Anything that could go wrong did early for the Red Devils and they fall tp Deptford, leaving Salem County football with a rare winless weekend
SATURDAY’S SCORE
Deptford 27, Penns Grove 6
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNS GROVE — Salem County football needed a win to avoid a historic shutout. Penn Grove was its final hope for the week Saturday and playing a team it had handled the year before.
But anything that could go wrong early did for the Red Devils and they never recovered, eventually falling to Deptford on a hot day at Jim Devonshire Field 27-6, bringing an end to an ignominious week for county football fortunes. All five Salem County teams lost this week, giving the county its first winless weekend in more than 20 years.
“It tells you the state of Salem County football,” Red Devils coach Marc Maccarone scoffed.
One has to go past the 2003 season, the last year records are publicly available, to find the last time Penns Grove, Pennsville, Salem, Schalick and Woodstown all lost on the same weekend. (The results of this weekend’s games are listed below.)
“It shows you the quality of the programs over the years, especially recent years; it’s an anomaly (what happened this week),” said John Emel, the longtime Penns Grove coach whose current West Deptford team took down one of those Salem County teams Friday night. Look what it took, a lot of close games that went the other way. It’s more of an aberration; it doesn’t happen often. I think there’s a lot of talent in the county and I think you’ll see teams improve dramatically as the year goes on.”
It was a tough start for the Red Devils. They picked up the opening kickoff late thinking it might roll into the end zone and started deep in their end, then fumbled away their first snap from scrimmage. It took three plays for the Spartans to score.
Their second possession ended in a safety when punter Mello Erickson-Hubbard was tackled in the end zone after a high snap, which Maccarone said in hindsight was a pretty good decision on the senior’s part.
It’s the kind of thing Deptford coach Patrick Landis said used to befall the Spartans. They’re 2-0 for the first time since 2022 after winning only one game each of the last two seasons.
“It’s funny you say that,” Landis said. “We as a staff have talked about it. Over the last couple years we’ve been in a lot of close game where those things have gone against us … and we come out on the losing end. It seems like a little bit of luck always helps.”
The Red Devils finally caught a break on the first play of the ensuing possession when Erickson-Hubbard recovered a fumble, but couldn’t capitalize as Luke Vilary broke up their fourth-down pass in the end zone.
Even when they did something good, they took a step back. Nazeer Painter hooked up with Erickson-Hubbard on a 49-yard pass play, then spiked the ball in the end zone drawing a personal foul that kept the Red Devils from tacking on the tying conversion.
It stayed that way until the closing minute of the first half when David Pearson stepped in front of an Erickson-Hubbard pass and returned it 47 yards for a touchdown that gave Deptford a 15-6 halftime lead.
“We were looking for answers a little bit at the end of the first half,” Landis said. “(Pearson) was able to get back on the field before the end of the half and make a huge play for us going in and that kind of opened things up for us.”
Kaden Roane scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to complete the scoring. The first came on an 18-yard pass from Noce and the second on a 1-run run in the final minute, capping an 80-yard drive against what Maccarone described as a “tired” team. Roane had a 51-yard run in the drive.
Roane finished with 98 yards rushing, but had 75 in the fourth quarter. The Red Devils’ defense held the Spartans to 29 yards rushing and 49 yards total through the first three quarters and had three takeaways in the first half.
“I thought the defense played well,” Maccarone said. “We gave up one defensive touchdown. I’ve got no complaints with the defense.”
Penns Grove will have a new quarterback when they play Glassboro, in a game moved to Thursday night. Maccarone said Brayden Lattig will get the call when the Red Devils face the coach’s former team and defending Group I state champion.
Lattig entered Friday’s game with 2:44 in the third quarter after Erickson-Hubbard took a big loss on a scramble and played the rest of the game.
“It’s not a give, it is (getting the shot); that’s who it is,” Maccarone said. “He came in cold, we were able to move the ball a little bit with him, did a fine job. No complaints.”
Deptford 27, Penns Grove 6
| DEPT (27) | PG (6) | |
| 6 | 1st Downs | 8 |
| 24-111 | Rushing | 23-87 |
| 7-12-1 | Passing (C-A-I) | 7-22-1 |
| 38 | Passing yds | 85 |
| 3-2 | Fumbles-lost | 1-1 |
| 5-40.0 | Punts-avg | 6-37.5 |
| 6-35 | Penalties-yds | 12-113 |
| Deptford (2-0) | 8 | 7 | 0 | 12- | 27 |
| Penns Grove (0-2) | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0- | 6 |
SCORING SUMMARY
D: David Noce 1 run (kick failed), 10:34 1Q
D: Safety, punter tackled in end zone, 9:13 1Q
PG: Nazeer Paynter 49 pass from Mello Erickson-Hubbard (pass failed), 6:31 2Q
D: David Pearson 47 interception return (Luke Vilary kick), 34.5 2Q
D: Kaden Roane 18 pass from David Noce (pass failed), 10:17 4Q
D: Kaden Roane 8 run (PAT failed), 37.7 4Q
WJFL Standings
| DIAMOND DIVISION | ALL | DIV |
| Glassboro | 2-0 | 0-0 |
| Woodstown | 1-1 | 0-0 |
| Penns Grove | 0-2 | 0-0 |
| Salem | 0-2 | 0-0 |
| Schalick | 0-2 | 0-0 |
| Woodbury | 0-2 | 0-0 |
| PATRIOT DIVISION | ALL | DIV |
| Collingswood | 2-0 | 1-0 |
| West Deptford | 2-0 | 1-0 |
| Paulsboro | 2-0 | 1-0 |
| Camden Catholic | 0-1 | 0-0 |
| Audubon | 0-1 | 0-1 |
| Overbrook | 1-1 | 0-1 |
| Pennsville | 0-2 | 0-1 |
Thursday’s Games
Cinnaminson 3, Salem 0
Friday’s Games
Cumberland 14, Schalick 7
Delsea 35, Woodstown 7
Glassboro 52, Haddon Heights 0
Haddonfield 41, Woodbury 0
West Deptford 42, Pennsville 7
Collingswood 27, Overbrook 14
Saturday’s Games
Paulsboro 28, Audubon 14
Deptford 27, Penns Grove 6
Newmann Goretti (Pa.) at Camden Catholic
Riverview Sports News 