen Paradiso before the Cedar Grove quarterback can get off another pass. Paradiso passed for 227 yards and four touchdowns in the game.
Pennsville couldn’t get anything going, shut out in season opener at Gloucester
WJFL SCORES Patriot Division Thursday’s Games Gloucester City 14, Pennsville 0 Manchester Twp. 26, West Deptford 21 (BATB) Overbrook 36, Buena 0 Friday’s Games Collingswood at Clayton, 6 p.m. Diamond Division Friday’s Game Schalick vs. Cedar Grove at Egg Harbor Twp., 9:30 a.m. Saturday’s Games Penns Grove at Paulsboro, 10 a.m. Willingboro at Salem, noon
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
GLOUCESTER CITY — Football is such a momentum game. Pennsville looked like it was building some late in the first half to get back in the game, but they lost it on a crushing turnover in the end zone and never got it back again.
And once it’s gone, it’s really hard to get back unless something extraordinary happens.
The Eagles dropped their season opener Thursday night, 14-0 at Gloucester City in a rare Week Zero game.
They gave up touchdowns on the first two defensive stands of the season but kept the Lions out of the end zone the rest of the game. They just could never get anything going offensively. They had only 10 yards net rushing, quarterback Robbie McDade was sacked four times and was intercepted three others.
“We had some opportunities, didn’t take advantage of them and they were a physical football team and we didn’t match them consistently,” Pennsville coach Mike Healy said. “Just too many mistakes across the board. Across the board didn’t make great decisions today.
“We know what we’re capable of on both sides of the ball, it’s just we have to be consistent. When you play good football teams and you’re not consistent they’re going to beat you.”
The Eagles looked like they were finally gaining steam in the final drive of the first half. A score would have given them momentum going into the locker room where adjustments could be made for when got the ball to start the second half.
They drove it all the way down to the Lions’ 2, thanks in part to a 45-yard catch and run by Luke Wood, and had it fourth-and-goal with 25 seconds left in the half, but linebacker Ryan Coffigny intercepted McDade a couple yards deep in the end zone with Malik Rehmer and Wood in the area to kill the threat.
“You score there and all of a sudden we get a little more confidence on offense, feel more confident getting the ball,” Healy said. “You score there and now it’s a one-score game and the defense is starting to settle down some and it just completely changes the game.”
“I definitely think it was a huge setback because we just made our first great drive down the field that unfortunately ended on a pick,” Wood said. “That’s something we can’t let affect us. Today we did and later on down the road, next week, the next week after that, that’s something we’re going to try to not let affect us because we have the talent to win.”
Wood, a college prospect in baseball and a 1,000-point scorer in basketball, was playing football as a senior for the first time since youth and caught three passes in the game for 67 yards. He looked a little uncertain after his first career catch, an 8-yard gain in the second quarter that put Pennsville back into positive net yardage, but the 45-yarder was the Eagles’ biggest offensive play of the game.
“It was fun,” he said. “It’s just a completely different atmosphere than baseball or basketball. This is the ultimate team sport. This is 11 guys playing all for the same goal. We’re really a family, we’re really a brotherhood, which you really don’t feel like that in other sports, as much as you do in football.”
Gloucester pounded the ball on the ground and racked up 108 yards of offense on its first two possessions. Touchdown runs by Trevin Burkhardt and Mason Widman gave the Lions a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter, but they Eagles’ defense tightened and held held them to minus-1 yard net the rest of the half and only 61 more yards in the third quarter.
Twice in the fourth quarter the Lions penetrated into the red zone – the second time after Pennsville went for it on fourth down from its 33 – but the Eagles kept them off the board.
“We got humbled,” senior Connor Ayers said. “The first two scores, we took that to heart. Me, personally, I’ve never been scored on like that on defense, but after the first two scores I think our defense held our own.”
SCHALICK ‘MORE THAN READY’: Every team will tell you they’re as ready as they can be heading into their season openers, but with expectations for his team this year through the roof Schalick quarterback Kenai Simmons, for one, can’t wait to get started.
“Ready isn’t the word,” the senior said as the Cougars prepare to meet Cedar Grove to open Day Two of the Battle At The Beach. “What is the word? I can’t find the word, but ready isn’t the word.
“I wouldn’t even use ready. I’d use a crazy word that means … ready to the highest point.”
Expectations are high for the Cougars this season. They return virtually their entire team that started 11-0 last year, built momentum with several close wins early and lost in the Central Jersey Group I title game.
Given that backdrop, this year’s theme, of course, is unfinished business. There are a lot of observers who expect the Cougars and Glassboro to play for the South Jersey spot in the Group I state championship game.
“I think the kids earned the expectation,” coach Mike Wilson said. “We’re motivated because we didn’t finish the deal last year; you can see it on our shirts. Last year it was ‘Burn the boats.’ This year it’s ‘Unfinished Business.’ We still have expectations, but we’re still not getting our due.”
The key to managing those expectations, Simmons said, is to “ignore the noise.” Last year as they were trying to grab a foothold in the South Jersey football landscape they truly embraced the notion of one play at a time, one game at a time, and this year it’s more of the same. They certainly won’t sneak up on anyone, especially as they move into the tougher WJFL Diamond Division.
“You still have to be confident, but not too confident,” safety Dylan Sheehan said. “It’s all a mindset with us. As long as our guys believe we’ve got it, we’ve got it.”
EXTRA POINTS: Schalick and Cedar Grove are 124 miles apart. It’s the second-farthest matchup in this year’s BATB behind only Bergen Catholic-IMG (1,184 miles). The 13 matchups outside the headliner combined have a total of 939 one-way instate miles … The Cougars are working on a 10-game regular-season winning streak.
Pennsville’s Malik Rehmer hauls in a catch before taking a hit from Gloucester’s Mason Widman. On the cover, Gloucester’s Rylan Coffigny snags an interception in the end zone to end a Pennsville threat.
Gloucester 14, Pennsville 0
PMHS
GHS
10
1st Downs
14
27-10
Rushes-yards
44-237
9-21-3
Passes (C-A-I)
1-5-0
117
Passing yards
5
0-0
Fumbles-lost
0-0
4-34.8
Punts-avg
4-26.8
3-25
Penalties-yards
8-65
Pennsville (0-1)
0
0
0
0-
0
Gloucester (1-0)
6
8
0
0-
14
SCORING SUMMARY G-Trevin Burkhardt 2 run (kick failed), 6:48 1Q G-Mason Widman 16 run (Trevin Burkhardt run), 10:40 1Q
Here is the high school schedule for Salem County sports teams for the week of Aug. 26-31; x-scrimmage
AUG. 26 GIRLS TENNIS x-GCIT at Pennsville, 9 a.m. Mainland at Schalick, 9 a.m. GIRLS SOCCER x-Salem at Maple Shade, 9 a.m. GIRLS VOLLEYBALL x-Winslow at Salem Tech, 11 a.m.
AUG. 27 FIELD HOCKEY x-Schalick at Cumberland, 9 a.m. BOYS SOCCER x-Woodbury at Penns Grove, 9 a.m. x-Schalick at Clearview, 9:30 a.m. x-Lower Cape May at Salem, 10 a.m. x-Salem Tech at Pennsauken Tech, 3:45 p.m. GIRLS SOCCER x-Clearview at Schalick, 9 a.m. x-Penns Grove at Paulsboro, 9 a.m. x-Salem at Cumberland, 10 a.m. GIRLS TENNIS x-Penns Grove at Deptford, 10 a.m. x-Salem at Lower Cape May, 10 a.m.
AUG. 28 GIRLS TENNIS Pennsville at West Deptford, 10 a.m. BOYS SOCCER x-Cumberland at Woodstown, 10 a.m. x-Pemberton at Salem Tech, 10:30 a.m.
AUG. 29 FOOTBALL Collingswood at Clayton, TBA West Deptford vs. Manchester Twp., 10 a.m. (at Ocean City) Pennsville at Gloucester City, 6 p.m. x-Pitman at Woodstown, 6 p.m. FIELD HOCKEY x-Woodstown at Collingswood, 10 a.m. GIRLS SOCCER x-Bridgeton at Penns Grove, 9 a.m. x-Schalick at Cumberland, 9 a.m. x-Woodstown at Haddon Twp., 9 a.m. x-Pennsville at Woodbury, 10 a.m. BOYS SOCCER x-Penns Grove at Bridgeton, 9 a.m. x-Woodbury at Pennsville, 10 a.m. x-Highland at Salem, 3:30 p.m. GIRLS TENNIS x-Penns Grove at Bridgeton, 9 a.m. Pennsville at Cumberland, 10 a.m.
AUG. 30 FOOTBALL Schalick vs. Cedar Grove, 9:30 a.m. (at Egg Harbor Twp.) FIELD HOCKEY x-Schalick at Ocean City, 10 a.m. BOYS SOCCER x-Schalick at Moorestown Friends, 9 a.m. x-Woodstown at Williamstown, 10 a.m. GIRLS TENNIS x-Lindenwold at Penns Grove, 9 a.m.
AUG. 31 FOOTBALL Penns Grove at Paulsboro, 10 a.m. Willingboro at Salem, noon
Schalick gives bulk of live-ball time in Friday’s scrimmage to underclassmen as the Cougars eye future while positioning themselves for this year’s run
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
BUENA – Mike Wilson already knows what his veteran starters can do – and he has a lot of them to track. He saw their work first-hand last year as the junior-laden bunch led Schalick to historic program heights that fuel even higher expectations for the season ahead.
So as the Cougars went through their game scrimmage in the run-up to next week’s Battle at the Beach season opener Friday at Buena, the coach’s focus turned to the equally deep group in the next two classes for what they’re anticipating as a long run.
That’s the reason Reggie Allen played only five snaps on offense and none on defense, Levi Feeney-Childers didn’t play much on offense and none on defense, the second defensive line played the whole time and senior quarterback Kenai Simmons didn’t play at all.
“We played a lot of 2s, a lot of backups, a lot of rotators,” Wilson said. “We put a lot of sophomores in positions.”
The resting of Simmons opened the door for a full live-ball look at sophomore backup Ayden Jenkins. Early in the exercise Jenkins looked like a sophomore, fumbling twice in his first six snaps and losing one of them. But after that, he looked like the player the Cougars can use to give Simmons a break on offense to open up his value as the team’s best defender.
After the initial miscues, Jenkins completed four of five passes for 153 yards – 45, 51, 20, 37 — and a touchdown and ran 15 yards for another score. Junior Sherrod Jones, who had three varsity carries last year, rushed for 63 yards and a touchdown on two carries. The Cougars won the half of live-ball action 21-7.
“We wanted to play the sophomore quarterback,” Wilson said explaining the call to sideline Simmons. “We don’t want Gloucester Catholic last year again. We need a quarterback who can run the offense Kenai runs. As you saw today, Ayden did a nice job, but he’s a sophomore, one play’s really nice, the next play looks like a sophomore.
“We know Kenai can play. Kenai does not have to prove to me he can play the game. He has had 30 varsity games before his senior year.”
The Gloucester Catholic situation to which Wilson alluded is a reference to last year’s Homecoming Game in which Matthew LaMazza played the rest of the game after Simmons hurt his non-throwing shoulder in the first minute of the second quarter. LaMazza did an admirable job directing the Cougars to a 42-20 victory that completed their undefeated regular season, and if he were a baseball relief pitcher would have been credited with the win, but the offense was reduced to its most basic operation.
“I heard this from a coach from Arkansas and he said you never want a senior with sophomore experience and that’s what we’re trying to avoid this year,” Wilson said. “We graduate a great senior class at the end of the year, we do not need juniors and seniors next year with no experience, so we’re trying to avoid that with the preseason
“We’ve got some talented kids, but you need game-feel experience (and) you can’t replicate the game overnight. That was kind of the goal today. That’s why Ayden was playing quarterback. I’d rather him make mistakes today than if he has to play in a game.”
The Cougars literally snuck up on people last season, their 11-1 record and run to the Central Jersey Group I title game a culmination in a four-year reclamation project by Wilson and his staff.
But as you’d expect, it wasn’t enough for the Cougars. This year is all about unfinished business and while there may have been some questions about the veracity of the Cougars’ success, there’s a growing sense in the region it’ll be the Cougars and Glassboro meeting for South Jersey’s spot in the Group I state championship game.
“We have a lot of seniors,” Simmons said. “It means a lot (to them) and I don’t think they’re ready to go down soon at all in this last run.”
One only had to look at the Cougars’ social media page a couple weeks ago to see how they’ve set themselves up from some long-term success. Of course, they have a huge senior class (18 players), but they have just as many in their current junior and sophomore classes who will figure prominently in this year’s plans.
Some Group I programs would be lucky to have half as many players in those three classes.
“Everybody’s focused on 2024 and so am I, but being the head coach I’m looking at 2025,” Wilson said. “We have a lot of ‘isms’ on our coaching staff. One big thing we do for development is we don’t let a senior back up a senior. That’s why we’re trying to give the kids the opportunities to play.
“One thing I learned when I was at Oakcrest and Mainland, develop as many as 1½ times player as you can. That’s kind of the goal. Limit two-way players, create one-way players and your really good kids play 1½ ways. When you do that, you develop your kids for the future and, No. 2, you wear teams out. It accomplishes your short term, your near term and your long-term goals because we want to be consistent, in the mix every year. If you put all your eggs in one basket and you only play 12 kids, you see those booms and those busts.”
Cover photo: Schalick backup quarterback Ayden Jenkins (11) scores a touchdown in Friday scrimmage against Buena.
Salem County Sports Hall of Fame welcomes seven new members, brings all-time roster of inductees to 143
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT – Everyone on the Davidow Theater stage was decked out in their Sunday best befitting a Hall of Fame induction, but still it was easy to pick out the baseball player in the bunch. He was one wearing the Pennsville baseball jersey that looked just as sharp as a three-piece suit.
Lex Bleckley addresses the crowd during his Salem County Sports Hall of Fame induction.
Pennsville baseball great Lex Bleckley was among the seven newest inductees into the Salem County Sports Hall of Fame. They were inducted in ceremonies on the Salem Community College campus Thursday night.
Bleckley was joined in the class by Jaymes Dennison (track), James Dickerson (track) , Nick Elmer (football), Steve Merritt (coach), Donna O’Leary (coach) and Latika Ross (basketball). In addition, the Hall board will recognize Vince Gioia and Steve Lopes for their decades of service to Salem County sports as well as eight current and previous high school state champions.
The high school honorees were headlined by Penns Grove’s three-time boys (2013-15) and two-time girls (2013-14) Group I state champions.
Record-breaking Salem running back Jonathan Taylor, currently in training camp with the Indianapolis Colts, was enshrined in a separate ceremony last month.
The story of the Pennsville jersey finding its way on stage is a story of family love. Johnny Swiderski, one of the heroes of this year’s Pennsville Little League District 3 championship team, ran into Eagles baseball coach Matt Karr at a midget football game last week and asked if the coach had a couple of extra jerseys he could spare so the family could support their uncle at the ceremonies.
Karr came through. Young Johnny wore a blue Pennsville jersey the team wore a couple years ago and a vintage Montreal Expos cap representing the MLB team that drafted his uncle out of the University of Delaware. Bleckley had this year’s Eagles jersey, number 15. (He wore 5 when he helped the Eagles to an undefeated season).
“I was thinking about putting a piece of tape over that 1 and leave the 5,” he joked. “Close enough.”
Bleckley, who celebrated his 61st birthday Wednesday with family and friends, was a product of the Pennsville sports system, playing football and baseball. He is most proud of the baseball championships from an early age through his decorated career with the Eagles. The championships include district titles in Little League, State and Mid-Atlantic Champions in Babe Ruth Baseball and a state championship his senior year with a 25-0 record and the No. 1 ranked team in the state. The undefeated season has not been duplicated.
“We went 25-0, but there were only so many guys who could play and there were so many guys on that team that would have been starters for anybody else – and they were busting their butts every day,” he said. “I always wished they got more recognition. I’m up there because of them.”
His personal accomplishments include three-time All-Salem County, two-time Tri-County, two-time South Jersey Group II, two-time All-South Jersey, Group II All State, All-State First Team and Today’s Sunbeam Player of the Year. He finished his career at Pennsville with a .503 batting average and a team win-loss record of 66-6. He was taken in the major league draft twice.
“When I was growing up in town, Lex Bleckley was one of the names that you heard about in baseball,” said Karr, who didn’t attend the ceremony but was on top of the happenings. “I saw that Coach (Ed) Reiger was there tonight. I had him for study hall when I was a junior and senior and he used to share with us all his stories about teams from the past and some of those legendary teams and Lex Bleckley was definitely a big part of all that type of baseball history.”
The Kansas City Royals drafted Bleckley after his high school career, but he went to Delaware, where he was a three-year starter at shortstop. During his UD career, the Blue Hens were East Coast Conference champions twice and missed making it to the College World Series by one game. Lex came in second for the Division I batting title with a .455 average his junior year and was named ECC Player of the Year. He was drafted and signed by the Expos and spent a brief time in the minors before being derailed by a shoulder injury. After his playing career ended, he was head coach at Salem CC for two years.
He now runs a wholesale seafood business in Florida, but keeps up with the sports happenings from home on the internet. He’s going through some health challenges, but otherwise was in good form Thursday and genuinely proud to be on the stage with the other inductees.
“This has always been home,” he said.
JAYMES DENNISON
JAYMES DENNISON excelled in track at Penns Grove High School. A member of the Class of 2013, Jaymes was a two-time state champion. He won the 800 in his junior year and the 400 in his senior year. He helped lead the team to a Group 1 team state championship in 2013, and holds school records in the 800.
He was a three-time South Jersey champion in the 800 meters. As a senior, he finished seventh in the Meet of Champions in one of the most competitive 800-meter races in its history. “If you ran 1:54-flat you did not finish in the top 10,” Hall board member and 2011 inductee Tom Mason said in introducing Dennison.
His post-high school accomplishments may be more impressive. In two years at Iowa State, he was a two-time NCAA All-American in 2018, Second Team All-American in the 4×400 meter relay and Honorable Mention All-American in the 800 meters. He was the Big 12 indoor champion in the 600 meters. Before enrolling at Iowa State, he was a two-time junior college indoor national champion in the 600 meters.
JAMES (JIMMY) DICKERSON graduated from Salem High School in 1964. Following high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force for eight years and traveled extensively throughout Europe. While serving in the military, Jimmy was a medic.
In addition to his medic responsibilities, he played in the European Conference, on the track and field team, where he placed first in high jump at 6-10 and excelled in the triple jump. He also made the All-Europe Football Team as a running back and kick returner. After his tour of duty, Jimmy was an OSHA inspector at BF Goodrich in Pedricktown until his retirement.
In 1976, Jimmy was invited to attend Philadelphia Eagles head coach Dick Vermeil’s tryout camp. Although not selected, he considered meeting fellow tryout attendee Vince Papale, who went on to make the Eagles’ roster from that tryout, an experience of a lifetime.
At 34, Jimmy enrolled at Gloucester County College and competed in the track and field high/triple jump. He never lost a match during his two seasons. Community focused, Jimmy is involved in coaching youth basketball and mentoring. In addition, he is an active member of his church and sings in the senior choir.
NICK ELMER was a multi-sport athlete (football, wrestling, track and field) at Penns Grove High School.
In football, he set school records for passing yards (4,580) and passing touchdowns (61). He also helped lead PGHS to a record-breaking 2012 season and a South Jersey Group 1 championship in which he rushed for a record 308 yards in the title game. The 2012 team still holds the record for most points scored in a season in South Jersey history. He earned All-State First Team honors in 2012 and was the Philadelphia Inquirer South Jersey Player of the Year.
As a wrestler, Nick amassed a school-record 137 victories and qualified for the state tournament on twice, ultimately earning a seventh-place finish in 2013. He continued his academic and athletic career in wrestling at Drexel University, where he was a varsity starter for two years, accumulating 31 wins and a spot on the podium in the 2016 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Conference Tournament and earned an EIWA Academic Achievement Award in the same year.
He went on to medical school at Thomas Jefferson University, where he graduated cum laude and as a member of the prestigious Alpha Omega Alpha national medical honors society. He is currently a plastic surgery resident at NYU Langone Hospital in New York City.
His commitments in New York prevented him from attending the ceremony. John Emel, the current West Deptford football coach and former Penns Grove coach, spoke on his behalf.
Former Salem field hockey coach Donna O’Leary (L) estimated she influenced nearly 1,000 girls during her Hall of Fame coaching career.
DONNA O’LEARY graduated from Paulsboro High School and was a two-sport varsity athlete (field hockey and tennis) there. She also swam competitively year-round at the Woodbury YMCA.
She earned a degree from Glassboro State College as a health/physical education major. Playing field hockey and swimming in college were important milestones in her path to becoming a coach. After graduation, she became the head women’s swim coach at Glassboro State. During those six years, she produced six All-Americans.
In 1988, Salem City hired her as a full-time health/physical education teacher in the elementary school and as the field hockey head coach at Salem High School. After taking the reins from Liz Pappas, she put her heart into making the field hockey program successful and without a feeder system afforded other communities she accumulated 315 wins and seven Tri-County championships. She was a two-time Coach of the Year.
“First of all, I never expected to be 34 years in one spot,” she said. “I figured when my kids went to high school I would leave. I loved it so much.
“Field hockey and Salem is n-o-o-o-o-t (usually in the same sentence) … We quietly made an impact and that’s what I think I’ll remember most.”
In 34 years of coaching she estimates she’s had an influence on more than 1,000 athletes – a remembers almost of them.
LATIKA ROSS
LATIKA ROSS, a 2001 Salem High School graduate, excelled in both basketball and track and field. In track, she broke the 800-meter record as a sophomore. In basketball, she became the third Lady Ram to join SHS’s 1000-point club and pulled down over 1,000 rebounds as a four-year varsity player. Latika earned numerous accolades, including All-Tournament Team and First Team for All South Jersey Group 1 and Tri-County Conference Classic Divisions for two consecutive years. Today’s Sunbeam named her Player of the Year in 2001.
Moving on to Salem CC, Latika amassed 1,130 points and 1,028 rebounds over two years, earning National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II Second Team honors. She holds the NJCAA Division II Women’s Basketball regular-season record for rebound average (23.2 per game in 2002-03).
After attending Drexel University for one year on a full athletic scholarship, Latika transferred to Saint Augustine’s University (SAU), where she made the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association All-Tournament Team and averaged a double-double her senior year (10 points, 10 rebounds per game). Graduating from SAU with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and 3.9 grade point average, Latika embarked on a successful 15-year career in accounting.
Today, she channels her talents into entertainment as an actress, producer and stand-up comedian, performing under the name Latika Sye (a family surname).
During the ceremony it was announced Latika is the first member of a Salem CC sports team to be inducted into the County Sports Hall of Fame.
STEVE MERRITT
STEVE MERRITT was never the last to be picked for any of the seasonal schoolyard games, until he turned 12 and lost a game of “chicken” with the front end of a Buick or Pontiac. It’s not clear to this day. A significant injury cost him any speed he might have had or would have. Nonetheless, it is difficult to temper a Type A personality and there was always some kind of competition at home with three brothers.
A single junior varsity season of baseball and senior year “cup of coffee” as a wrestler sums up his high school athletic career. Intramural softball and volleyball were competitive outlets at Glassboro State College.
After college, long-distance running became his outlet for competition. His omnipresent opponent became the stopwatch. No longer did he have to finish first to win. He ran the New York City Marathon twice, the Marine Corps Marathon twice and the Boston Marathon in 1992.
A combined 50 varsity seasons (tennis, soccer, basketball and softball) as a head coach at Salem High School yielded over 500 victories, four South Jersey Championships, three Tri-County Classic titles and helped to satisfy his yen for competition. Earlier this summer he was named the girls basketball coach at Pennsville High School.
COMMUNITY SERVICE HONOREES
VINCENT GIOLA JR. graduated from Penns Grove High School in 1968 and began working for DuPont Chambers Works in 1969, retiring in 2010. To say his life revolved around sports would be an understatement.
Vince first coached in 1969 and over the next 50 years spent countless hours coaching, managing and maintaining the fields at the Carneys Point Recreation Complex for the Carneys Point-Penns Grove-Pedricktown Little League and Penns Grove Soccer Club.
He played and coached in both the Salem County Men’s Baseball League (1969-1976) and the PG-CP Men’s Softball League (1975-2015) while also serving as a league officer and a liaison with Salem County. He coached for the PG mini-wrestling organization (1979-1986), managed for the PG-CP Women’s Softball (1978-1982), and for the PG Babe Ruth (1985-1987). Vince also coached PG Twins 130 lb. football team (1985-1991) and was head coach of the SCC’s softball team (1991-1995, 2011-2013).
Vince has been a member of the South Jersey Officials Association (football) since 1999 and Unified Umpire Association of Southern New Jersey since 2007. He served on the Carneys Point Recreation Commission (1999-2023) and was chairman (2004-2023). He managed the CP Recreation Complex (2004-2023) and was president of the Servicemen’s Memorial Home (2015-2023).
Today, Vince can be found on a field or in a gym in South Jersey officiating, umpiring or just watching his grandchildrens’ games or any game, for that matter.
STEVE LOPES graduated from Penns Grove High School in 1964, after playing three years of varsity basketball with coach Rudy Baric.
For 45 years, Steve has officiated over 800 high school football games. He had the honor of officiating over 50 state playoff games, including several state championship games at Rutgers, Giants and MetLife Stadiums. Steve has served as the president of New Jersey Football Officials Association – South, the organization representing football officials in South Jersey. Additionally, he is an official for the NFL’s Girls Flag Football program and officiated the Big 33 tournament sponsored by several NFL teams. In addition, Steve has umpired high school, college and semi-pro baseball for 17 years.
For 16 years, Steve managed in the Penns Grove-Carneys Point-Pedricktown Little League and Babe Ruth League, where his teams won several league and district titles. He has played and managed a senior (ages 50, 60, 70) baseball team in Carneys Point. For over 20 years, he has played in men’s senior baseball national tournaments in Florida and Arizona.
Woodstown board approves Salem assistant Ramon Roots, 26, to become Wolverines’ boys basketball coach
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN – Ramon Roots always knew his time would come, but he wasn’t going to wait for it to come to him. He saw an opportunity, went after it and it’s as if all the stars aligned.
After three years as an assistant coach with hand-on experience in one of the top Group I programs in South Jersey, Roots saw an opportunity to branch out on his own. It was a risk to leave what he called a good situation as an assistant at Salem, he said, but one with a high reward.
Now, at 26 years old, he’s a high school head coach for the first time as the Woodstown-Pilesgrove school board approved him to become the Wolverines’ new boys basketball coach. He succeeds Phil Campbell, who stepped down at the end of last season for reasons he chose to keep private.
In a hire of historical significance, not only does Roots become the youngest head basketball coach in Salem County and one of the youngest in South Jersey, he is the first black head coach at Woodstown High School.
“It means everything,” he said of the chance to be a head coach. “I’ve had great coaches preparing me for this moment and I’ve worked with some great people.
“It’s going to be a little adjustment, but it helped prepare me for this opportunity. It’s a new journey for me. It’s going to have its bumps, but I’m ready for it. I love the game. I love challenges. I knew one day my time was going to come.”
Roots said he drew his inspiration to become a coach from his brother, Ra’mir Harold, who coached him in the Salem youth leagues and passed away when Roots was 21. Friday would have been Ra’mir’s birthday.
Roots went on to become a 1,000-point scorer during his high school career at Salem and then returned to his alma mater to serve as the Rams’ JV coach and varsity assistant at the start of head coach Anthony Farmer’s tenure there. In those three seasons, the Rams averaged 17 wins and went to the South Jersey Group I finals, quarters and semifinals, respectively.
“Whenever your assistants are able to step into a new role as a head guy that means a lot,” Farmer said. “I’m happy for Roots. He’s put in the work.
“He would sit in my film sessions, was always attentive to things going on in the huddle, and taking over the JV and doing a great job with the young kids in practice, all those things have prepared him to be in the moment and do a great job over at Woodstown. I’m proud of him and I can’t wait to see all the great things that he does over there in Woodstown.”
Farmer said it was particularly significant that a young black coach was getting an opportunity to be a head coach.
“You can’t shy away from the fact they’re giving an African-American coach an opportunity,” he said. “I think it’s a testament to the playing field, the guys putting in the work and getting an opportunity.
“It is a big deal. If you ask me, personally I think it’s a heck of an opportunity to crack that barrier and go then go over there and represent and see what you can do.”
While it was never part of the conversation, Roots said it was meaningful to him to break through that ceiling and open a door for young black coaches who aspire to run their own program.
Roots will remain a third-grade teacher at Salem Middle School while he coaches the Wolverines.
He hopes to meet the players next week when school starts and when he does he hopes to introduce an up-tempo aggressive style for which his Salem teams were known. The Wolverines are returning 6-6 Rocco String (9.4 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 65 blocked shots); 6-5 Garrett Leyman (5.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg); shooter Blake Bialecki (11.1 ppg, 49 3s) and versatile M.J. Hall (8.5 ppg, 55 steals).
“I’m just trying to help build the boys basketball program,” he said. “Their girls basketball program has been going great the last couple years, so I’m just trying to build the boys basketball program on and off the court.“I’m trying to turn these kids into men. Just going to ride the wave. It’s going to be special. A new era.”
While Woodstown and Salem compete in different divisions of the Tri-County Conference, expect them to play during the regular season. The teams have played only three times since 2015 (seven since 2011) and not since 2022.
“I would love it,” Farmer said. “When I knew he accepted the job I told my AD to get on the phone with Woodstown and let’s make it happen.”
The board also approved football assistant coaches Matt Smart, Frank Costello and Don Dunner, girls soccer assistant McKenzie Champion and Triton athletic director (and former Pennsville girls basketball coach) Sam Trapp as Woodstown High School vice principal.
Penns Grove goes through its first scrimmage of camp with a new coaching staff and new systems on offense and defense
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
PENNS GROVE – There’s a whole lot of new about the Penns Grove football program this year and it goes far beyond just having a new head coach.
Whenever there’s a change at the time there’s bound to be some tweaks to the way things get done.
New coach Mark Maccarone has installed new offensive and defensive systems and the Red Devils put them on display against someone in a different colored uniform for the first time Tuesday in a three-team scrimmage with Maple Shade and Gloucester Catholic.
Some other nuances have been applied internally, but the ones most observable are the overhauls on offense and defense.
“I would not say they exceeded my expectations,” Maccarone said assessing the first scrimmage. “I would say they’re about where I expected in some aspects. There’s definitely things I thought we would be a little bit more polished on that we’re not.
“Again, it’s a new offense, a new defense. It’s a whole new style of football this group of kids isn’t used to. As long as we get better, take a step at being better every day, then we’ll take those positive gains. As long as we have more positive days than negative days, I’ll be happy.”
Maccarone called the offense “a radical departure from what they’ve done in the past,” an old-school downhill scheme he has been running as long as he’s been coaching. Defensively, there are “some similarities” to the look the Devils have run in the past that he had a hand in shaping as defensive coordinator here, but some terminology and techniques may be a little different.
The first thing that jumps out is seeing KaRon Ceaser out on the flank. He was a 1,000-yard rusher as a freshman and figured to be the lead back with 1,200-yard rusher Bryce Young’s departure to West Deptford (with former Penns Grove coach John Emel), but there he was Tuesday out at receiver. And there was even a time Knowledge Young, the regular deep threat last year, lined up in the backfield.
“It’s a new staff and they’re trying new things, but I’m loving it now,” Ceaser said. “It didn’t really shock me because they put me there because they know I can play it. I’ll play wherever they want me to play; that’s the type player I am. We’ve got a great running (in Trey Brown). I like the offense right now. I’m going to work so I can be the best.”
You can’t argue the results. Ceaser, who caught nine passes for 109 yards without a score last year, took a pass from Melo Erickson in the Devils’ final 10-play set of the day, shed a tackler at the 35 and continued down the sideline for a 51-yard touchdown that was their only offensive score of the exercise. Young, when he was in the backfield, broke off an 18-yard gain.
“It took us 20 plays and that’s too long,” Ceaser said. “In a real game you’ve got to come out straight from the jump.”
Expect more of that during the season.
“We’re fortunate we do have some weapons offensively,” Maccarone said. “With the system we run it allows us to take players and move them around. You might be at wide out one play, you might be a tailback the next, you might be a slot the next.
“Part of our offense is to be able to utilize the weapons we have on the field and to move our weapons around so you don’t know who’s going to get the ball.”
Until the offense came to life in the late session it looked like the Red Devils’ defense was going to be the story of the scrimmage.
It was the strength of last year’s 6-6 team, holding half their opponents to two touchdowns or less and shutting out eventual Group I runner-up Glassboro, and is shaping up that way again. Forget defending the goal line, the Red Devils were protecting the 50.
Out of their 32 defensive snaps, the Devils gave up a total of 21 net yards and only two plays were run on the going-in side of midfield – and neither of those from deeper than the 48.
Makye Murray returned an interception against Maple Shade on seventh play of the opening series 40 yards that until Ceaser’s score was the only touchdown scored in the varsity portion of the scrimmage. Raymond Brown, a transfer from St. Joe (Hammonton), had a big sack on the final play of that 10-play set.
“I like our defense overall,” Brown said. “Our coach is just wonderful. We fly around, play hard, play physical. I’m having fun out here making tackles.”
The Red Devils get a chance to do it again Friday at 10 a.m. in a game-like scrimmage at home against Gateway. They almost didn’t have a second scrimmage after a scheduling snafu with Highland scrapped what they had, but Penns Grove athletics director Anwar Golden worked the phones all Tuesday morning and found a willing participant to help keep the program on schedule.
“It would have been detrimental to us (to miss out),” Maccarone said. “With a game-style scrimmage, especially with a new staff and program, you as coaches need the opportunity to get your learning curve out when it doesn’t count. Those are some invaluable things that without game scrimmage we’d have to address during a game.
“In the same breath, it gives the kids the ability to have a flow to the game, again, where you can do it when it doesn’t count. Especially with a new system it would be very advantageous.”
This story will be updated.
KaRon Ceaser (6) and Knowledge Young could find themselves in some atypical positions this year in Penns Grove’s new offense. On the cover, new coach Mark Maccarone reviews the scrimmage’s opening segment with his defense.
Trautz pleased with effort, results
HAMMONTON – New Woodstown coach Frank Trautz sent his charges into battle for the first time this camp and said he was “happy with our effort and the results.”
The Wolverines scored touchdowns in both of their 10-and-10 segments at St. Joe (Hammonton) and kept the Wildcats out of the end zone in theirs. They also scored a touchdown in the down-and-distance segment.
“I was happy with the work today,” Trautz said. “It’s the first scrimmage. Just being able to hit somebody else and go live for the first time was good for everyone. You can only do so much in practice. It was good to see live action.”
Alex Torres scored on a run and Jack Holladay threw a touchdown pass to Garrett Leyman. Holladay, a senior getting his first chance to be QB1, completed 5-of-8 passes in the 10-play segments.
“Getting Jack out there to live action at quarterback was good to see,” Trautz said. “I thought he played well. He was in control of the huddle. He’s a leader and it was good to see him take control of the offense.”
Salem, Pennsville, Schalick run through first scrimmages with lots to like, things to work on; Penns Grove, Woodstown scrimmage Tuesday
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
SALEM – Kemp Carr was not happy. Senior receiver Terrence Smith had just caught a zipper over the middle from Troy Carey for Salem’s first touchdown of the season’s first scrimmage. Everyone in blue and white should have been over the moon, but the Rams just stood around the goal line like they were waiting for another shoe to drop.
Touchdowns aren’t easy to come by – sometimes, they don’t come at all – and should be celebrated as such. But on this occasion there wasn’t even a high-five. Not even a yell. Maybe it was because it was only a scrimmage. Still, Carr wanted to let his players know such a muted response wasn’t going to be acceptable on his watch.
At first glance one might have thought the new head coach was chastising his players for something they did technically wrong even though they scored. Far from it. They did everything right and he wanted fireworks. Instead, he got the last shot of a wet Roman candle.
“We just worked as a unit to get our energy to be motivated – their brother just did something good, we crossed the barrier that gets you points on the board,” Carr said after Monday’s 90-snap exercise with Pennsville. “The scoreboard’s going ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. It’s magical. That’s the time you have fun. It’s a time for you to release that 30 seconds (of joy); run and get him.
“Where’s the excitement at where you’re excited for that player. Why are you not happy for him? You just blocked for him. Things just worked on what we’ve been working on.
“You only play the game four percent of the time; you practice 96 percent. So when we get an opportunity to do well in that four percent, it better be a party. Don’t talk to the other players, have fun with your guy. That’s fun. They know to do it, they do it in practice. They missed an opportunity of the moment. Don’t miss again.”
Carr puts the omission in the same category of walking past a teammate who had gotten knocked down on your way back to the huddle and not helping him to his feet.
“When something happens, we’re supposed to do certain things and they didn’t do the certain thing,” Carr continued. “When you have 11 being excited at the same time, it’s like dynamite going off. That’s what we want. We want dynamite. We want firecrackers. We want fireworks. We want boom, boom, boom.
“When the Phillies hit a home run, don’t fireworks go off? When the Eagles score at the Linc, don’t fireworks go off? Well, that’s our fireworks. We don’t have cannons and trickery, we’ve got each other.”
That’s just the kind of energy he’s bringing to program he once played in now as the head coach.
The starters got the message and didn’t miss the chance to celebrate when it came around again. When Pop Jackson scored in a down-and-distance drill about an hour later, the other 10 Rams on the field piled on their offensive leader in the end zone and the reserves standing behind the play sprinted downfield with their arms raised to join them.
“He’s just trying to build character, trying to build a unit with us, trying to bring us all together as a brotherhood,” Carey said. “We knew exactly what it was (Carr was doing). We’ve been talking about it all week whenever we capitalize on a big opportunity like that we want to go celebrate and have a party.”
“The energy is going to be there, I promise,” senior running back Jared Pew agreed.
Going into any new situation creates an amount of uncertainty. The coach isn’t certain about the players. The players aren’t certain about the coach.
Carr is the Rams’ third head coach in as many seasons, but he’s got something going for him that gives him an edge in the transition. He’s one of them. He played for the Rams. He understands the community and its expectations. He coached many of the parents of his current players and several of the Salem men who preceded him to their sideline.
Carr was approved to succeed Danny Mendoza in March and resumes the tradition of former Salem men at the helm of the football program. Each of the four coaches prior to Mendoza were former Rams who returned to coach their alma mater. Carr got his playing and coaching starts in the Salem youth leagues before going on to become head coach at Penns Grove and Winslow and returned to the coaching ranks this year after a six-year break in private business.
“It feels good to have a Salem guy, someone who’s around here, knows the town, coached most of our parents, things like that,” Carey said. “It feels good having a coach who knows how things are around here, understands what some people go through. It kind of gives you a better bond with your coach, helps build that relationship.”
“It is different football down here in Salem,” Pew said. “He’s been through the Salem records before, so he knows what to bring, he knows what we bring him and the community as well. There wasn’t anything wrong with (former coach Danny) Mendoza; he came in here and did well. But having like a Salem coach, knowing what the community is like, what the players are like, knowing how we are in general, it’s definitely not a bad thing.”
The scrimmage served its purpose. Both coaches saw a lot to like and things that needed to be addressed. Pennsville coach Mike Healy agreed it might have been the best first scrimmage of his tenure with the Eagles.
Both teams have game-situation scrimmages set for later in the week.
“Came out and played physical, which is what I really wanted to see,” Healy said. “There were some loud hits there, which is fun.
“First scrimmage there were some jitters there, but I thought we did a good job. Offensively and defensively we did a lot of good stuff, made a lot of big plays, but it being the first scrimmage there’s a lot of mistakes that are things that are coachable to fix. Overall, very happy with where we are.”
Stats were inconsequential, but there were big plays on both sides.
Pennsville running back Rylan Hardy had a big day. The junior rushed for 62 yards and two touchdowns on four carries and caught three passes for 45 yards and a touchdown. “His vision is incredible (the way) he sees holes and gaps,” Healy said.
Eagles quarterback Robbie McDade completed 5 of 11 passes for 65 yards and two touchdowns. Salem’s Jackson, a 1,200-yard rusher a year ago, ran for 71 yards and a TD on 10 carries, including a power run in which he broke through two waves of tackles and then carried three more to complete a 30-yard gain. Carey was 3-of-10 for 43 yards and a touchdown, but fell victim of several drops.
As for his assessment of the scrimmage, Carr said: “We’ve got some things to clean up, we got caught out of assignment couple times, but that’s what scrimmages are for. You can tell athletically we’re where we need to be, but that team (Pennsville) has been playing together for two years and you could see that versus us. As the year goes on we’re going to get better.”
Schalick: Good work done
PITTSGROVE – Schalick got 30 minutes with Lower Cape May, West Deptford and Mainland in its first scrimmage of camp. The Cougars saved the defending Group 4 state champs for last and it was all they expected it to be.
“It was intense, very intense,” Schalick coach Mike Wilson said. “We made them work, they made us work. It was a slugfest back and forth. We stood up there and that’s the best we’ve ever played against Mainland.”
Wilson was particularly interested in seeing how the Cougars’ younger players fared. He said veterans Reggie Allen and Levi Feeney-Childers “played well,” Ethan McLean and speedy David Stewart “played well,” and sophomore backup quarterback Ayden Jenkins “moved the ball on everybody.”
The matchup with Mainland was the matchup of the day. The Mustangs swept their way to the Group 4 state title last year. Schalick returns virtually its whole team that won its first 11 games before losing in the Central Jersey Group I championship game – and held their own.
“It tells me that our kids are willing to line up and play against anybody,” Wilson said. “That we can match the physicality of a big school. All our kids could care less that they were Mainland. Our kids came out, they were flying around, they were excited. Mainland made plays, we made plays. It was a good 30 minutes.”
2, Jamier Harper (W), Mekhi Cottle (W, 0:48 3Q), Sean Taylor (W, 2:41 4Q).
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