Schalick blanks Paulsboro 17-0, moves to No. 2 in South Jersey Group I power standings; game was moved from Friday after host school discovered a threat specific to the football game on social media
MONDAY’S GAME
Schalick 17, Paulsboro 0
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PAULSBORO — Kenai Simmons was growing tired of the game being so close. His Schalick team had the best of the play, but had only one touchdown and a slim lead to show for it.
Finally, he had had enough. After the Cougars defense forced their hosts into a deep hole following a bad snap in the third quarter, Simmons walked through the bench area and said to anyone within earshot “this is where we put them away.”
Then he went out and made it happen. The senior quarterback led the Cougars on scoring drives the next two times they touched the ball and the defense did the rest to complete a 17-0 win over Paulsboro in a rare Monday game that carried big South Jersey Group I playoff seeding implications.
“I noticed they were off a little bit,” Simmons said. “This is what we like. We like capitalizing off the other team’s mistakes so I was ready to put them away. I was just trying to get us up.”
In the two scoring drives that put the game away, the Cougars (4-2) got a touchdown and a field goal in the fourth quarter.
Simmons led a seven-play 50-yard drive that started in the third quarter and ended with Reggie Allen’s 10-yard touchdown run two plays into the fourth quarter to break the ice.
In the next drive, Hunter Dragotta kicked a 36-yard field goal into a stiff wind with 5:48 left to make it 17-0.
“What we talked about all week was this game could go a couple different ways,” Cougars coach Mike Wilson said. “One way we talked about was being tight and we would take over in the second half. I think we wore them down and I think that’s what Kenai was echoing. The idea that we are a second-half team with everything we do.”
In their four wins this season, the Cougars have outscored their opponents 45-16.
Simmons threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Sherrod Jones in the final minute of second quarter for the game’s first score. That capped a 10-play drive that covered 80 yards. After wearing down the Red Raiders on the ground, Simmons found Jones wide open over the middle for the score.
“They’ve got to respect our run,” Simmons said. “When you’ve got a defense that’s aggressive and hungry going against a team who runs hard, you’re going to bite at some point. When the outside linebacker ran to the run commit, it was right over his head.”
Despite the close margin at halftime, Schalick dominated the first half. The Cougars had the ball for nearly 18 minutes and ran 30 plays to the Red Raiders’ 12.
When Paulsboro did get the ball, the Cougars’ defense never gave it a chance. Schalick held the Red Raiders to 41 yards of net offense, minus-5 yards net rushing, and ended two drives with fumble recoveries by linebackers Riley Papiano and Alec Bramell.
The Red Raiders (4-2) lost a huge chunk of yardage on the bad snap over their quarterback’s head and their two biggest gaining plays of the game were facemask and pass interference penalties against the Cougars.
It was Schalick’s third win in a row, second shutout of the season and the third time they held an opponent to fewer than three points.
“We played very fundamental,” said lineman T.J. Hymer, the recipient of the Cougars’ defensive game ball. “We were definitely a lot more physical than them. You can’t really have an offense to where you run around and just try to throw the ball up against a natural defense like us. Coach Wilson does a lot of planning and we’re not just some midget football defense. We have a scheme.”
Paulsboro came into the game fourth in the South Jersey Group I power points standings, while Schalick was sixth. The Cougars moved to No. 2 behind Woodstown with the win and would be the Central Jersey Group 1 top seed if the playoffs started this week. If Paulsboro and Schalick finish on consecutive lines in the final standings and Paulsboro somehow is ahead, the Cougars would draw the better seed by virtue of the head-to-head win.
“It’s a pretty big win,” Hymer said. “When you really look it, this team was like our most legitimate win. No offense to the other teams, but there’s a reason one team is oh-and-whatever and the other team maybe has one win.
“This is a really good stepping stone because people now know after we lost to two pretty good teams (Woodstown and Cedar Grove, both No. 1 in their sections) we’re not just some middle of the pack people. We’re coming to win.”
The game was moved to Monday after Paulsboro officials learned early Friday of a specific threat against Saturday’s game and took action. The alleged perpetrator of the threat reportedly has been arrested.
The players said it felt a little odd playing on what normally was a JV day. Wilson tried to keep the routine as normal as possible and the players made the best of it.
“It felt kind of weird playing on a Monday, I’m going to be honest,” Simmons said. “I never played in a JV game, but it felt like a JV game on a Monday at 4 o’clock.”
“It definitely messed our schedule up a little bit,” Hymer said, “but I think we came out to play.”
Schalick 17, Paulsboro 0
| SCHAL | PAULS | |
| 14 | 1st Downs | 7 |
| 42-176 | Rushing | 23-(-5) |
| 3-6-0 | Passes | 6-13-0 |
| 25 | Passing | 46 |
| 3-0 | Fum-Lost | 3-2 |
| 3-30.0 | Punts | 3-33.0 |
| 7-55 | Penalties | 3-25 |
| Schalick (4-2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0- | 0 |
| Paulsboro (4-2) | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10- | 17 |
SCORING SUMMARY
S-Sherrod Jones 12 pass from Kenai Simmons (Hunter Dragotta kick), 42.5 2Q
S-Reggie Allen 10 run (Hunter Dragotta kick), 11:10 4Q
S-Hunter Dragotta 36 FG, 5:48 4Q
| WJFL DIAMOND DIVISION | DIV | ALL |
|---|---|---|
| Woodstown (1) | 3-0 | 5-0 |
| Glassboro (5) | 3-0 | 5-0 |
| Schalick (2) | 2-1 | 4-2 |
| Woodbury (14) | 1-2 | 2-3 |
| Penns Grove (20) | 0-3 | 1-5 |
| Salem (22) | 0-3 | 0-6 |
NOTE: Number in parenthesis is South Jersey Group I UPR power ranking through Oct. 7
THURSDAY’S GAME
Glassboro at Cinnaminson, 6 p.m.
Delran at Penns Grove, 6:30 p.m.
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Schalick at Gloucester City, 6 p.m.
Salem at West Deptford, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Willingboro at Woodbury, 11 a.m.
Woodstown at Haddon Heights, 11 a.m.
| WJFL PATRIOT DIVISION | DIV | ALL |
|---|---|---|
| Camden Catholic (NPB-3) | 3-0 | 5-0 |
| Paulsboro (6) | 3-1 | 4-2 |
| West Deptford (G2-15) | 3-1 | 3-3 |
| Pennsville (10) | 2-2 | 3-3 |
| Collingswood (G2-13) | 1-2 | 3-3 |
| Overbrook (G2-23) | 0-3 | 2-3-1 |
| Audubon (17) | 0-3 | 1-3 |
NOTE: Number in parenthesis is South Jersey Group I UPR power rankings through Oct. 7 (G2-Group 2, NPB-Non Public B)
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Audubon at Collingswood, 6 p.m.
Salem at West Deptford, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Pennsville at Paulsboro, noon
Camden Catholic at Overbrook, 11 a.m.
Riverview Sports News 