Salem CC pulls in at No. 5 in the NJCAA Division III preseason basketball poll. The top five are the order in which they finished at last year’s national tournament. Five, potentially six, teams in the poll are on the Mighty Oaks’ schedule (first-place votes in parenthesis)
TEAM
POINTS
Mohawk Valley (9)
105
Herkimer
98
Dallas College-Richland
91
Minnesota State C&T
84
SALEM CC
77
Sandhills
70
Riverland
63
Northern Essex
56
Union (NJ)
49
Dutchess
42
Genesee
27
Northampton
17
Dallas-Mountain View
13
Dallas-Eastfield
8
Montgomery (Pa.)
5
Also receiving votes: Brookdale, Joliet Junior, Dallas-NorthLake, Hostos, Camden, Bunker Hill, Ridgewater, Quincy, Monroe-Bronx, Fulton-Montgomery.
Here are the scores from Monday’s Salem County sports calendar GIRLS SOCCER Schalick 6, Penns Grove 0: Quinn Berger had two goals and two assists as the Cougars completed their third straight unbeaten season in the TCC Diamond Division. Berger scored the first and third goals of the game and assisted on Schalick’s two second-half goals. Pitman 6, Salem 0: Emery Sharpnack scored three goals and assisted on another for the Panthers. Woodstown at Pennsville Salem Tech at Gloucester Catholic FIELD HOCKEY Schalick 9, Deptford 0: Nine different players scored for the Cougars. Lena Virga and Ava Scurry each had a goal and two assists. Gloucester Catholic 3, Salem 0: Freshman Alana Bellan scored two second-quarter goals. Overbrook at Woodstown GIRLS VOLLEYBALL Salem Tech 2, Buena 0: Tiara Bazemore had 12 aces and seven assists to lead the Chargers. The set scores were 25-8, 25-13. GIRLS TENNIS Woodstown 5, Schalick 0 Pitman 5, Salem 0 Pennsville 5, Overbrook 0
Pennsville swamps Salem 7-1 to clinch its first boys soccer division title in 32 years and fourth all-time; set sights on a home playoff game
BOYS SOCCER Woodstown 1, Pitman 1 Schalick 4, Penns Grove 0 Pennsville 7, Salem 1 Gloucester Catholic 6, Salem Tech 4
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – It isn’t often Pennsville coach Derek Foglein dresses up in a suit coat and tie for a soccer game, so it had to be a pretty special occasion for him to put on the ritz Monday night.
Usually, he reserves the sartorial splendor for the Foglein Bowl, the annual game between the Eagles and whatever team Foglein’s brother is coaching at the time. Well, the Foglein Bowl is on hold for the time being, so there had to be something else afoot.
Does the prospect of winning your first division championship in 32 years count?
The Eagles don’t have many soccer banners in the gym rafters, but they earned the right to raise another one in an historic Senior Night when they routed Salem 7-1 under the lights of Lou D’Angelo Stadium to win their first Tri-County Classic Division championship since 1993 and just the fourth all-time.
“Today in the circle before we started warmups I said I put on a shirt and tie for two reasons,” Foglein said. “No. 1, to look good for the seniors and No. 2 because we need to be professionals and we need to go to work. They went to work.
“Our seniors got a lot of joy and we get a lot of joy as a team because we did something that hasn’t been done in a long, long time and it feels really good. It was just a really positive night for soccer in Pennsville.”
Pennsville captains Coen Rinnier and Steve Fatcher hold the jersey that depicts the four division titles the Eagles have won over the years. They clinched their first in 32 years Monday night.
It had been so long, Foglein wasn’t even born the last time they did it. Assistant coach Joe Mecholsky was a senior on the 1991 team that won it before that.
Luckily, the players didn’t mess up the coach’s outfit, sparing him the traditional water bucket salute as they celebrated the title.
“I asked him in school today because he was looking all spiffy is is the full tuxedo and tie and dress shoes coming out for the game tonight,” senior stopper Steve Fatcher said. “He says we’ll see. So he pulls up and says I have two reasons to be going fancy, Senior Night and to win the division for the first time in 32 years. It got us real hyped up. It was what we needed, especially after the rough week we had.”
The Eagles cut their run to the title close. They were on the cusp of clinching after beating Wildwood 1-0, but the celebration kept getting delayed as they lost to Clayton and then tied Gloucester Catholic. Luckily, all they had to do was get past the winless Rams to claim the crown.
“I will say that that was not the way we intended to finish the season,” Foglein said. “This was a night-and-day performance from what I’d seen from them over the last two games and the performance that we needed to go after Collingswood on Wednesday, because that’s going to be an enormous game to determine if we get a home playoff game or not.”
They haven’t had a home game in the playoffs since the 2020 semifinals and haven’t had a first-round home game since 2017. They haven’t won a tournament game since 2014.
All four field-position seniors scored goals for the Eagles – and in the first 15 minutes of the match. Their fifth senior, goalkeeper Coen Rinnier, came within a penalty kick near the end of the 60-minute game of recording the shutout.
Trevor Hann got them on the board with his second career goal and first since 2023 on a breakaway in the seventh minute. Sophomore J.P. Laughrey made it 2-0 two minutes later, followed in quick succession by seniors Edwin Castaneda-Sanchez, (his career first), Fatcher and Danny Bunay Coronel.
“It’s felt amazing,” Hann said. “Scoring on my Senior Night, winning the division title for the first time in more than 30 years, I feel amazing. I never felt like this before. It feels amazing.”
Freshman Anthony Michaca made it 6-0 before halftime and set the stage for a 60-minute finish. Guy Quintanilha got the Rams inside the mercy threshold with a PK 3:49 before the deadline, but freshman Jhonny Medina made it a six-goal game again with his first career goal in the 59th minute .
Sixty seconds later, the celebration began.
“Coach Foglein wasn’t even born when that (last) happened,” Rinnier said. “Coach Joe was one of the last to do it. We’ve had him just cheering us on the whole way. He still remembers his whole team when he won and I think it’s going to be the same thing for us. He talks about how special it is and we’re going to see how special it is.”
Woodstown battles Pitman to 1-1 tie, but needed a win to share division title with Schalick; draw was the Wolverines’ fourth of the season and third in a row
BOYS SOCCER Woodstown 1, Pitman 1 Schalick 4, Penns Grove 0 Pennsville 7, Salem 1 Gloucester Catholic 6, Salem Tech 4
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN – The message to the Woodstown soccer team as it was about to start the second overtime was pretty straightforward: “We cannot tie and we cannot lose.”
The Wolverines just couldn’t get what they needed.
Most teams might accept a tie with a rival as a positive result, but the 1-1 draw the Wolverines got against Pitman Monday was neither the one they wanted nor needed.
It felt like a loss. With Schalick beating Penns Grove 15 miles down the road, Woodstown needed to beat the Panthers to grab a share of their first Tri-County Diamond Division title since 2014.
Instead, the tie – their fourth of the season and third in a row — left the Wolverines (9-1-4) one point behind the Cougars in the final division standings despite posting a winning record against them (1-0-1) during the season. They also had four ties in 2016.
“I feel like it feels more like a loss to this group of guys,” backliner Tommy Tucci said. “We came off the really good game against Schalick, keeping them to zero, and then came out here today really excited to hopefully get the win to keep the division. I think (the tie) feels more like a loss today.”
Both teams had chances, but both goalies and defenses turned them away. The Panthers finally broke through with 4:09 left in the half when Jonas Trum sent Trevor Leach down the right side and Leach shot it across into his left side of the net.
Landon Gugliemo got the equalizer with 9:11 left in regulation when Bryce Ayars’ shot went towards the left post and Gugliemo came crashing it and rifled back into the right side. But the Wolverines needed more.
While the Wolverines were clearly focused on their game at hand, they had an eye on the events 15 miles down the road and Schalick kept the pressure on from afar.
The Cougars grabbed a 1-0 halftime lead on the strength of Anthony Sepers’ penalty kick, then poured in three goals in the second half that left no doubt what the Wolverines had to do.
Steve Chomo headed home a cross from Mike Nelson to give Schalick a 2-0 lead, he assisted on Connor Jackson’s goal that made it 3-0, then closed the scoring later in the half. Evan Sepers made three saves in goal to record his eighth shutout of the season. The division title was Schalick’s third straight.
Both Pitman and Woodstown had good chances to win their game in the second overtime. With six minutes to go, Ayars got the ball in the box, stepped over a defender to create some separation but the keeper blocked his shot and the Panthers cleared the ensuing corner kick.
Three minutes later, Trum got past a defender down the right side and got in alone on the keeper, but Trey Markward stoned him to keep it tied. Both keepers, Markward and Pitman’s Joey Zubert, were credited with 13 saves.
“I just felt confident in myself and felt confident that God would give me the ability to make the save,” Markward said. “I kind of yelled way too loud basically at Him, then I apologized to Him.”
The match ended with the ball at Ayars’ feet in the Panthers’ box, but the double team on him kept him from controlling it and getting a shot.
“We came up a little short,” Woodstown coach Darren Huck said. “I know the way we play we’re going to keep games close and we did it today. We had the formation we wanted, we had we thought the guys in place to be successful. We just needed that one goal, that one more goal.”
There was a lot on the line for the Wolverines. Besides the division title, the teams were battling for the Orange Cup and it also was Woodstown’s Senior Day. The tie allowed the Wolverines to retain the Cup, having won last year’s designated game, but they no doubt would have preferred the bigger prize. Both Schalick and Woodstown had 15 standings points coming into the day.
“It’s terrible, not only for us, but for our seniors, too,” junior Nick DiTeodoro said. “This was their last chance. We all tried, we really wanted it. Even in the huddle, at halftime, before overtime, we were like this is our last time, this is our one chance. Coming up short just hurts.”
NOTES: It was the sixth tie in the history of the Orange Cup … The Wolverines had four ties in 2016 (6-12-4) … The teams considered an unofficial penalty kick shootout to decide the Cup (it would’ve still gone down as a tie), but dwindling daylight and the Senior Day program prevented it from happening … To show there were no hard feelings over the hard-fought result, Huck noticed the Pitman team still in the parking lot waiting on their bus to return and called them over to share in the Senior Day smorgasbord. “We got to share a little bit of a moment,” Huck said. “It was a little emotional.”
Passaic Tech sweeps boys, girls titles in state tech school cross country championships
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN — The Passaic Tech cross country team is finally at full strength and has been taking it out on race trails across North Jersey ever since.
Bulldogs coach Shadi Taha knew he had “something special” brewing this year, but it took a while before he was finally able to turn it loose.
The season started slow with several runners on the mend, including junior ace Mike DeCarlo, but the group he expected to have has been together now for about three weeks and they haven’t been beaten yet.
The Bulldogs made it four races in a row Monday when they won the NJTAC tech schools’ state championship in dominating fashion at windy Salem Tech.
Passaic won the girls team title too, giving the Bulldogs their first sweep since 2015, the last time available records show the girls won it.
DeCarlo won the boys race in 16:43.03. Sussex Tech’s Micah Delelio won the girls race in 19:56.88 after finishing second each of the last two years to Morris Tech’s Maya VanHorn.Passaic and GCIT finished 1-2 in both team races.
The Bulldogs’ boys, the defending race champs, put the first three runners across the line — DeCarlo, Jayell Pallero and Victor Mielnik — all five of their counters in the top nine and seven in the first 13. The girls had two runners in the top five and then places 10, 11 and 12.
DeCarlo didn’t get out as fast as he expected into a stiff wind, but he led wire to wire for his third win. He won by more than 30 seconds.
“It wasn’t my best performance today, but I feel like I bounced back from last year,” he said.
Delelio wasn’t the pacesetter coming out of the gate in her race, but she took the lead as the field made its way through the woods and kept it the rest of the way. She was nearly 45 seconds ahead of GCIT runner-up Jordan Moczydlowski.
Sussex Tech’s Micah Dalelio approaches the finish line to win the NJTAC girls cross country race. (Top photo) Passaic’s Mike DeCarlo (R), Jayell Pallero (L) and Victor Mielnik walk back to team tent together after finishing 1-2-3 in the boys race.
NJTAC Championships
BOYS TEAM SCORES: Passaic Tech 23, GCIT 57, Morris Tech 116, Medford Tech 144, Salem Tech 150, Sussex Tech 179, Camden Vo-Tech 189, Bergen Tech 200, Westhampton Tech 256, Warren Tech 265, Cape May Tech 272, Pennsauken Tech 348, West Caldwell Tech 375, East Brunswick Magnet 410.
GIRLS TEAM SCORES: Passaic Tech 38, GCIT 57, Morris Tech 60, Warren Tech 128, Sussex Tech 130, Camden Vo-Tech 166, West Caldwell Tech 188, Medford Tech 210, Salem Tech 219, East Brunswick Magnet 239.
BOYS TOP 10
GIRLS TOP 10
Mike DeCarlo, Passaic
16:43.03
Micah Dalelio, Sussex
19:56.68
Jayell Pallero, Passaic
17:15.35
Jordan Moczydlowski, GCIT
20:39.12
Victor Mielnik, Passaic
17:23.44
Erisa Ciocoiu, Passaic
21:17.92
Wyatt Evans, GCIT
17:33.80
Cameron Fuerte, Morris
22:06.41
Chris Davis, Medford
17:37.36
Michell Taipe, Passaic
22:12.26
Matt McQueen, Sussex
17:55.07
Siddhee Pathak, Morris
22:13.78
D Snyder-Shellito, GCIT
18:05.70
Isabel Guerra, GCIT
22:28.17
Bryson Coke, Passaic
18:12.10
Olivia Davis, Warren
22:31.71
Joaquin Vila, Passaic
18:12.75
Kirstyn McHale, Cape May
22:47.83
Ryan Ejjalili, GCIT
18:20.63
Elena Urriola, Passaic
22:58.67
SALEM TECH BOYS COUNTERS: (21) Anthony Morano, 19:09.65; (28) Jean-Pierre Pozo, 19:43.90; (29) Levi Seals, 19:45.41; (35) Chase Pompper, 20:18.06; (37) Larry Pompper, 20:34.12. SALEM TECH GIRLS COUNTERS: (27) Paityn Harrington, 25:35.35; (33) Abigail Vanaman, 27:10.23; (49) Gabrielle Lemke, 32:54.07; (54) Julia Richards, 34:43.57; (56) Carmen Mott, 35:11.45
Passaic’s Mike DeCarlo comes to the tape after leading the NJTAC race wire-to-wire.
Pennsville’s Cooksey back on soccer field after year-long medical ordeal that led to a ‘season of loss’
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – From now on, every time Karsen Cooksey looks at the calendar the first day of August will forever be known as her “Day of Victory.”
It may be just another day on other calendars, but it should be a national holiday in the Cooksey household for that was the day the Pennsville soccer player left her temporary North Carolina home for good, released from a 12-month medical ordeal that threatened to prematurely end her high school sports career and change her life forever.
Cooksey suffered a debilitating knee injury during a pre-training camp exercise at the start of her sophomore year – right before Casey Slusher’s first preseason practice as the Eagles’ new head coach – but the complications that followed her surgery moved her life into a desperate search for answers and ultimately what she refers to as a “season of loss.”
The surgery went wrong and left the family searching for a miracle. That arrived in the form of four months of Olympic-level therapy at a clinic in Cary, N.C., 6 1/2 hours and 400 miles away from home and friends.
Sure, she lost her sophomore soccer season, but she also missed out getting ready for her oldest sister’s wedding with the girls because of an appointment with the surgeon, the prom and hanging out with her friends, and all the other things that come with being an active teen.
Pretty scary stuff for a 15-year-old who aspired to follow her cousin as a 100-goal scorer for the Eagles, but through a world-renowned doctor and support from her family, teammates and community she avoided a third surgery, got well and is happily back on the field playing the sport she loves.
“It’s a miracle,” says Karsen’s mom Michelle, who doesn’t use the term lightly as Children’s Ministries Coordinator for Lifehouse Church in Townsend, Del.
A miracle is defined as an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs and it certainly applies as the Cookseys were definitely at a financial and emotional wits end as they fretted over their youngest daughter’s circumstances.
‘Knew’ something was wrong
It all started in a summer team camp before the start of official varsity practice when Karsen, the Eagles’ top goal-scorer as a freshman, hyperextended her knee during a simple passing drill. It was the same knee she initially hurt in a basketball game at Clayton that February.
She spent five weeks doing rehab before her doctor decided on surgery. The first surgery was performed in Delaware Oct. 23, an arthroscopic procedure designed to repair the injury, and it didn’t take long for the family to realize something was wrong.
“People usually get up and start walking after meniscus (surgery), but the pain was like crazy,” Karsen said. “I couldn’t put my toes on the ground. A week went by and it was awful.
“I couldn’t do the normal things like straighten it, move it, put pressure on it. It was just all messed up.”
Four days after the operation she was back in the hospital. X-rays and ultrasounds were inconclusive, but an MRI revealed something disturbing. The pictures the family saw showed a nerve attached to the repaired meniscus.
A second surgery was performed in Delaware Dec. 3 to “decompress the nerve.” All seemed well two days after the operation, but a few days later Karsen’s leg began shaking and then shaking violently and she was back in the hospital for another week. She was in a wheelchair from December to February, but at least she was home for Christmas and didn’t miss the Eagles winning the Super Bowl – on her birthday.
To complicate matters, all the medicine she was taking in an effort to quiet the nerve was starting to attack her system. There was talk of removing organs. She was back in the hospital in March.
“So many things were going wrong, I guess we just didn’t even really know,” Karsen said.
The family started looking for other options, among them a trip to Baltimore for a second opinion at Johns Hopkins.
“I had a lot of people throwing a lot of things our way and they were some big, big, big scary things and I never had a peace about any of them,” Michelle said. “I was just like, ‘Lord, please close doors that we should not walk through and open ones that are for us.’”
Finally, eldest sister Taylor, a medical professional, found Dr. David Pascal in part through a series of social media videos and testimonials from the world-class athletes he has treated in the past.
He could fix this, not through surgery or drugs but his technique of “quantum neurology.” But it would require the family pulling up stakes and moving to North Carolina.
According to his bio on the Institute website, Pascal, a chiropractor, specializes in severe neurologic injury, focusing on identifying the root causes of health issues and developing personalized treatment plans that promise long-term healing. He has treated track Olympians, world-class gymnasts, pro golfers and pro volleyball players.
On March 11, Michelle’s birthday, they were driving back from the hospital when the call came from the Pascal Health Institute that they’d see her. “The best birthday present ever,” Michelle said.
They left for North Carolina April 21.
Pennsville junior Karsen Cooksey positions her defense in advance of a corner kick in a recent match against Schalick.
Outpouring of support
The treatment wasn’t cheap and not covered by insurance, but the family had a lot of help to make ends meet. Dad Kirk quickly sold the family boat, a retirement gift to himself after a long career in local law enforcement, to get the financial ball rolling. It sold two hours after the listing drew multiple buyers. “Right then and there we knew something was headed in the right direction,” Kirk said.
Friends quietly set up a GoFundMe page that raised more than $41,000 in two days. Trinity United Methodist Church in Pennsville offered to take care of the apartment the family would have to live in while Karsen was undergoing treatment.
“It was one miracle after another that my little mind still can’t even fathom,” Michelle said.
The treatments were twice-a-day, two hours a day. It was an exhausting schedule, but there were some diversions.
Their apartment was next to the WakeMed Soccer Park, home of the North Carolina Courage of the National Women’s Soccer League. Karsen visited often and received encouragement from several players from the Courage and Orlando Pride during her treatment and recovery, and remains friends with several of them. She went to watch the Pride play in Washington, D.C., Saturday.
One of the milestone days was July 8, the day they took her crutches away. But she still had three more weeks of therapy.
She was released from the Institute Aug. 1, the Day of Victory, and came back home with the doctor’s caution of maybe returning to the field next year. But all her fears were finally behind her and she was looking forward to future.
“I think I was probably more worried about walking again than whether I’d play soccer,” Karsen said. “I think if I never found Dr. Pascal I’d probably still be in a wheelchair.”
She returned to normal activities almost as soon as she got home, and that included lightly practicing with her Pennsville teammates.
Karsen Cooksey shows off game-used soccer gear signed by players of the NWSL North Carolina Courage who befriended the Pennsville junior while she was undergoing medical treatment nearby last spring.
Back in the game
The year before Cooksey got hurt, she was the Eagles’ leading scorer with 14 goals. The team scored only 30 goals in the year she missed – 13 of them in two games – and no one scored more than nine. This year, they are 8-6 and go into this week looking to solidify the program’s first winning season in 2022 and a prime position in the South Jersey Group I tournament
She was back in the game for the first time in 23 months on Sept. 29 as the last-minute starting goalie in a predictively low-impact game against Buena and even made two saves in an easy shutout. She was back at it the next day against Salem Tech and, after texting her reluctant mom during the game for permission to play in the field, scored the team’s fifth goal in a 9-0 rout.
It was her first goal since she scored a hat trick Oct. 23, 2023 – against Salem Tech – but it meant so much more than any goal she’s ever scored in her life.
“I was excited,” Karsen said.
“That one goal this year means more to us than the 100 because it’s victory,” Michelle said. “The 100 aren’t important because the one means she’s walking. The 100 doesn’t mean anything if there’s not true victory behind it, and that one is victory.
“It means there’s no wheelchair. It means we’ve persevered, we’ve had joy. That one is the win.”
Mom admitted the ordeal had them all reorienting their perspective on sports, but Karsen is thinking about her future. She probably won’t play basketball again, but is thinking about playing softball. She was a catcher, but that constant crouching puts a strain, so that’s probably out; plus, the Eagles have a pretty good one already. They did graduate two outfielders, so there’s an opening.
That’s really all she needs.
Karsen Cooksey shows off her signed N.C. Courage jersey.
Here are the current South Jersey Group I top 16 in football, field hockey, boys soccer and girls soccer heading into the week; the cutoff date is Saturday; Salem County teams in bold
FOOTBALL
UPR
FIELD HOCKEY
PTS.
s-Glassboro (8-0)
1.4
Shore (15-0-1)
33.002
c-Burlington City (7-1)
2.2
W. Deptford (12-2)
28.964
s-Paulsboro (7-1)
2.8
Haddon Twp. (9-6)
22.695
c-Shore (5-2)
3.6
Schalick (11-6)
20.238
c-Riverside (6-2)
6.4
Gloucester (9-7)
20.181
s-Pennsville (4-4)
7.8
S. Hunterdon (12-3)
19.716
c-KIPP (5-2)
8.8
Audubon (9-5-2)
18.664
s-Salem (4-4)
8.8
Haddon Hts. (8-6-1)
18.548
c-Asbury Park (4-3)
9.8
Gateway (7-5-2)
15.033
c-Pt. Pleasant Beach (5-2)
10.2
Woodstown (7-7-1)
13.830
s-Woodbury (3-5)
11.4
Lower Cape May (6-4-1)
12.597
c-Manville (8-0)
12.0
Florence (5-7)
11.242
s-Schalick (2-6)
13.8
Pennsville (6-7-1)
10.970
s-Audubon (2-5)
14.0
New Egypt (5-8-1)
10.004
s-Clayton (4-3)
15.2
Collingswood (2-11-1)
9.884
c-Highland Park (2-5)
15.2
Bordentown (6-9)
9.821
Football teams projected out to South Section (s), Central Section (c)
BOYS SOCCER
PTS.
GIRLS SOCCER
PTS.
Schalick (11-2-2)
23.686
Gateway (13-1)
20.811
Haddon Twp. (10-5-1)
23.261
Haddon Twp. (7-9-1)
18.752
Audubon (11-2-1)
21.991
Schalick (9-5-1)
18.737
Woodstown (9-1-3)
20.905
Clayton (10-4-1)
17.256
Riverside (9-2-2)
19.096
Pitman (9-5)
17.048
Pitman (8-5-1)
18.760
Palmyra (8-5-1)
16.974
Penns Grove (6-3-3)
16.550
Woodstown (10-3-1)
16.085
Pennsville (8-5-2)
14.188
Audubon (6-8-1)
15.285
Gateway (7-5-2)
13.868
Pennsville (8-6)
12.883
Palmyra (7-5-3)
13.263
Glassboro (6-7)
10.316
Maple Shade (7-3-2)
13.057
Riverside (5-8)
9.975
Clayton (10-6)
12.411
Maple Shade (2-12-1)
9.300
Glassboro (5-10-1)
12.331
Buena (6-7-2)
9.131
Wildwood (7-6)
11.192
Wildwood (5-6-1)
8.613
New Egypt (5-11)
9.245
Woodbury (4-7-2)
7.110
Woodbury (5-7-2)
8.411
x-Penns Grove (1-12)
5.872
NOTE: Football, which follows a different qualifying formula than the other sports, will be split into South and Central sections based on top 16 and geographic northing numbers; Salem Tech is in Group 2 and currently No. 19 in field hockey, No. 19 in boys soccer; No. 17 in girls soccer; some teams may opt out of playoffs. x-Penns Grove has opted out of girls soccer playoffs.
Here is the Salem County sports schedule for the week of Oct. 20-25; the cutoff for fall sports power points is Saturday
MONDAY, OCT. 20 FIELD HOCKEY Deptford at Schalick, 4 p.m. Gloucester Catholic at Salem, 4 p.m. Overbrook at Woodstown, 4 p.m. BOYS SOCCER Gloucester Catholic at Salem Tech, 4 p.m. Penns Grove at Schalick, 4 p.m. Pitman at Woodstown, 4 p.m. Salem at Pennsville, 6 p.m. GIRLS SOCCER Pitman at Salem, 4 p.m. Salem Tech at Gloucester Catholic, 4 p.m. Schalick at Penns Grove, 4 p.m. Woodstown at Pennsville, 4 p.m. GIRLS TENNIS Woodstown at Schalick, 3:45 p.m. Salem at Pitman, 4 p.m. Overbrook at Pennsville, 4:15 p.m. GIRLS VOLLEYBALL Buena at Salem Tech, 4 p.m. CROSS COUNTRY NJTAC at Salem Tech, 1 p.m.
TUESDAY, OCT. 21 FIELD HOCKEY Overbrook at Salem, 4 p.m. Pennsville at Gateway, 4 p.m. Salem Tech at Absegami, 4 p.m. GIRLS TENNIS Pennsville at Schalick, 4 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 22 FIELD HOCKEY Salem Tech at Paulsboro, 4 p.m. BOYS SOCCER Overbrook at Salem Tech, 4 p.m. Pennsville at Collingswood, 4 p.m. Penns Grove at Salem, 4 p.m. GIRLS SOCCER Salem at Penns Grove, 4 p.m. Salem Tech at Overbrook, 4 p.m. Schalick at Pitman, 4 p.m. Clayton at Pennsville, 6 p.m. GIRLS TENNIS Pennsville at Pitman, 3:45 p.m. Woodstown at Glassboro, 3:45 p.m. Overbrook at Salem, 4 p.m. Penns Grove at Wildwood, 4 p.m. CROSS COUNTRY TCC Championship at Cumberland, 3:30 p.m.
THURSDAY, OCT. 23 FIELD HOCKEY Salem Tech at Burlington City, 3:45 p.m. Overbrook at Pennsville, 4 p.m. BOYS SOCCER Schalick at Sterling, 4 p.m. Woodstown at Audubon, 7 p.m. GIRLS SOCCER Gloucester City at Pennsville, 4 p.m. Salem at Salem Tech, 4 p.m. GIRLS TENNIS Salem at Wildwood, 4 p.m. Schalick at Woodstown, 4 p.m. GIRLS VOLLEYBALL Salem Tech at Timber Creek, 4 p.m. WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL Penn State-Brandywine at Salem CC, 7 p.m.
FRIDAY, OCT. 24 WJFL FOOTBALL Pennsville at Collingswood, 6 p.m. West Deptford at Overbrook, 6 p.m. Glassboro at Woodstown, 7 p.m. FIELD HOCKEY Salem Tech at Overbrook, 3:45 p.m. Gloucester Catholic at Woodstown, 4 p.m. BOYS SOCCER Penns Grove at Wildwood, 4 p.m. Pennsville at Gloucester City, 4 p.m. GIRLS SOCCER Woodstown at Pennsville, 3:30 p.m. Clayton at Schalick, 4 p.m. GIRLS TENNIS Cumberland at Woodstown, 3:45 p.m.
SATURDAY, OCT. 25 WJFL FOOTBALL Schalick at Woodbury, 11 a.m. Penns Grove at Salem, noon Clayton at Paulsboro, 12:30 p.m. BOYS SOCCER Highland at Woodstown, 10 a.m. GIRLS SOCCER Woodstown at Highland, 10 a.m. Penns Grove at Salem, noon COLLEGE BASEBALL Salem CC at Lincoln (2), noon
Penns Grove needed ‘one more step’ as its bid for a first win falls short in the final minute in the red zone
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
PENNS GROVE — One play. That’s all that stood between Penns Grove and its first win of the season.
The Red Devils trailed Woodbury by a point with time running out facing fourth-and-15 from the 16. With no reliable kicker on hand, they had to go for it, but the rocket screen they called fell incomplete and they walked away with a 9-8 loss.
Had they pulled it off, the Red Devils (0-8) would carry a lot different mindset into the presumptive final game of coach Marc Maccarone’s second season. Now, they’ll have to beat rival Salem next Saturday to avoid their first winless season in generations.
“We were real close and it sucks that we just needed one more step,” senior running back Jameel Horace said. “Just one more step. If we had that one more step we’d have been perfect.”
The Red Devils rallied from 9-0 to have a chance. Terrell Thomas scored on a 14-yard run and Horace added the two-point conversion to make it 9-8 with 9:47 to play and two timeouts in their pocket.
They had two possessions to get the winning points. The first ended with a five-yard punt, but the defense held the Herd back.
They started the potential winning drive from their 20 with 4:06 to play. Horace got a big chunk of what they needed with a 61-yard burst on the second snap to reach the 11. The senior had 113 of the Red Devils’ 185 rushing yards.
“I thought that was going to bring us back,” Horace said of the longest run of his career. “I thought that was going to be the one.”
But once the Red Devils got into the red zone they didn’t execute.
They netted only one yard on the next two snaps separated by their final time out. Their third-down play lost a yard and then they couldn’t get the next play off in time and were hit with a delay penalty that moved the fourth-down play back to the 16.
They had one snap to either score the go-ahead touchdown or get to the 1 to keep the drive alive. Maccarone would have considered a field goal if they had been closer, but without a reliable kicker they had to go for it.
Quarterback Brayden Lattig threw a hurried pass to Jerry Wooten cutting into the middle that was either too hard or too quick and went off Wooten’s outstretched right hand with 34.7 remaining to end the Red Devils’ chances.
“It was like a quick inside pass,” Lattig said. “The rusher came from my right side so I had to hurry up and throw the ball. It was just a rushed pass, in my opinion.
“We definitely had a chance. We could have won the game with a touchdown, but things happen.”
Woodbury (3-4) took a 7-0 lead into halftime thanks to Niko Jimenez’ 6-yard pass to Elijah Young and Mark Martin’s extra point with 3:28 left in the second quarter. Young caught five passes for 77 yards.
The eventual margin of victory came with 4:14 left in the third quarter when Thomas took a deep handoff in the end zone and was immediately met by a Thundering Herd for a safety.
The Herd mishandled the free kick and Messiah Allah recovered for Penns Grove, sending the Red Devils on the way to their touchdown. Horace ran it inside the 10 on the first snap, but the play was called back by penalty. Allah caught a 23-yard pass a couple snaps later and a personal foul helped get the ball into the red zone.
Thomas, a legend in the youth leagues, scored his second touchdown of the season from 14 yards out. He rushed for 69 yards on a career-high 14 carries.
“I had to step up,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been playing a little bit low to my standards, so I felt like I had to step my game up. It came out today and I scored for my team. I tried to fight to the whistle but came up short in the long run.”
The defense did its part to keep the Red Devils in the game. They held the Herd to minus-17 yards rushing and 73 yards net overall. They gave up minus-17 yards net offense and no first downs in the second half.
Penns Grove receiver Jerry Wooten (3) reaches for the fourth-down pass the Red Devils hoped would keep their final drive alive or find the end zone for the winning touchdown.
Woodbury 9, Penns Grove 8
WOOD (9)
PG (8)
6
1st Downs
9
27-(-17)
Rushing
34-189
8-19-0
Passing
1-4-1
90
Passing yds.
23
1-1
Fumbles-lost
3-2
6-33.3
Punts-avg
3-24.3
7-70
Penalties
10-90
Woodbury (3-4)
0
7
2
0-
9
Penns Grove (0-8)
0
0
0
8-
8
SCORING SUMMARY WO-Elijah Young 6 pass from Niko Jimenez (Mark Martin kick), 3:28 3Q WO-Safety, Terrell Thomas tackled in end zone, 4:14 3Q PG-Terrell Thomas 14 run (Jameel Horace run), 9:47 3Q
WJFL Standings
DIAMOND
ALL
DIV
Glassboro
8-0
4-0
Salem
4-4
3-1
Schalick
2-6
2-2
Woodbury
3-4
2-2
Woodstown
2-6
1-3
Penns Grove
0-8
0-4
PATRIOT
ALL
DIV
West Deptford
7-1
5-0
Paulsboro
7-1
5-1
Overbrook
6-2
3-2
Pennsville
4-4
2-3
Collingswood
5-3
2-3
Audubon
2-5
1-4
Camden Catholic
0-8
0-5
FRIDAY’S GAMES Glassboro 35, Schalick 7 Pennsville 44, Lawrence 6 Salem 47, Woodstown 0 Collingswood 28, Camden Catholic 24
SATURDAY’S GAMES West Deptford 14, Paulsboro 0 Overbrook 48, Audubon 18 Woodbury 9, Penns Grove 8
Salem, Carey take it out on Woodstown after losing to the Wolverines last year and their Homecoming Game last week; Pennsville unloads on Lawrence to enhance its playoff hopes; Schalick falls to Glassboro; includes WJFL standings
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN — For Troy Carey, this one was personal.
Carey had a monster game against Woodstown last year, passing for an eye-popping 279 yards, but Salem lost to the other quarterback’s big game.
Salem’s Troy Carey proudly wears the Game MVP chain he won for the second time this season.
Friday night, the senior got a little payback on a lot of counts, rushing for 125 yards and two touchdowns and making some big plays on defense as the Rams crushed the Wolverines on their Homecoming and Senior Night, 47-0, a week after losing their own Homecoming game.
It was Salem’s first win in the rivalry since the 2020 season finale, its first at Woodstown since 2019 and its first at Clint Ware Field in the regular season since Thanksgiving 2017. There was talk on the sidelines Woodstown hadn’t lost at Homecoming in years.
“I was definitely hungry because last week was a tough game, I didn’t get any carries last week, but this week was definitely personal, for sure,” Carey said. “We lost our Homecoming (to West Deptford), so we had an opportunity to upset somebody else’s, so it was definitely big. It was personal this week, for sure.”
Carey was part of a balanced offense and a dominating defense. He, Cashmir Parsley and Isiah Santiago all scored a pair of touchdowns. Santiago, normally a receiver, played in the backfield for the first time and rushed for 71 yards. Parsley rushed for 68 yards and quarterback Desmund Thomas had 141 total yards and threw for a score on the final play of a 21-point first quarter.
The defense held Woodstown to minus-14 yards of net rushing and 45 yards total. It was the second opponent in three weeks the Rams held to negative rushing yards.
“I thought the defense played really well,” Rams coach Kemp Carr said. “Offense is for being cute and defense is for winning championship. The guys understood the call. For the most part there was good communication throughout. I heard a lot of pointing, a lot of talking, and that’s what it takes every game.”
Carey has played so many positions in his Salem career it’s hard to pigeon-hole him as any specific type player. You might call him a Swiss Army Knife. Carr just calls him “unicorn.”
He went for 34 yards the first time he touched the ball — on the first snap of the game — and scored on a 19-yard run two plays later. He had a 23-yard touchdown run in the final minute of the third quarter.
“He’s a unicorn, whatever we need him to do he’s willing to do and you can’t ask for anything more than that,” Carr said. “He plays wing, he plays quarterback, he plays running back, he plays Mike linebacker, defense and down line. When you have a unicorn like that you try to use him in the best place you can, but we have multiple of those guys.”
It was another tough night for the Wolverines (2-6), who fell out of the top 16 of the South Jersey Group I power points standings for the first time ever this week and are in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2010.
They were held to less than 50 yards of net offense and had four turnovers, three of which Salem (4-4) converted into touchdowns. They did have a big play on their first drive when freshman quarterback Frankie Hoerst connected on a 63-yard bomb to Sincere Cook-Reese, but the sophomore receiver was stopped short of the end zone and they ended up not scoring, missing a 26-yard field goal attempt.
There was a scary moment in the game involving the quarterback later in the quarter. Hoerst lay still on the 30-yard line after getting crushed by the Salem rush and losing a fumble. The game was delayed nearly 15 minutes while trainers and medical staff treated him for an apparent neck injury.
They stabilized his head and neck area before lifting him on a backboard to an awaiting stretcher. Woodstown coach Frank Trautz reported Hoerst was moving and talking as he was being treated. He did not have an update on the player’s condition immediately after the game.
It was just another in a series of injuries that have befallen the Wolverines this season. At one point this year they had nine starters out because of injury. As it was, they had fewer than a half-dozen of their opening day starters on the field against the Rams.
“It’s unfortunate you have a season (like that),” Trautz said. “You keep telling yourself we’ve made it through and we get some guys back and we can’t seem to stay healthy. It’s part of this game, unfortunately.
“We’re not making excuses here. We’re very confident in the guys we have playing, but it’s no doubt it takes a toll on you. As ironic it sounds I do think it’s still going to help us in the long run here with a lot of these kids who were forced to play different positions this year before stepping into roles they were not expected to play in.”
With backup quarterbacks Mason Middlemiss and Lucas Fulmer among those already sidelined, the Wolverines turned to “Q” for the “A” at the position. Noah Chiu, pronounced like the letter Q, plays a hard-nosed style of ball and did what he could despite being under constant pressure.
“Noah is as tough as they come,” Trautz said. “He’s one of those kids that every coach would take 100 of. He’d run through a brick wall for you. He’ll do everything you ask of him. Very tough. We asked a lot of him tonight and he didn’t flinch.”
Woodstown coach Frank Trautz (R) gives some instructions to Noah Chiu before sending the junior in at quarterback in the second quarter Friday night against Salem.
Salem 47, Woodstown 0
SAL (47)
WOOD (0)
11
1st Downs
2
31-321
Rushing
19-(-14)
5-7-0
Passing
2-9-1
88
Passing yds
59
2-0
Fumbles-lost
3-3
3-32.0
Punts-avg
4-29.5
12-101
Penalties
2-7
Salem (4-4)
21
6
13
7-
47
Woodstown (2-6)
0
0
0
0-
0
SCORING SUMMARY S-Troy Carey 19 run (kick failed), 10:36 1Q S-Cashmir Parsley 2 run (Johnathan Bower kick), 1:07 1Q S-Kaden Robinson 30 pass from Desmund Thomas (Antwuan Rogers pass from Desmund Thomas), 0:00 1Q S-Cashmir Parsley 4 run (run failed), 4:40 2Q S-Isiah Santiago 10 run (run failed), 6:42 3Q S-Troy Carey 23 run (Johnathan Bower kick), 0:38 3Q S-Isiah Santiago 4 run (Johnathan Bower kick)
Pennsville 44, Lawrence 6
PENNSVILLE — The homestanding Eagles played one of their most complete games of the season, dominating their Mercer County visitors on both sides of the ball on Senior Night.
Rylan Hardy scored three touchdowns, Robbie McDade scored two and Adrian Alleyne scored once. Perry Meranti had three two-point conversions.
The Eagles led 16-0 in the first quarter and 30-6 at halftime.
“We had everything clicking,” Eagles coach Mike Healy said. “You know how we’ve talked about getting to play all four quarters? We did that.”
Glassboro 35, Schalick 7
GLASSBORO — Schalick gave Glassboro all it could handle for the better part of three quarters, but then the Bulldogs remembered who they were.
The Cougars held their own with the defending state champions through the first half and into the third quarter, but Xavier Sabb got loose for two late fourth-quarter touchdowns to close out a 35-7 victory.
Schalick had the Homecoming crowd worried for a while. Glassboro scored first, but the Bulldogs answered with an 82-yard drive after a Jase Volovar interception capped by Gary Simonini’s 30-yard TD pass to Sherrod Jones.
The Bulldogs scored again, and the Cougars nearly got the tying touchdown right before halftime. David Stewart set them up with an interception and they got to the 2 with four seconds left but couldn’t punch it in.
They ran three plays, missed a receiver in the end zone on second down and were stopped on third down. They lined up for a field goal, but it was blocked, so instead of going into the halftime trailing 14-10 they remained down by a touchdown, but not feeling as hurt as the Bulldogs.
“We were right there all through the first half,” Cougars coach Kevin Leamy said. “We had a game plan that the kids executed great and frustrated them on offense. Kids made plays.
“Everything was going good in the first half. We played well in the second half, too, but you give them enough opportunities, those kids are going to make plays.”
The events of the first half must not have sat well with the Bulldogs (8-0) because they didn’t come out for the second half until there were 30 seconds left in the break.
It was a 20-7 game going into the final four minutes of the fourth quarter, but Xavier Sabb, who hadn’t caught a pass to that point, scored twice to put the game out of reach.
“I don’t think it was anything special,” Leamy said of the approach. “I think it was just a mentality that we came into the game with that we were going to force them to earn everything they get. Pressure them, force them to continue to make plays. Force them to run the ball.
“They run the ball really well, but they refuse to commit to it. They’re always going to revert back to throwing the ball because they have those three kids out there that they can get the ball to. I think we knew that going in and were going to say we dare you to run the ball, we’re going to try everything we have to take away that pass.”
Glassboro 35, Schalick 7
Schalick (2-6)
7
0
0
0-
7
Glassboro (8-0)
14
0
7
14-
35
SCORING SUMMARY G-Amari Sabb 42 pass from Jack O’Connell (Sal Esgro kick) S-Sherrod Jones 30 pass from Gary Simonini (Hunter Dragotta kick) G-JoJo DeLecce 22 run (Sal Esgro kick) G-Amari Sabb 3 run (Sal Esgro kick) G-Xavier Sabb 22 pass from Jack O’Connell (pass failed) G-Xavier Sabb 25 pass from Jack O’Connell (Mekhi Parker run)
WJFL Standings
DIAMOND
ALL
DIV
Glassboro
8-0
4-0
Salem
4-4
3-1
Schalick
2-6
2-2
Woodbury
2-4
1-2
Woodstown
2-6
1-3
Penns Grove
0-7
0-3
PATRIOT
ALL
DIV
Paulsboro
7-0
5-0
West Deptford
6-1
4-0
Overbrook
5-2
2-2
Pennsville
4-4
2-3
Collingswood
5-3
2-3
Audubon
2-4
1-3
Camden Catholic
0-8
0-5
FRIDAY’S GAMES Glassboro 35, Schalick 7 Pennsville 44, Lawrence 6 Salem 47, Woodstown 0 Collingswood 28, Camden Catholic 24
SATURDAY’S GAMES West Deptford at Paulsboro, 11 a.m. Overbrook at Audubon, 11 Woodbury at Penns Grove, noon
Riverview Sports News 