The Salem Rams, already with one mountain to climb, have found a secret hill to help them prepare for the football season ahead

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

SALEM — If opponents that had their way with the Salem football team a year ago suddenly find themselves locked in a fourth-quarter dogfight or woefully behind in the second half they only have The Hill to blame.

It’s one of the tools Rams coach Kemp Carr is using this year to get his team bigger, faster and stronger as they look to bounce back from a winless first season together. After swearing at it at first, the players now are swearing by it.

The players call it Death Hill. It’s on a remote stretch of road somewhere in Salem County – exact location undisclosed for secrecy sake – with about 150 feet of elevation change that gets the legs moving, the heart pumping and the adrenaline flowing. (It’s a win in itself to find such a place in a county Wikipedia says is “almost uniformly flat coastal plain with minimal relief.”

You’d think the idea would be to run up the hill to promote conditioning, but not surprising, Carr flips the script and has the Rams running downhill to promote both speed and control. Besides, what coach doesn’t love a downhill runner?

He first used the tactic for his track teams back in the day and it changed everything about their performances. It’s the first time he’s done it for football.

“You’ve gotta find ways to get an edge,” Carr said. “I use everything I have within my background to try to sharpen their skills, but also improve, no matter what position. That’s why we try to add as many additives to our program as possible to get versatile going forward.”

The exercise first began in June with eight hearty volunteers, a group that included rush end Antwuan Rogers and newcomers Desmond Thomas and Jovanni Rios. It quickly grew to 16, still voluntary, and then, as the benefits were becoming evident, mandatory for all and the rest, as they say, is history. 

The first time they all ran it and helped each other through it, that’s when the players knew they had a different kind of mindset flowing within this year’s team.

It’s not just getting down The Hill in one piece or without wiping out the guys in front of you – “No one has, thankfully,” center Wyatt Irvine said. “That’d hurt.” –  it’s getting down under a certain time depending on position and physical circumstance.

“It’s pretty awful,” Irvine said of his first experience. ”But we ran a lot and got a lot more used to it. In the beginning people were (grumbling) but I think they realized how much it helped. It’s definitely made practice a lot easier, condition wise. I feel like I can run a lot longer than regular practices now that we did the hills.”

“Our first day on The Hill I thought it was all right,” Rogers said. “I ran the first one, I felt good, I’m like all right, it’s just work. Then we run the second one and my eyes start getting black. Then we run another one after that and I was like, all right, I don’t like this. He (Carr) told us we were going to run 10, but once we got to three it was like I don’t know if I can make 10.”

There’s a story about a few players trying to skip out early in the process; they were driven out after practice to fulfill their obligation. No one escapes The Hill.

“I love the hills,” receiver Kaden Robinson said. “I love putting in hard work. It’s work. At the end of the day it’s getting everybody better, getting me better, getting the team better.”

And, after all, isn’t that, in the end, what it’s all about.

Top photo: The intrepid eight Salem football players who first braved coach Kemp Carr’s “Death Hill” training exercise during summer workouts. The group included Antwuan Rogers, Kaden Robinson, Kyvion Parsons, Desmond Thomas, Makye Murray, Jovanni Rios, Quimere Bergen and Amir Kornegay.
(Submitted photo)

Salem looking to turn some heads with a renewed commitment that touches every part of the program

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

SALEM – The Salem football team is playing basically the same schedule it did last year in head coach Kemp Carr’s first season, but if those opponents think they’re going to get the same struggling Rams team they saw last year – the last two years, really – they’re in for a rude awakening.

With the addition of some dynamic newcomers, a renewed focus and aggressive approaches on both sides of the ball, the Rams promise to be bigger, stronger, faster than the group that struggled to score and went winless in 2024.

“We don’t try to talk about last year,” receiver Kaden Robinson said. “We want to erase last year. It’s a new year, new season. Bigger, faster, stronger. It’s a completely different team, completely different program.

“It makes me hungry. I’m glad we have the same schedule. Want to dominate every team we played last year when I look back. Got a lot to prove. If they sleep (on us), it’s time for them to wake up.”

The Rams had one of their toughest seasons in recent memory, going a depressing 0-9 for their first winless season since 2012. They scored nine touchdowns all season and held a lead only twice – the first touchdown of the Cinnaminson game and halftime of the Middle Twp. game.

They slammed the book on that chapter the minute their last game against Penns Grove went final and they haven’t looked back. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Carr said. “(Last year) is expired. It’s already expired. Everybody’s expired. Everybody.

“A team goes 8-3 doesn’t mean they’re 8-3 this year, or 0-9. It doesn’t matter (what last year was). You’re in the 2025-26 football season. A lot happens within a year. A lot happens. Depending on how you address your program, you can get better or you can get worst. 

“The only thing I do know for sure, this team has gotten better – personnel wise, mentally wise, the social dynamic of how they handle each other. You can take good teams and be great or take great teams and only be good. It usually happens by the mentality of the senior leadership and how they carry themselves. I think we have a good (group) of guys wanting to do the right thing.”

And a lot has happened since the Rams last played a game. They committed to being better. They intensified their offseason workouts. They picked up some new players to address their shortcomings. And they put a lot of miles on the road to text themselves. Carr called the difference he’s seen between last year and this one “night and day.”

“We’re not here to make the playoffs,” Carr said. “We’re here to win a championship, but we’ve got to get off the schneid. We’ve got to get a taste of that win. It’s gotta happen fast.”

The new mindset also is reflective of how the Rams will look on the field, having changed their approach on both sides of the ball. Think of it truly as basketball on grass, and the playbook has expanded accordingly to reflect the players’ abilities and aptitude.

The fast-break offense will have multiple options for dual-threat junior quarterback Desmond Thomas, who returns to his Salem roots after posting some big numbers in two varsity seasons in Georgia. He has looked impressive in the well-travelled Rams’ summer workouts and camps and will have as many as eight receivers and four running backs at his disposal.

“We’ve got a lot of depth, a lot of athletes,” Robinson said. “Anybody can play any position at any time. Everybody’s versatile.”

“We’ve definitely improved a lot,” center Wyatt Irvine said.

Carr called Thomas “the real deal.” The quarterback is smooth and fearless in the pocket, a strong runner and eager to get started.

“It feels great; I just wanted to be back home,” Thomas said. “I’m looking forward to a great season. I’m 10 times more excited (about this season starting). One, I’m being back home, being back with all my people. Ready to make history.”

On the other side of the ball, the Rams’ pressing defense will be rooted in chaos, with 6-5, 240-pound lineman Antwuan Rogers leading the charge. Captain Chaos, who committed to Temple earlier this summer, has his eye on the Rams’ single-season sack record (19) and he’ll be put in various spots to give that a better chance to happen.

That’s all right by him.

“I’m loving how everything is looking,” Rogers said. “We’re going to be good. We’re much more focused, locked in, working harder than ever. A lot of heads will turn. We’re going to shock the world.”