Controversial touchdown, two-point conversion in closing seconds cap Schalick’s fourth-quarter comeback against Salem
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE — There was no doubt in Schalick coach Kevin Leamy’s mind he was going for two — and the win — when Salem opened the door.
The players all wanted to go for 2 right away after the Cougars scored with 12 seconds left Friday night, but Leamy had a strong-legged kicker who could get them to overtime, a rightful reward after trailing by two touchdowns entering the fourth quarter.
Then Salem did the unthinkable. One of the Rams jumped offsides as the Cougars were lined up for the extra point. The extra yard and a half was enough to convince Leamy to change his mind.
The goal-line offense came back onto the field and Kenny Bartee blasted in for the conversion to lift the Cougars to an emotional 15-14 WJFL Diamond Division win over the Rams.
“There was no hesitation,” Leamy said. “Before they jump offside I was 100 percent kicking the ball playing for overtime. As soon as they jumped offside I was going for 2, no doubt. I was ready for overtime. We just got lucky they jumped offsides and once we got the free yard and a half I liked our chances from one and a half out with the way Pop (Bartee) was running the ball. I will always give the kids the opportunity to make the play and put the ball in their hands for that.”
“When we went for 1, I told my coach, give me the ball I’m ending it right here, I’m tired, I couldn’t go to overtime; I needed the ball,” Bartee said. “Coach was like, ‘Nah, let’s go for 1.’ So when they jumped I looked at my coach and he said do what you were made to do.”
The Cougars set the stage for the winning conversion when a scrambling Bartee hit an equally scrambling David Stewart in the back left corner of the end zone from 24 yards out to bring them within 14-13. Whether Stewart was in bounds on the catch is a matter for debate, but the officials ruled it a touchdown and the Cougars set out to line up for the extra point.
“I didn’t see David,” Leamy said. “He was supposed to be down here (in the right corner of the end zone) and I saw Pop throw the ball across the field and was like who the heck is he throwing it to, and then you see David come out of nowhere. I didn’t even see it. I didn’t know if he was in or not over here, but he ran that ball down like he was a track star and he made a play. That’s what we need. We need our playmakers to make plays when the games on the line and that’s what Pop and David did.”
Video of the touchdown circulating on social media, shot from an angle along the back line of the end zone, appears to show Stewart stepping on or beyond the end line before catching the ball.
“I tried to toe drag; I tried to get the toe in there, drag it,” Stewart said. “He put his arms up, so I think I got it in.”
Salem coach Kemp Carr said immediately after the game he would have to see the film before making a comment on the play. He had since seen the tape and is convinced Stewart was out of bounds and the officials got it wrong. And he cited two infractions on the play. New Jersey has no instant replay challenges or review for high school sports.
“The film and the video don’t lie,” he said. “The official is in position to make the call. (Stewart) is clearly out of bounds before he catches the ball, comes back into the field of play and is still out of bounds. That call has got to be right. It’s not hard to make that call. It’s not a judgment call. Make the proper call. We can obviously see that that was the wrong call to be made.”
Carr said after the game Stewart’s ability to get open or whether he was in or out of bounds was not what lost the Rams the game. It was their inability to get Bartee on the ground in the backfield even beyond the fateful play.
“We stopped tackling,” he said. “How many times did we have him in the backfield? Even on that play he threw the ball. The quarterback needs to be on the ground.
“I thought we played really well til the last 12 minutes of the game. I think the last 12 minutes of the game the momentum switched a little bit. We’re still up 14-7, (but) they act like we’re down. This team has to understand. But I can’t wait to get back to full strength.”
That wasn’t an indictment of the players on the field, but rather the anticipation of the return of quarterback Desmund Thomas and lineman Ray Brown, two stellar seniors who have been sitting out to satisfy NJSIAA transfer rules.
That finish was in stark contrast to the way the Rams’ defense played in the first three quarters. They hardly yielded anything and regularly made the big stop when needed to keep the Cougars out of the end zone. They held up under the pressure of a 10-minute possession in the second quarter right after Cashmir Parsley scored their first touchdown and they made a fourth-down stop on Bartee at the 34 in the third quarter after their second score made it 14-0.
Then in the fourth quarter Quimere Bergern knocked down a fourth-down flea flicker intended for Stewart with 1:33 left that seemed to have sealed Salem’s victory.
But Schalick got another chance to pull it out when Stewart intercepted an ill-advised Kyvion Parsons pass with 1:02 to play. Stewart returned the pick inside the 20, but a major penalty on the Cougars brought the ball back past the 30.
An 18-yard run by Bartee got it back inside the 15, then another major penalty pushed them back. Bartee was incomplete on the next two snaps, but he made it happen on the next play, throwing it submarine-style to Stewart for the touchdown.
“All I told coach was give me a chance; I know I can score,” Stewart said. “I know I can do it for us and that chance came and I scored. It was the scramble drill. We work on it all the time in practice and practice paid off.”
“Not gonna lie, I got lucky; I got lucky,” Leamy said. “I purposely saved the time outs in hopes that we’d get one more chance. I didn’t know if we’d be able to get one more chamnce or if we did how much time we’d have or if we had plays in us to do it, but all the credit in the world to those kids. They stepped up and made plays when they needed to. They never quit.”
Schalick 15, Salem 14
| SAL | SCH | |
| 6 | First Downs | 11 |
| 24-93 | Rushing | 49-165 |
| 0-4-1 | Passes (C-A-I) | 2-8-0 |
| 0 | Passing | 60 |
| 2-0 | Fumbles-Lost | 3-1 |
| 3-33.3 | Punts-Avg. | 2-24.5 |
| 9-55 | Penalties-Yds. | 6-45 |
| Salem | 0 | 6 | 8 | 0- | 14 |
| Schalick | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15- | 15 |
SCORING SUMMARY
SA-Cashmir Parsley 3 run (pass failed), 10:40 2Q
SA-Kyvion Parsons 10 run (Ahmad Tucker pass from Kyvion Parsons), 9:30 3Q
SC-Kenny Bartee 12 run (Shawn Kelly kick), 10:15 4Q
SC-David Stewart 24 pass from Kenny Bartee (Kenny Bartee run), 0:12 4Q
