Schalick special on special teams, beats Penns Grove for second straight win; Dragotta sets school PAT mark
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNS GROVE – Sometimes a little luck goes a long way.
Dylan Sheehan was the luckiest soul at Jim Devonshire Field Saturday afternoon. Not in that the senior safety broke in and blocked a punt in the end zone, but that the oblong-shaped ball bounced right up to him like a basketball and all he had to do was grab it for a touchdown.
The play brought some much needed electricity to a WJFL Diamond Division game that up to that point was pretty sleepy and gave the Cougars some breathing room in an eventual 28-7 win over Penns Grove.
“I went in like I usually did all game, the guy stepped out to the right and didn’t block me, wide open, (ball) hit the palms of my hand, bounced it right back into my hands,” Sheehan said. “It’s luck, skill, a lot of things together.
“It feels good, but it feels a little bit undeserved because it’s luck at that point. Some things go your way, some things don’t … but it was definitely necessary to win the game. I’ll take luck any day. I’d like to think that it’s all me, but it’s not. It’s the way you play the game.”
The Cougars (2-2) were leading only 14-7 at the time. They had Penns Grove backed against its end zone thanks in part to a series of penalties that kept moving the Red Devils (0-4) back. Sheehan led a heavy rush against punter Mello Erickson-Hubbard, snuffed the kick and then hardly had to move to score, recovering the ball standing up.
They’ve blocked three kicks in the last two weeks.
“I wouldn’t say the play was lucky, but it was lucky that it came right back up and landed in his lap, it was lucky for the touchdown,” Schalick coach Kevin Leamy said. “I’m not surprised he blocked that kick, but I was surprised with the result.”
Good luck was on the side of Schalick kicker Hunter Dragotta, too. The former soccer player who made himself into a football kicker converted all four of his PATs in the game, setting the school record for career extra points.
He now is 10-of-11 on PAT this season, 29-of-30 over the last two seasons and 85-for-93 in his career. He broke the record with the extra point after Sheehan’s touchdown.
“It definitely took a lot of work, starting in eighth grade, going from a two-step approach to actually learning how to kick a ball,” Dragotta said. “I never really imagined playing football in high school, but here I am.”
“He’s been, especially the past two years, automatic,” Leamy said. “The only time he misses is if it’s blocked. It’s been like an automatic point; if we score we know we’re going to get a point because he’s that good. It’s nice having a weapon like that. Now we’ve got to get him the field goal record.”
That, Dragotta said, is “coming soon.” He hit a career-long 39-yarder earlier this season and has made longer in practice.
Quarterback Kenny Bartee again led the Cougars offense. The sophomore directed two touchdown drives behind an ever-improving offensive line and broke for another score on the first play of another possession. He passed for 100 yards, rushed for 46 and ran for two touchdowns.
“I’m getting more comfortable every week,” Bartee said. “My linemen are stepping up. I’m putting my faith in my linemen and they’re getting it done. Their linemen were very aggressive, very big, and I felt our linemen held it down for what they did.”
Terrell Thomas scored Penns Grove’s touchdown on a 48-yard burst early in the third quarter. It made the score 14-7. Beyond that, the Cougars held their hosts to 82 yards of net offense.
“The defense played phenomenal,” Sheehan said. “We’re definitely doing a lot more rotating on defense, just get some more guys in and out, but other than that our defense has been sound all season. We’re closing up the run game. No team has been able to pass on us. We’ll keep getting better.”
Schalick’s David Stewart scored the first touchdown of the game on a 10-yard run in the second quarter. Bartee’s first touchdown, a 2-yard run after getting down there with a 39-yard pass to Sherrod Jones, made it 14-0 at halftime.
Jerry Wooten kept the Red Devils in it to that point with a pair of interceptions. Penns Grove had three takeaways total.
“It wasn’t our best game today, but the goal is to go 1-0 (each week) and we achieved that goal,” Leamy said.
Schalick 28, Penns Grove 7
| SCH (28) | PG (7) | |
| 10 | 1st Downs | 5 |
| 31-120 | Rushing | 26-128 |
| 3-7-3 | Passing | 3-8-0 |
| 100 | Passing yds | 2 |
| 0-0 | Fumbles-lost | 2-1 |
| 1-30.0 | Punts-avg | 5-26.6 |
| 11-55 | Penalties | 13-114 |
| Schalick (2-2) | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14- | 28 |
| Penns Grove (0-4) | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0- | 7 |
SCORING SUMMARY
S-David Stewart 10 run (Hunter Dragotta kick), 9:07 2Q
S-Kenny Bartee 2 run (Hunter Dragotta kick), 29.5 2Q
PG-Terrell Thomas 48 run (Mello Erickson-Hubbard kick), 7:55 3Q
S-Dylan Sheehan blocked punt recovery in end zone (Hunter Dragotta kick), 6:35 4Q
S-Kenny Bartee 31 run (Hunter Dragotta kick), 4:52 4Q
Riverview Sports News 