Cougars have fun

Dragotta kicks record FG, Schalick opens up in second half, beats Woodbury to snap losing streak, solidify playoff spot

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODBURY – Hunter Dragotta said when he set the Schalick career record for extra points back in September he was gunning for the school-record field goal next and it was “coming soon.”

It didn’t come as quickly as he had hoped, but he did get it – in Saturday’s final game of the regular season.

The senior booted a 43-yard field goal in the first quarter to open the scoring and help the Cougars beat Woodbury 24-12 to snap a four-game losing streak and solidify their spot in the South Jersey Group I football playoffs.

The old field goal record was 42 yards, set by Erick Wilson as their only points in a season-ending loss to Cumberland in 2007.

“I had my eye on this record since I was a freshman,” Dragotta said. “I was hoping it would happen this year (but) I started to lose faith. 

“I wasn’t having a great year with field goals; I just had troubles connecting with the ball. But this one, I had a bad day in warmups and went out there, wasn’t nervous, just lined up, remembered I was in practice, kind of changed my routine a little bit, took a deep breath and just connected with the ball.”

As much as he wanted this particular record, he didn’t realize he’d broken it until the PA announcer said It was a 43-yarder. 

Dragotta was just 1-of-3 on his field goal attempts this year coming into the game, but he hadn’t tried one since the third game. He’s now 10-of-16 on career field goals (and 90-of-100 on PATs).

His previous long before Saturday was 39 yards, this year against Somerville. He had a 42-yard attempt that would have tied the record hit the top of the left post his sophomore year against Audubon.

This one was true and produced the only points of the first half.

“We were like third-and-4 and Coach (Kevin) Leamy called out for ‘field goal ready,’” Dragotta said. “I went over, grabbed my block and I was ready. My teammates were like c’mon we’re going to make sure nobody gets through, we’ve got you, just put it through.’ The snap was there, the hold was down, I just kicked the ball. The O-line gave me a great chance to hit it cleanly.”

“I’m so happy for him,” Leamy said. “It’s one of those things you never know if you’re going to get the opportunity to actually attempt it. It was early in the game,. It was like fourth-and-8, so it was one of those things let’s give hit a shot, early on, 0-0, and he drilled it.”

The Herd took a 6-0 lead when quarterback Nico Jimenez broke two tackles and unloaded a 73-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Young. Jimenez was 21-of-34 for 303 yards passing and Young caught 10 passes for 199 yards.

But then Schalick scored 21 straight points to take control of the game.

The Cougars retook the lead on speedster David Stewart’s 45-yard pick-six with 8:28 left in the third then added another score in the fourth quarter on Kenny Bartee’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Sheehan after another Stewart interception. The Cougars had four picks in the game.

“Having him back adds an extra element that we’ve been missing offensively,” Leamy said of Bartee, who had been out in concussion protocol.

Celebrating was the order of the day and that’s exactly what Sheehan did after his score. He produced a rousing Sherrod Jones-style backflip, which, of course, drew the penalty, which Leamy really didn’t seem to mind.

“This week, Coach Leamy was like I want you guys to go out there and have fun,” Dragotta said. “And I want you guys to get a 15-yard celebration penalty, because we can afford it. We all went out there and all had a ball today.”

The Cougars went up 24-6 on Jase Volovar’s 9-yard touchdown run. It was the senior’s second career touchdown and first rushing. The Herd scored a touchdown against the Schalick twos for the final margin.

“This is exactly what we needed, a little bit of momentum going into the playoffs,” Leamy said. “Things are starting to come together. Some of the plays we were missing on earlier in the year we hit on today. The defense played phenomenal. It was really good.

“The first half we had a lot of chances, moved the ball really well between the 20s. We were moving the ball well, so we knew if we could put it together in the econd half that were going to have success. To the kids’ credit they did exactly that.”

The win allowed Schalick to jump Woodbury in the South Jersey Group I playoff standings despite finishing one spot behind the Thundering Herd in the UPR. That placed the Cougars sixth in the section, to play third-seeded Pennsville in the opening round. Woodbury became the seventh seed and will play second-seeded Paulsboro.

“We have a ton of momentum, especially coming off the Glassboro game,” Dragotta said. “The score doesn’t say it but we played great against (Glassboro) and they just kind of ran up the score at the end. We played great against them, we had very high morale and we carried it over with a win today, so we have a ton of momentum going into the playoffs.”

Schalick 24, Woodbury 12

Schalick (3-6)	3	0	14	7-	24
Woodbury (3-6)	0	0	6	6-	12

SCORING SUMMARY
S – Hunter Dragotta 43 FG
W – Elijah Young 73 pass from Nico Jimenez (kick failed)
S – David Stewart 45 interception return (Hunter Dragotta kick)
S – Dylan Sheehan 16 pass from Kenny Bartee (Hunter Dragotta kick)
S – Jase Volovar 9 run (Hunter Dragotta kick)
W – Mark Martin 8 pass from Nico Jimenez (pass failed)

Top photo: Schalick kicker Hunter Dragotta reacts after hitting a school-record field goal Saturday. (Photo by Heather Papiano)