Big ‘steak’ in winning

Chomo’s hat trick lifts Schalick soccer to opening-round victory over Pennsville and a tasty reward

SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT
Wednesday’s first-round games
Schalick 9, Pennsville 0
Pitman 2, Maple Shade 1
Aubudon 1, Penns Grove 0
Haddon Twp. 1, Glassboro 0
Woodstown 4, Burlington City 0
Wildwood 2, Buena 1
Riverside 9, Gateway 1
Palmyra 5, Woodbury 0
Second-round games
Pitman at Schalick, Friday, 2 p.m.
Haddon Twp. at Audubon
Wildwood at Woodstown, Friday, 3 p.m.
Riverside vs. Palmyra

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PITTSGROVE — For the record, Steve Chomo likes his steak medium rare.

That otherwise trivial piece of information became an important detail Wednesday after the top-seeded Schalick soccer team swamped Pennsville 9-0 in the opening round of the NJSIAA South Jersey Group I playoffs.

That’s because steak is on the menu after Chomo continued his current goal-scoring tear with his first career hat trick.

It’s all about motivation and Schalick assistant coach Mike D’Orio, a former Cougars striker, delivered a prime cut of it when he told Chomo before the game a steak dinner was in the offing if he scored a hat trick against the Eagles.

“I love steak,” Chomo said. “I think he wanted me to show out today and I just went out there and did my best.

“It was just out of nowhere, before the game, he said it. I think back when Mr. (Bruce) Konyak was coaching, he used to say if you had a diving header you got a steak dinner. I guess D’Orio continued that one.”

Chomo admitted he started thinking about a juicy ribeye “a little” after he scored two goals off rebounds in the first 22 minutes of the game to give the Cougars a 3-0 lead.

D’Orio and head coach Joe Mannella added the garnish at halftime when they reinforced the deal and the sophomore got his steak 10 minutes into the second half. He almost added the baked potato three minutes later with a bicycle kick that just went wide.

“It’s definitely some motivation,” D’Orio said. “Chomo’s starting to get out of his shell a little bit. I always hype him up at practice to try to do the best he can, so having that added motivation makes a player hungry on the field. And when you get that confidence from your coach it makes you want to play a lot better.

“He went out there, he got the job done and I’ll gladly pay up.”

His hat trick was Schalick’s third this season. Anthony Sepers got one against Woodstown and Louis Sepers got one against Penns Grove. But apparently previous purchases are not included in the deal.

“This was the first time I brought it up,” D’Orio said. “It might be a new thing we do for the year, we’ll see, I don’t know.”

Chomo has been on a roll of late. He has scored six of his 12 goals this season in the Cougars’ last three games. He’s scored six against Pennsville this season.

It’s been a combination of getting more opportunities with injuries to other strikers, getting more aggressive, his teammates getting him the ball and being in the right place at the right time.

“I don’t have anything against the Pennsville people,” Chomo said. “It may have felt like that, but I’ve got to give it really all to my teammates. They set me up with some great balls and I’ve just done my job.”

“With (Luke) Price going down and Lance (Creighton) not playing the whole season, Steve was going to have to step up and score goals for us and so far he has,” Mannella said. “Just keeping him hot and confidence is kind of what it’s all about right now. Any goal scorer being confident is huge and they’re confident in him. They know if they put it in front of the net, he’s going to deliver for them.”

The Cougars controlled the action from the opening kickoff. Chomo’s first two goals helped them build a 6-0 halftime lead. Louis Sepers opened the scoring five minutes into the game. Jaxon Weber, Reyli Reyes and Ethan Suppi also scored in the first half.

Bradford Foster, who assisted on Chomo’s third goal, made it 8-0 and keeper Evan Sepers came out of the goal to net the final goal of the match.

“You don’t want to come out and be sluggish and play down to the opponent and have to spend the next two days trying to get sharp,” Mannella said. “We had worked on some things in practice and they brought it right out to the field and their intensity was good. Everything was good, so now you just have to keep it sharp and focus on the next opponent.”

The Cougars (15-4) will host Pitman in the second round Friday at 2 p.m. The Panthers (13-5-1) beat Maple Shade 2-1 on Charlie Duffield’s goal two minutes into the second overtime.

Pennsville (6-13)	0	0 –	0
Schalick (15-4)	6	3 –	9

GOALS – S: Steve Chomo 3, Evan Sepers, Louis Sepers, Bradford Foster, Jaxon Weber, Ethan Suppi, Reyli Reyes.

WOODSTOWN 4, BURLINGTON CITY 0: The third-seeded Wolverines (14-3-1) won their sixth in a row with leading scorer Adrian Ibarra scoring twice in the first seven minutes of the game and Ben Stengel posting the shutout. Five of the Wolverines’ wins in their current winning streak have come by shutout.

“We were at home and we wanted to establish that we can control the tempo and the pace and we did that right from the start,” Wolverines coach Darren Huck said. “Adrian found the back of the net early and that set the tempo even more for us.”

Ibarra scored his first goal off a cross from Blake Bialecki. His second came on a penalty kick after the Blue Devils knocked down a shot by Ibarra that was headed to the net with a hand. Ibarra now has 25 goals on the season, moving within one of tying Geoff Schaefer’s 2014 school record for goals by a junior.

Grant Prater moved back to the midfield upon the return of center back Dante Holmes and scored the first goal of the second half off a pass from Bialecki. Cole Lucas scored the Wolverines’ final goal. Bialecki has 14 assists this season.

With Holmes back in the lineup and directing the defense, keeper Stengel was rarely tested. “He controlled everything,” Huck said of Holmes.

The Wolverines now host No. 11 seeded Wildwood (12-5-1) at 3 p.m. on a busy Friday in Woodstown.

Burlington City (6-11)	0	0 –	0
Woodstown (14-3-1)	2	2 –	4

GOALS – W: Adrian Ibarra 2, Grant Parker, Cole Lucas.

AUDUBON 1, PENNS GROVE 0: Ronald Homa’s first goal of the season was the game’s only goal in a match Penns Grove controlled much of the day. The goal came eight minutes before halftime.

That’s how the season has gone for the Red Devils (6-10-1). Of their 10 losses this year, eight have been decided by one goal.

Penns Grove (6-10-1)	0	0 –	0
Audubon (12-5-2)	1	0 –	1

GOALS – A: Ronald Homa.

Netting a title

Schalick girls tennis completes home-and-home sweep of Woodstown to win Diamond Division title

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PITTSGROVE – The Schalick girls tennis team may have come up short in its bid to win a state championship, but the Cougars did secure the last goal open to them Tuesday when they edged rival Woodstown 3-2 to win the Tri-County Conference Diamond Division crown.

With more than 100 fans ringing the courts on Senior Day, the Cougars won the first three points to clinch their 10th division title all-time and sixth under coach John Romano. They locked it up with a 6-3, 6-2 win by senior Rachel Goranson and Miya Watkins at No. 2 doubles.

“This is icing on the cake,” Romano said. “Like we said yesterday, it was one of those short term goals we set for ourselves at the beginning of the year, a stepping stone. Obviously it came after they crowned a state champion, but it’s still sweet.”

The Cougars earned at least a share of the division title with a 5-0 sweep of the Wolverines on Monday. The clincher got tighter when the Wolverines’ 1 and 3 singles both won 10-point tiebreakers after the match was decided.

“Jesse (Stemberger) had them coached up, ready to go,” Romano said of his Woodstown counterpart. “I think they felt they left a little on the court yesterday. They have two seniors in those spots and those girls were a little bit better than us today.”

The win was Schalick’s 21st of the season. They are one of only three teams in the state (any classification) currently with 20 wins. It’s the second time in three years and the third time since 2015 they’ve had a 20-win season.

“And it’s not like we’re playing any cupcakes,” Romano said. “When you pick up 20 wins with the schedule we had, it’s definitely another feather in the cap that this program is where it needs to be and now we need to keep it there.”

This story will be updated.

SCHALICK 3, WOODSTOWN 2
Singles
Abigail Mille def. Rachael Irizarry, 4-6, 6-3, 10-4
Grace O’Neill (S) def. Gabby Kurpis, 6-1, 6-0
Cara Delia def. Ally Green, 1-6, 6-3, 10-8
Doubles
Emma Adams-Katie Little (S) def. Vivian Ward-Nathalie Neron, 6-2, 6-0
Miya Watkins-Rachel Grandson (S) def. Julianna Lindenmuth-Molly Curtis, 6-3, 6-2
Records: Schalick 21-3, Woodstown 18-3.

Cover photo: Schalick’s No. 2 doubles team of Miya Watkins and Rachel Goranson won the match that clinched the Diamond Division title.

Big time bounce back

Schalick girls tennis team bounces back from Final Four loss to sweep rival Woodstown, rematch Tuesday for division title

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODSTOWN – The Schalick girls tennis team bounced back from a loss in the state semifinals to move a step closer to a division title and coach John Romano never doubted it would.

The Cougars grabbed at least a share of the Tri-County Conference Diamond Division crown Monday with a 5-0 sweep of Woodstown in the much-delayed and much-anticipated home-and-home series with the Wolverines.

They can clinch the division outright by beating the Wolverines at home Tuesday. A Woodstown win would create co-champions.

“The girls played really well, they did bounce back nicely,” Romano said. “Woodstown is a very good team. I expect them to come back (Tuesday) even tougher than they played us today. I don’t think it’ll be easy by any stretch of the imagination. We’ll go about it business as usual, like we did all year long.”

The last time the Cougars (20-3) were on the court, they were swept by eventual state champion New Providence 5-0 in the Group I state semifinals. They had beaten post-season nemesis Gateway and top-seeded Haddon Twp. in the last two matches to get there, but were a different environment at the Mercer County Tennis Center.

“It’s no knock (on who they played along the way), but you’re playing a top-caliber team in New Providence; it’s just a different level,” Romano said. “We had a fantastic win against Haddon Twp., a fantastic win against Gateway and we weren’t ready for it (the Final Four).

“Coming back down to the level we are here, we knew what to expect. We knew they were going to put their best foot forward. It was pretty straightforward. We handled business and that was it.”

The teams were supposed to get the series started at the beginning of the season, but that match got postponed by weather. It later was postponed to accommodate the opening round of the sectional tournament, and then the sectional finals.

They knew the high-intensity rivalry would be squeezed into a couple days and now the division will be decided after a state champion was crowned.

“In the beginning of the year we have short-term goals and this is one of them,” Romano said. “Long term is try to win a state championship. The first one to be checked off we hoped would be the division and now it’s the last one.

“It makes it just as sweet. We’re just as happy for it as if this would’ve been in September. We’re happy to get a chance to lock this up tomorrow.”

Woodstown (18-2) had won five in a row – all by 5-0 sweeps – after bowing out in the second round of sectional tournament.

SCHALICK 5, WOODSTOWN 0
Singles
Rachael Irizarry (S) def. Abigail Melle, 6-3, 7-5
Grace O’Neill (S) def. Gabby Kurpis, 6-1, 6-0
Ally Green (S) def. Cara Delia, 6-4, 6-2
Doubles
Katie Little-Emma Adams (S) def. Vivian Ward-Nathalie Neron, 6-0, 6-1
Miya Watkins-Rachel Goranson (S) def. Julianna Lindenmuth-Molly Curtis, 6-4, 6-4
Records: Schalick 20-3, Woodstown 18-2.

On a roll

Monday roundup: Woodstown boys soccer heading into sectional tournament on five-game winning streak; roundup includes girls soccer, field hockey

MONDAY’S SCORES
BOYS SOCCER
Woodstown 2, Glassboro 1
Pennsville 4, Salem Tech 1
GIRLS SOCCER
Woodstown 2, Glassboro 2
Pitman 5, Salem 0
Pennsville 7, Salem Tech 0
FIELD HOCKEY
Clearview 2, Woodstown 0
Gloucester City 7, Pennsville 0
GIRLS TENNIS
Schalick 5, Woodstown 0

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

GLASSBORO – The Woodstown soccer team goes into the South Jersey Group I tournament feeling good about the turnaround it has put together during the season and on a roll after beating Glassboro 2-1 in its final regular-season game Monday.

Adrian Ibarra and Kaleb Gerace each scored a goal in the second half for the Wolverines in the battle of top four sectional seeds.

Ibarra opened the scoring seven minutes into the second half. Gerace made it 2-0 13 minutes later. Emirhan Kir’s penalty kick off an “unfortunate foul” in the box with 11 minutes left was the only thing that kept the Wolverines from posting a fifth straight shutout.

It was, however, their fifth win in a row, their second over Glassboro in the last four days and their sixth in the eight games (with one tie) since a 6-2 Alumni Night loss to Schalick in the football stadium.

“We had a lot of games over the last two weeks, so it’s been a grind, but we came in and kind of came out on top,” Woodstown coach Darren Huck said. “We didn’t play well against Audubon (the only loss in the home stretch), but when you play Schalick and two Colonial Conference teams, it wasn’t so much about wins and losses in that one, it was to see how we were going to battle and compete.

“We circle the wagons and bring them all back and remind them what the big picture is and remind them how one game doesn’t identify you in a good way or a bad way; let’s stay focused on what we need to do and they responded. I’m happy with my goalkeeper, how he responded from that tough night against Schalick, and defensively I’m happy with where we’re at right now.”

That would be 13-3-1 and the No. 3 seed in the SJ-I tournament;. A year ago they were 5-10-3 with seven one-goal losses and were something like 3-27 in the offseason going all over South Jersey playing larger schools. But they were playing and learning and growing.

Huck never lost faith and he was grateful the players didn’t either.

“I told them it’s not about the now, it’s preparing guys for the future,” he said. “I need all of you to believe and I will take you there, but do not lose confidence in what we’re doing.

“I had a parent today say I remember what you said in August in that last tournament; you said we’ll be just fine. I’m glad it worked this way. It made them believe they believed in me. I said this was going to happen.”

Ibarra’s goal was his 23rd of the season and 30th of his career. The nephew of Woodstown’s all-time leading goal scorer, Oscar Hernandez, Ibarra now has the second-most goals in a season by a junior in school history and has moved into the top 15 on the Wolverines’ all-time goals list.

“He’s really put it together,” Huck said. “He takes a lot of pride in being a complete soccer player, not just a scorer. He’s on the other end of assists, gets back defensively to help out. A lot of times he’ll ask me if I want him to drop back to help out the defense. He’s willing to take himself out of a scoring opportunity so we can get a win.

“He puts a tremendous amount of time into it. Many, many times I can go up to the park and he’ll be out there all by himself with a bag of soccer balls and some cones and he’s just working on his game. It’s good to see it all pay off for him.”

While Woodstown is going into the playoffs on a roll, Glassboro is looking to get back on track. The Bulldogs (12-5) have lost five of their last eight against some of their toughest opposition of the year after starting the season 9-0.

“We had a good regular season,” Huck said. “We can look back and say we had a nice season. We know the second season starts (Wednesday) and we’re going to try to go as far as we can.”

Pennsville 4, Salem Tech 1: Jake Isaac scored two first-half goals and assisted on the Eagles’ other two goals. It was his third multi-goal game of the season and fifth of his career. Stone Mumink gave the Eagles (6-12) a 3-0 lead and Kameron Brown got the Chargers (3-13-1) on the board before the end of the half. Shane Puckett scored Pennsville’s final goal in the second half.

GIRLS SOCCER
Woodstown 2, Glassboro 2: Emma Perry and Talia Battavio scored goals for the Wolverines (9-7-1), but Glassboro scored a goal in the second half to tie the match.

Pitman 5, Salem 0: Emery Sharpnack scored her 15th goal of the season to open the scoring and assisted on Alaina Williams’ goal in the second half. The Classic Division champion Panthers (13-4-1) are one of two teams to go through their Tri-County Conference schedule undefeated (10-0).

Pennsville 7, Salem Tech 0: Reagan Wariwanchik, Molly Gratz and Karsen Cooksey scored first-half goals and Cooksey completed the hat trick in the second half.

FIELD HOCKEY
Clearview 2, Woodstown 0: Marley Dutch scored a goal and assisted on Destiny Joseph’s score. The Group III Pioneers (12-5) peppered Woodstown goalie Shelby Foote with 29 shots.

Gloucester City 7, Pennsville 0: Lauren Perry scored four goals to lead the Lions (12-4).

Sectional tournaments

Here are the first-round pairings in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group I tournaments; boys soccer becomes official at noon Tuesday

BOYS SOCCER
Oct. 25
No. 16 Pennsville (6-12) at No. 1 Schalick (14-4), 4 p.m.
No. 9 Pitman (12-5-1) at No. 8 Maple Shade (10-7), 3 p.m.
No. 12 Penns Grove (6-9-1) at No. 5 Audubon (11-5-2), 2 p.m.
No. 13 Haddon Twp. (5-10-2) at No. 4 Glassboro (12-5), 2 p.m.
No. 14 Burlington City (6-10) at No. 3 Woodstown (13-3-1), 2 p.m.
No. 11 Wildwood (11-5-1) at No. 6 Buena (12-4), 2 p.m.
No. 10 Gateway (9-8-1) at No. 7 Riverside (13-3-2)
No. 15 Woodbury (8-8) at No. 2 Palmyra (15-2-1), 4 p.m.

GIRLS SOCCER
Oct. 26
No. 16 Penns Grove (1-11-1) at No. 1 Audubon (15-1-2)
No. 9 Clayton (10-5-1) at No. 8 Glassboro (9-6-2)
No. 12 Gateway (7-9) at No. 5 Pitman (13-4-1)
No. 13 Buena (6-9) at No. 4 Maple Shade (11-4)
No. 14 Salem (4-13-1) at No. 3 Schalick (13-4)
No. 11 Pennsville (6-9-3) at No. 6 Haddon Twp. (7-9-2)
No. 10 Woodstown (9-7-1) at No. 7 Gloucester (12-5)
No. 15 Woodbury (1-14-1) at No 2 Palmyra (14-3)

FIELD HOCKEY
Oct. 26
No. 11 Bordentown (4-11-1) at No. 6 Schalick (11-5-1)

Oct. 27
No. 12 Maple Shade (8-4) at No. 5 Woodstown (12-3-1)

Oct. 28
No. 1 West Deptford (10-3-3) bye
No. 9 Haddon Twp. (7-8) at No. 8 Salem (11-4)
No. 13 Gateway (5-10) at No. 4 Collingswood (9-5-2)
No. 14 Audubon (8-6) at No. 3 Middle Twp. (13-2-1)
No. 10 Lower Cape May (6-6-4) at No. 7 Gloucester (12-4)
No. 15 New Egypt (7-5) at No. 2 Florence (13-2-1)

County leaders

With the football playoffs beginning this week, here is a look at the Salem County leaders in rushing, passing and receiving through the end of the regular season

Rushing

PLAYER	ATT	YDS	TD
Bryce Belinfanti, Woodstown	149	1146	14
Pop Jackson, Salem	131	1023	8
Bryce Wright, Penns Grove	155	847	9
Karon Ceaser, Penns Grove	119	743	5
Reggie Allen, Schalick	92	588	10
Sky Eppes, Pennsville	109	547	9
Jared Pew, Salem	83	385	3
Kenai Simmons, Schalick	79	344	8
Robbie McDade, Pennsville	76	330	6
Levi Feeney-Childers, Schalick	50	301	2
Max Webb, Woodstown	61	265	5
Ramaji Bundy, Salem	47	260	1
Alex Torres, Woodstown	38	230	3

Sophomore quarterback Robbie McDade will have a chance to give Pennsville its first 1,000-yard passer since 2019 Thursday when the Eagles host New Egypt in the regional consolation tournament. Top photo: Bryce Belinfanti and Max Webb give Woodstown a dynamic backfield combination. (Photos by Lorraine Jenkins, Ellen Sickler)

Passing

PLAYER	COMP	ATT	INT	YDS	TD
Robbie McDade, Pennsville	70	136	4	948	6
Kenai Simmons, Schalick	33	52	0	715	7
Max Webb, Woodstown	44	74	5	555	5
Ramaji Bundy, Salem	15	53	5	236	1

Receiving

PLAYER	NO.	YDS	TD
Malik Rehmer, Pennsville	39	604	5
Bryce Belinfanti, Woodstown	13	129	0
Zach Bevis, Woodstown	12	189	3
Ty Young, Pennsville	12	118	1
Terrence Smith, Salem	11	146	1
Sky Eppes, Pennsville	11	128	0
Jake Siedlecki, Schalick	9	268	3
Dylan Sheehan, Schalick	9	140	2
Karon Ceaser, Penns Grove	8	113	0

Kicking

PLAYER	FGM-FGA	XPM-XPA	PTS
Jake Ware, Woodstown	3-4	25-27	34
Hunter Dragotta, Schalick	2-4	25-27	31
Jackson Leino, Pennsville	4-6	15-19	27

Defense

SACKS
6.5: Dameon Wilson, Penns Grove
5.5: Bobby Donahue, Woodstown
4: Nasir Stewart, Penns Grove
3: Jermaine Loney, Schalick; Mando Johnson, Salem
2.5: Zach Bevis, Woodstown; William Slouch, Penns Grove

TACKLES FOR LOSS
17: Bryce Wright, Penns Grove
15: Nasir Stewart, Penns Grove
11: Dameon Wilson, Penns Grove
9: William Slocum, Penns Grove
8: Justin Martin, Penns Grove
6.5: Bobby Donahue, Woodstown
6: Zach Bevis, Woodstown; Walter Carter, Woodstown; Mando Johnson, Salem
5.5: Bryce Belinfanti, Woodstown
5: Max Webb, Woodstown; Thomas Hymer, Schalick
4.5: Pop Jackson, Salem
4: Jack Knorr, Woodstown; Najee Panter, Penns Grove

INTERCEPTIONS: 2: Malik Rehmer, Pennsville; Karon Ceaser, Penns Grove; Bryce Wright, Penns Grove

FUMBLE RECOVERIES: 2: Connor Ayers, Pennsville; Cole Campbell, Pennsville

This week’s schedule

The opening round of the NJSIAA fall sports playoffs highlight the high school sports schedule for Salem County teams for the week of Oct. 23-28

FOOTBALL
Oct. 26
South Jersey Group I Consolation Tournament
New Egypt at Pennsville, 5 p.m.
Keansburg at Manville

Oct. 27
South Jersey Group I playoffs
Dunellen at Woodstown, 7 p.m.
Penns Grove at Florence, 7 p.m.
Burlington City at Middlesex, 7 p.m.

Central Jersey Group I playoffs
Audubon at Schalick, 7 p.m.
Clayton at Shore, 7 p.m.
Keyport at Glassboro, 7 p.m.
Salem at South Hunterdon, TBA

Oct. 28
South Jersey Group I playoffs
Riverside at Woodbury, 10:30 a.m.

FIELD HOCKEY
Oct. 23
Woodstown at Clearview, 3:45 p.m.
Gloucester City at Pennsville, 4 p.m.

Oct. 26
South Jersey Group I Tournament
No. 11 Bordentown at No. 6 Schalick, 2 p.m.

Oct. 27
South Jersey Group I Tournament
No. 12 Maple Shade at No. 5 Woodstown, 2 p.m.

Oct. 28
South Jersey Group I Tournament
No. 1 West Deptford bye
No. 9 Haddon Twp. at No. 8 Salem
No. 13 Gateway at No. 4 Collingswood
No. 14 Audubon at No. 3 Middle Twp.
No. 10 Lower Cape May at No. 7 Gloucester
No. 15 New Egypt at No. 2 Florence

GIRLS TENNIS
Oct. 23
Schalick at Woodstown, 4 p.m.

Oct. 24
Woodstown at Schalick, 4 p.m.

Oct. 26
Overbrook at Schalick, 4 p.m.

Oct. 27
Schalick at Penns Grove, 4 p.m.

BOYS SOCCER
Oct. 23
Glassboro at Woodstown, 4 p.m.
Salem Tech at Pennsville, 7 p.m.

Oct. 24
Paulsboro at Salem, 4 p.m.

Oct. 25
South Jersey Group I Tournament
No. 16 Pennsville at No. 1 Schalick, 4 p.m.
No. 9 Pitman at No. 8 Maple Shade, 3 p.m.
No. 12 Penns Grove at No. 5 Audubon, 2 p.m.
No. 13 Haddon Twp. at No. 4 Glassboro, 2 p.m.
No. 14 Burlington City at No. 3 Woodstown, 2 p.m.
No. 11 Wildwood at No. 6 Buena, 2 p.m.
No. 10 Gateway at No. 7 Riverside
No. 15 Woodbury at No. 2 Palmyra, 4 p.m.

Oct. 28
South Jersey Group I Tournament
Second round games

GIRLS SOCCER
Oct. 23
Woodstown at Glassboro, 3:30 p.m.
Pitman at Salem, 4 p.m.
Salem Tech at Pennsville, 5 p.m.

Oct. 26
South Jersey Group I Tournament
No. 16 Penns Grove at No. 1 Audubon
No. 9 Clayton at No. 8 Glassboro
No. 12 Gateway at No. 5 Pitman
No. 13 Buena at No. 4 Maple Shade
No. 14 Salem at No. 3 Schalick
No. 11 Pennsville at No. 6 Haddon Twp.
No. 10 Woodstown at No. 7 Gloucester
No. 15 Woodbury at No 2 Palmyra

CROSS COUNTRY
Oct. 28
Sectionals, DREAM Park

Playoff pairings

Four of five Salem County teams qualify for Group I football playoffs; non-football playoff projections based on power points also listed

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

Four of the five football-playing schools in Salem County are in the NJSIAA Group I playoffs this year and two have pulled down No. 1 seeds.

In the final regular-season UPR ratings produced by the gridironnj website and released this evening, Woodstown and undefeated Schalick pulled down the Nos. 1 and 2 spots in the South Jersey Group I top 16 and will be the No. 1 seeds in the South Jersey and Central Jersey brackets, respectively, when the NJSIAA makes it official.

Only two-tenths of a UPR point separated the two teams. Schalick had the winningest team in South Jersey Group I (9-0), but Woodstown (6-2) had the highest OSI.

Horizon Division champion Schalick, with its first undefeated regular season since 2006, had been in line for the overall No. 1, but Woodstown overtook it after Saturday’s 21-6 win over Penns Grove for the Diamond Division title.

We’re guaranteed home field advantage through the sectional final,” Schalick coach Mike Wilson said. “Strength of schedule is a very important indicator. From where we went from last year – we were the 15th seed last year now we’re the No. 2 seed – that’s a huge improvement in one year.”

Penns Grove (4-5) came in at No. 9 and sets up a potential second-round rematch with Woodstown. Salem (2-7) came in at No. 14. Both will open the playoffs on the road.

“We would’ve liked to been home but obviously too many times we came up a little short,” Penns Grove coach John Emel said.

Pennsville wound up being the county’s odd-man out. The Eagles came in at No. 17, 1.8 UPR points behind the final qualifying spot, which went to Dunellen. They went into the week as the No. 16 team, then lost Friday night at Pitman.

It would have been the first time since 2017 all five county teams made the field. Four teams have made it four of the six years since.

“We didn’t take care of business last night so it’s on us,” Pennsville coach Mike Healy said. “We didn’t get the job done. We still improved a ton this year but obviously would have loved a shot in the playoffs.”

The Eagles will now play in the four-team sectional consolation tournament.

The playoff bracket did undergo some changes after the original 1-16 standings were posted due to various tiebreakers. South Hunterdon and Middlesex switched places due to South Hunterdon’s head-to-head win; Woodbury, Glassboro and Shore tied for fifth and shuffled by the OSI tiebreaker; as did Clayton and Keyport, who were tied for 10th.

Here are the projected first-round matchups (lower seeds at home). All games Friday unless indicated otherwise:

No. 1 Woodstown (1) vs. No. 8 Dunellen (16)
No. 4 Florence (8) vs. No. 5 Penns Grove (9)
No. 2 Middlesex (4) vs. No. 7 Burlington City (13)
No. 3 Woodbury (5) vs. No. 6 Riverside (12), Saturday

No. 1 Schalick (2) vs. No. 8 Audubon (15)
No. 4 Shore (7) vs. No. 5 Clayton (10)
No. 2 South Hunterdon (3) vs. No. 7 Salem (14)
No. 3 Glassboro (6) vs. No. 6 Keyport (11)
NOTE: Number in parenthesis is South Jersey Group I UPR rank

Soccer, field hockey projections

Based on the power points in each sport posted Saturday, here are the projected first-round pairings in the South Jersey Group I tournament for boys soccer, girls soccer and field hockey. The NJSIAA will determine the official brackets later.

BOYS SOCCER
No. 1 Schalick (14-4) vs. No. 16 Pennsville (5-12)
No. 8 Maple Shade (10-6) vs. No. 9 Pitman (12-4-1)
No. 5 Audubon (11-5-2) vs. No. 12 (Burlington City (7-10)
No. 4 Glassboro (12-4) vs. No. 13 Penns Grove (6-9-1)
No. 3 Woodstown (12-3-1) vs. No. 14 (Haddon Twp. (5-10-2)
No. 6 Buena (12-4) vs. No. 11 Wildwood (10-5-1)
No. 7 Riverside (12-3-2) vs. No. 10 Gateway (9-8-1)
No. 2 Palmyra (14-2-1) vs. No. 15 Woodbury (8-8)

GIRLS SOCCER
No. 1 Audubon (15-1-2) vs. No. 16 Penns Grove (1-11-1)
No. 8 Glassboro (9-6-1) vs. No. 9 Clayton (10-5-1)
No. 5 Pitman (12-4-1) vs. No. 12 Gateway (7-9)
No. 4 Maple Shade (11-4) vs. No. 13 Buena (6-9)
No. 3 Schalick (13-4) vs. No. 14 Salem (4-12-1)
No. 6 Haddon Twp. (6-9-2) vs. No. 11 Pennsville (5-9-3)
No. 7 Gloucester (12-5) vs. No. 10 Woodstown (9-7)
No. 2 Palmyra (13-3) vs. No. 15 Woodbury (1-14-1)

FIELD HOCKEY
No. 1 West Deptford (9-3-3) vs. No. 16 New Egypt (7-5)
No. 8 Salem (11-4) vs. No. 9 Haddon Twp. (7-7)
No. 5 Woodstown (12-2-1) vs. No. 12 Bordentown (4-10-1)
No. 4 Collingswood (8-5-2) vs. No. 13 Gateway (5-9)
No. 3 Middle Twp. (12-2-1) vs. No. 14 Pennsville (5-10)
No. 6 Schalick (11-5-1) vs. No. 11 Maple Shade (8-4)
No. 7 Gloucester (11-4) vs. No. 10 Lower Cape May (6-6-4)
No. 2 Florence (13-2-1) vs. No. 15 Audubon (7-6)

Cover photo: Riley Papiano (16) and Reggie Allen celebrate a touchdown in Schalick’s win over Gloucester Catholic Friday night. (Photo by Heather Papiano)

How they stand

Here are the standings for the three WJFL divisions holding the Salem County football teams; records are overall, division; division games in bold

Diamond Division

WOODSTWN (6-2, 4-0)	WOODBURY (4-3, 3-1)	SALEM (2-7, 1-3)	PAULSBORO (1-7, 0-4)	PENNS GRV (4-5, 2-2)
OPEN	OPEN	Executive (Pa.) L 42-19	OPEN	Burl. City L 33-22
Haddon Hts. W 34-7	W. Deptford W 31-0	Camden L 34-0	Haddonfield L 35-7	Pleasantville L 14-6
Paulsboro W 28-7	Penns Grove W 42-6	Pleasantville L 35-6	Woodstown L 28-7	Woodbury L 42-6
Deptford W 49-7	Paulsboro W 48-12	Penns Grove L 21-6	Woodbury L 48-12	Salem W 21-6
Glassboro L 13-7 (OT)	Haddonfield L 21-6	Cedar Creek L 20-14	W. Deptford L 14-13	Haddon Hts. L 14-0
Salem W 27-0	Gloucester L 14-8	Woodstown L 27-0	Penns Grove L 22-19	Paulsboro W 22-19
Woodbury W 27-21 (OT)	Woodstown L 27-21 (OT)	Paulsboro W 28-8	Salem L 28-8	Glassboro W 6-0
Haddonfield L 48-16	OPEN	W. Deptford W 38-14	Camden L 41-6	Pennsville W 32-3
Penns Grove W 21-6	Salem W 49-14	Woodbury L 49-14	Audubon W 14-7 (OT)	Woodstown L 21-6
	Gateway

Horizon Division

SCHALICK (9-0, 5-0)	GL CATH (2-5, 2-3)	WILDWD (1-6, 0-4)	EUSTACE (4-4, 3-2)	RIVERSIDE (6-1, 4-1)	LNDNWLD (0-9, 0-5)
Glou City W 17-14	OPEN	OPEN	OPEN	OPEN	Sterling L 19-0
Pitman W 14-13	Palmyra L 26-21	Cumberlnd W 28-21	Holy Cross W 22-18	Princeton W 14-7	Pennsville L 49-6
Wildwood W 25-0	Eustace L 36-0	Schalick L 25-0	Glou Cath W 36-0	Lindenwold W 59-0	Riverside L 59-0
Riverside W 47-18	Lindenwold W 54-6	Eustace L 13-7	Wildwood W 13-7	Schalick L 47-18	Glou Cath L 54-6
Pennsville W 38-20	OPEN	L. CapeMay L 34-0	Princeton L 24-0	Pitman W 30-21	Holy Cross L 54-6
Lindenwold W, forfeit	Wildwood W 7-0	Glou Cath L 7-0	Riverside L 46-8	Eustace W 46-8	Schalick L, forfeit
Eustace W, forfeit	Riverside L 50-7	x-KIPP Cooper L 12-6	Schalick L, forfeit	Glou Cath W 50-7	x-Wildwood L, forfeit
Cumberlnd W 35-8	Holy Cross L 32-27	HaddnTwp L 20-0	Florence L, forfeit	OPEN	Overbrook L 48-12
Glou Cath W 42-20	Schalick L 42-20	Riverside L 38-8	Lindenwold W 32-28	Wildwood W 38-8	Eustace L 32-28
	Gloucester		Collingswd	Palmyra	Pitman
				Florence

Royal Division

PENNSVILLE (4-4, 2-2)	PITMAN (3-4, 2-2)	L. CAPE MAY (7-1, 4-0)	CUMBERLND (3-6, 2-2)	GATEWAY (1-7, 0-4)
OPEN	OPEN	Bridgeton W 44-6	Middle Twp. L 40-0	OPEN
Lindenwold W 49-6	Schalick L 14-13	Clayton L 26-21	Wildwood L 28-21	Haddon Twp. W 19-0
L. Cape May L 28-7	Cumberland L 6-0	Pennsville W 28-7	Pitman W 6-0	Collingswood L 19-14
Gateway W 23-7	Buena W 41-0	Cumberland W 40-0	L. Cape May L 40-0	Pennsville L 23-7
Schalick L 38-20	Riverside L 30-21	Wildwood W 34-0	Bridgeton W 37-27	Middle Twp. L 40-7
Cumberland W 25-12	OPEN	OPEN	Pennsville L 25-12	Keyport L 39-6
Overbrook W 42-18	L. Cape May L 46-22	Pitman W 46-22	Gateway W 26-20	Cumberland L 26-20
Penns Grove L 32-3	Gateway W 20-6	Buena W 60-0	Schalick L 35-8	Pitman L 20-6
Pitman L 35-14	Pennsville W 35-14	Gateway W 48-2	Clayton L 40-14	L. Cape May L 48-2
	Lindenwold			Woodbury
	Clayton

Diamond dazzlers

Woodstown wins WJFL Diamond Division title outright, eyes No. 1 seed in Group I playoffs

DIAMOND DIVISION SCORES
Saturday’s games
Woodstown 21, Penns Grove 6
Woodbury 49, Salem 14
Paulsboro 14, Audubon 7 (OT)

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNS GROVE — John Adams delayed his traditional post-game huddle to take a picture. He wasn’t about to let this moment pass without immortalizing it for posterity.

The Woodstown coach backed up a couple steps on the midfield grass at Jim Devonshire Field, pointed his phone into the happy group in front of him and clicked.

He wanted, he said, a picture of the champions.

The Wolverines won the WJFL Diamond Division title outright Saturday with a 21-6 win over Penns Grove. It’s their first outright division crown since 2013.

The win also has them in line for a No. 1 seed in the South Jersey Group I football playoffs.

“We knew the division was on the line to win it outright, we knew the playoff seedings were on the line, and we were coming off that tough loss to Haddonfield where we kind of just let the wheels fall off the bus,” Adams said. “They ended up responding well coming off that loss and this is what I wanted to see heading into the playoffs – good team football.”

“Last year we shared the division; we came in this year wanting to win it all — we did that today,” receiver Garrett Leyman said.

“It means a lot knowing all the adversity we went through with hurt players, players ejected, and we won it outright this year, so that’s a big thing,” running back Bryce Belinfanti added.

Belinfanti rushed for 133 yards and scored Woodstown’s first and third touchdowns. His first score was the first touchdown the Red Devils (4-5) had allowed in 11 quarters.

**Woodstown’s Bryce Belinfanti (3) tosses the ball to the official after scoring the Wolverines’ first touchdown against Penns Grove.**

In between the running back’s two scores, the Wolverines (6-2) extended their lead to 14-0 at halftime when, after pulling the stadium in with 16 straight running plays and 20 in their first 21 snaps, they quickly went to the air and hit three straight passes for 74 yards in about 60 seconds. Penns Grove coach John Emel called it the difference in the game.

The connections covered 24 yards to Carter Orlandini, 23 yards to Anthony Bokolas and 27 yards to Leyman for the touchdown with 1:34 left in the half.

“That definitely was important for our offense,” Leyman said, “because we like to run the ball down the field but if they stop it we have a backup now, so that’s nice. It just makes us way harder to stop. It’s definitely fun. Blocking almost the whole first half and then getting those plays it’s fun. It’s different.”

“Every week we practice our two-minute offense and the kids have done a really good job with it,” Adams said. “You never know when you’re going to need it, so at the end of the half there we called time out, let’s get one more possessions, we went to the two-minute offense and we executed exactly what we do in practice.

“We tell the kids we’re not a hurry-up offense, but when the situation presents itself we’re going to go with our two-minute and run what we run.”

The Wolverines have put more emphasis on the passing game this season, but those three were the only passes Max Webb completed in the game. He threw only two other passes in the game.

The touchdown pass came on a play Webb suggested for the playbook from his 7-on-7 arsenal that always worked for him. The Wolverines used it in a passing camp at Kingsway earlier this summer and they pulled it out of the archives Saturday. Leyman said when he saw the corner bite on it, he knew he was going to be wide open.

“It just shows our diversity that we can have in our offense,” Webb said. “I know we’re run first and that’s always how it’s been, but we can just flip the switch and throw it like anybody else in the state.

“It definitely surprised them. They looked like they weren’t ready for it, so it helped us a lot. I was happy it worked in our favor.”

Interestingly, the drive almost didn’t happen. Belinfanti fumbled the ball on the first play, but it came right back into his chest like a magnet and the Wolverines were able to retain possession.

Emel agreed scoring at the end of the half was a big momentum swing in a statistically even game with limited possessions, but the way Woodstown went about it didn’t catch the Red Devils by surprise.

“We knew they were going to do it,” he said. “It’s a matter of execution, so give them credit. They executed. They were able to pass protect and it was a combination on our part of (being) unable to get a pass rush or missed assignments and then on the back end blown coverage.”

Continuing in the good things happen in threes department, Penns Grove (4-5) was driving to cut into the 14-0 lead when the Wolverines’ defense made three straight stops for negative yardage to stop the threat. The Red Devils avoided being shut out by scoring in the final minute of the game.

“It was good to bounce back after our defense struggled a lot last week and it was good to be able to shut them out for the first three quarters and be able to lock it down for the win,” linebacker Jack Knorr said. “We had a lot of players step up who weren’t playing last week (like defensive linemen J.R. Reed and Andre Sinou) and it felt good to have them play well.”

**Woodstown’s Bump Carter wraps up Penns Grove’s Karon Ceaser in one of the Wolverines’ three straight tackles for loss that stopped a fourth-quarter threat. (Photo by Ellen Sickler)**

Woodstown 21, Penns Grove 6

WOOD		PG
11	1st Downs	10
34-179	Rushing	43-172
3-5-0	Passes	1-2-0
74	Passing	40
3-0	Fum-lost	2-1
3-33.3	Punts-avg	5-35.4
2-20	Penalties	6-55

Woodstown (6-2)	7	7	0	7 –	21
Penns Grove (4-5)	0	0	0	6 –	6

Scoring plays:
W – Bryce Belinfanti 2 run (Jake Ware kick), 6:21 1Q
W – Garrett Leyman 27 pass from Max Webb (Jake Ware kick), 1:34 2Q
W – Bryce Belinfanti 48 run (Jake Ware kick), 5:53 4Q
P – Karon Ceaser 5 run (run failed), 0:49 4Q

Cover photo: Woodstown quarterback Max Webb fires downfield in the two-minute drill on the way to a momentum-swinging touchdown near the end of the first half. (Photo by Ellen Sickler)