Pennsville sophomore among state’s leading receivers, includes the Salem County football leaders through games of Oct. 4
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Overbrook at Woodstown, 6 p.m.
Salem at Clayton, 6 p.m.
Penns Grove at Schalick, 6 p.m.
Pennsville at St. Joseph (Hamm.), 6:30 p.m.
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – CJ Johnson caught 10 times more passes in this year’s season opener than he had all of last season and he hasn’t slowed down yet.
The Pennsville sophomore snared 11 passes in that overtime win over Woodstown and has 42 catches on the year, tied for third most in the state regardless of classification going into this week’s games. His 630 receiving yards rank No. 1. He’s only needs nine catches to top the Eagles’ entire team total of a year ago and he’s on pace to become their most prolific receiver in more than 17 years.
Having a breakout year hasn’t surprised him, but the numbers and the exposure have.
“It definitely caught me by surprise,” he said. “I knew this year I would have to step up from all the seniors who graduated. I definitely did think I would have a good season, but this is definitely taking me by surprise.”
The Eagles have been a run-heavy offense throughout Mike Healy’s 10-year run as head coach, even with a strong-armed quarterback like Robbie McDade the last few years, but without an established returning running back and a young offensive line this year they had to find another way to move the ball. They’ve been airing it out all year with only last week’s rainy conditions crimping their style.
Junior quarterback Jake Layfield is just outside the top 10 passers in the state in his first year as a starter and is far and away the leading passer in Salem County. The top five receivers in the county all wear Pennsville blue.
“We kind of knew going into the season we weren’t going to be a run-heavy team like in the past,” Healy said. “Our experience and our older guys were more on the outside, so we were going to have to take advantage of that.
“Going into the season we had high expectations for CJ. We saw some flashes last year; we knew there was more there. Luckily it worked out. We were kind of counting on him to produce and he’s done more than we even expected, so it’s turned into a pretty good combination for us. It’s been different to watch, but it’s been exciting to see.”
The Eagles had only 50 receptions as a team last year. They’ve only had four receivers with at least 50 catches in a season since 2010. Malik Rehmer currently holds the single-season record in Healy’s tenure (50 in 2023). Logan Johnston (2016) and Drew Burdsall (2013) have the most in program history since 2010 (60). Burdsall also had 52 in 2012.
It helps that Johnson is 6-2½ and able to go high, low and across for anything thrown his way. He’s also good at getting yards after the catch. Layfield called the first of Johnson’s two touchdown grabs against Penns Grove last week a “great catch.”
“I have a lot of trust in him,” the quarterback said. “He wins his routes. He knows what he’s doing. Freak athlete. I think the combinations we set him up with play a part with his success. Always want to get the ball in his hands. He’s been put in a good spot and he’s taken every single piece of advantage that he’s had with it.”
And it hasn’t gone unnoticed. The other day a coach from Syracuse checked in with Healy about him. There’s a connection there. Johnson’s uncle Yazeed Haynes was a receiver for the Orange before retiring from football last spring.
“CJ’s a football player; that’s his thing,” Healy said. “He’s got really high goals that we want to help him achieve. He’s going to continue to get better. I don’t think he’s reached his max potential yet at all.”
Pennsville passing leaders (since 2010)
| SINGLE SEASON | REC | YEAR | TEAM | YEAR |
| Logan Johnston | 60 | 2016 | 155 | 2013 |
| Drew Burdsall | 60 | 2013 | 137 | 2014 |
| Drew Burdsall | 52 | 2012 | 128 | 2011 |
| Malik Rehmer | 50 | 2023 | 122 | 2016 |
| Ryan Hawthorne | 44 | 2011 | 117 | 2019 |
| Brady Locke | 43 | 2017 | 114 | 2018 |
| CJ Johnson | 42 | 2026 | 107 | 2026 |
| Jeremy Boucher | 42 | 2015 | 104 | 2015 |
| Kyle Pszenny | 42 | 2014 | 101 | 2023 |
Salem County leaders
Rushing
| PLAYER | CAR. | YARDS | TD |
| Jaivon Thomas, Penns Grove | 66 | 733 | 10 |
| Kenny Bartee, Schalick | 77 | 714 | 10 |
| Cashmir Parsley, Salem | 66 | 520 | 4 |
| Cole Ware, Woodstown | 64 | 431 | 2 |
| Terrell Thomas, Penns Grove | 59 | 392 | 8 |
| David Stewart, Schalick | 40 | 365 | 5 |
| Tristan Horner, Pennsville | 51 | 253 | 4 |
| Ayden Jenkins, Schalick | 45 | 226 | 1 |
| Mason Middlemiss, Woodstown | 36 | 190 | 5 |
| Aidan Collazo, Pennsville | 18 | 181 | 2 |
| Desmund Thomas, Salem | 14 | 104 | 3 |
| DezYon Purnell, Schalick | 16 | 102 | 2 |
| Adrian Alleyne, Salem | 15 | 101 | 0 |
| TyRell West, Woodstown | 25 | 87 | 3 |
| Kyvion Parsons, Salem | 14 | 81 | 2 |
| Isiah Santiago, Salem | 20 | 80 | 1 |
| Savior Allah, Penns Grove | 6 | 79 | 1 |
| Zahvier Reeder, Penns Grove | 5 | 73 | 0 |
| Freddie Allen, Schalick | 12 | 60 | 1 |
Passing
| PLAYER | C-A-I | YARDS | TD |
| Jake Layfield, Pennsville | 107-171-8 | 1254 | 12 |
| Mason Middlemiss, Woodstown | 18-32-4 | 342 | 4 |
| Kenny Bartee, Schalick | 12-31-0 | 322 | 2 |
| Desmund Thomas, Salem | 21-25-1 | 288 | 4 |
| Owen McDonald, Salem | 10-22-2 | 105 | 1 |
| Noah Chiu, Woodstown | 5-6-0 | 63 | 1 |
| Gabriel McFarland, Schalick | 3-4-0 | 49 | 1 |
| Damien Robinson, Penns Grove | 17-26-1 | 44 | 2 |
| Kyvion Parsons, Salem | 3-11-2 | 41 | 1 |
Receiving
| PLAYER | NO. | YARDS | TD |
| Chase Johnson, Pennsville | 42 | 630 | 7 |
| Lucas Thomas, Pennsville | 18 | 143 | 2 |
| Aidan Collazo, Pennsville | 11 | 144 | 0 |
| Tristan Horner, Pennsville | 11 | 43 | 1 |
| Jacob Kimani, Pennsville | 10 | 126 | 1 |
| Andrew White, Woodstown | 9 | 275 | 5 |
| Jerry Wooton, Penns Grove | 8 | 130 | 2 |
| Danny Knight, Pennsville | 8 | 118 | 0 |
| Quemere Bergen, Salem | 7 | 93 | 2 |
| KaiSiere Muhammad, Salem | 6 | 98 | 0 |
| Ahmad Tucker, Salem | 6 | 81 | 2 |
| Isiah Santiago, Salem | 5 | 45 | 0 |
| Cole Ware, Woodstown | 5 | 30 | 0 |
| Omari Robinson, Penns Grove | 4 | 60 | 1 |
| Savior Allah, Penns Grove | 4 | 26 | 0 |
| Shawn Kelly, Schalick | 3 | 145 | 2 |
| David Stewart, Schalick | 3 | 65 | 1 |
| Gio Alicea, Schalick | 3 | 56 | 1 |
| Nehemiah Carter, Woodstown | 3 | 53 | 0 |
| Evan Elliott, Schalick | 3 | 40 | 1 |
| Javion Sydnor, Pennsville | 3 | 26 | 0 |
| Dante Cummings, Pennsville | 3 | 13 | 1 |
Defense
SACKS —7: Tony Merendino, Salem; 6.5: JaKai Ingram, Penns Grove; Omari Robinson, Penns Grove; 6: Omari Robinson, Penns Grove; 5.5: Myshion Barnes, Salem; 4: Mahkye Murray, Salem; Bradley Snitcher, Woodstown; 3: Xavier Csaszar, woodstown; Evan Elliott, Schalick; Nick Lopergolo, Schalick; Jerry Wooton, Penns Grove; 2.5: Rex Hannah, Woodstown; 2: Raymond Brown, Salem; Kamal Chatum, Salem; Dillon Garrity, Woodstown; Maliq Reddick, Penns Grove; Terrell Thomas, Penns Grove; Aiden Torres, Schalick; Isaac Wright, Penns Grove
INTERCEPTIONS — 5: Jacob Kimani, Pennsville; 4: Jaivon Thomas, Penns Grove; 3: Grady Sanders, Pennsville; David Stewart, Schalick; 2: Gio Alicea, Schalick; Noah Blunt, Schalick; Jaivon Thomas, Penns Grove; Danny Knight, Pennsville; Jerry Wooton, Penns Grove
Team Leaders
| TEAM | RUSH | C-A-I | PASS | PF | PA |
| PENNS GROVE (4-1) | 1243 | 19-30-1 | 213 | 169 | 52 |
| PENNSVILLE (3-3) | 415 | 107-171-8 | 1254 | 131 | 97 |
| SALEM (3-3) | 980 | 34-58-5 | 434 | 138 | 105 |
| SCHALICK (6-0) | 1499 | 18-40-0 | 405 | 205 | 49 |
| WOODSTOWN (3-3) | 743 | 23-40-4 | 405 | 111 | 131 |
