Salem drops another winnable game because of an inconsistent offense, falls to Cinnaminson 3-0 for 13th straight loss
THURSDAY WJFL SCORES
Cinnaminson 3, Salem 0
Buena 30, Lindenwold 6
Bridgeton 43, Clearview 0
Cherokee 42, Lenape 21
Cherry Hill East 60, WW-Plainsboro South 0
Clayton 2, Mastery Charter 0, forfeit
Delran 28, Ewing 0
Eastern 19, Ocean City 13
Gateway 33, Haddon Twp. 24
Pennsauken 41, Washington Township 0
Princeton 7, Allentown 6
Riverside 50, Florence 0
South Brunswick 10, North Brunswick 0
Winslow 47, Highland 0
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CINNAMINSON — The Salem defense is strong enough to keep the Rams in a lot of games. If they could ever get their offense in gear they might win some of them.
The Rams kept Cinnaminson out of the end zone and held it to just a field goal, but they never could punch it in themselves and fell to the Pirates 3-0 Thursday night.
It was the Rams’ 13th straight loss going back to the end of the 2023 season. They have held their opponents to 20 points or less in four of them. At the same time, their offense has scored eight points or less nine times. Both of their games this season were winnable.
The Rams had their chances Thursday night. All four of their possessions in the fourth quarter started at the 50 or better (43, 25, 41, 50), but they never capitalized on the short fields. Their best chance got to the 12 and ended in an interception at the goal line by Jake Barbich.
It left Rams coach Kemp Carr with some choice words for his offense.
“We (bleep) on offense,” he said. “We (bleep) on offense.”
Quarterback Desmund Thomas, who looked poised and threw some really nice balls in the scrimmages, completed only 10 of 27 passes for 84 yards against the Pirates. While he did overthrow several open receivers with his big arm, he was also the victim of at least a half-dozen drops and had a TD pass called back by a hold.
It was the second week in a row the Rams had a touchdown called back by a penalty.
“He’s a great player, he’s just not making plays,” Carr said of his junior quarterback. “You’ve got to make plays. You’ve gotta really build his confidence. He’s got a really good unit, he’s got a really good team. We’ve seen him complete the ball to 10 different receivers that one time. That’s not happening. We’ve got to make that happen.
“We’ve got guys. We played six or seven receivers again tonight. We had six, seven drops in key moments. We can’t do that. Drive killers.”
The only points of the game came off the foot of Aedan Burk. He kicked a 35-yard field goal to cap the Pirates’ first possession of the game. Burk had a 40-yard attempt last week that hit the crossbar.
After the field goal, the Pirates went three-and-out on their next three possessions of the half. They did open the second half with a nice series driven by direct snaps to Domenic DelGrippo, but even that went backwards once it got to the red zone and came away with nothing. Then it was back to the three-and-outs.
“The defense played extremely well, did everything to win the game except for (not getting) that pick (by Kaden Robinson on a wobbly ball) and run for a touchdown,” Carr said. “That team couldn’t move the ball against us at all. More talented, more aggressive, more fast, more explosive and we don’t take advantage of those opportunities.
“We need to learn how to win. This team does not know how to win.”
Cinnaminson 3, Salem 0
| SAL (0) | CINN (3) | |
| 12 | 1st Downs | 5 |
| 22-100 | Rushing | 31-90 |
| 10-27-1 | Passing (C-A-I) | 2-6-0 |
| 84 | Passing yds | 37 |
| 1-0 | Fumbles-lost | 0-0 |
| 5-32.2 | Punts-avg | 8-26.9 |
| 4-25 | Penalties-yds | 2-15 |
| Salem (0-2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0- | 0 |
| Cinnaminson (1-1) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0- | 3 |
SCORING SUMMARY
C: Aedan Burk 35 FG, 2:22 1Q
WJFL Standings
| DIAMOND DIVISION | ALL | DIV |
| Glassboro | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| Woodstown | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| Penns Grove | 0-1 | 0-0 |
| Salem | 0-2 | 0-0 |
| Schalick | 0-1 | 0-0 |
| Woodbury | 0-1 | 0-0 |
| PATRIOT DIVISION | ALL | DIV |
| Collingswood | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| Overbrook | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| Paulsboro | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| West Deptford | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| Audubon | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Camden Catholic | 0-1 | 0-0 |
| Pennsville | 0-1 | 0-0 |
Top photo by Julliana Love
Riverview Sports News 