Woodstown takes advantage of Schalick’s special teams miscues, wins Diamond Division opener, extends winning streak in series to 12
SALEM COUNTY FOOTBALL
FRIDAY GAMES
Woodstown 26, Schalick 0
SATURDAY GAMES
Glassboro at Penns Grove
Pennsville at Overbrook
Salem at Woodbury
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN – If you grew up Down South watching football, especially in the state of Alabama where the sport just means more, there are certain games that just resonate through generations.
One of the most memorable is the 1972 Iron Bowl in which Auburn stunned No. 2 Alabama 17-16, blocking two punts in the fourth quarter and returning both for touchdowns to win a game that is forever known as “Punt, Bama, Punt.”
Woodstown staged its own version of “Punt, Bama, Punt” Friday night, taking advantage of several Schalick miscues in the punting game to win its WJFL Diamond Division opener and extend its dominance in the series with their nearest county rival, 26-0.
All of the Wolverines’ points came as a result of shortcomings on the Cougars’ special teams. There was a safety off a bad punt snap to open the scoring, a short-field touchdown drive with the ensuing free kick, a short-field touchdown drive off a 7-yard punt, a field goal off another bad punt snap and a touchdown off another short punt They almost had another touchdown after a long punt return into Schalick territory, but turned it over on downs after getting inside the 10.
“Special teams is such an emphasis for us,” Woodstown coach Frank Trautz said. “We put a huge emphasis on it every week and take it very seriously.
“Any time you can get a special teams turnover it drastically swings momentum and it gives you a real good shot at winning a football game, so that was very big for us in terms of helping us get this one.”
The Wolverines (2-0) gained control of the game early. They went up 2-0 when a snap sailed over punter Shawn Kelly’s head and he ended up falling on it in the end zone after a 27-yard loss. They took Schalick’s free kick near midfield and after Bryce Belinfanti softened up the defense with three hard runs, Alex Torres took a shuttle pass from Jack Holladay and went 35 yards for the game’s first touchdown.
“It’s always about setting the tone and that safety really set the tone for us,” said linebacker Anthony Bokolas, who chased down Kelly in the end zone.
A 7-yard punt gave the Wolverines another short field on their next possession and Belinfanti capped that drive with an 11-yard touchdown run. Another bad punt snap set them up at the Schalick 20 shortly before halftime and kicker Jake Ware salvaged that possession with a 29-yard field goal to make it 19-0.
“On film we did see that their punt team was a little off and we knew if we attacked them, just played physical, they were going to mess up,” Belinfanti said.
Belinfanti scored the game’s final touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter when he caught Holladay’s pass wide open across the middle and scored from 35 yards out. That drive was set up by a 12-yard punt.
Belinfanti finished the game with 85 yards rushing on 17 carries and the one catch for 35 yards. Holladay was 8-of-13 passing for 108 yards and two touchdowns.
“Honestly, I’m unsatisfied,” Belinfanti said. “I’m happy that we won, but I know I’m way better than that. I think I could’ve touched the end zone three times today. The best is yet to come for me.”
The game left Schalick looking for answers. It was a first chance for the Cougars to show they had what it took to play in South Jersey Group I’s toughest division after gaining traction as the beast of a lesser division last season. But the Wolverines never gave them a chance to get going and the special teams mistakes kept them at a disadvantage all night.
With the two bad punt snaps sapping a lot of their yardage, the Cougars were held to negative net rushing yardage and 12 yards total in the first half. They managed only 65 net yards in the game. Their deepest penetration into Woodstown territory in the first half was the 32 and that ended in a Garrett Leyman interception. Their most sustained drive came in the opening possession of the second half and reached the Woodstown 22 but ended with a missed field goal attempt.
“The kids played hard all game, they didn’t quit,” Cougars coach Mike Wilson said. “We just couldn’t get out of our way. We spotted them 19 points.
“You can’t have bad snaps like that against good football teams. You have to play clean football in all three phases; we did not do that tonight. We were constantly in bad positions. We’re doing uncharacteristic things.
“I want to play good clean football. We’re giving them points, we’re giving them plays, we’re putting ourselves in bad position. We played on our side of the field all night. I don’t care what level of game, you can’t play like that. You’ve got to play good in all three phases and right now we’re not.”
The win was Woodstown’s 12th in a row in the series. It has been 5,103 days since the Cougars last tasted victory in the rivalry and will be at least another 365 before they have a chance to try again.
Woodstown 26, Schalick 0
| SCH (0) | WOO (26) | |
| 6 | 1st Downs | 13 |
| 28-45 | Rush-yards | 31-120 |
| 4-6-1 | Passing (C-A-I) | 8-13-0 |
| 20 | Passing yds | 108 |
| 2-0 | Fum-lost | 0-0 |
| 4-24.3 | Punts-avg | 2-43.0 |
| 1-0 | Pen-yds | 6-45 |
| Schalick (1-2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0- | 0 |
| Woodstown (2-0) | 9 | 10 | 0 | 7- | 26 |
SCORING SUMMARY
W-Safety, punter tackled in end zone, 5:38 1Q
W-Alex Torres 35 pass from Jack Holladay (Jake Ware kick), 2:34 1Q
W-Bryce Belinfanti 11 run (Jake Ware kick), 6:16 2Q
W-Jake Ware 29 FG, 1:28 2Q
W-Bryce Belinfanti 35 pass from Jack Holladay (Jake Ware kick), 11:52 4Q
| WJFL DIAMOND DIVISION | DIV | ALL |
|---|---|---|
| Woodstown | 1-0 | 2-0 |
| Glassboro | 0-0 | 1-0 |
| Penns Grove | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| Salem | 0-0 | 0-2 |
| Woodbury | 0-0 | 0-1 |
| Schalick | 0-1 | 1-2 |
FRIDAY GAMES
Woodstown 26, Schalick 0
SATURDAY GAMES
Salem at Woodbury, 10:30 a.m.
Glassboro at Penns Grove, noon
| WJFL PATRIOT DIVISION | DIV | ALL |
|---|---|---|
| West Deptford | 2-0 | 2-1 |
| Paulsboro | 1-0 | 2-0 |
| Collingswood | 1-1 | 2-1 |
| Camden Catholic | 0-0 | 1-0 |
| Audubon | 0-1 | 1-1 |
| Overbrook | 0-1 | 1-1 |
| Pennsville | 0-1 | 0-2 |
FRIDAY GAMES
Audubon 8, Bordentown 7
West Deptford 46, Collingswood 6
SATURDAY GAMES
Camden Catholic at Paulsboro, 10 a.m.
Pennsville at Overbrook, 11 a.m.
Riverview Sports News 