Glassboro uses three big pass plays early to seize control, then shuts down Schalick in second half to remain undefeated; Pennsville crushes Lawrence to enhance playoff hopes
FRIDAY SALEM COUNTY FOOTBALL
Pennsville 35, Lawrence 7
Glassboro 20, Schalick 10
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE – Every season when the West Jersey Football League schedule comes out the history buffs on the Schalick coaching staff, of which head coach Mike Wilson is a big one, start looking for that one game the Cougars call their “Stalingrad game.”
It’s the kind of game the Cougars look to play in close quarters and wait for their opponent who likes to play in the open field to become impatient.
Sometimes, though, the best laid plans just aren’t enough against superior forces. Instead of getting caught up in the Cougars’ “Rattenkrieg,” Glassboro played “Bombs Away” Friday night.
The Bulldogs hit their hosts with three big pass plays in the first half to either set up or score touchdowns to seize control of the scoreboard in an eventual 20-10 victory that kept them undefeated and sets up a presumptive WJFL Diamond Division title game next week with Woodstown.
“That was 100 percent the game plan, to shorten the game, the only thing we didn’t do, we gave up three big plays – again,” Wilson said. “We didn’t change anything. We stayed patient the entire game. No unnecessary risks. It came down to three big plays, which we coached all week. We just didn’t execute.”
In hopes of frustrating the Bulldogs (7-0) into making a mistake, the Cougars (5-3) wanted to play a ball-control style of offense, picking up three and four yards at a time, to chew up a lot of game clock and play field position. It’s the same approach they took when they played in Bulldogs in last year’s 20-0 Central Jersey Group I title game.
Glassboro beat the strategy Friday by holding the Cougars to a three-and-out on the opening possession and then connecting on a 52-yard pass from Kristopher Foster to Mekhi Parker on its first offensive play of the game. The bomb set up Kenny Smith’s 4-yard touchdown run seven plays later to open the scoring.
Later in the half, Foster connected on a 70-yard touchdown pass to Amari Sabb on the first play of the second quarter and a 63-yard scoring strike to Xavier Sabb 3:41 before halftime to make 20-3. Foster was 4-of-7 for 187 yards passing in the first half and threw for 206 yards in the game.
“We trust the players we’ve got,” Glassboro coach Timmy Breaker said. “We knew they were going to load the box. On film they blitz, blitz, blitz, blitz, blitz, so we came out to take a shot first play of the game.”
Xavier Sabb’s touchdown catch was a thing of beauty. He turned in one direction on the pattern to counter the cornerback, Foster put the ball on his other shoulder and Sabb twisted back in midair to catch it and go.
“I really closed my eyes, honestly,” he said. “I just trusted my hands. I knew he was going to dive at me so I picked my legs up and it was over after that.”
“Special kid, special talent and you’ll see a lot of that from him,” Breaker said. “He’s a gamer. Explosive. At any point in time in the game he can take over the game.”
Schalick scored 10 points in the second quarter on Hunter Dragotta’s 32-yard field goal and Kenai Simmons’ 18-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Sheehan.
The Cougars shut out Glassboro in the second half – even made a goal line stand after the Bulldogs returned the second half kickoff 67 yards to the 19 – but they couldn’t generate any offense as the Bulldogs cranked up the defense.
Glassboro held Schalick to just nine yards of net offense in the second half.
“Take those three plays out it’s 10-0,” Wilson said. “That’s the kind of game we wanted to play. We moved the ball decently here and there. Defensively I thought we played well outside of those plays. In a game like that it just came down to a couple plays and we lost them again.”
Glassboro 20, Schalick 10
| GLASS (20) | SCHAL (10) | |
| 9 | 1st Downs | 10 |
| 33-143 | Rushing | 27-34 |
| 8-13-1 | C-A-I | 7-16-1 |
| 206 | Passing | 121 |
| 2-1 | Fum-lost | 4-0 |
| 0-0 | Punts | 4-27.5 |
| 15-118 | Penalties | 4-20 |
| Glassboro (7-0) | 6 | 14 | 0 | 0- | 20 |
| Schalick (5-3) | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0- | 10 |
SCORING SUMMARY
G-Kenny Smith 4 run (kick failed), 5:45 1Q
G-Amari Sabb 70 pass from Kristopher Foster (Sal Esgro kick), 11:47 2Q
S-Hunter Dragotta 32 FG, 6:46 2Q
G-Xavier Sabb 63 pass from Kristopher Foster (Sal Esgro kick), 3:41 2Q
S-Dylan Sheehan 18 pass from Kenai Simmons (Hunter Dragotta kick), 2:21 2Q
Cover photo: Glassboro’s Xavier Sabb (0) had a 63-yard touchdown catch against Schalick. (Photo by Heather Papiano)
Pennsville bounces back
LAWRENCE – Moments after his team lost to Paulsboro last Saturday, Pennsville coach Mike Healy told his players there was still plenty in the season to play for, but now there was no room for error.
The Eagles bounced back on a long road trip to Mercer County Friday night. They played as if their playoff lives depended on it, jumped out to a big halftime lead and eventually put away Group IV Lawrence 35-7.
“We were very honest with the kids that we didn’t have any more wiggle room, we had to get the job done,” Eagles coach Mike Healy said. “The big thing for us is from the opening kickoff we showed up.
“I told them before the game we need to be physical the entire game and we need to be aggressive all game, we need to play with effort the entire game. I thought for the first half today we really showed up and did those things. We’ve had some games where we’re lacking one of those things, but I thought today we played up to our potential.”
Quarterback Robbie McDade ran for one touchdown and threw a pair of touchdown passes to Luke Wood and Rylan Hardy rushed for two scores. Hardy remains on track to become the Eagles’ first 1,000-yard rusher since Nick Bard in 2017 (1,657 yards).
The Eagles were up 22-0 with 2:03 left in the first half. They made it 28-0 with 14 seconds left and after the Cardinals fumbled the first play after the kickoff McDade threw his second TD pass to Wood with five second left in the half to make it 35-0.
“It was a pretty cool end to the half,” Healy said
WJFL Standings
| DIAMOND DIVISION | DIV | ALL |
|---|---|---|
| Glassboro (4) | 4-0 | 7-0 |
| Woodstown (1) | 3-0 | 6-0 |
| Schalick (6) | 2-2 | 5-3 |
| Woodbury (11) | 1-2 | 2-4 |
| Penns Grove (20) | 0-3 | 1-6 |
| Salem (23) | 0-3 | 0-7 |
NOTE: Number in parenthesis is South Jersey Group I UPR power ranking through Oct. 12
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Glassboro 20, Schalick 10
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Penns Grove at Woodbury
Woodstown at Salem
| PATRIOT DIVISION | DIV | ALL |
|---|---|---|
| Camden Catholic (NPB-3) | 5-0 | 7-0 |
| Paulsboro (5) | 5-1 | 6-2 |
| West Deptford (G2-13) | 3-2 | 4-4 |
| Pennsville (12) | 2-3 | 4-4 |
| Audubon (13) | 1-3 | 2-3 |
| Collingswood (G2-16) | 1-4 | 3-5 |
| Overbrook (G2-25) | 0-4 | 2-4-1 |
NOTE: Number in parenthesis is South Jersey Group I UPR power rankings through Oct. 12 (G2-Group 2, NPB-Non Public B)
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Pennsville 35, Lawrence 8
Camden Catholic 55, Collingswood 0
Paulsboro 18, West Deptford 12
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Audubon at Overbrook
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