Salem puts together a strong second half, takes down Schalick in a Thursday night special; includes WJFL Diamond, Patriot Division standings
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE — The athletic director handed Kemp Carr a game ball after his Salem football team snapped a 13-game losing streak with his first win in the program two weeks ago. He promptly tossed it to a lineman in the huddle after the game proclaiming the unit as most deserving of the prize.
They tossed him another game ball after Thursday night’s 26-13 win over Schalick. This time, the coach left the stadium with the reward tucked securely under his arm, just like his ballcarriers had done throughout most of the game.
Truth be told, the game ball they gave him on this night was a painted and signed ball commemorating that initial win over Woodbury, but the sentiment it represented was the same.
“I don’t think they wanted something with somebody else’s name on it,” Carr said of holding onto this one. “Any time you get presented with something for a team, when the team does something, it’s always rewarding. But we’re not satisfied with this. I’d like that thing to have a championship on it.”
One step at a time. The Rams (2-3) used a dominant second half on both sides of the ball and pulled away from a halftime tie to take over second place in the tough WJFL Diamond Division.
After rushing for just 12 yards in a first half in which neither team generated much offense, the Rams committed to the run in the second half and their fortunes took off. They rushed for 177 yards after halftime and controlled the ball for more than 15 minutes.
Defensively, they held the Cougars to 92 yards of offense, 73 of which came on one big scoring play in spirited trade of touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
“The first half was rocky,” senior receiver Kaden Robinson said. “In the locker room we talked and in the second half we toughed it up. As Coach Carr would say the second half has to be better than the first. We have to finish and that’s what we did – we finished.”
Schalick coach Kevin Leamy had a simpler explanation for the difference.
“We didn’t play very well,” he said. “We didn’t play well in the second half, they played better. That’s what it comes down to.”
Rams quarterback Desmund Thomas, who only played four minutes in last week’s loss to Glassboro for reasons neither the player nor coach wanted to discuss, returned to the lineup and accounted for all four of their touchdowns. He had touchdown runs of 49 and 39 yards and threw a pair of touchdown passes to Robinson.
“It made me do a lot of thinking, a lot of mental reps,” Thomas said of his absence. “I was more confident. I believed in myself. I believed in our team. We did a lot of great things today.”
Thomas rushed for 96 of his 99 yards in the second half. The Rams also got 57 silky yards from 13-year-old freshman Cashmir Parsley.
The team that didn’t win a game at all last season moved into ‘good team’ territory Thursday when it answered Schalick quarterback Kenny Bartee’s 73-yard touchdown pass to David Stewart with a score on the ensuing possession.
Thomas threw a touchdown pass to Robinson between two defenders in the end zone, Schalick answered with Bartee’s strike to Stewart and then Thomas broke off his 39-yard run to give the Rams breathing room with 7:52 to play. All that scoring took place in about a minute and a half.
That’s the kind of thing good teams do, Carr said. The kind of thing they give game balls for.
“I can never forget 2012 (when he was Penns Grove’s head coach),” Carr said. “We hadn’t given up a point in eight weeks. Woodbury comes down and scores (in the South Jersey Group I finals). We go right down and score, get the ball and go down and score, get the ball and go down and score. I said at halftime that’s what good team do.
“Now you’ve probably knocked the fight out of them. That’s what you need to do. When teams score on you, you’ve got to answer the bell. At least flip the field. You’ve got to get something out of it. And that’s what good teams will do.”
Salem 26, Schalick 23
| SAL | SCH | |
| 13 | 1st Downs | 8 |
| 39-189 | Rushing | 32-117 |
| 11-17-0 | Passing | 2-9-1 |
| 162 | Passing yds | 76 |
| 1-1 | Fumbles-lost | 0-0 |
| 3-23.3 | Punts-avg | 5-28.6 |
| 9-80 | Penalties | 4-55 |
| Salem | 0 | 6 | 6 | 14- | 26 |
| Schalick | 6 | 0 | 0 | 7- | 13 |
SCORING SUMMARY
SC: David Stewart 16 run (kick failed), 8:05 1Q
SA: Kaden Robinson 24 pass from Desmund Thomas (kick failed), 6:03 2Q
SA: Desmund Thomas 49 run (pass failed), 8:39 3Q
SA: Kaden Robinson 18 pass from Desmund Thomas (kick failed), 9:26 4Q
SC: David Stewart 73 pass from Kenny Bartee (Hunter Dragotta kick), 9:05 4Q
SA: Desmund Thomas 39 run (Troy Carey run), 7:52 4Q
WJFL Standings
| DIAMOND | ALL | DIV |
| Glassboro | 4-0 | 2-0 |
| Salem | 2-3 | 2-1 |
| Schalick | 2-3 | 2-1 |
| Woodbury | 1-3 | 1-1 |
| Woodstown | 1-3 | 0-2 |
| Penns Grove | 0-4 | 0-2 |
| PATRIOT | ALL | DIV |
| West Deptford | 5-0 | 4-0 |
| Paulsboro | 5-0 | 4-0 |
| Overbrook | 3-2 | 1-2 |
| Pennsville | 1-3 | 1-2 |
| Collingswood | 2-2 | 1-2 |
| Camden Catholic | 0-4 | 0-2 |
| Audubon | 0-4 | 0-3 |
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Salem 26, Schalick 13
Paulsboro 26, Overbrook 16
West Deptford 29, Audubon 0
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Haddon Twp. at Collingswood
Camden Catholic at Pennsville
Penns Grove at Woodstown
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Glassboro at Woodbury
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