Salem beats former coach in ‘family feud,’ Schalick has surprise visitors, Pennsville takes road less traveled

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

SALEM – It might not go down as anything more than a footnote to the season in the long run, but when you haven’t won a game in a while, even a win in a scrimmage is worth celebrating.

The Salem Rams were feeling pretty good Thursday after scored their first win under full game-like conditions in 22 months when they blanked Haddon Heights 8-0.

“We talked about it (the impact of the win),” Rams coach Kemp Carr said. “I thought we had good energy all day, which is going to be important to the way we play … I think if we play the way we did in the third quarter it’s going to be a fun season.”

There was a fun element to the scrimmage. They were calling it a “Family Feud” on the sideline. Heights is coached by former Salem head coach Montrey Wright and seven of the Garnets coaches were coached by Carr.

Wright led the Rams to eight straight winning seasons (67-24) and two sectional titles from 2015 to 2022. He had this year’s Salem seniors as freshmen.

“It was (a family feud); I’m glad my food tastes better,” Carr quipped.

The Rams embraced it. They held the Garnets to 104 yards of net offense during the three varsity quarters and 138 yards total. They turned back three red zone threats. They scored the game’s only touchdown and had two others denied by a penalty and a quick whistle.

“If it takes me coming back to get those kids excited to play, that’s just what it is,” Wright said. “There’s no ill will; I love Salem. If I’ve got to come back to get those kids to play like I know they ought to can, then I’ll do it.”

Antwuan Rogers was inspired. The Temple pledge looked like he was trying to set the school’s single-season sack record all in one day. He wound up with four and kept Garnet quarterbacks on the run. He was a force all game long, but there was a particular three-play sequence late in the second quarter that really stood out.

Heights had taken over in the red zone after a turnover. Rogers sacked the quarterback on back-to-back plays for 12 yards in losses, then provided the heavy produced that led to Isaiah Santiago’s interception.

“My DB told me, ‘Tweeze, I need pressure from you; you give me pressure, make the quarterback throw a bad ball, and I’m going to get it,” Rogers said. “I gave him what he needed. I want to do whatever I can do for my team to win.”

“I need that all year,” Carr said. “I hope (teams) double-team him; it allows us to do some other things. If one guy can do two people’s job in any job in the real world you get more bang for your buck, so we feel like we’re going to get more bang for our buck. I thought he played hard and if you play hard you’re going to get good results.”

The whole defense was active and determined to get the shutout. Heights had it first-and-goal from the 5 on the final series of the scrimmage, but the Rams wouldn’t yield. They made a stop for no gain on first down and then they threw the Garnets for a 3-yard loss.

The next two plays went for the score. Kyshann Long broke up the pass on third down and then Long and Kyvion Parsons – Carr’s grandson – broke up the final play in the back of the end zone.

“That was all freshmen and sophomores out there (in that final possession),” Carr said. “One of the things we want to do is let them play a little bit together no matter how good or developed they need to be. We want them to play together so they can get a chemistry, a camaraderie and they can believe in each other. Now they know each other, so that was really good.”

Rogers and freshman Ahmad Tucker were named the Kings of the Game and had the hardware to go with it.

Tucker’s biggest play was a 60-yard touchdown catch that made quarterback Desmund Thomas look good. Thomas stayed in the pocket looking for a receiver and Tucker eventually gave him a target by deftly slipping behind the defense who weren’t going to catch him.

The game style “didn’t fit” Thomas on this day, but the quarterback still managed to complete 8 of 14 passes for 101 yards and a touchdown and rush for 51 yards on six carries. He had a 38-yard touchdown pass to Kaden Robinson blown dead by a quick whistle to protect the quarterback that probably wouldn’t occur in a real game.

The Rams also lost a touchdown to a holding penalty on their opening drive.

Schalick’s surprise spectators

PITTSGROVE – Schalick coach Kevin Leamy looked around the stadium after he walked into Friday’s scrimmage with Buena and was a little surprised by who he saw.

Walking through the gate was the Somerville head coach and a couple of his assistants who made the 90 mile drive down the turnpike to see their opening game opponent up close and personal. The teams play Friday night at Schalick in a game that initially was part of the Battle at the Beach weekend..

“I went over and introduced myself and said ‘Hi,’ asked them how their drive was,” Leamy said. “That’s a long hike. That’s commitment, driving down and scouting us like that.

“I told the kids this is going to be a well-coached team. Any coaches who have that type of commitment, you know that they’re doing everything they can to try and win a game. A lot of respect for those guys who drive two hours to watch a scrimmage. It means they’re putting in a lot of work and taking us seriously.”

All they did by making the trip was beat the Hudl posting by six hours. It’s not like they really saw a lot because Leamy had already planned to be “very vanilla and conservative” in the scrimmage. The visiting coaches were gone after the Cougars’ starters finished their two quarters of work.

Neither team scored in the half and for the Cougars that’s two scrimmages without a touchdown. Because of the pace and style of the game, both Schalick quarterbacks effectively got a quarter to put some separation in their battle.

Sophomore Kenny Bartee appeared to get the best of it, but apparently not enough to distance himself from junior scrimmage starter Gary Simonini.

Bartee got the second possession and took the Cougars from their 46 to the 20. He moved the chains with an 11-run on fourth down and broke off another 27-yard burst to reach the red zone. 

“He had a good day,” Leamy said. “He runs the ball really well. He’s hard to bring down. Once he gets out in space he’s very dangerous. He did a really good job.

“We’re going to meet as coaches (Saturday) and talk more about making a decision (on a starter). We’ll see what that decision is.”

Pennsville on the move

WOODSIDE, Del. – Pennsville took a ride over the bridge and came back feeling good about itself heading into Game Week.

Coach Mike Healy went searching after his Thursday scrimmage fell through at the last minute and Delaware’s Polytech answered the call. So did the Eagles.

“It was much better across the board (than Monday’s scrimmage with Salem),” Healy said. “More disciplined and aggressive.”

And efficient, too. The only drive they were stopped on was due to a fumbled handoff.

New Salem quarterback looks to a lot of people like a certain former NFL QB as he impresses in first scrimmage

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – It is no coincidence new Salem quarterback Desmund Thomas wears No. 7.

See the way he looks in the uniform and carries himself on the field. Watch the way he escapes the rush and eventually makes something happen. Look at the sidewinder way he slings the ball downfield. Follow him as he takes off to run.

If he doesn’t remind you of former Virginia Tech, Falcons and Eagles quarterback Michael Vick you haven’t been watching football very long.

Like he hasn’t heard that before.

“They call me ‘Baby Vick’ sometimes,” the junior said. “At first I didn’t even see it. But when people see I can actually throw and they see I can actually run that’s when that comparison came up.”

Thomas has never met Vick or seen him play live, but knows all about him even though he was born the year before Vick joined the Eagles. “I watched his whole documentary,” he said. Of all the Vick versions out there, he likes the Philly Vick the best.

He’ll tell you, though, his choice of jersey number has nothing to do with any comparison to the current Norfolk State head coach. 

“It’s me, it’s just me,” he said. “I want to be the best of me.”

By all accounts he was pretty good Monday against Pennsville in his first padded action against outside competition since transferring to Salem from Georgia,

He directed the Rams to four touchdowns in their eight goal-line plays after Robbie McDade led the Eagles to three in their first four plays. Then he directed a five-play, 65-yard touchdown drive to start their 10-and-10 and lofted a touchdown pass to 6-2 KaiSiere Muhammad on the final play of the varsity portion of the exercise.

Altogether he was 12-of-17 for 137 yards and three touchdowns passing (and had another 6-yard TD pass nullified by a penalty) and rushed for 48 yards and two goal-line scores. One of his completions was a spectacular 45-yarder that Quimere Bergen laid all the way out for and one of his incompletions was a ball he eventually threw away after a long Vick-like run to escape Pennsville pursuit. His longest run went for 40 yards.

He looked a lot like he did while putting up some big numbers for Mt. Zion in Jonesboro, Ga., the last two years.

“I feel better since I’ve been here,” he said. “I feel more elusive in the pocket, I’m able to move around, trust my teammates when I’m on the run, extend the play, things like that. I’m glad to be here.”

“I was really impressed with him, and it wasn’t just his ability to scramble, it was his ability to keep his eyes downfield and still keep looking, trying to find the open player,” Pennsville coach Mike Healy said. “He’s a big handful, that’s for sure. He did a lot of good stuff.”

Despite all the good things Thomas did in the scrimmage, he still had some missteps Rams coach Kemp Carr said need to be corrected before he can become the truly great quarterback he believes he can be.

“I’m looking for him to be a complete player,” Carr said. “The sky’s the limit, but I need him to hit every phase and he missed two phases today. He showed he can do a lot of good things, but we’ve got hit the phases when we need to hit the phases.

“The game is about levels. We want every level to fill and he missed some levels today. But he did a good job being able to scamper and play off-schedule, which is good.”

Even Michael Vick wasn’t built in a day.

NOTES: Thomas threw his other touchdown passes to Antwuan Rogers and Jovanni Rios, a transfer from Pennsville. Rios caught three more passes and had a 14-yard run against his former team after they threw him for a 7-yard loss the first time he touched the ball … The three touchdowns Pennsville scored in the goal-line drill were the only ones they scored in the scrimmage. Their goal in the workout was to get a lot of players on film against outside competition and they achieved that with liberal substitutions … The Rams have added a Week Zero game to the schedule. They will open their season at home against Pleasantville Aug. 29 at 3:30 p.m.

Schalick: QBs battle on

FRANKLINVILLE – The objective of Schalick’s first scrimmage of camp was to get some separation between its two quarterback candidates, but after a couple 10-and-10s at Delsea Monday morning the battle still rages.

Gary Simonini and Kenny Bartee got 10 plays each in the exercise to show what they could do in the option and the result was about a draw.

“I don’t think either one of them necessarily separated,” Cougars coach Kevin Leamy said. “They both showed signs and did things very well (and) they both showed me things they need to improve on.

“I think if we had to play a game tomorrow I think I would be comfortable playing both of them in a game. Neither one of them did bad, but as of right now I plan on using both of them because neither is necessarily separating above the other.”

Simonini, a junior, drew the opening assignment and had a somewhat balky start, but bounced back and accounted for 28 yards of net offense. Bartee, a sophomore, ran the final five plays of each set and accounted for 21 net yards. Both had a keeper in the option that went for more than 10 yards.

“I feel like I didn’t accomplish what I really wanted to,” Bartee said. “I wanted to show them who I was, but with the little drives I did have I think I did fine.”

“You always want to be better at everything I do,” Simonini said. “At the end of the day we’re both capable of playing this position. We both are good football players. At the end of the day we’re just out here to have fun playing a kids game.”

They’ll get another chance to show out in a more game-like scrimmage Friday against Buena. Leamy wasn’t sure after Monday’s exercise if he’d split the work series by series or quarter by quarter in the scheduled half of game action.

Then, too, he wouldn’t be opposed to playing two quarterbacks. He told both of them he wanted both to play in the opener against Somerville.

“I’ve watched a lot of Navy offenses that used two quarterbacks and did well,” Leamy said. “It’s not like it’s never been done before.”

As for the scrimmage overall, Leamy said, the Cougars did a “very good” job and “accomplished what we wanted to.”

The best play of the scrimmage was Simonini’s toss to David Stewart that opened their second 10-and-10 and went for 16 yards. The worst play was final play of their first defensive set when Delsea completed a play-action pass to a running back from midfield that went for the day’s only touchdown.