Month: September 2024

Closing on history

Schalick bounces back from season’s first loss, moves Mannella to 299, Ibarra leads Woodstown past Pitman

BOYS SOCCER
Pennsville 4, Gloucester Catholic 1
Salem Tech 6, Salem 0
Schalick 5, Penns Grove 0
Woodstown 3, Pitman 1
GIRLS SOCCER
Schalick 5, Penns Grove 0
Woodstown 2, Pennsville 0
Salem Tech at Salem

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PITTSGROVE — Joe Mannella moved another step closer to making some Salem County soccer history Monday, but truth be told he was much happier with the way his Schalick soccer team responded to its first loss of the season.

The Cougars handed their coach career win No. 299 Monday with a dominating 5-0 win over Penns Grove. Mannella came become the first soccer coach in Salem County to reach 300 career wins Wednesday at Wildwood.

The milestone and celebration would have happened Monday had the Cougars (6-1) taken care of business Saturday in Cinnaminson. Instead, they fell 2-1 in their most physical match of the season and Mannella was keenly interested in seeing how they would respond their next time out.

They responded by playing most of the game in the offensive end, turning back every Penns Grove advance and getting goals from five separate players .

“I couldn’t have been happier (with their response),” Mannella said as he watched his Cougars of the future in the JV game. “I thought about it the whole weekend. Not that we lost and not that we played bad, it’s just when the pressure gets on and when things aren’t going your way you see little cracks in the armor.

“I told them after the game I should know by now because all last year when things weren’t going our way they rose to the occasion. They did today. Everybody did what we talked about, everybody executed the game plan. I couldn’t be happier with the way we played today.”

Each of the last eight games in the series have been decided by shutout, with Schalick winning six, including the last three. Five of the Cougars’ wins this season have been by shutout.

The Cougars got goals from Anthony Sepers (19:36), Luke Price (36:52), Seth Fisher (54:13), freshman Connor Jackson (68:26) and Nolan O’Toole (71:42).

Sepers opened the scoring when he collected a ball in the upper left corner of the penalty area, pushed it forward a couple yards, then fired a volley over Penns Grove keeper Dwayne Guzman’s outstretched arm and into the upper right corner of the goal.

Price took a through ball from Oscar Hernandez in the box and beat the keeper with 3:08 left in the first half to give the Cougars a 2-0 halftime lead. It was his first goal since sustaining a broken wrist and growth plate when he was knocked down in the box five minutes into the Pitman match last Thursday. He played with a black cast that probably will stay on the rest of the season.

“It’s just all heart,” Price said. “I wanted to get right back at the game. It’s a disadvantage, but at the same time you’ve got to use it and bring your best.

“We got away from our game (Saturday), we just got away from it, but this is a great bounce back. We needed to respond. We played our game and had so many chances.”

The Cougars really turned up the pressure in the second half.

Jackson’s goal was the first of his career and added to a family legacy. He split two defenders and moved in on the net. He almost lost the ball in the box, but gathered it back in and had a wide open net to accept his shot. It gave the Cougars a 4-0 lead.

Jackson’s father is a former Schalick player and Mannella’s younger first cousin. His uncle, Kevin, is the Cougars’ all-time leading goal scorer (100).

They all are among the many who have contributed to Mannella’s 22-year run towards 300 wins.

“I’d trade it all for a state title, even a sectional title,” he said. “When you’re here over 20 years and you coach all these good players you’re going to accumulate numbers, so you don’t want it to be a hollow – it hasn’t been – but moreso if we don’t come out of this season doing what we’re capable of, I’ll probably be disappointed.”

WOODSTOWN 3, PITMAN 1: Adrian Ibarra broke a 1-1 tie with a goal in the first half, then added an insurance goal in the second to help the Wolverines (6-2) to their fourth straight win. It was Ibarra’s second two-goal game in a row. Ben Stengel made four saves in the Woodstown goal and also assisted on Ibarra’s first goal.

The Wolverines have won their last 10 in a row when Ibarra scores a goal. They are 18-4-1 over the last four seasons when he scores.

The game had major playoff seeding implications. The teams were Nos. 7 and 8 in the South Jersey Group I power points standings entering the game.

The win leaves Woodstown coach Darren Huck eight shy of 300 for his coaching career.

PENNSVILLE 4, GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC 1: Shane Puckett scored twice in the first 14 minutes of the match and got the assist on the Eagles’ next goal. John Thomas and Sam Hassler scored later in the half to give the Eagles a 4-0 halftime lead. Maddox Efelis had a pair of assists

SALEM TECH 6, SALEM 0: Aiden Bobo and Alexander Robi scored two goals apiece and Graham Fields recorded a goal and two first-half assists as the Chargers (2-6) won back-to-back games for the first time in program history. The six goals are also a program record, topping the five they put on Gloucester Catholic in their last win.

Penns Grove keeper Dwayne Guzman stops Schalick’s Brad Foster from close range in the first half Monday. On the cover, Luke Price breaks in to score the second goal of the match.

Girls games

WOODSTOWN 2, PENNSVILLE 0: Ryann Foote and Emma Perry scored goals for the Wolverines (5-3-1) and Ellie Wygand recorded the shutout.

SCHALICK 5, PENNS GROVE 0: Freshman Olivia Vanacker had the first two-goal game of her career to lead the Cougars (6-2). Abby Willoughby, Cali Fisler and Joel Winnberg netted the other Schalick goals. Freshman Jessica Fantini recorded her first shutout.

Tennis seeds hold

Schalick, Woodstown among top seven seeds playing in the first round advancing in the South Jersey Group I tournament

South Jersey Group I Tournament
First round matches
No. 9 Audubon at No. 8 Glassboro
No. 5 Lower Cape May 5, No. 12 Salem 0
No. 4 Gateway 5, No. 13 Palmyra 0
No. 3 Haddon Twp. 4, No. 14 Wildwood 1
No. 6 Woodstown 5, No. West Deptford 0
No. 7 Schalick 5, No. 10 Buena 0
Second round matches
OCT. 8
Glassboro-Audubon winner at No. 1 Pitman
Lower Cape May at Gateway
Woodstown at Haddon Twp.
Schalick at No. 2 Pennsville

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PITTSGROVE – The Schalick girls tennis team may still be trying to discover who they really are, but they took another positive step in that direction Monday in the opening round of the South Jersey Group I Tournament.

The seventh-seeded Cougars swept through tenth-seeded Buena 5-0 without dropping a game. The win sends them to face second-seeded Pennsville on the road Oct. 8.

“It’s important to take that step in the right direction and getting the first one out of the way is always good,” Schalick coach John Romano said. “You never know what you’re going to get with the seedings or where you’re going to wind up being. I do think my squad is better than a seventh seed, but that being said you’ve got to beat the competition that’s in front of you.”

The Cougars got straight-set 6-0, 6-0 sweeps from Emma Adams, Allyson Green and Miya Watkins in singles and the doubles teams of Julia Langley-Helana Tyers and Kayleigh Veach-Annie Podehl. 

They didn’t do that at all last year when they reached the Group I Final Four and while that team was senior laden this year’s team does return some players, albeit in elevated positions, from that experience..

“I’m kind of waiting for my girls to step up,” Romano said. “We always use the term Super Bowl Hangover. It’s almost like I don’t know that they’ve really found their identity.”

He saw signs of it last week in a 5-0 loss to Pitman that was much more competitive than the score. They were only shut out in one singles set and had two other singles sets go 7-5 and 7-6.

“I felt like something kind of clicked that day where they were like, all right maybe we can do that,” Romano said.  

The next step won’t be easy, but the Cougars do know they can play with their next opponent. They lost to Eagles 3-2 on Sept. 12 and are leading 2-1 in a Sept. 23 match that was suspended by weather and because of the timing may have cost both teams spots in the seedings.

“I think the girls have an idea,” Romano said. “Once they realize they can kind of play with the better teams in Group I, it’s doable. Even a Pitman that beat us 5-0, we’re so close with singles points right there, a couple balls here or there you could be looking at a 3-2.

“Sounds crazy to say that since we lost in straight sets, lost 5-0, but anything can happen and if I can get the girls to buy into that why can’t it be them, why can’t they repeat what happened from last year I think it will help. But I do think having that tight match two times with Pennsville now it does help.”

SCHALICK 5, BUENA 0
Emma Adams (S) def. Caroline Futty, 6-0, 6-0
Allyson Green (S) def. Tiffany Chen, 6-0, 6-0
Miya Watkins (S) def. Tori Thompson, 6-0, 6-0
Julia Langley-Helana Tyers (S) def. Amanda Martha-Kara Horton, 6-0, 6-0
Kayleigh Veach-Annie Podehl (S) def. Ava LoSasso-Lexi Wyckoff, 6-0, 6-0.
Records: Schalick 6-3, Buena 4-6.

WOODSTOWN 5, WEST DEPTFORD 0
Gabby Kurds (Wo) def. Gianna Concordia, 6-0, 6-0
Camille Osborn (Wo) def. Alyssa Taylor, 6-2, 6-2
Aubrie Rennie (wo) def. Carly Zanolle, 6-0, 6-1
Julianna Lindenmuth-Alyssa Berry (Wo) def. Lily Avila-Anastasia Besar, 6-2, 6-0
Noelle Neron-Nathalie Neron (Wo) def. Jumanna Abdelhamid-Hayley Dobbins, 6-0, 6-2.
Records: Woodstown 8-12, West Deptford 1-12.

LOWER CAPE MAY 5, SALEM 0
Maddie Gilbert (L) def. Cassidy Werkheiser, 6-0, 6-0
Ainsley Reed (L) def. Tytiana Miller, 6-0, 6-0
Bryn Popdan (L) def. Angelina Fothergill, 6-0, 6-0
Mia Gilbert-Kayla Heinold (L) def. Destiny Carr-Heaven Jones-McCullough, 6-1, 6-0
Reilly Fitzpatrick-Melanie Ortiz-Moreno (L) def. Bianca Gibson-Tahirah Davenport-White, 6-0, 6-3
Records: Lower Cape May 10-2, Salem 0-6.

Don’t sleep on Schalick

Cougars knock off top-ranked South Jersey Group 3 Hammonton in battle of unbeatens, Woodstown routs Cumberland

MONDAY FIELD HOCKEY
Schalick 4, Hammonton 2
Woodstown 9, Cumberland 1

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PITTSGROVE – Lydia Gilligan is usually a pretty good sleeper, but with a titanic battle on her turf the next day she didn’t sleep very well Sunday night. The Schalick goalie kept tossing and turning, and when she did finally doze off a couple bad dreams shook her awake.

GILLIGAN

In one of the dreams, somebody told her the Cougars were going to lose their game with Hammonton later in the day. In the other, she gave up a goal off the side of her foot at a crucial time in the game.

It’s a good thing for Gilligan and the Cougars dreams don’t always come true.

Phoebe Alward and Ava Scurry both scored twice and Gilligan made 26 saves in goal and successfully stood her ground on a penalty stroke in the fourth quarter as the Cougars took down the previously undefeated Blue Devils 4-2 Monday to remain undefeated themselves.

“This is probably the best I’ve seen them play together as a team,” Cougars coach Heather Cheesman said. “They played really well. They knew we were both undefeated coming into it, they knew it was going to be a tough game. This was the toughest game we’ve had so far this year.”

The game had the attention of the field hockey world, at least in South Jersey. Schalick (8-0) came into the game as the No. 2 team in SJ Group I power points. Hammonton (9-1) was the No. 1 team in SJ Group 3 and had scored enough goals this season to keep even the soundest of sleepers up at night.

“I never have dreams about field hockey; I could barely sleep,” Gilligan said. “I always have a feeling we’re going to lose, but today I didn’t have that feeling and we pulled through.”

She did give up a terrible goal in the first quarter, but it was the only time the Cougars trailed. They rattled off the next three goals and took a 3-2 lead into halftime.

It stayed that way into the fourth quarter. Late in the quarter Gilligan was called for covering the ball in the crease and it set up Hammonton’s Emma Longo for a potential game-tying penalty stroke. 

Gilligan hadn’t stopped one all season, but she was successful this time as Longo’s shot missed outside the left post.

“I was about ready to bawl my eyes out; my stroke game has not been good,” she said. “It was so silent after that you could hear a pin drop. I thought it went right into the net and I couldn’t hear it. Then all I see is my defense jump up and I just like fell to the ground.”

It was one of 28 shots the Blue Devils fired Gilligan’s way.

“It’s the most chaotic I think I’ve ever felt playing,” she said. “I don’t think I ever had a moment to rest. There were so many flaws and we still held it together and I was just counting the minutes, counting the minutes. I was always on my toes. I couldn’t shut up. I was either cheering or yelling.”

It remained a 3-2 game until Alward knocked one into the cage just moments ahead of the final horn. It was her 11th goal this year. Scurry, who recently notched her 100th career point, now has 19 goals on the season. She has scored multiple goals in every game this year.

Schalick 4, Hammonton 2

Hammonton (9-1)1100-2
Schalick (8-0)1201-4

GOALS: H-Gabrielle Childs, 7:47 1Q; S-Ava Scurry (Phoebe Alward), 3:45 1Q; S-Ava Scurry (Phoebe Alward), 14:41 2Q; S-Phoebe Alward (Lena Virga), 8:44 2Q; H-Gabriella Teti, 7:03 2Q; S-Phoebe Alward, 0:01 4Q

WOODSTOWN 9, CUMBERLAND 1: Brae DiGregorio scored three goals and Sienna Land scored two as the Wolverines (5-2) won their fourth in a row. Hannah Hitchner, Shyann Higinbotham, Megan Donelson and Zoe Lipovsky scored Woodstown’s other goals. The Wolverines have outscored their opponents 25-2 during their current winning streak and have increased their goal production each game.

This week’s schedule

Here is the Salem County sports schedule for the week of Sept. 30-Oct. 5; events start at 4 p.m. unless noted

MONDAY
FIELD HOCKEY
Hammonton at Schalick
Woodstown at Cumberland
BOYS SOCCER
Penns Grove at Schalick
Pennsville at Gloucester Catholic
Pitman at Woodstown
Salem at Salem Tech
GIRLS SOCCER
Salem Tech at Salem
Schalick at Penns Grove
Woodstown at Pennsville
GIRLS TENNIS
South Jersey Group I Tournament
Audubon at Glassboro
Salem at Lower Cape May, 3 p.m.
Palmyra at Gateway
Wildwood at Haddon Twp.
West Deptford at Woodstown, 3 p.m.
Buena at Schalick, 3 p.m.
VOLLEYBALL
Timber Creek at Salem Tech

TUESDAY
FIELD HOCKEY
Pennsville at Clayton
Salem at St. Joseph Academy
Schalick at Gloucester City
Woodstown at Glassboro
CROSS COUNTRY
Pennsville, Penns Grove, Salem, Schalick, Woodstown at Salem Tech, 3:30 p.m.
GIRLS SOCCER
Cumberland at Penns Grove
GIRLS TENNIS
Cumberland at Schalick
Pennsville at Woodstown

WEDNESDAY
BOYS SOCCER
Glassboro at Salem
Penns Grove at Gloucester Catholic
Pitman at Salem Tech
Schalick at Wildwood
Woodstown at Pennsville
GIRLS SOCCER
Gloucester Catholic at Penns Grove
Pitman at Woodstown
Salem at Glassboro
Salem Tech at Pennsville
GIRLS TENNIS
Overbrook at Pennsville
VOLLEYBALL
Salem Tech at Clearview

THURSDAY
BOYS SOCCER
Collingswood at Pennsville
GIRLS SOCCER
Glassboro at Schalick, 6 p.m.
FIELD HOCKEY
Schalick at Pennsville
Woodstown at Salem
GIRLS TENNIS
Pennsville at Glassboro
Wildwood at Salem

FRIDAY
FOOTBALL
Haddon Heights at Camden Catholic
Deptford at Glassboro
Penns Grove at Pennsville
Pleasantville at Woodstown
Sterling at Collingswood
West Deptford at Haddonfield
Woodbury at Gateway
BOYS SOCCER
Gloucester City at Salem Tech
Penns Grove at Cumberland
Sterling at Schalick
GIRLS SOCCER
Penns Grove at Cumberland

SATURDAY
FOOTBALL
Schalick at Paulsboro, 10:30 a.m.
Clayton at Overbrook, 11 a.m.
Middle Twp. at Salem, noon
BOYS SOCCER
Northern Burlington at Woodstown, 10 a.m.
CROSS COUNTRY
Schalick, Woodstown at Shore Coaches Invitational, Holmdel, 10 a.m.

Cover photo by Heather Papiano

Salem Saturday

BOYS SOCCER
CINNAMINSON 2, SCHALICK 1: Owen Digney broke a 1-1 tie with a goal in the second half, sending the Cougars to their first loss of the season and freezing coach Joe Mannella at 298 career wins. The earliest Mannella can reach the milestone is Oct. 2 at Wildwood.

GIRLS SOCCER 
CINNAMINSON 5, SCHALICK 0: Shiloh Moore had a hat trick for the Pirates. 

CROSS COUNTRY
Schalick’s Jordan Hadfield continued to dominate her field, winning the Girls Varsity D race at the Six Flags Wild Safari Invitational. Hadfield ran 18:21.37 and hit the tap 10 seconds ahead of Dagny Shiffler of Shipley School. It was the 10th fastest time among all varsity girls at the meet.

Matinee madness

Schalick gets a Saturday afternoon win, but Salem gets something out of it, too — an emerging quarterback

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

SALEM — Mike Wilson still isn’t a big fan of Saturday morning/afternoon football games, but he’ll certainly take the result of his latest one.

Now that his team is playing at least for the next two years in the WJFL Diamond Division where some opponents don’t have lights, the Schalick coach will have to live with these weekend matinees. The Cougars answered the alarm Saturday and were sharp out of the gate on the way to a 37-14 win over Salem.

Early games haven’t been kind of Wilson’s teams in the past. He came into this game 1-4 as a head coach in Saturday Morning Specials (1-5 if you want to count the Cougars’ 9:30 a.m. Friday loss to Cedar Grove in this year’s Battle of the Beach).

As a staunch traditionalist, it’s just not Wilson’s way. But he could be persuaded if he keeps getting results like this.

“If you win, yeah, I love ‘em,” he said. “Just my coaching experience and playing experience, I have coached and played in very little Saturday games.

“We’ll play football whenever you want to play football. Just me, traditionally, I’m just used to playing Friday night. I coached that for 20 years and even when I was in high school we played Fridays.

“But we had a good week of practice and the kids locked in, so we came out and played like I thought we would play. Overall, it’s probably the best game we played all year.”

The Cougars (3-2) may have still been asleep when they played Cedar Grove in the BOTB at Egg Harbor Twp. in their last daytime start, but they were wide awake and ready for this one. 

They scored touchdowns on their first two possessions and three of their first four. Five of their first six plays went for 10 yards or more. They had nine plays in the game that covered 15 yards or more. Quarterback Kenai Simmons, another non-fan of early games, made a statement to future opponents about his ability to pass by completing his first four throws in the first quarter for 98 yards. 

“Three alarms helped me out,” Simmons said. “I might sleep through the first one, but I’m not going to sleep through three. I woke up wanting to make my grandpop (who he lost to COVID in 2020) proud today.”

“Any day I could play football is a good day,” running back Reggie Allen Jr. said. “I went to bed early last night. I woke up at 5 in the morning with so much energy it was like I took a 5-Hour Energy.”

Allen rushed for 127 yards and scored three total touchdowns. He caught a 59-yard touchdown pass from Simmons on the second play of the game and had scoring runs of 38 and 55 yards. Simmons also had a 12-yard touchdown run.

“That was the idea, we wanted to manufacture big plays today,” Wilson said. “That’s what the offense has been missing the first month of the season. We’ve been moving the ball, scoring points and stuff like that, but we wanted to manufacture big plays.”

Reggie Allen rushed for 127 yards, had 186 yards of total offense and scored three touchdowns to lead Schalick’s offense. (Photo by Heather Papiano)

Actually, both teams got something out of the game. The Cougars (3-2) found a way to win a division game in the daylight and  despite the loss Salem found a way to get into the end zone, although at a cost.

The Rams (0-5) had been shutout in each of its last two games and scored only seven points all season, but freshman quarterback Quimere Bergen threw touchdown passes to Kaden Robinson on back-to-back possessions in the second half to lift that dark cloud.

Bergen was thrown into the action when junior starter Troy Carrey sustained a hand/wrist injury trying to recover a fumble that was eventually smothered by Schalick’s defensive MVP Riley Papiano on the Rams’ second series of the game. Papiano had 10 tackles and two sacks.

Bergen was 12-of-23 for 173 yards passing. He had played in some of the Rams’ earlier games, but had never thrown a varsity pass until Saturday.

“I just wanted to help my team score,” Bergen said. “We haven’t scored all season but I just wanted to do my part, help my team. I was nervous the first two drives, but then something started clicking; I was doing good. I wanted to catch up (on the scoreboard), but today wasn’t that day, but at least we scored.”

“He showed poise,” Salem coach Kemp Carr said. “Any time a young kid comes in and he plays with that type of poise when he’s under duress and he’s still able to make a couple plays – sometimes with his feet, sometimes with his arm – and move the chains and move the ball … it’s a win for him.”

For the better part of three quarters the Rams looked in danger of being shut out for a third straight game, something that hasn’t happened in the program in more than 20 years. Their only touchdown of the year was a first-quarter 62-yard Pop Jackson dash that opened the scoring in their 14-7 loss to Cinnaminson in Game Two.

They did threaten at the end of the first half, but ran out of time after two failed shots at the end zone from the 19 in the final 10 seconds. They didn’t miss in the second half. Bergen hit Kaden Robinson on a 7-yard touchdown pass with 41.6 seconds left in the third quarter to end the 13-quarter scoreless drought and lift all their spirits.

“That was a great feeling,” Robinson said. “It was like a relief. It was like, ‘finally,’”

“Everyone felt it,” senior edge rusher Tyler Taylor said.

Bergen connected with Robinson for an 8-yard score on the next drive. They also hooked up for a 57-yard play on the first snap of the next possession, but that drive ended when Bergen was sacked by Aiden Torres and friends on fourth down.

Robinson caught six passes for 100 yards.

“I feel like me and Q we’ve got a good connection,” Robinson said. I feel like him coming in as a freshman and me being an upperclassman I feel like it’s my job to get his confidence built up. He’ll probably be the starting quarterback for the rest of his years in high school, I feel like I have to build his confidence up.”

Carr said he’d wait until Monday before making any determination on position going forward.

Schalick, meanwhile, has one more Saturday morning game this regular season and won’t have to step out of their comfort zone to prepare for it. It’s a cross-division matchup next week at Paulsboro in a game that carries major South Jersey Group I playoff seeding implications. The two teams went into the week ranked 7 (Schalick) and 8 (Paulsboro) in the section’s power points standings and both won Saturday.

“It’s nice we’re playing it back to back,” Wilson said. “We can stay on the same schedule. We get a routine. As coaches, we’re creatures of habit and culture and structure, so to be able to stay on the schedule for the week is nice.”

Cover photo: Schalick linebacker Riley Papiano (16) points the way to another Cougars victory. (Photo by Heather Papiano)

Salem freshman quarterback Quimere Bergen (11) and junior receiver Kaden Robinson connected on a pair of touchdown passes on consecutive possessions in the second half to end the Rams’ scoring drought.

Schalick 37, Salem 14

SCH (37)SAL (14)
161st Downs12
39-250Rushing24-12
6-7-0Passes13-25-1
98Passing190
0-0Fum-Lost2-1
1-22.0Punts3-33.0
11-129Penalties13-80
Schalick (3-2)14977-37
Salem (0-5)0068-14

SCORING SUMMARY
SC-Reggie Allen 59 pass from Kenai Simmons (Hunter Dragotta kick), 11:11 1Q
SC-Kenai Simmons 12 run (Hunter Dragotta kick), 7:11 1Q
SC-Reggie Allen 38 run (Hunter Dragotta kick), 9:05 2Q
SC-Safety, Nick Lopergolo blocks punt out of end zone, 7:14 2Q
SC-Roneem Thomas 31 run (Hunter Dragotta kick), 6:37 3Q
SA-Kaden Robinson 7 pass from Quimere Bergen (pass failed), 41.6 3Q
SA-Kaden Robinson 8 pass from Quimere Bergen (Pop Jackson pass from Quimere Bergen), 7:36 4Q
SC-Reggie Allen 55 run (Hunter Dragotta kick), 7:25 4Q

WJFL DIAMOND DIVISIONDIVALL
Glassboro (4)3-04-0
Woodstown (1)3-04-0
Schalick (7)2-13-2
Woodbury (13)1-21-3
Salem (21)0-30-5
Penns Grove (19)0-31-4

NOTE: Number in parenthesis is South Jersey Group I UPR power ranking through Sept. 21

SATURDAY’S GAME
Schalick 37, Salem 14
NEXT WEEK’S GAMES
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Deptford at Glassboro
Penns Grove at Pennsville
Pleasantville at Woodstown
Woodbury at Gateway
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Schalick at Paulsboro, 10:30 a.m.
Middle Twp. at Salem. noon

WJFL PATRIOT DIVISIONDIVALL
Camden Catholic3-04-0
West Deptford3-13-2
Paulsboro (6)3-14-1
Pennsville (10)2-22-3
Collingswood1-22-3
Audubon (14)0-31-3
Overbrook0-32-3

SATURDAY’S GAMES
Haddon Twp. 20, Collingswood 14
Paulsboro 38, Overbrook 26
West Deptford 42, Audubon 3
NEXT WEEK’S GAMES
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Haddon Heights at Camden Catholic
Penns Grove at Pennsville
Sterling at Collingswood
West Deptford at Haddonfield
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Schalick at Paulsboro, 10:30 a.m.
Clayton at Overbrook, 11 a.m.

Aiden Torres sacks Salem quarterback Quimere Bergen on fourth down just outside the red zone to end the Rams’ final possession of the day. Bergen was trying to get the Rams into the end zone on a third consecutive drive. (Photo by Heather Papiano)

Woodstown gets leg up

Woodstown kicker Jake Ware keeps Wolverines in front until they get a TD late in the fourth quarter to put away Penns Grove; Pennsville misses chance to get back in Patriot race; Schalick, Salem go head to head Saturday

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNS GROVE – In the football land where yards were hard to come by, a player with a big leg is king.

Woodstown kicker Jake Ware was the biggest element for the longest time for the Wolverines Friday night.

The senior kicked an extra point that gave his team its halftime margin and nailed a not-so-routine field goal in the third quarter before Bryce Belinfanti put it away with his second touchdown of the game late in the fourth and the Wolverines turned back Penns Grove 17-6 to remain undefeated (4-0).

“Coming into this game I knew it was going to be tough, but once I saw how the first half was going I knew it was going to come down to a pretty close game and the kicks were going to be crucial,” Ware said. “You saw in the first half we were leading by one and getting that field goal in there helped us separate our lead a little bit more and build some momentum.”

“Having Jake is a huge weapon for us,” Wolverines coach Frank Trautz said. “I’ve said that since the beginning of the season. He just gives us a dynamic that can win us football games. That (field goal) was a huge kick and it was not a short kick. It’s a big-time kick in a big-time moment and he delivered. And I have complete confidence he will.”

Yards were at a premium in the rare Friday night game at Jim Devonshire Field. Penns Grove got the best of it in the second quarter behind Karon Ceaser, putting together two time-consuming possessions for 124 total yards. 

The first one, which would have answered Woodstown’s first touchdown, ended in a costly fumble in the red zone — one of three turnovers they had in the game. The other did produce their touchdown in the final minute of the quarter, but the Red Devils failed on the extra point to leave it 7-6 at halftime.

Each drive had a big run – a 36-yarder by Karon Ceasar on the first play of the first and a 26-yarder by Tre Brown midway through the second.

“I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage fairly well defensively, but you can’t turn the ball over against good teams,” Penns Grove coach Mark Maccarone said. “You can’t lose the turnover battle against bad teams, but you really can’t lose the turnover battle against good teams.

“Obviously things are starting to click (offensively). Last week we were missing five starters. It’s tough to win when you’re missing five starters. This week we had all of our starters back, but, again, turnovers are our killers. If we don’t have turnovers, maybe the outcome comes in our favor.” 

Woodstown’s Corbin Walz (54) gets himself in position to take on whichever Penns Grove player comes out of the backfield with the ball. The Wolverines defense gave up only 22 yards and no first downs in the second half. (Photo by Ellen Sickler)

Woodstown didn’t fare much better moving the ball in the first half. The Wolverines scored their touchdown on the first play of the second quarter when Belinfanti worked through some traffic in the backfield and then raced 44 yards to the end zone, but they only had 16 more yards and one other first down the rest of the half. 

“Yards were hard,” Belinfanti said. “If I made a move somebody else was there, and then the hard yards were there, but I was getting hit hard every time.”

The Wolverines had better luck in the second half. Their defense got even stronger, holding Penns Grove to zero first downs and 22 net yards while holding their opponent out of the end zone in the second half for the third week in a row. Ceaser rushed for 83 yards in the first half, but had none in the second.

“I think we played really good,” senior defensive lineman Braden Gould-Rugenus said. “Everyone was where they were supposed to be. No one tried to do something they weren’t supposed to. We just played as a unit and together we can stop any team.

“(Ceaser) was the main threat. We had to watch him, make sure we didn’t give him any open looks. Besides that second quarter I think we stopped them really good.”

But their offense came to life. They amassed 144 net yards in the half, largely behind the running of Belinfanti. 

Ware kicked a 35-yard field goal in the third quarter complicated by a bad snap to extend the lead to 10-6 and Belinfanti bounced in from the 3 with four minutes left (and Ware hit the PAT) for the final margin. Belinfanti had 107 of his 169 rushing yards and one of his two touchdowns in the second half.

“From the first half we kind of came out dry,” Belinfanti said. “We just have to step it up and not feel our opponent out; we’ve got to come out and just work, really. So at halftime we just had a gut check, really, to see who we were and it was just ground and pound from there.”

Trautz agreed with his senior running back’s terminology.

“I like the word ‘gut check,’” he said. “They’re a tough defensive line. They were tough coming in, they do a lot of tough things to pick up. We made some slight adjustments but ultimately our kids answered the bell. They came out I think with a little attitude in the second half and they were ready to go. I challenged them to come out in the second half and play Woodstown football and that’s what they did.”

Cover photo: Woodstown kicker Jake Ware connects on his 35-yard field goal that gave the Wolverines a 10-6 lead in the third quarter. (Photo by Ellen Sickler)

Woodstown 17, Penns Grove 6

WOODS (17) PG (6) 
111st Downs5
36-183Rush-yards23-148
2-6-0Passing (C-A-I)2-8-1
21Passing yds13
1-0Fum-lost4-2
4-33.5Punts-avg3-34.3
3-30Pen-yds3-20
Woodstown 0737-17
Penns Grove0600-6

SCORING SUMMARY
WO-Bryce Belinfanti 44 run (Jake Ware kick), 11:47 2Q
PG-Melo Erickson 6 run (kick failed), 1:03 2Q
WO-Jake Ware 35 FG, 7:17 3Q
WO-Bryce Belinfanti 3 run (Jake Ware kick), 4:07 4Q

Bad night in a big game

CHERRY HILL – Pennsville had an opportunity to turn the WJFL Patriot Division into a bottleneck and climb back into the title chance, but Camden Catholic never gave the Eagles a chance.

The Irish jumped out to a 30-0 halftime lead and carried on to complete the shutout 44-0.

Had they won, the Eagles (2-3) would have turned the division race into a four-way tie at the top with all the contenders having one division loss. Instead, they are two games down to the division-leading Irish in the loss column.

“They are a really good football team (and) we did not play our best game today, for sure,” Pennsville coach Mike Healy said. “We’re a better team than that.”

About the only highlight from the Pennsville perspective was freshman Kane Green had his first career interception. The Irish, meanwhile, had two quarterbacks throw for 227 yards and three touchdown and Michael Moritz rushed for two scores.

“We just were not able to get going on offense, get the ball moving, and defensively we weren’t able to get off the field on third and fourth down,” Healy said. “We didn’t get done what we had to get done tonight.

“Obviously, this is a road bump for us, but we still have a good amount of season left; we can still do a lot of good things. We wanted a chance at the division, which is now out of our hands and going to be tough to do, but there’s still a lot to play for in terms of playoffs and seedings and all that stuff. It was a frustrating night, but I still believe in our kids and what we’re doing and can bounce back.”

WJFL DIAMOND DIVISIONDIVALL
Glassboro (4)3-04-0
Woodstown (1)3-04-0
Schalick (7)1-12-2
Woodbury (13)1-21-3
Salem (21)0-20-4
Penns Grove (19)0-31-4
NOTE: Number in parenthesis is South Jersey Group I UPR power ranking through Sept. 21

FRIDAY’S GAMES
Glassboro 34, Woodbury 0
Woodstown 17, Penns Grove 6
SATURDAY’S GAME
Schalick at Salem, noon

WJFL PATRIOT DIVISIONDIVALL
Camden Catholic3-04-0
West Deptford2-12-2
Paulsboro (6)2-13-1
Pennsville (10)2-22-3
Collingswood1-22-2
Audubon (14)0-21-2
Overbrook0-22-2

FRIDAY’S GAME
Camden Catholic 44, Pennsville 0
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Collingswood at Haddon Twp., 10:30 a.m.
Overbrook at Paulsboro, 11 a.m.
West Deptford at Audubon, 11 a.m.

Pennsville a 2 seed

Despite being lone undefeated team in group section, Pennsville installed as No. 2 seed in girls tennis tournament; Salem Tech’s Seiden wins South Jersey Vo Tech girls race; includes results of Thursday’s high school games involving teams from Salem County

By Riverview Sports News

The Pennsville girls tennis team, despite being the only undefeated team in South Jersey Group I, one of three statewide in Group I and one of six in all of South Jersey, was installed as the No. 2 seed in the South Jersey Group I girls tennis tournament Thursday. Pitman bumped the Eagles for the No. 1 spot.

The Eagles are 9-0 for the first time since 2021 when they started 11-0. They were No. 1 in the South Jersey Group I power points standings before the seeding meeting.

Woodstown, defending state semifinalist Schalick and Salem also made the field. They were seeded 6, 7 and 12, respectively, and play their first matches Sept. 30.

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT
Sept. 30 Matches
No. 1 Pitman bye
No. 9 Audubon at No. 8 Glassboro
No. 12 Salem at No. 5 Lower Cape May
No. 13 Palmyra at No. 4 Gateway
No. 3 Haddon Twp. bye
No. 11 West Deptford at No. 6 Woodstown
No. 10 Buena at No. 7 Schalick
No. 2 Pennsville bye

Second-round matches Oct. 8

Cross country

Salem Tech’s Sarah Seiden ran 22:24.14 and won the girls race in the South Jersey Vo Tech Cross Country Championships. She was nearly 45 seconds ahead of runner-up Natalie Pandolfo of GCIT.

GCIT swept the boys and girls team titles. The girls placed five runners in their top 10, while the boys’ five counters all finished in the top 12.

THURSDAY’S RESULTS
BOYS SOCCER
Pennsville 5, Clayton 0
Penns Grove 2, Overbrook 1
Schalick 2, Pitman 0
Wildwood 9, Salem 0
Salem Tech at Gloucester Catholic

GIRLS SOCCER
Schalick 4, Pennsville 0
Woodstown 2, Glassboro 2
Gloucester Catholic at Salem Tech
Salem at Wildwood

GIRLS TENNIS
Pennsville 5, Penns Grove 0
Schalick 5, Overbrook 0
Woodstown at Cedar Creek

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Kingsway at Salem Tech

CROSS COUNTRY
South Jersey Vo Tech Championship
BOYS
GCIT 32, Medford Tech 53, Camden 63, Salem 105, Cape May 129, Westhampton 130
GIRLS
GCIT 31, Atlantic 54, Camden 72, Cape May 100, Salem 113

Devil of a wake-up call

Player-driven meeting last week shakes life into Penns Grove soccer team, Red Devils respond with big win over Pitman

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

The Penns Grove boys soccer team just scored one of its biggest wins in Mano Massari’s short tenure as head coach in a 3-1 thriller over Pitman. It may have come on a Homecomiing Tuesday night, but the seeds were actually planted five days earlier.

Roll the tape.

The Red Devils had just dropped a 4-2 loss to Wildwood for a third loss in a row that flew in the face of their high expectations. It was such an uninspired effort, the coach had the players run more than a dozen suicides in front of their waiting parents after the game.

At the end of the session, as the players were catching their breath and collecting their things, Massari reminded them there would be a mandatory meeting the next day in Room 66.

At the appointed hour, the players slowly started to gather and when they all got settled the coaches came in and locked the door. But instead of spending the next however long it was going to take reading the riot act hoping that would get their attention, Massari turned it all over to the players. 

Say whatever you want, he told them, no matter your class or station. Everybody has a say. Clear the air.

The coaches stayed in the room, but remained silent observers. The meeting was all player-driven. Everybody talked – seniors, freshmen, captains, junior varsity. The Red Devils left that room a different team than when they went into it.

“It was a reality check for the team,” Massari said after the win over Pitman. “We sat down in the classroom. I shut the door. I locked the door. And I told them we’re not coming out until we figure this out together.

“I let them talk. I let them handle it. Say what was going wrong, what people need to do better, what’s working, what’s not working. I wanted them to take the reins and hold each other accountable. Watching them handle it like men and figuring it out, it was beautiful to watch.

“We went out to practice after the meeting and we were flabbergasted at how well it went. Usually it’s hard to get these kids to have face-to-face communication, it’s all text and stuff these days, but that’s what you need to do as a team and they did it. Since then we’ve had great practices, intense practices and it translated on the field today.”

Tuesday was the Red Devils’ first game since the meeting and the first real test of whether all they talked about registered. They fell behind in the first 10 minutes on a penalty kick by Jake Bowen-Ashwin, but they weren’t discouraged. In fact, it made them even more determined.

Senior Jayden Murga Santos, who missed the first three games in concussion protocol, tied the match with his second goal in as many games. It remained tied until freshman Juan Ortiz scored the goal of the game with less than 10 minutes left in the half, taking a sliding shot on a charging goalie and burying it in the side panel .

Senior captain Frankie Juarez Reynoso usually sets up the Red Devils goals, but he found the back of the net in the second half for a big insurance goal. And keeper Dwayne Guzman kept the Panthers out of the goal to make it all stand.

“I told them we’re playing for ourselves; everyone’s playing for themselves,” Massari said. “I said an open hand is weaker than a fist and we’ve got to start playing like a fist. Really, just telling them the name on the front of the jersey is more important than the name on the back.

“Let me tell you, they took that to heart, they really did. They’ve been working together as a team. Man, it translated on the field today. It was awesome to see them play for each other, play hard for each other, celebrate together. It’s hard watching these guys lose, lose together, they take it to heart. Man, it is euphoric watching them win together. It’s awesome, absolutely awesome.

“Something’s clicking after that meeting we had. I can’t express enough how important that meeting was for this team. That’s the turning point.”

The Red Devils are back at it Thursday at Overbrook, starting a stretch of five straight (and seven of the next eight) road matches.

Big scorer Bedderi

Algerian import scores 4 more goals in Wildwood’s soccer win over Pennsville; includes results, details of Tuesday games involving Salem County high school teams

BOYS SOCCER
Clayton 3, Salem Tech 0
Penns Grove 3, Pitman 1
Salem 1, Gloucester Catholic 0
Schalick 8, Glassboro 0
Woodstown 1, Overbrook 0
Wildwood 6, Pennsville 1

GIRLS SOCCER
Clayton 7, Salem Tech 0
Gloucester Catholic 7, Salem 0
Pennsville 2, Penns Grove 0
Schalick 2, Glassboro 0
Woodstown 3, Overbrook 0

GIRLS TENNIS
Woodstown 5, Salem 0
Glassboro at Pennsville
Penns Grove at Gloucester Catholic
Pitman 5, Schalick 0

FIELD HOCKEY
Pennsville 4, Bridgeton 0

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – You know you’ve got to be living right when a generational talent lands on your doorstep to add to an already generational team.

That’s just how Wildwood soccer coach Sal Zamperri must have felt this summer when Noureddine Bedderi decided to stay in the States, enroll in school and sign on to the Warriors’ soccer team.

“Nunu” has scored at least one goal in six of Wildwood’s first seven games. He scored a career-high four Tuesday – two in each half – as the Warriors overwhelmed Pennsville 6-1 and had several good chances for more.

“Nunu’s a great player, but I would say as a whole we kind of had a generational thing,” Zamperri said. “Nunu’s a new face for us and he just happened upon us and we got lucky with that, but as a class, this senior group that we have I would call generational as a group.

“But Nunu is a fantastic player and we are very fortunate to have come upon him via one of our boys.”

Bedderi had been working in a bike shop right off the boardwalk during the summer and went back to his native Algeria when the Jersey Shore tourist season ended. This year he stayed in town and the Warriors have reaped the benefit.

His impact was felt almost immediately, scoring his first goal in the third minute of the Warriors’ season opener and he hasn’t stopped scoring since. His four goals against the Eagles gave him 12 this season. Their leading scorer last year only had 13 goals.

“I’m really happy about today and there’s more to come this season,” Bedderi said with Warriors center back Ahmed Djellal, his cousin, serving as interpreter. “Over here, I have a lot more motivation to play at the game and I want to go far here. I just want to play.”

The match was arguably the Eagles’ biggest of the season. A win would have kept them in the hunt to win the Tri-County Classic Division crown. Instead, they didn’t answer the bell, giving up two quick goals and falling behind 4-0 in the first 11 minutes.

“The reality is we knew coming in that they jumped on us in the first one and we had to be ready to go; we were down 4-0 in the first 12 minutes of the game,” Pennsville coach Derek Foglein said. “We knew No. 9 (Bedderi) was a player. We had multiple conversations about it. He had four goals and an assist today.

“Those were the things we talked. We didn’t execute on the things we talked about, so we have to get better. We’ve still got a long season ahead of us. We have to keep getting better.”

Maddox Efelis scored the Eagles’ lone goal on a free kick with 4:07 left in the first half. It was his first goal of the season. He has scored one each of the last three seasons.

Wildwood 6, Pennsville 1

Wildwood (5-2)42-6
Pennsville (3-4)10-1

GOALS: WI-Gavin Burns (Nunu Bedderi), 2:28; WI-R.J. Blanda (unassisted), 4:05; WI-Nunu Bedderi (Gavin Burns), 7:48; WI-Nunu Bedderi (Gavin Burns), 10:56; P-Maddox Efelis (unassisted), 35:43; WI-Nunu Bedderi (Kelan Miller), 47:57; WI-Nunu Bedderi (unassisted), 60:32.

SCHALICK 8, GLASSBORO 0: Steve Chomo had a hat trick and Anthony Sepers scored twice as the Cougars rolled to their fourth straight win and moved coach Joe Mannella within three of 300 career victories. Nolan O’Toole, Luke Price and Louis Sepers had the other three goals.

PENNS GROVE 3, PITMAN 1: Freshman Juan Ortiz broke a 1-1 tie with a sliding goal of the game with just under 10 minutes left in the first half and Frankie Juarez Reynoso buried an insurance goal in the second half to lift the Red Devils out of a three-game losing streak. Pitman opened the scoring on a penalty kick, but Jayden Murga Santos tied it five minutes later. (See related story)

SALEM 1, GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC 0: Josthen Jimenez scored in overtime off a Jon Bower corner kick for the Rams’ first win of the season. It was the Rams’ first goal of the season after three straight shutouts and Eric Fizur’s first win as head coach.

WOODSTOWN 1, OVERBROOK 0: Blake Bialecki broke a scoreless tie when he converted a pass from Adrian Ibarra in the second half to lift the Wolverines to their second 1-0 win in a row. Ben Stengel made five saves to record his second straight shutout.

Before the game, the parents of the Woodstown program recognized coach Darren Huck for 25 years as head coach. They erected a banner behind the bench that Huck saw for the first time when he arrived at the field and presented him a plaque after the game. Now in his 26th season, Huck has 290 career wins – all at Woodstown.

Woodstown soccer coach Darren Huck was greeted by this banner commemorating his 25 years in coaching when he got to the bench for Tuesday’s match with Overbrook. The Wolverines won it 1-0.

Girls soccer

SCHALICK 2, GLASSBORO 0: Olivia Devoe and Abby Willoughby scored second-half goals and Eve Berger posted the shutout as the Cougars (4-1) won their fourth in a row. 

WOODSTOWN 3, OVERBROOK 0: Talia Battavio scored two goals and Gina Murry scored once for the Wolverines (4-3). Ellie Wygand posted her second shutout of the season. Battavio now has 53 career goals. 

PENNSVILLE 2, PENNS GROVE 0: The Eagles (2-5) won their second game in a row.

Field hockey

PENNSVILLE 4, BRIDGETON 0: Sophia Marandola scored two goals and Laura Tamberella and Kylie Harris each scored once as the Eagles (2-5) snapped a four-game losing streak. The Eagles scored a goal in each quarter. Kelsey Cook made seven saves for the shutout.

Girls tennis

WOODSTOWN 5, SALEM 0
Gabby Kurpis (Wo) def. Cassidy Werkheiser, 6-2, 6-1
Camille Osborn (Wo) def. Tytiana Miller, 6-0, 6-0
Aubrie Rennie (Wo) def. Angelina Fothergill, 6-0, 6-2
Julianna Lindenmuth-Leah Waterman (Wo) def. Heaven Jones McCullough-Destiny Carr, 6-0, 6-1
Melissa Hassler-EvaLouise Thomsen (Wo) def. Tahirah Davenport White-Biance Gibson, 6-2, 6-2.
Records: Woodstown 6-2, Salem 0-5.

Cover photo: Noureddine (Nunu) Bedderi (9) scored four goals in Wildwood’s 6-1 win over Pennsville Tuesday.