Bartee punishes Penns Grove, makes something out of nothing twice, helps Schalick stay unbeaten
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE — Believe it or not, given the way he takes over a game these days, Kenny Bartee didn’t like playing football when he was little. He wasn’t ashamed to admit he cried before he had to go onto the youth field, but he went anyway — and made the opposition cry.
He’s still doing it today. Well, everything but the crying part.
Friday night, he rushed for 124 yards and turned two broken plays into touchdowns to lead Schalick over Penns Grove 27-0 to remain undefeated and solidly atop the South Jersey Group 1 power points standings.
The junior quarterback scored his first touchdown on the last play of the first half. He looked several times for a receiver, but finding none open, he pulled it down and went 16 yards for the score, blasting through a two-level roadblock the Red Devils set up at the 4.
It was do or die, since it came on fourth down with four seconds on the clock. Had the Cougars had a kicker, coach Kevin Leamy would have tried a field goal. But kicker Shawn Kelly was on the sideline in concussion protocol after trying to make a tackle on a kickoff last week, so they rolled the dice.
From Bartee’s point of view he didn’t want to go into halftime with just a 7-0 lead and he was determined to get in the end zone.
His second touchdown was a 3-yard run midway through the third quarter. It came on the next snap after Bartee picked up 27 yards after picking up a snap that slid through his hands.
He finished with 124 yards rushing and 58 yards passing.
The Cougars (7-0) got their other touchdowns on David Stewart’s 79-yard punt return in the first quarter and Ayden Jenkins’ 23-yard run midway through the fourth quarter.
Schalick’s defense, meanwhile, didn’t yield Penns Grove anything.
The Red Devils were missing their main weapon, freshman running back Jaivon Thomas, one of the top rushers in the state, with a collarbone injury. He came back to the field after warmups carrying his pads.
For the Red Devils it was the next-man-up approach.
They tried to compensate with Terrell Thomas and several other backs and a bit more throwing, but managed only 50 yards of offense — minus-5 net on 16 offensive snaps in the second half.
The Cougars played a little next-man-up as well. They didn’t have their regular center, moved Will Johnson to the spot and put backup quarterback Gabe McFarland — all 5-7, 163 of him — up on the offensive line.
This story will be updated.
| PG | SCH | |
| 5 | First downs | 17 |
| 24-19 | Rushing | 38-230 |
| 0-10-1 | Passes | 4-9-0 |
| 31 | Passing | 58 |
| 2-1 | Fum-Lost | 3-1 |
| 2-33.0 | Punts-Avg | 0-0 |
| 5-45 | Penalties | 4-55 |
| Penns Grove | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0- | 0 |
| Schalick | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6- | 27 |
SCORING SUMMARY
S-David Stewart 79 punt return (Dash Mayne kick), 4:29 1Q
S-Kenny Bartee 16 run (Dash Mayne kick), 0:00 2Q
S-Kenny Bartee 3 run (Dash Mayne kick), 6:32 3Q
S-Ayden Jenkins 23 run (pass failed), 6:51 4Q
