Salem County Saturday: Pennsville makes good on its second chance for a first win; Woodstown, Salem fall; includes WJFL Diamond, Patriot standings
SALEM COUNTY FOOTBALL
Saturday’s Games
Glassboro 42, Salem 0
Pennsville 22, Audubon 17
Schalick 28, Penns Grove 7
Woodbury 42, Woodstown 6
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
AUDUBON – The folks in the stands might have thought Pennsville lost its chance to win Saturday when it fumbled near the goal line late in the fourth quarter, but the Eagles weren’t going to be denied. Given a second chance, they weren’t going to miss again.
Freshman Chase Johnson hauled in a 10-yard pass from Robbie McDade and crossed the goal line with 10 seconds to play to lift the Eagles over Audubon 22-17 for their first win of the season.
They had a chance to take the lead a few minutes earlier, but usually reliable Rylan Hardy fumbled at the 7 with the end zone in sight.
“The biggest thing for us this year is we struggle when things go bad getting back and playing the next play,” Pennsville coach Mike Healy said. “Today there were a lot of emotional swings, but our kids kept stepping up, coming back out and playing the next play and playing to the final play.”
The Eagles (1-3) didn’t hang their heads when it looked like their last-minute rally would fall sort for the second week in a row. Instead, their defense dug in and gave them another chance. They held strong after Hardy’s rare fumble and forced the Green Wave to punt.
“That was the big thing the whole day, things we didn’t get done and stepped back up,” Healy said.
McDade went to work at the 40 with less than a minute left and all his timeouts in hand. The first two passes fell incomplete, then Kane Green hauled one in to get them to the 10. McDade finished off the drive with a slant over the middle to Johnson for the go-ahead score.
It was the senior quarterback’s first successful fourth-quarter game-winning drive of his career.
The Eagles led 6-3 at the half and 14-10 after three quarters. Audubon led 17-14 with 3:47 to play.
“My mindset was one play at a time and see where it gets us,” McDade said of the winning drive. “With a minute left all you’re thinking is next play, positive plays, positive plays, one on top of the other, and we got it done. All 11 guys had to do their job and they manned up and we got the outcome we wanted. It was very nice.”
The Eagles were in a similar position last week against Overbrook, but came up empty. They lost a 21-0 first-quarter lead, but had two shots at the end zone from the 34 in the final eight seconds and both fell incomplete.
This time they weren’t going to be denied. McDade agreed last week’s disappointment pushed them to finish this one.
“You’re just emotionally spent after both games, but one you’re excited and the other you’re just devastated,” Healy said. “The feeling after seeing the kids all excited was great.”
The quarterback seconded that emotion.
“It’s a lot better being on the other end of it, for sure,” he said.
Tough day for Wolverines
WOODBURY – When you’re a young football team learning to play on this level sometimes you just run into games like this.
Woodstown ran into a Woodbury team that hadn’t won a game all season and had scored only eight points in its last two, but that’s not the Thundering Herd the Wolverines got Saturday..
The Herd rushed for nearly 300 yards, scored the first five touchdowns of the game and swamped the Wolverines 42-6.
“I know I’m sounding like a broken record, but it’s a young team that is really learning how to play varsity football,” Woodstown coach Frank Trautz said. “We’re just not there yet. We’re going to be, we’re going to get there, but we’re learning how to play varsity football right now.”
The Wolverines’ spirit was rocked by devastating injuries to a pair of sophomore linemen in the first half.
Antonio Merendino sustained a serious knee injury chasing down Woodbury running back Dale Thomas , the eventual star of the game, on the Wolverines’ first defensive play of the game.
A more frightening injury occurred midway through the second quarter when Abraxus (Rax) Hannah was knocked to the ground and was motionless for a brief period before being transported from the field by ambulance.
The Wolverines were chasing after Woodbury quarterback Nico Jimenez on a play from inside the 10 when the injury occurred. A broadcast of the play shows from just outside the frame Hannah appearing to take a frontal hit that knocked him backwards onto the field.
The game was delayed nearly 20 minutes while medical officials attended to him. He was said to have briefly lost consciousness on the field, but was moving and talking with Woodstown game personnel before being taken from the field.
“That was a very scary injury,” Trautz said. “Thankfully, though, he’s OK. I just talked to his parents. They have him up, walking, they’re going to discharge him from the hospital. Ultimately, that’s the most important thing, that he’s OK.”
Trautz agreed the injury to Hannah “took a lot of wind out of the sails.” The Wolverines managed just 116 yards of net offense and five first downs after the delay. Woodbury, meanwhile, ran for a touchdown on the first snap after play resumed and the Herd scored all four times it touched the ball in the second half, including returning the second-half kickoff for a touchdown.
Thomas rushed for 135 yards and four touchdowns in the game.
The Wolverines did what they could. They avoided the shutout when quarterback Frankie Hoerst threw a 67-yard touchdown pass to Sincere Cook-Reese in the closing seconds of the third quarter. The Wolverines only got five snaps in the fourth quarter because of the running block.
“Ultimately, our kids battled them; they just continue to fight,” Trautz said. “They’re leaving it all out there every week.
“I give them all the credit in the world. It’s tough when you’re on the wrong end of some of those games and it’s easy to quit at times, but our kids keep battling their butts off and they keep fighting. That’s all you can ask of them.”
Woodbury 42, Woodstown 6
| WOODS (6) | WOODB (42) | |
| 7 | 1st Downs | 14 |
| 33-101 | Rushing | 27-297 |
| 3-8-0 | Passing (C-A-I) | 7-12-0 |
| 73 | Passing yds | 72 |
| 1-0 | Fumbles-lost | 3-0 |
| 3-44.3 | Punts-avg | 1-16.0 |
| 7-41 | Penalties-yds | 8-80 |
| Woodstown (1-3) | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0- | 6 |
| Woodbury (1-3) | 6 | 8 | 21 | 7- | 42 |
SCORING SUMMAR
WB-Dale Thomas 5 run (kick failed), 4:51 1Q
WB-Elijah Young 17 run (Nico Jiminez run), 6:12 2Q
WB-Samier Pettit 70 kickoff return (PAT run), 11:45 3Q
WB-Dale Thomas 71 run (run failed), 5:13 3Q
WB-Dale Thomas 7 run (Mark Martin kick), 1:42 3Q
WT-Sincere Cook-Reese 67 pass from Frankie Hoerst (pass failed), 12.5 3Q
WB-Dale Thomas 2 run (Mark Martin kick), 5:00 4Q
Glassboro overruns Salem
Glassboro 42, Salem 0
| Glassboro (4-0) | 8 | 14 | 20 | 0- | 42 |
| Salem (1-3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0- | 0 |
SCORING SUMMARY
G-JoJo DeLecce 21 run (Amari Sabb run)
G-Mehki Parker 2 pass from Jack O;Connell (pass failed)
G-Xavier Sabb 70 punt return (Junior Serrano pass from Amari Sabb)
G-JoJo DeLecce 9 run (run failed)
G-Xavier Sabb 55 pass from Mekhi Parker (pass failed)
G-Safety
G-Amari Sabb 47 run (run failed)
WJFL Standings
| DIAMOND | ALL | DIV |
| Glassboro | 4-0 | 2-0 |
| Schalick | 2-2 | 2-0 |
| Salem | 1-3 | 1-1 |
| Woodbury | 1-3 | 1-1 |
| Woodstown | 1-3 | 0-2 |
| Penns Grove | 0-4 | 0-2 |
| PATRIOT | ALL | DIV |
| West Deptford | 4-0 | 3-0 |
| Paulsboro | 4-0 | 3-0 |
| Overbrook | 3-1 | 1-1 |
| Pennsville | 1-3 | 1-2 |
| Collingswood | 2-2 | 1-2 |
| Audubon | 0-3 | 0-2 |
| Camden Catholic | 0-4 | 0-2 |
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Overbrook 48, Florence 6
West Deptford 58, Camden Catholic 16
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Glassboro 42, Salem 0
Paulsboro 48, Collingswood 28
Pennsville 22, Audubon 17
Schalick 28, Penns Grove 7
Woodbury 42, Woodstown 6
Riverview Sports News 