Time for hitting

County football teams start scrimmaging Monday; Salem hosts Pennsville, defending Group 4 state champs among those visiting Schalick

THIS WEEK’S SCRIMMAGE SCHEDULE
MONDAY
Mainland, Lower Cape May, West Deptford at Schalick, 10 a.m.
Pennsville at Salem, 11 a.m.
TUESDAY
Gloucester Catholic, Maple Shade at Penns Grove, 9 a.m.
Woodstown at St. Joe (Hamm.), 9 a.m.
FRIDAY
Schalick at Buena, 10 a.m.
Salem at Absegami, 4 p.m.
Pennsville at Triton, 6 p.m.

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

Salem County’s five football-playing high school teams have been working all summer and, for the last week, gearing up for their fast-approaching season openers. Outside of the various 7-on-7s that offered a modest taste of competition but isn’t quite complete football, the exercises have been largely unpadded and in house.

That all ends Monday when the teams start scrimmaging and take things to the next level by hitting someone wearing a different colored uniform.

Three of the county’s five teams get after it Monday morning – two against each other – with the remaining two teams going Tuesday.

Pennsville works out at Salem at 11 a.m. Schalick, last year’s Central Jersey Group I finalist with great expectations for 2024, hosts defending Group 4 state champion Mainland, Lower Cape May and West Deptford at 10.

Woodstown and Penns Grove, both with new head coaches, go Tuesday. The Wolverines travel to St. Joe (Hammonton) and the Red Devils host Gloucester Catholic and Maple Shade.

The mindset across the board for these initial scrimmages is simply to compete, see how players who have been banging on each other react to outside influences, to see who is ready to answer the bell and what is or isn’t working. Things will be more game-like the next time they take the field.

“One hundred percent,” Pennsville coach Mike Healy said. “A lot of it is trying to see where we are, seeing what kids step up for their first time against another team after a whole summer working against each other. Just trying to start seeing how it all comes together. With this first scrimmage I accept the mistakes, but I also expect to do some things correctly.

“We have kids who have started to really have stepped up. I’m really happy with where we are as a team right now, but it’s hard to tell because we’ve only really had one full day in pads and this will be the first time we’ll see them against someone else and you really never know how your kids are going to react the first time they go against someone else.”

The Pennsville-Salem workout will feature 10-and-10, red zone situations, a couple periods focusing on younger players, two live series with moving chains and kicking with pressure.

It will give new Rams coach Kemp Carr, a Salem man charged with bringing the program back from its first losing season in 10 years, the chance to see all the pieces he’s put together after a busy 7-v-7 summer as he strives to “build lions” for the season ahead.

“Fortitude and the willingness to play hard on every play is very rare,” Carr said. “When you get 11 guys to do it, it’s an unstoppable machine. That’s what we’re trying to get to.”
The Schalick controlled scrimmage will follow script similar to Pennsville-Salem with each team getting 30 minutes with the other.

Cougars coach Mike Wilson returns virtually the entire lineup that started the 2023 season 11-0 and is approaching Monday’s exercise like an Eagles preseason game. Veteran players like quarterback Kenai Simmons and running back Reggie Allen will see limited time while the emphasis turns to developing depth.

“Normally I wouldn’t do it, but these kids have played so much football; I don’t need to know Reggie or Kenai can play,” Wilson said. “Our goal is to play as many kids as possible. We want to look at a couple battles, look at what we’ve got. 

“I told the kids at practice everybody’s back from last year, you could roll out the same lineup, but I don’t want to do that. We’ve got a lot of talent, a lot of good kids. I want to play as many as possible. All I want (Monday) is the kids to compete. We’ve been practicing hard all summer. If we do that, I’ll feel pretty good.”

Woodstown’s scrimmage Tuesday is expected to feature two 10-and-10 sets with the starters and then one with JVs. After that, they’ll work on goal-line and a down-and-distance series.