Salem CC’s shortcomings on offense, special teams show in road loss at Sussex CC
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
NEWTON – It takes consistency in all three phases of the game to bring a football team a victory. Salem CC is still trying to find the answer in two of them.
The Mighty Oaks got another good outing from their defense, but they struggled on offense and on special teams and fell to Sussex CC Saturday, 23-8.
The defense gave up two touchdowns and none in the second half, but the offense was beset by turnovers and had two big miscues in the kick return game.
“We were behind most of the game,” Mighty Oaks coach Jay Accorsi said. “I think the difference was they were able to run the ball and we weren’t able to run the ball. They did a great job running the ball, controlling it a little bit, and we really had a hard time running the ball. We really struggled running the football.”
“When you can’t run the football and you turn the ball over then you’re going to be in harm’s way and that’s kind of how we were.”
The Mighty Oaks (1-4) started the game by fumbling the opening kickoff, but they survived that without giving up points. They weren’t so lucky in the return game later when the Skylanders (1-3) returned the second half kickoff for a touchdown to make it 23-8.
Offensively, they couldn’t get a running game going and were the victims of several turnovers. Newcomer Jimmy Wilson played well in spots in in his Salem CC debut, throwing a long touchdown pass to D.J. Joyner to draw the Mighty Oaks to within 16-8 at halftime. Wilson just became eligible this week and became the fifth player the Mighty Oaks have used at quarterback in a game this season. He passed for 1,425 yards and accounted for 18 touchdown his senior season at Winslow (2022).
The Mighty Oaks scored their first points when Sam Rowley blocked the extra point after Sussex’ first touchdown and Jarrell Burks brought it all the way back for two to make it 9-2.
“We did enough to make it close, we didn’t do enough to put ourselves in a position to win the game or try to do something at the end, so it’s back on us,” Accorsi said. “I thought defensively we played well. We got some turnovers, we got some stops, we turned them away. Shoot, it seemed like the whole first quarter they had the ball and we didn’t let them score. So, defensively, I thought we played really well at times.
“They only gave up 14 points, 12 because we blocked the extra point. Sometimes you would hope that would be enough for you to be able to win the game, but we’re just not there yet special teams and offense to complement with what they do yet. We’re still a work in progress and it’s going to be all the way through the year. We just don’t have a lot of experience there (on offense), we don’t have a lot of depth there, and we’re trying to muster as much as we can on that side of the ball.”
The teams play again in two weeks at Pennsville High School for the Mighty Oaks’ homecoming game.
