Salem CC goes on the road for the second week in a row, travels to Sussex for what could be the start of a budding rivalry
By Al Muskewitz
CARNEYS POINT — If there’s ever going to be a chance for the Salem CC football program to develop a rivalry this early in its history, this is the week.
If anything looks like a rivalry on the Mighty Oaks’ football schedule, this is it.
The Mighty Oaks hit the road for the first of back-to-back games with Sussex CC (with a week off in between), and how could it not become a rivalry.
* The only two junior college football programs in the state to date.
* It’s North Jersey vs. South Jersey
* They recruit the same players and the Skylanders have a couple the Mighty Oaks tried to get
* They play each other twice in the same season
* When the Skylanders come to Pennsville in two weeks, it will be the Mighty Oaks’ homecoming game.
* Sussex was one of the first programs Salem coach Jay Accorsi researched when he explored the idea of bringing JUCO football in South Jersey
All that’s missing is a trophy, a friendly wager between presidents and athletics directors perhaps, and a cool nickname. The River-to-Sky Rivalry? The Hundred-Mile Hoedown? The Turnpike Tussle?
“We’re not making it like a big rivalry game right now, we’re just trying to build a program,” Accorsi said. “We can’t do that yet I don’t think.
“I think at some point it might (become one). I think right now there are so many other things you’ve gotta worry about and do before we do that. I don’t think it’s critical right now, to be honest with you.”
Everybody has a rival. Where would Alabama be without Auburn, Clemson without South Carolina, Michigan without Ohio State, Notre Dame without everybody. When Accorsi was at Rowan, it was the College of New Jersey (proximity) and Montclair (success). The teams the Mighty Oaks will play regularly outside Sussex may be JUCO Division III, but they’re way too far away to be hated or prankable.
“It makes a lot of sense,” Accorsi said. “There’s a lot of validity to it and I think as the program grows here that’s something we can develop and do. I just don’t think we’re there yet. We’ve got a lot to do and a lot to figure out.”
One thing is learning to win on a consistent basis. They’re getting closer every week.
They are coming off a 35-6 loss at Army Prep. They stayed with the “best team we’ve played this year” for three of the quarters but were done in by a disastrous second quarter (28 points). Their touchdown came on a 60-yard pass from Kahmaj Kearney to Jeremiah Russell out of the wildcat formation that could become a bigger piece of their offense going forward.
“That’s going to be part of what we do,” Accorsi said. “I don’t think we can just completely do that, but it’s going to be probably part of it or more of what we do.
“We tried with Aidan (Hill) a little bit to do some things with him that way, just for one reason or another it hadn’t really worked out yet so we decided to put somebody else in there with a shot to do it and see. Obviously he was productive throwing the ball, obviously productive running the ball a little bit. I think that’s going to be a thing we continue to do as we go through. We’ll keep using it and see what works and develops as we try to go through the second half of the season.”
Kearney was in that spot last week because Hill didn’t make the trip. He was the fourth quarterback the Mighty Oaks have used this year. They could see a fifth Saturday with Jimmy Wilson among three new players in line to be added to the roster. Wilson, 6-3 and 210 pounds, passed for 1,425 yards and 11 touchdowns and rushed for seven more scores as a senior at Winslow in 2022. His availability could free up the expand versatile Aidan Hill’s in the offense.
“Any time you can add somebody who’s that dual threat to run and throw a little bit it helps kind of take the pressure off a lot of people around everybody else,” Accorsi said. “It’s going to be what do we need this week, who’s playing well and who’s practicing and where do we go from there.”
The Skylanders, meanwhile, are 0-3 and struggling to find an offense. They’re averaging only 111 yards a game and are a combined 5-for-37 on third and fourth down. Quarterback Kareem Moore has passed for 201 yards and is their leading rusher with 96 yards, most of it on a 72-yard run. His top two receivers are Daryus Dixon (9-69) and Allen Feliciano (8-75).
