After winning its first two games on the road, the Salem CC men’s basketball team has risen to No. 2 in the JUCO Division III poll
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT – Mike Green knew his Salem CC basketball team was going to be playing with a target on its back this season. Well, that target just got a lot bigger.
GREEN
After winning their first two games on this road last week, the Mighty Oaks have moved to No. 2 in the NJCAA Division III poll that was released Monday. It’s their highest ranking ever. They were No. 5 in the preseason poll.
The Mighty Oaks collected 98 poll points from the voters, seven ahead of No. 3 Riverland. Defending national champion Mohawk Valley (1-0) remains No. 1, picking up all nine first-place votes.
“It’s cool,” Green said. “That looks good for today and it looks good if anybody’s been following from what I’ve been saying at the beginning, when I really first got here, like you want to make it a powerhouse.
“Still got to give credit to that last year’s team. This team has that target on their back. It’s great publicity for Salem, great publicity for everybody involved, but it comes with a certain dedication and a certain swagger you gotta have about it.”
The Mighty Oaks’ first game as the No. 2 team in the country is their home opener Thursday, when they’ll raise the banner for their district championship and fifth-place finish at the national tournament.
“This is a proud moment for our college and community,” athletics director Bob Hughes said. “Being recognized nationally while honoring last year’s championships is a testament to the foundation we’re building here at Salem.”
The Mighty Oaks will see but not play No. 11 Sandhills CC at this weekend’s Penn Highlands Turkey Classic and have three other currently ranked teams on the schedule (Union, Northampton, Montgomery County).
“We’re hunted now,” Green said. “We’ll see how we deal with it.”
JUCO Division III Rankings
TEAM (REGION)
REC
PTS
PV
Mohawk Valley (3) (9 1st-place votes)
1-0
105
1
Salem CC (19)
2-0
98
5
Riverland (13)
2-0
91
7
Northern Essex (21)
4-1
84
8
Minnesota State C&T (13)
1-0
77
4
Dallas Richland (5)
1-3
70
3
Union (NJ) (19)
1-0
63
9
Duchess (15)
3-0
56
10
Herkimer (3)
0-1
49
2
Northampton (19)
3-0
42
12
Sandhills (10)
1-2
34
6
Dallas Mountain View (5)
3-1
23
13
Dallas North Lake (5)
3-0
13
NR
Joliet (4)
2-1
10
NR
Montgomery County (Pa.) (19)
0-0
5
15
Receiving votes: Bunker Hill, North Country, Owens, Hostos, Dallas Eastfield, Ridgewater.
Here is the Salem County sports schedule for the week of Nov. 10-16
TUESDAY, NOV. 11 BOYS SOCCER South Jersey Group I semifinals Palmyra at Haddon Twp. Audubon at Schalick, 2 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 12 GIRLS SOCCER South Jersey Group I semifinals Audubon at Schalick, 2 p.m. Woodstown at Haddon Twp.
THURSDAY, NOV. 13 COLLEGE BASKETBALL Bergen at Salem CC, 7 p.m.
FRIDAY, NOV. 14 FOOTBALL South Jersey Group I Championship Schalick at Glassboro, 6 p.m.
Central: Shore at Burlington City, 6 p.m. North II: Cedar Grove at New Providence, 6:30 p.m. North I: Kinnelon at Butler, 7 p.m. BOYS SOCCER South Jersey Group I Championship Palmyra-Haddon Twp. vs. Audubon-Schalick
SATURDAY, NOV. 15 GIRLS SOCCER South Jersey Group I Championship Audubon-Schalick vs. Woodstown-Haddon Twp. COLLEGE BASKETBALL Penn Highlands Turkey Classic Salem CC vs. Bryant Stratton, 5 p.m. Sandhills at Penn Highlands, 7:30 p.m.
SUNDAY, NOV. 16 COLLEGE BASKETBALL Penn Highlands Turkey Classic Salem CC at Penn Highlands, 3 p.m.
Salem CC wins second straight road game, preps for home opener and banner raising Thursday
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
MEDIA, Pa. – Good teams defend their floor. Great teams win on the road.
The Salem CC basketball team is starting the season proving to be winning road warriors. The Mighty Oaks won their second straight road game to open the season Saturday, 86-58 at Delaware County CC.
A year ago, during their run to the national tournament, the Mighty Oaks were 9-5 on the road – and avenged all five of the losses. This year, they’re 2-0 away from DuPont Fieldhouse.
“Winning on the road is not easy,” Mighty Oaks coach Mike Green said. “I feel like playing on the road and you win, it’s like one and a half wins. They’re big deals, man, because normally most teams protect their home court. You steal a couple on the road, now you’re looking at another 20-win season.
“We’re 2-0 on the road; big time, man. Hopefully when we get home these guys are ready to explode, three-point barrage when we get home.”
The next time the Mighty Oaks are home something special will be happening. They play their home opener Thursday against Bergen and before the game officials will raise the banner commemorating their district championship and fifth-place finish at the national tournament.
“It’s definitely a highlight, it’s a big deal,” Green said. “It’ll be there forever. I’ll be gone 100 years from now and that’s still going to be up there. It is a big deal.”
As for their current state of affairs, the Mighty Oaks were a little choppy in the first half against Delco’s zone, but after they hit a few shots early in the second half the Phantoms switched to a man and it played right into Salem’s hands.
They ended up putting four scorers in double figures. Nasseem Wright led the way with 24 points and seven rebounds; he had 15 points in the second half. Zyaire Gibson hit four 3-pointers and finished with 17 points. Saaid Lee hit a couple shots behind the arc and had 11 points and five assists. Jarrell Little had 12 points.
“Another tough one on the road,” Green said.
SALEM CC 86, DELAWARE COUNTY 58 SALEM CC (2-0) – Nasseem Wright 10-14 4-9 24, Zyaire Gibson 6-13 1-1 17, Jarrell Little 5-11 0-0 12, Saaid Lee 4-5 1-2 11, Idris Rines 1-8 3-4 5, Stefan Phillips 2-5 1-2 5, Qua Smith 2-3 0-0 4, Lenar Anderson 1-3 2-4 4, Jaiayre Wright 2-2 0-2 4. Totals 33 12-24 86. DELAWARE COUNTY (0-1) – Stephen Rosemin 4 2-5 12, Jabree Martin 3 10-12 17, Asher Mansor 1 0-0 2, Villacorte 3 1-4 7, Andre West 0 0-0 0, Joey Pell 1 2-3 4, Omar Warring 7 2-5 19, Frank Pewa 0 0-1 0. Totals 19 17-30 58.
Salem CC
40
46-
86
Delaware County
22
36-
58
3-point goals: Salem 8-25 (N. Wright 0-1, Gibson 4-10, Little 2-7, Lee 2-2, Rines 0-1, Phillips 0-2, Anderson 0-2); Delco 3 (Rosemin 2, Martin). Rebounds: Salem 35 (N. Wright 7, J. Wright 6, Phillips 5, Smith 5). Fouled out: Little, Anderson, Gibson, Mansor. Total fouls: Salem 27, Delco 16.
Woodstown boys place third as a team, Marino siblings post top 10 finishes in their respective races to qualify for Meet of Champions; further research indicates best finish ever
NJSIAA Group I XC Championship
BOYS TEAM: Glassboro 70, Metuchen 109, Woodstown 140, Indian Hills 160, Dayton 195, Haddon Twp. 201, Manville 221, Shore 239, Mountain Lakes 264, McNair 280, New Milford 299, Secaucus 305, Park Ridge/Emerson 306, Bogota 323, Kinnelon 331, Audubon 357, Highland Park 382, Rutherford 413, Verona 415, Schalick 514.
GIRLS TEAM: Shore 45, Metuchen 76, Bogota 110, Audubon 116, Mountain Lakes 142, New Providence 179, Rutherford 253, Haddon Twp. 260, North Warren 270, Hanover Park 286, McNair 337, Hasbrouck Heights 342, Maple Shade 358, Newton 364, Pequannock 370, Dayton 392, Woodstown 393, Saddle Brook 402, South Hunterdon 480, Schalick 490.
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
HOLMDEL – Steve New doesn’t mind digging deep when it comes to chasing cross country history. Some might find it painstaking and tedious, but he’s digging because he thinks he’s going to find treasure.
That’s the reason the Woodstown cross country coach will be happily diving into the history of the state cross country championship today looking to find the last time the Wolverines did as well as they showed Saturday at Holmel Park.
The Wolverines came in third at the Group I boys meet, and that’s as good as New can ever remember. They scored 140 points, pulling behind team champion Glassboro and runner-up Metuchen and solidly ahead of fourth-place Indian Hills. All five of their counters placed in the top 50 among runners competing on teams.
“In all honesty I would have loved to have gotten second; you can actually come home with a pretty cool trophy,” New said. “But I can’t complain. They got up on the podium, they got to get up on the stage, they got recognized for a third-place finish.
“I’ve never seen that in my years coaching here, and I’ve looked back a decent amount and I’ve never seen anything like that. I was pumped by it. I couldn’t have been more pleased with how they ran. Everyone ran tough. That made that two-hour school bus ride well worth it.”
(Upon a deep dive into the records Sunday morning, New discovered this was indeed the Wolverines’ best finish ever. He went all the way back to 1919 and they had never finished higher than 11th (last year) before.)
One of the keys to their high finish was the showing of Torsten Duva and Jackson Perry. Normally fifth and sixth finishers, they were the Wolverines’ fourth and fifth runners across the line on this day. Jake Marino, Karson Chew and David Farrell were their first three.
“Third place doesn’t move us on to MOC as a team but it’s a really good place for us and I’m happy with how everyone did,” Chew said. “We all finished close to each other and all around did everything we needed to do to have a great states.”
The Wolverines grabbed another piece of history that was even harder to find. Siblings Jake and Abby Marino both scored top 10 finishes in their respective races to qualify for the Meet of Champions. Jake was ninth in the boys race (17:15.87) and Abby was tenth in the girls race (20:45.22). The top 10 go.
With the help of AI, Jake learned they are only the second brother-sister combination since 1986 to qualify for MOC in the same year. Chris and Cate DeSousa, running for Christian Brothers and Red Bank Catholic, respectively, in 2019 are the only others to do. There have been seven sets of siblings since 1986 making it in the same year, but they’ve all been sisters or brothers.
“It’s crazy to think about,” Jake said. “To be able to have the opportunity to be able to compete at states together, but to not only capitalize on that and cement ourselves as one of two brother-sister duos going to the Meet of Champions the same year – and the only ones to go to the same school – is phenomenal. It’s something I will never forget.”
BOYS TOP 10
GIRLS TOP 10
Jayran Rodriguez, Manville
16:35.39
Alexandra Klein, Shore
18:54.88
Joseph Saicic, Glassboro
16:50.42
Ella Andersen, Metuchen
19:13.97
Frank Coppa, Indian Hills
16:51.42
Riley Fayer, Audubon
19:16.47
Michaelangelo Lepore, Mt. Lakes
17:00.82
Violet Page, Mt. Lakes
19:46.66
Zacchaeus Harrigan, Glassboro
17:04.27
Grace Montanari, Shore
20:27.61
Elliott Reines, Dayton
17:07.15
Micah Dalello, Sussex Tech
20:34.58
Jaeden Wesley, Glassboro
17:11.57
Erin Dushinka, DelVal
20:37.59
Maddox Paulin, Shore
17:37.27
Taylor Zaneto, Metuchen
20:39.79
Jacob Marino, Woodstown
17:15.87
Milla Scalise, Shore
20:42.63
Kai Englert, Metuchen
17:20.90
Abby Marino, Woodstown
20:45.22
LOCAL BOYS COUNTERS (Number in parentheses is overall place) WOODSTOWN: 9. Jacob Marino (9) 17:15.87, 18. Karson Chew (18) 17:46.75, 27. David Farrell (30) 18:13.11, 28. Torsten Duva (43) 18:30.15, 39. Jackson Perry (53) 18:42.55. SCHALICK: 76. Collin Bittle (84) 19:28.66, 82. Salvatore Longo (90) 19:39.22, 112. Joshua Weiner (120) 20:59.41, 119. Mason Cain (127) 21:43.83, 125. Chase Riley (133) 22:12.31.
LOCAL GIRLS COUNTERS (Number in parenthesis is overall place) WOODSTOWN: 8. Abby Marino (10) 20:45.22, 50. Anabel Schaal (60) 23:37.64, 99. Arianna Mott (115) 26:19.04, 113. Lucianna Mannella (129) 27:13.15, 123. Alice Bowser (139) 29:37.37. SCHALICK: 42. Helen Lillia (50) 23:10.65, 97. Emma Cain (113) 26:17.01, 115. Emma Wilbur (131) 27:33.37, 117. Sarah Torpey (133) 27:47.21, 119. Ava Melnick (135) 28:48.01. PENNSVILLE: IND. Sawyer Slad (68) 24:04.77.
Woodstown, top-seeded Schalick pick up quarterfinal wins in SJ Group I girls bracket, remain on collision course for sectional final
GIRLS SOCCER SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT Saturday’s Quarterfinals Schalick 2, Glassboro 0 Audubon 2, Palmyra 0 Haddon Twp. 6, Clayton 0 Woodstown 4, Gateway 3 Wednesday’s Semifinals (5) Audubon at (1) Schalick (7) Woodstown at (6) Haddon Twp.
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
WOODBURY HEIGHTS – Kieran Keyser has been around the game of soccer a long time as a player and a coach, so when he tells you his Woodstown team’s South Jersey Group I playoff game against Gateway was one of the most exciting he’s been involved with you can just about take it to the bank.
The teams went back and forth for 80 minutes Saturday trading goal for goal before Emma Morgan fired back a rebound with less than four minutes left to stun the second-seeded Gators 4-3 win and send the Wolverines into the semifinals for the first time since 2019.
It was the Gators’ first loss since the season opener and snapped their 16-game winning streak.
“It was one of the most exciting games I’ve been a part of as a player or a coach,” Keyser said. “It was about as back-and-forth as you could have it.
“It was stressful, I will say. I talked to a couple of the parents at the game and they said I did not need that stress. I said I did not either. I am 31 years old and that was the most stressful thing … It put some gray hairs on my head, for sure.”
Gateway scored first midway through the first half – its only lead – but Morgan tied it with her first goal on a “textbook play” with Emma Perry and freshman Hailey Kucharczuk put Woodstown up 2-1 at halftime. The Gators tied it early in the second half, Perry gave the Wolverines a 3-2 lead, but Gateway retied it less than two minutes later.
“They just kept coming back on every goal we got,” Morgan said. “It was like every goal we got near the end we were like this is the one (that ends it), like we’re going to park the bus now, we’re going to settle down and just play defensive and then they’d get another one and then we’d have to fight again. It was almost like we really thought we were going to have to go into overtime because they’d answer every goal.”
She saw to it they didn’t. Delia Hahn sent a free kick into the box, Kucharczuk headed it off the crossbar and Morgan beat the defender to the rebound to finish it into an open goal. It was her ninth goal of the season and first multi-goal game of her career.
“I was happy how our girls responded,” Keyser said. “We rose to the competition. We didn’t play super good against Pennsville, but we got the job done. I mean, that’s what the playoffs are all about. We rose to how good (Gateway) were and we pulled out the win. I was so proud of how our girls stepped up. We left everything out on the field today.”
The seventh-seeded Wolverines (15-3-1) now travel to sixth-seeded Haddon Twp. (10-9-1) Wednesday for the semifinals. They are the highest seeded team remaining in the bracket.
SCHALICK 2, GLASSBORO 0: The corner kick combination of Quinn Berger and Emily Miller struck again, this time connecting on a pair of first-half goals to send the top-seeded Cougars to the sectional semifinals.
It’s the fifth time in the last two games the two have teamed up to light the lamp. Berger now has 18 assists this season, 38 in her career and is now two shy of 100 points for her career.
“It’s just a connection, especially on corner kicks,” Schalick coach Will Kemp said. “Emily Miller is very good in the air, so she’s constantly finding the ball, and Quinn’s service is second to none.”
The Cougars (13-5-1) now host fifth-seeded Audubon (11-8-1) in the semifinals Wednesday.
The score wasn’t a true indicator of how much the Cougars dominated their tournament opener. They outshot the Bulldogs 21-0.
“The results are the results, it’s the way the game goes sometimes,” Kemp said. “One of the things Glassboro did well was their goalkeeper performed extremely well again. She made some really good saves.”
Schalick scores in the closing minutes to outlast a courageous Paulsboro effort that, in the end, just ran out of time
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
PAULSBORO – Kevin Leamy admitted he really didn’t know what to expect from the team that was lined up on the other side of the field. The Schalick coach practiced his team all week like they were playing a Paulsboro team at full strength, but truthfully when you’ve facing a team that’s lost almost half the roster and potentially 12 starting positions it’s anybody’s guess what the product will be on game day.
And Paulsboro gave a courageous effort in Saturday’s South Jersey Group I semifinal for the hand it was dealt, missing 16 players suspended after last week’s altercation with Woodbury and losing their lead running to an ankle injury early in the game, but in the end Schalick was able to make adjustments on the fly and pulled out a 35-28 victory to reach the sectional final – against Glassboro – for the third straight year.
“I give (Coach Kevin) Harvey and that Paulsboro group a lot of credit,” Leamy said. “When something happens, like all those kids being suspended, it’s easy to throw in the towel and not give your best effort ,but they came out and played (hard).
“They caught us off guard a little bit in the first half. We didn’t know what to game plan for, we didn’t know what they were going to go do. We didn’t know who was going to play quarterback. They came out in that Wildcat and had us outnumbered at the point of attack a couple times and it took us a while to make an adjustment, but in the second half we made adjustments and was able to shut it down.
“(His team has) built a lot of resiliency this year. They trust that we’re going to have an answer and when push comes to shove we’re going to put them in a position to win. I think they knew we were going to make an adjustment (and) they knew the adjustment was going to work, it just took us a little longer to make that adjustment.”
Six starters were among the 16 players suspended because of the fourth-quarter fight with Woodbury, including starting quarterback Malakhai McKenzie and several all-conference linemen. The Red Raiders took another hit during the game when running back Kyaire Harvey was carried from the field with an ankle injury after a 14-yard gain on the team’s second offensive snap.
That increased the burden of production on Jahsir Johnson, Jeremiah Carr and Zay Mears. Johnson played quarterback when the Red Raiders weren’t running the Wildcat. Carr scored three touchdowns, including the tying score early in the fourth quarter. And Mears had an 80-yard touchdown run after an interception in the end zone to give the Red Raiders a 14-7 lead.
The Cougars said Paulsboro’s personnel problems didn’t affect them during the practice week. They went about their business preparing as if the Red Raiders were going to have everyone available.
“We were ready to play their full roster, the team we played three weeks ago, and we practiced like it all week,” backup quarterback and linebacker Gary Simonini said. “It prepared us for what we did today.”
Schalick quarterback Kenny Bartee scored the game-winning touchdown on a 1-yard run with 2:04 to play. It capped a 14-yard drive made short when the Red Raiders interfered with Dylan Sheehan’s fair catch of a punt inside the Paulsboro 30.
Bartee also ran for another touchdown and threw a pair of second-quarter touchdown passes to Ayden Jenkins.
Ayden Jenkins caught two touchdown passes from the slot during Schalick’s 21-point second quarter.
The Red Raiders got the last shot to win it after Bartee’s go-ahead touchdown, but they had to go 67 yards and they most assuredly would have gone for two had they scored. And they went down fighting. They had driven deep into Schalick territory, stopping the clock on occasion with a couple strategic spikes.
The final spike came with 15 seconds to play and the ball at the 23. On what proved to be the final play of the game, Johnson took off towards the Schalick sideline where he was met head on by Sheehan.
Their collision came with about six seconds left and although it ended with Johnson physically out of bounds after contact, the clock kept running and ultimately expired with Paulsboro’s coaches on the field pleading they should have more time. The explanation given was Johnson was knocked sideways by the contact, his forward progress stopped in bounds and it didn’t matter if he ran out, the clock kept moving and it ran out.
“It was just me and him,” Sheehan said. “It was isolated. He had a choice to either run out of bounds or stay in. He decided to try to head-fake me, basically. I knew I could bait him to try it. That was my objective. It worked. He actually sent me out of bounds. He had to make a choice and he chose wrong.”
The season ended for the Red Raiders on the Schalick 17.
“That’s wrong, man,” Paulsboro coach Kevin Harvey said. “We played our ass off today, man. It’s wrong. It’s wrong to give it to them like that. For it to come down to that, something like that. We had our chances, but I’ve never heard of that call.”
“I think it was the right call,” Leamy said.
As for the interference on the punt, Sheehan said he always knew he was going to signal a fair catch.
“As soon as I saw the ball up high and short I threw the fair catch (sign) early because I knew it and their guy made a mistake and hit me,” he said.
Schalick’s Dylan Sheehan (15) tries to keep Paulsboro’s Jeremiah Carr from gaining any more yardage. Sheehan made several big defensive plays for the Cougars during the game.
The penalty took the ball inside the 15 where the Cougars set off in their heavy package daring the Red Raiders to stop it. Not even a penalty to push them back near the 10 was going to deny the quarterback.
“The last drive with the game on the line, in my head I’m thinking win or go home and we’re not ready to go home yet,” Bartee said. “We made it our goal to get to the sectional championship; that was our goal and we plan on winning it.
“On that last drive I’m just thinking let’s win. Even if I have to go 100 carries, 100 yards, this is for my boys. We’re winning this game.”
Paulsboro tied the game at 28 on Johnson’s 39-yard pass to Carr with 10:41 left in the fourth quarter. But the Red Raiders were penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct on the touchdown, which brought the most brilliant coaching decision of the game.
Knowing the Red Raiders didn’t have reliable kicker, Leamy had the penalty assessed on the point after try instead of the kickoff. Now Paulsboro needed to go 18 yards to get the go-ahead points instead of 3 and Sheehan batted away the pass they had to throw keeping the game tied.
“That really helped us,” Leamy said. “I give (assistant coaches) Doug (Volovar) and Henry (Papiano) credit for that.”
“Ultimately Kevin made the decision, I just offered a suggestion; that’s what assistant coaches do,” Volovar said. “Thought the decision was simple. Would have been a terrible way to lose if we took the yardage on the kickoff, they converted (the try) and we lost by 2.”
Top photo: Schalick quarterback Kenny Bartee celebrates with lineman Noah Bermudez. (All photos by Heather Papiano)
Schalick 35, Paulsboro 28
SCH
PAUL
15
1st Downs
12
28-180
Rushing
38-258
10-18-1
Passing
6-11-1
112
Passing yds
74
1-1
Fum-lost
1-1
4-44.0
Punts-avg
4-22.0
9-75
Penalties
5-36
Schalick
7
21
0
7-
35
Paulsboro
8
14
0
6-
28
SCORING SUMMARY S-Kenny Bartee 6 run (Hunter Dragotta kick), 8:06 1Q P-Jeremiah Carr 9 run (May Mears run), 4:46 1Q P-Zay Mears 80 run (run failed), 10:44 2Q S-Gary Simonini 2 run (Hunter Dragotta kick), 7:03 2Q S-Ayden Jenkins 25 pass from Kenny Bartee (Hunter Dragotta kick), 5:33 2Q S-Ayden Jenkins 24 pass from Kenny Bartee (Hunter Dragotta kick), 2:10 2Q P-Jeremiah Carr 3 run (Jeremiah Carr run), 0:20 2Q P-Jeremiah Carr 41 pass from Jahsir Johnson (pass failed), 10:41 4Q S-Kenny Bartee 1 run (Hunter Dragotta kick), 2:04 4Q
William Johnson (60) and DezYon Purnell (2) lead Schalick off the field after the Cougars completed their 35-28 win over Paulsboro.
Salem wanted another bite at the apple after losing to Glassboro in the regular season, gave top-seeded Bulldogs a battle for three quarters
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I PLAYOFFS Semifinals Glassboro 35, Salem 0 Schalick at Paulsboro, Saturday, noon
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
GLASSBORO — Abdullah Jenkins carried the sentiment of every Salem player on the field on the plate of his back pad.
“Shock the world” he had written in bold black letters. It was a message the senior lineman had been carrying all season but it was particularly poignant Friday night.
The Rams came into their South Jersey Group I semifinal heavy underdogs to top-seeded Glassboro, but they believed more than ever they could win.
They almost pulled it off, too, holding their hosts to two touchdowns through the first three quarters before the Bulldogs did what they invariably do to everyone. They scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to turn a tight game into a 35-0 victory.
“We had our shots,” Salem coach Kemp Carr said. “We had our shots early, didn’t take advantage of it. When you’ve got your shots against a good team you have to cash in and we didn’t cash the check.
“We turned them over early. We had ‘em. We put a lot of fear in that team, I guarantee that.”
Abdullah Jenkins’ back plate says it all. (Photo by Kaitlyn Khairzada)
The Rams (6-5) were all over their hosts in the first half. They held the Bulldogs to less than 100 yards of offense in the half and a lot of that came on a 38-yard touchdown pass to Mekhi Parker on the last play of the first quarter.
It was the only offensive touchdown Glassboro scored until the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs’ other touchdown came on a 50-yard interception return by Parker. Beyond that, they got nothing in the half.
The Rams say they didn’t do anything different schematically than they did in their 42-0 loss in September that was over at halftime. They just got better as the season progressed.
“Earlier in the season we didn’t know what heart we had,” senior edge rusher Antwuan Rogers said. “But throughout the season we worked … and we gave it all out there today. We played harder.
“We had them. They were worried. We couldn’t get it done.”
The Rams kept them out of the end zone in the third quarter, too, despite the Bulldogs having the ball for all but six plays in the quarter. Still, they started to wear the Rams down before finally erupting in the fourth quarter. Glassboro rushed for 221 yards in the second half after being held to 12 in the first.
The game followed a recent pattern for the Bulldogs. Each of their previous three games were tight at halftime and into the third quarter before the Bulldogs turned it into a rout in the fourth.
Bulldogs coach Timmy Breaker said it wasn’t the way Salem was stifling his team that was frustrating, but rather all the penalties that kept it from moving forward. The Bulldogs were flagged for 155 yards in penalties, 90 in the third quarter alone. There were 30 accepted penalties for 263 yards in mark-offs between the two teams.
“It was more the mistakes on our side,” Breaker said. “Penalty after penalty. We’re starting first-and-twentysomething, so the playbook condenses at that point. We had some decisions in there that could’ve been made that would change the first half, but even when we made a big play, run after run, we’re back another 15.
“The third quarter would have been an explosive quarter (if not for the penalties). That changes the entire landscape of how you call it. We were getting what we wanted to get, but we couldn’t sustain the drive penalty-wise. It was something we had to clean up.”
They did in the fourth quarter. Amari Sabb rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns in just the quarter for the Bulldogs. He finished with 130 yards on 12 carries.
One has to wonder how things might have turned out had the Rams scored on their opening possession. A fumble recovery created by another Rogers sack set them up at the Glassboro 40. They got all the way down to the 12 when two sacks and two penalties derailed the drive and they had to punt from just about where they started.
“For two years we haven’t scored on Glassboro, so I felt like if we would’ve scored then their momentum would have gone down seeing that we were a different team,” Jenkins said. “We just couldn’t replicate practice to the field.”
“If we put up any points, their whole momentum goes, we win,” said Rogers.
The Bulldogs (11-0) will now host the winner of Saturday’s Schalick-Paulsboro game in next week’s sectional final. Schalick is expected to be a heavy favorite in its semifinal with Paulsboro having suspended 16 players, including at least six starters (and in Group 1 that’s typically 12 positions), for their part in a fourth-quarter brawl last week with Woodbury.
In a sense, the Rams did shock the world this season. They turned an 0-9 first year under Carr into a winning second campaign that included their first playoff win since 2022. And they anticipate even better things going forward.
“From going 0-9 last year to 5-4 and the second round of the playoffs, it’s definitely a jump,” Jenkins said. “I feel next year the championship is ours. We’re going to shock the world again.”
Glassboro 35, Salem 0
SALEM
GLASS
7
1st Downs
15
25-33
Rushing
29-233
3-16-1
Passing
7-15-0
47
Passing yds
82
2-1
Fumbles-lost
3-1
7-25.9
Punts-avg
2-19.5
12-108
Penalties
18-155
Salem
0
0
0
0-
0
Glassboro
7
7
0
21-
35
SCORING SUMMARY G-Mekhi Parker 38 pass from Jack O’Connell (Sal Esgro kick), 0:07 1Q G-Mekhi Parker 50 interception return (Sal Esgro kick), 3:36 2Q G-Amari Sabb 5 run (Amari Sabb run), 6:52 4Q G-Amari Sabb 10 run (run failed), 4:10 4Q G-Davon Barr 6 run (Sal Esgro kick), 2:50 4Q
GROUP I PLAYOFFS NORTH I Butler 49, New Milford 13 Kinnelon 37, Kittatinny 7 NORTH II Cedar Grove 22, Mountain Lakes 15 New Providence 28, Hasbrouck Heights 21 SOUTH Glassboro 35, Salem 0 Schalick at Paulsboro, Saturday CENTRAL Burlington City 52, Manville 14 Shore 30, Pt. Pleasant Beach 6
Cougars take an emotional win over Penns Grove in SJ Group I boys soccer tournament; Pennsville blanked by top seed Haddon Twp.
SJ GROUP 1 BOYS SOCCER
FRIDAY’S QUARTERFINALS
TUESDAY’S SEMIFINALS
Haddon Twp. 6, Pennsville 0
Palmyra at Haddon Twp.
Palmyra 1, Pitman 0
Audubon at Schalick
Audubon 5, Riverside 2
Schalick 4, Penns Grove 0
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE — Schalick scored three goals in the second half after a dust-up right before intermission and handled Penns Grove 4-0 in the South Jersey Group I boys soccer quarterfinals.
In a game between two county and division rivals, tempers flared along the far sideline just as the first half ended. There was some discussion of ending the game right there with Schalick leading 1-0, but it was agreed the game would continue if the principal protagonists, Schalick’s Anthony Sepers and Penns Grove’s Michael Schultz, did not play in the second half and no further incidents would be tolerated. There were no red card ejections.
Schalick coach Joe Mannella declined to comment on the incident and Penns Grove’s Mano Massari said he was preoccupied with getting a sub into the game at the time and didn’t have a good enough vantage point of the scuffle to comment.
Officials, coaches and administrators huddled at midfield during the entire halftime before making their decision to continue.
The second-seeded Cougars were on their Ps and Qs after that so not to jeopardize their playoff hopes. Playing for their ousted teammate, they scored three times in the second half.
“It definitely fired us up,” Mike Nelson said.
“We wanted to do it for our teammate,” Jaxon Weber said.
Marco Spinnato told Sepers after the incident he was going to score a goal in the second half and he scored the first of his two five minutes into the period to give the Cougars some breathing room. He had a third goal waved off for offsides. Nelson got the other goal in the half, deflecting a long free kick from Weber inside the left post.
“I think that motivated us and pushed us to win this game,” Spinnato said. “It helped us because we knew if we made one mistake we were out of there.
“Our coaches, Jaxon, our captains, all told us we have to stay through the game plan and we have to keep motivated, we can’t let one thing get to us because if we let it get to us we’re jeopardizing our playoff run.”
“Momentum is a real thing,” Massari said. “They did nice job of putting the ball in the back of the net and staying in control. Good team over there.”
Nolan O’Toole banged home a rebound for the first goal of the match midway through the first half.
In terms of what took place between the lines, the Cougars (15-3-2) controlled the action on both sides of the ball. They created numerous chances on offense and when the Red Devils (9-6-3) appeared to mount an attack their defense was there to collect the ball and move it out of harm’s way. Goalie Evan Sepers had three saves.
“Defensively we continue to play really strong; we know that’s the key to winning in the playoffs, keeping the ball out of your net,” Mannella said. “They continue to do that and they were excellent today.”
The Cougars now host third-seeded Audubon in Tuesday’s semifinals.
Pennsville coach Derek Foglein. (Photo by Brian Tortella)
HADDON TWP. 6, PENNSVILLE 0: The top-seeded Hawks scored three goals in the first eight mights of the second half to open a comfortable margin and finished it off before the 20-minute mark to end Pennsville’s historic season and reach the sectional semifinals.
Sophomore Brody Beals scored his first career hat trick and Bobby McIlvaine scored twice to lead the victory. Danny McIlvaine scored the other goal.
Beals and Bobby McIlvaine scored in the first half to give the Hawks (14-5-1) a 2-0 lead. Beals opened the scoring in the second half and the McIlvaines scored a minute apart to make it 5-0.
“We ran into one of the best Group 1 teams in the state and they were on form,” Foglein said. “We battled with them for the first half, but then in the second half every shot they had was perfect.
“I know it’s crazy to praise my keeper in that scoreline, but Coen (Rinnier) was fantastic. He made some unbelievable stops in the first half. When it got to the second half, it wouldn’t have mattered who the goalie was.”
The Eagles (11-7-2) checked off a lot of boxes during the season. They enjoyed their winningest season since 2017, won their first division title in 32 years and won their first playoff game since 2014 in the opening round.
“It leaves a sour taste tonight, but tomorrow we’ll wake up and remember that we had a historic season,” Foglein said. “That’s what I reminded the guys on the bus.”
Little, Lee, Rines spark second-half surge that sends No. 5 Salem CC to opening-night win over Atlantic Cape
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
MAYS LANDING – As the reigning fifth-place and preseason fifth-ranked team in the country, Salem CC basketball coach Mike Green knows his team has a target somewhat unfairly on its back this season and will get the best effort from every opponent every game.
The Mighty Oaks, with virtually an entire new team from the one that finished fifth at the nationals a year ago (which makes the target reference unfair), got the best Atlantic Cape had to offer in their season opener Thursday night and they didn’t handle it very well early. One of the players called it the worst half of basketball they’ve played.
But they found the difference between being the high schoolers many of them were at this time last year and the college game during the break, came out a different team in the second half and sank the Buccaneers 80-73.
“We have a lot of freshmen,” said one of them, forward Idris Rines. “We have one returning guy from last year (Stefan Phillips), so that was like our first big test. I think we adjusted well in the second half. We were mentally still in high school (in the first half), but in the second half we were ready for the comeback. We prepared, we stayed together, fought adversity and trusted each other.”
The Mighty Oaks trailed by as many as 12 in the first half and by nine at halftime in large part because they were terribly out rebounded. The Buccaneers had more offensive rebounds (14) than Salem had boards (12) and scored 11 second-chance points off them.
Nasseem Wright and Zyaire Gibson kept them in the half. Wright had 11 points and five rebounds, while Gibson hit three 3-pointers. Wright finished with 15 points, eight boards and eight blocks.
Luckily, the Mighty Oaks were hitting their free throws. They were 14-of-16 from the line in the first half, 28-of-32 in the game. They were 69.9 percent foul shooters as a team last year.
“We struggled with it through the whole jamborees and exhibitions,” Green said. “It’s good to see the work we put in in practice is worth something.”
Their second-half surge was led by Rines, leading scorer Saaid Lee and Jarrell Little. Lee and Little combined for 29 points in the half. Rines scored nine points in the half, including two huge 3-pointers during the comeback.
They also closed the rebounding gap. They were still outrebounded in the half 20-17, but they gave up only five second-chance points.
“We just had to adjust to the game and be more physical with them,” Lee said. “They started off punching us in our face so we had to punch them right back and be physical.”
Little scored all 14 of his points in the final 20 minutes after being held scoreless in the first half. Green getting on him during the break provided the proper incentive.
“Mentally I was out of it,” he said. “This is my first game out of high school so I was struggling at the beginning but I just let the game come to me. I wasn’t ready for the physicality. In high school I used to get fouled a lot, but our here it’s more like a grown men’s game. Every game you’ve gotta play hard.”
At 6-6 one might think Rines would be more comfortable inside than out, but the 3-ball is a big part of his game and Green actually encourages to shoot. He was 2-of-6 behind the arc and also had five rebounds and three blocks.
“My high school coach, Coach (Derek) Brooks, my tenth-grade year (at Upper Dublin), he stepped in – it was his first year – and he really worked with me and my 3-pointers,” Rines said. “I was always a talented 3-point shooter growing up, but once I got into high school I really developed it. I hit over 50 3s my senior year.
“I always have confidence in my 3s, but I think teams probably don’t think so and people think I’m probably an inside post. That’s like a big advantage. People just go in the corner and are like oh he can’t shoot and we just light ‘em up from 3.”
After trailing virtually the whole game, the Mighty Oaks finally got it tied at 53 on a pair of Wright free throws with 11:17 to play. Little gave them their first lead since 2-0 on a layup with 9:48 left.
The teams either traded the lead or had it tied nine times over the next six minutes until Lee gave the Mighty Oaks the lead for good with 3:30 to play. on a layup with 3:01 left. The Buccaneers never got closer than four the rest of the way.
“I recruit toughness, high character kids,” Green said. “They got down and I challenged them at halftime and they responded.
“They’re really high school kids so they’re used to getting on somebody lesser and just taking the ball from them. You’re not going to do that at this level. I think they got the message at halftime and they adapted.”
Salem CC 80, Atlantic Cape 73
SALEM CC (1-0) – Saaid Lee 6 7-8 19, Jarrell Little 5 4-4 14, Nasseem Wright 4 7-8 15, Stefan Phillips 0 2-2 2, Zyaire Gibson 3 0-0 9, Quadeair Smith 0 1-2 1, Lenar Anderson 2 0-0 5, Idris Rines 3 5-6 13, Jaiayre Wright 0 2-2 2. Totals 23-56 28-32 80. ATLANTIC CAPE (0-1) – John Andalora 1 0-0 2, Quinn Baumann 1 0-0 2, Jaleel Clark 0 0-0 0, Amin Hines 2 4-7 8, Rashad Jalloh 2 0-0 4, Sahmir Jones 1 0-0 2, Olyn Knox 5 6-6 16, Jayden Lopez 0 0-0 0, Justin Moore 1 0-0 2, Carlos Rodriguez 8 4-6 24, Logan Sparks 4 3-7 11, Corey Thomas 1 0-0 2. Totals 26 17-26 73
Salem CC
36
44-
80
Atlantic Cape
45
28-
73
3-point goals: Salem CC 6-20 (Little 0-2, Gibson 3-7, Anderson 1-1, Rines 2-6, Phillips 0-3, Smith 0-1); Atlantic Cape 4 (Rodriguez 4). Fouled out: Jones. Total fouls: Salem CC 19, Atlantic Cape 25.
Virga’s milestone goal gives Cougars a lead in SJ Group I field hockey quarterfinal, but Haddon Twp. scores twice in second half to win; game-winner comes in final four minutes
SJ GROUP I TOURNAMENT Thursday’s quarterfinals Shore 2, Haddon Heights 0 Gloucester 7, South Hunterdon 2 Haddon Twp. 2, Schalick 1 West Deptford 12, Gateway 0 Monday’s semifinals Gloucester at Shore Haddon Twp. at West Deptford, 2 p.m.
By Riverview Sports News
WESTMONT – Luci Virga scored a milestone goal in the second quarter and it looked like Schalick was on its way to a spot in the South Jersey Group 1 field hockey semifinals. All the Cougars had to do was hold off Haddon Twp. for two more quarters.
But the Hawks pushed home a pair of goals in the second half, including Emory Shaw’s game-winner with less than four minutes to play to dash the Cougars’ hopes, 2-1.
Third-seeded Haddon Twp. (14-6) now plays West Deptford Monday in the sectional semifinal.
Virga, a junior, gave the Cougars (14-7) a 1-0 lead with her 50th career goal. Sofia Nagel got the equalizer in the third quarter and then Shaw got the game-winner, tipping in a shot from Kenzi Ricci off a corner with 3:56 left in regulation.
“They had way more corners than we did throughout the whole game,” Schalick coach Heather Cheesman said. “I honestly think the second half we were dominating. We were at our offensive goal most of the time and they just had that one breakway.”
Brian Tortella contributed to this report.Photo credit: Brian Tortella
Riverview Sports News 