Salem sack master Rogers ready to embrace life-changing experience as he prepares to sign with Temple
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
SALEM – The phone buzzed in Antwuan Rogers’ pocket during Tuesday’s mid-morning rush. On the other end of the line was his Temple recruiting contact Malachi Timberlake, just checking in again with the Salem senior, but this time to make sure everything was still on track for Wednesday’s red-letter day.
“‘Are you ready,’” Rogers said, recalling the conversation. “’Your life changes tomorrow.’”
ROGERS
Indeed. First thing Wednesday morning Rogers will sign with Temple to play Division I football. He’ll enroll in January and participate in spring practice to get a jump on his freshman college season. And he plans to come back to walk with his graduating class in May.
It’s a day he’s dreamed about since he was a ninth-grader sitting in the auditorium watching his senior teammates do exactly what he will be celebrating Wednesday afternoon in front of friends, family and teammates. He was too young to understand the enormity of the day when Salem’s record-setting future NFL All-Pro Jonathan Taylor signed with Wisconsin in 2017, but the implications of what he’s about to do really hit home that day as a freshman.
“When I saw that I was like I can’t wait to do that,” he said. “They all knew where they were going to college, just about everything they worked for was happening for them and I just felt happy to see it. It made me realize I had to work harder to get there.”
And that’s what he did.
He said the summer between his sophomore and junior year was “the hardest I ever worked in my life.” Early-morning workouts, nap, practice, work out again. Whatever it took.
It paid off in what he called a “good” junior season for a winless Salem team and it got him invited to the All-American Game in Texas that winter – just a few months after K.C. Keeler was named the Temple head coach — an experience he said “opened me up as a person.”
He’d never been outside the Delaware Valley area before and the flight to Texas was his first ever, but the moment he stepped on the plane it hit him that “this is what football can do, it can change my life like this.”
And then he impressed in the workouts and the game.
“At first even though I was nervous around all these people who were tops in the country and have all these offers and you go in with the butterflies like any other game, but I held my own,” he remembered. “I did my thing with the top guys. I was like I could be considered a top guy.”
In Rogers, the Owls are getting a fierce 6-foot-5 pass rusher who made his bones terrorizing opposing quarterbacks this season. He recorded 23 sacks, breaking the single-season school record that had been his goal with a beastly single-game record eight against KIPP in the opening round of the South Jersey Group I playoffs. He finished the year with 98 tackles and 28 career sacks
Although he had interest from two other major programs, the Owls were always high on his list. He went to “a lot” of Temple games growing up, knew a lot of their players and when he finally went there on a visit it all felt so familial.
Timberlake was calling Tuesday morning just to make sure it still felt that way. He’s ready.
“It’s the day that’s everything I worked for,” Rogers said. “Sometimes you get unmotivated, you see a lot of guys getting offers around you and you don’t have any, (but) you just keep your head down and keep working.”
Accorsi hits the recruiting trail in first day as Salem CC’s interim head football coach, would like to be the permanent leader when inaugural game comes next fall
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT – Jay Accorsi really thought he was done with coaching. When he told the Rowan football team he coached for 30 years – the last 22 as the head coach — on the last day of spring practice 2024 he was retiring he thought that was it. When his time was done, he was done and never looking back.
ACCORSI
But like a lot of people of that certain age it didn’t take him long to get tired of being retired. Oh, the break was fun for a while, he got to follow his son’s final year of college soccer, but then he got the itch to do something familiar.
There was this little project he’d been quietly dabbling in for a while, this burning question of why there was no junior college football in New Jersey in general and South Jersey in particular when there were so many high school players either going elsewhere to play on the next level or just giving up the game (and the possibility of going to college) because they had no options.
He had been gathering information in his travels with the Profs, and his retirement days gave him a chance to do an even deeper dive on the subject. The more he worked it, the more he believed this could really work in the right environment.
He took his data to Salem Community College president Mike Gorman and, guess what, he’s back in the game.
On Thursday night, the junior college’s board of trustees approved adding a football program to the school’s lineup of sports and installed Accorsi, who had been the paid consultant in the exploration, as interim head coach (and the betting favorite to become the permanent guy when that move is made.)
Suddenly, the man with the Santa Claus look was given the gift he had always been giving.
As the interim head coach, it’ll be Accorsi’s mission to recruit players and do whatever it takes to “help the athletic director with everything that’s needed to help the program” as it moves towards a Fall 2026 Opening Day. His first task: Hit the recruiting trail Friday, starting with all the football-playing schools in Salem County (and Pennsville on Monday).
“It’s funny, I never thought I was (going to get back in); I walked away and was happy,” Accorsi said. “Everybody said I would get bored. I was OK for a while and then I got bored.
“Then the football bug hit. The concept of this idea really helped me be creative and put some information together and think if this could actually work. For me, the great part is, that was kind of validated tonight by a board to go ahead and proceed with something that I’ve thought about forever and really started to work on last winter.”
Salem athletics director Bob Hughes couldn’t be happier with the direction things are moving. The Mighty Oaks were going to announce the interim head coaching move Friday in conjunction with their classifying the sport with the NJCAA, but Hughes went ahead and pulled the trigger after Thursday’s board meeting.
“I’m excited to continue to grow the relationship with Jay,” he said. “He’s been a fantastic addition to the college and the athletic department and I’m excited with him to help us get this program truly off the ground.”
Gorman remembers that first conversation with Accorsi about the possibility of bringing football to Salem. Although he was familiar with the former coach and it was that association that got him in the door, Gorman thought they were talking about something else until about five minutes into the conversation.
“I honestly thought he was selling something,” Gorman said. “I knew of him as a football coach, but I didn’t know he was bringing in a proposal of that nature. I thought maybe he was representing a company that was doing equipment or whatever, but until we got into that conversation I didn’t know what we were specifically talking about.’
Actually Accorsi was selling something. He was selling football to a school that had never had it before.
As a former high school and college football player himself and visionary for the college, Gorman could see the merits of bringing the sport to campus. The college had done an analysis five years earlier and thought it was feasible, but with the onset of the COVID pandemic and other factors decided it wasn’t the time to proceed.
Sure, there’s is a financial risk – it’ll run nearly a half-million dollars in startup costs – but the college is said to be fiscally aligned to handle it, but in its mission of “changing lives,” as Gorman puts it, there was really no other capacity that could bring on such increased enrollment in such a rapid period of time.
(The news of the decision is spreading so quickly the athletics department received a half-dozen inquiries from prospective student-athletes before 10 a.m. Friday.)
The timing was absolutely right. As Accorsi had discovered in his research there was a plethora of underserved high school football athletes in the region and only one junior college football program between Central New York and Louisburg, N.C.
It was in that opportunity Accorsi and the college converged.
A national search will get underway to find a permanent leader of the program. It’s a safe bet Accorsi will be the odds on favorite — and he does want the job — but he knows nothing is guaranteed. And frankly he prefers it that way.
“When I was the assistant coach at Rowan and KC (Keeler) left to go to Delaware, I met with the AD several times and it was decided to do the national search and at the time I was very happy about that because I said I just don’t want you to hand me the job,” he said. “I want to earn it against everybody in the country and I feel the same way about this. I want to put myself in a position to earn the title and be able to do it down the road.
“They (Rowan) went to a national search, I had to interview, I had to go through the process. I learned a lot. I was very happy that I became head coach, but I was happy they did it that way and they didn’t hand it to me. I believe you earn things in life; you’re just not given things.”
From there he became the longest-tenured head coach in the program’s history, posting a record of 143-78 with seven conference titles and seven trips to the NCAA Division III playoffs. Two of his teams reached the national semifinals.
He seems to fit at least one of the criteria the policymakers are looking for in the permanent head coach.
“I want somebody who belongs to this area,” Gorman said. “I want somebody who’s really invested in Salem County and the region as a whole and believes in what we’re saying. This isn’t about the X’s and O’s about the game. This is about changing lives for young people.”
But what if he doesn’t become the guy after putting in all the legwork to get the program off the ground? As he has said nothing’s guaranteed.
“I’d still feel like I accomplished something because my main goal was to provide an opportunity for students and especially those in New Jersey to play football in an opportunity where they hadn’t,” Accorsi said. “So if I helped create that which we’re doing today then I’ve reached my goal and I helped do that.
“I firmly believe that’s why I decided to do this and be involved in this because I wanted to make sure an underserved population was getting what they needed and that’s what I’m really proud of.”
And if he doesn’t land the job he can go back into retirement mode again — until the next big thing comes along to pique his interest.
Former Salem High lineman Brooks excited about having the chance to play football again; he’s the type student-athlete who fits the Mighty Oaks’ mold
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT – When the Salem High School football team took the final snap of the 2023 season, Darius Brooks resigned himself to the fact his playing career was over. It was great fun while it lasted, but with no immediate opportunities to play at the next level in front of him it was time to get on with the rest of his life.
BROOKS
There was a year in trade school and then enrolling at Salem Community College to start pursuing his degree. Then, the college began to explore adding a football program to its sports offerings, and when its board of trustees approved the initiative Thursday all of a sudden Brooks had a place back in the game.
“I thought it was over with, I kind of accepted that, but I always wanted to get back to it somehow, someway,” Brooks said. “I’m excited, for sure. Definitely ready to lace them back up at least one more year.”
It’s players like the former Rams lineman that interim head coach Jay Accorsi was thinking about when he pitched the idea of starting football to Salem president Mike Gorman. Accorsi, the former Rowan head coach, knew there were hundreds of players in the region who still had the ability and desire to play the game, but were shut out of places to continue after high school.
There was only one two-year college in New Jersey playing NJCAA-sanctioned football and it was way up in North Jersey. Before the Salem board green-lighted the initiative, there was no JUCO football between Central New York and Louisburg, N.C.
“Believe it or not in this (consultant’s) role I’ve had several conversations with coaches and different people specifically about several of those type of players and several of those type of players have already reached out to me,” Accorsi said. “There’s already that population that even at the beginning of this process of doing this is already reaching out.
“I already have several names on a bulletin board for that. And that just validates why I wanted to get involved in this and why I wanted to do this and why I feel so strongly about it.”
While the talk of the Mighty Oaks adding football circulated, Brooks told the many friends who asked that he’d be interested in playing if it became a reality and started “getting ready.” He hadn’t spoken to anyone in the athletic department about it, but you can bet he’ll be among the first in line when the door opens.
“I was definitely excited,” Brooks said. “Believe it or not somebody asked me if I would be interested in coaching, but I’m not old enough for that yet. If I’m doing anything I’ve got to play. I’m definitely looking forward to it.”
Top photo: Lineman Darius Brooks (52) is joined by some Salem High School teammates at a preseason media event before the 2023 football season.
Salem CC board of trustees OK bringing football to campus for first time, inaugural game expected in Fall 2026; Accorsi named interim head coach
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT — The Salem Community College board of trustee Thursday approved the president’s recommendation to bring junior college football to the campus, an initiative the college president says will “change lives.”
The athletic department isn’t expected to formally launch the program until January, but Thursday’s vote gives the administrative green light to proceed with hiring coaches, recruiting players, buying equipment and building a schedule for the Fall of 2026.
“And the adventure begins,” president Mike Gorman said after the unanimous vote.
On Friday, the Mighty Oaks are expected to classify the sport with the National Junior College Athletic Association (Division III) and interim head coach Jay Accorsi will hit the road recruiting while a national search gets underway for a permanent leader of the program.
Accorsi, the retired Rowan University head coach, has long been intrigued with the idea of having junior college football in New Jersey. He pitched it to Gorman in the spring and has been a paid consultant on the project since August. His favorite saying throughout the process was “to make it hard for them to say no.”
“That’s kind of what I thought my job was all through the process, to help Bob (Hughes, Salem’s athletics director)) present the material with Dr. Gorman and make it really hard for them not to make the decision to do it,” Accorsi said. “That’s really what my goal was and so far we’ve done that. We’ve got a ways to go, but so far we’ve done that.”
Supporters of the initiative said adding football would, among other things, raise the visibility of the college locally and regionally and increase enrollment not just through the 80-100 student-athletes the program would attract but through the ancillary programs that go with it such as cheer, band and support groups.
To maintain Title IX balance the school will be starting women’s volleyball in the fall. The board approved the appointment of Delaware club coach Andrea Bartlett as that program’s first head coach Thursday.
With the addition of the two newest sports, Salem now offers cross country in the fall, men’s and women’s basketball in the winter, and softball and baseball in the spring.
“We’re thrilled to have the board’s support; it’s a big day for Salem athletics,” Hughes said. “We couldn’t be more excited to bring football to Salem County at the collegiate level and we’re looking forward to getting to work. The best times are ahead.”
With the board approval and Accorsi’s interim head coaching tag, the school can now begin to recruit players for spring practice, build a schedule and enter formal discussions for a permanent practice site. Among the sites being considered are the preferred Carneys Point Recreation Complex, which could become home to all the Mighty Oaks’ outdoor sports; the local YMCA fields, the Walnut Street Field in Salem City, and the middle school fields adjacent to the Carneys Point/Penns Grove School District offices.
Home games are expected to be played in the Pennsville and Penns Grove High School stadiums.
The Mighty Oaks now join Sussex CC as the only two-year colleges in New Jersey that offer NJCAA-sanctioned football, a void proponents say will help the program attract players. Additionally, two other JUCOs in the region, Lackawanna (Pa) and Monroe (N.Y.), will be reclassifying to NCAA Division II, further opening the door for players.
The team is expected to play initially as an NJCAA Division III independent with a modified seven- or eight-game first-year schedule drawn from regional NJCAA Division I and III programs, four-year junior varsities and two-year technical colleges in the area. They must play a minimum of six games against NJCAA programs to qualify for the playoffs.
The college examined the feasibility of starting a football program five years ago, but decided not to pursue it at that time. This latest exploration was a “much deeper dive.” It was anticipated the board would vote on the proposal last month, but policymakers wanted more time to digest all the information laid out in a detailed report researched by Accorsi and presented Hughes.
The success of the vote was said to hinge on the amount of risk the board was willing to take to launch a program said to have start-up costs of nearly $500,000. Gorman said the college’s budget is aligned in a manner that leaves him confident they could afford it, adding if they couldn’t afford it he wouldn’t have proposed it in the first place. Athletic department officials have said those costs could be recouped within the first two years of operation.
The result of the vote seemed to indicate the risk was acceptable.
“I think once the board realized the commitment we had made on students, not just the game and the expenses, the finances surrounding it, but the commitment we were making to young people who currently don’t have this option and are not necessarily purusing higher education, once they grasped that I really think it turned the tide on everything and they realized everything else will fall into place,” Gorman said.
“If we’re doing this for the right reasons, and I firmly believe that we are, I really look at it that it’s going to change lives and that’s what we’re in the business of doing, changing lives. The whole idea is let’s make sure we are giving as many people an opportunity to pursue their dreams as they possibly can. This is a way we can do it that can change the lives of 100 people tomorrow we couldn’t do any other way.”
Top photo: Salem CC president Mike Gorman (L) talks football with athletics director Bob Hughes (R) and interim head coach Jay Accorsi after the school’s board of trustees approved starting a program for play in the Fall of 2026.
NJCAA DIVISION III FOOTBALL Central Lakes-Brainerd (Minn.) College of DuPage (Ill.) Erie (N.Y.) CC Hocking (Ohio) College Hudson Valley (N.Y.) CC Louisburg (N.C.) College Minnesota North-Mesabi Range Minnesota North-Vermilion Minnesota State C&T Minnesota West C&T Nassau (N.Y.) CC North Dakota College of Science Rochester (Minn.) C&T Salem CC
Response to Salem CC’s proposal to start football has been favorable, but it all rests on Thursday’s board vote; without sharing her vote, current board chair would be surprised if it didn’t pass
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT – The out-going chairman of the Salem Community College board of trustees said earlier this week she would be surprised if the proposal to bring football to the two-year college for the first time this fall was not approved when it comes to an expected vote at next week’s board meeting.
While sentiment within the athletics department, college community and community at large remains positive, it will be up to the board to decide whether the plan goes forward and that decision hinges largely on the amount of risk policymakers are willing to accept.
Ida M. Bowen, in an interview following the banner-raising ceremony for last year’s Salem CC basketball success, declined to disclose the way she’ll vote on the measure, but she recognizes all the positives adding football would bring to the campus – as well as the risks.
“It would surprise me if it did not pass,” she said. “I can see the cons behind it and I can see the pros behind it. It’s all determined by whether we want to take that risk or not. We’ve done that before. We’ve taken the risk.”
The college has been formally exploring the possibility of bringing football on line since August, when it approved the contract of former Rowan University head coach Jay Accorsi as consultant to the project. Accorsi, the presumptive head coach if the Mighty Oaks add the sport, has been intrigued with the possibility of junior college football in New Jersey for some time and brought his ideas to SCC president Mike Gorman in May.
If the initiative is approved, the Mighty Oaks would begin play in the fall of 2026. They would be one of only two junior colleges in the state to offer NJCAA-sanctioned football, and the only one between Newton, N.J. (Sussex CC) and Louisburg, N.C.
A vote was anticipated at the October board meeting, but members wanted more time to digest the volume of information presented by athletics director Bob Hughes so it was delayed for another month and Accorsi’s consultant contract extended. Vice-chair Jason Supernavage said after the October meeting he wanted time to review the details before casting his vote.
The board held a work session last week and there was a sentiment when it was over of “everybody feeling comfortable” their concerns had been addressed.
“I think we’ve answered some of their questions that put them in doubt whether to do it or not,” Gorman said. “I don’t think there’s anybody who looks at this as a bad idea. What they’re doing is a risk analysis in their own mind … We don’t want to put the college in any jeopardy and honestly if we thought we were doing that, this proposal never would have seen the light of day.”
Bowen said she has not discussed the football issue with other board members individually and to her knowledge they have not discussed it outside the confines of board meeting discussions.
“We left the last meeting knowing next Thursday we’re going to vote,” she said. “We will find out on Thursday.”
Gorman would not presume to speak for the board or speculate on the outcome of the vote. There is history that suggests, however, major initiatives Gorman has brought before the board get approved.
“I’ve been in this business a long time, so I try not to have surprises,” the president said. “If we didn’t think we had support we wouldn’t force this onto the table for a review. It would have stopped by now.”
“It’s a lot for us to undertake,” Bowen said. “It’s a lot of commitment up front. It’s a risk. There’s hesitation of taking that risk, but there have been explanations to try to clear up any of that hesitation, and the comparison of other things we have taken risks on that have succeeded. Because we have that direction with president Gorman, he’s been successful in everything he’s done and we have full confidence in him, and I don’t think he would even offer this if he (was unsure of its success).”
Among the larger issues is securing a permanent practice site for the team. College officials have had informal discussions with potential stakeholders, but have been told no formal talks would occur until the board green lights the project.
Potential sites include the preferred Carneys Point Recreation Complex that currently serves as the Mighty Oaks’ baseball home, the Carneys Point YMCA fields, the Walnut Street Field in Salem and a piece of property currently held by the Penns Grove/Carneys Point School District. A key piece to the site for Salem is whether the property could be built upon.
Even if the board approves the proposal, the plan could be scrapped in January if the Mighty Oaks don’t secure a practice facility, have at least 20 prospective players in the fold and a schedule. Athletic department officials don’t believe the latter two issues are a problem at all.
Top photo: Salem CC athletics director Bob Hughes explains the finer points of the proposal to bring football to the college at the October board of trustees meeting.
Schalick falls hard to top-seeded Glassboro in SJ Group I title game, but game was closer than final score indicated; Sabb rushes for 4 TDs
GROUP 1 FINALS South: Glassboro 47, Schalick 14 Central: Burlington City 28, Shore 20 North I: Butler 28, Kinnelon 14 North II: Cedar Grove 37, New Providence 17
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
GLASSBORO — When Kevin Leamy looked at the scoreboard at the end of the game Friday night, the lights he saw burning into the night showed Schalick on the short end of a 47-14 loss to Glassboro in the South Jersey Group I championship game.
But in the Cougars coach’s heart of hearts, and in the hearts of his players, he knew it wasn’t that kind of game.
The Cougars actually held a lead late in the second quarter — only the second time Glassboro has trailed all year — and seemed headed for a halftime lead until the No. 1 seed did No. 1 seed things and scored two touchdowns in the final 30 seconds of the half. And it was still a one-score game midway through the third quarter.
“The scoreboard is misleading to say the least,” Leamy said.
“One hundred percent the score does not reflect this game whatsoever,” chimed in linebacker Gary Simonini.
The Cougars came into the game with an aggressive mindset, but sometime In the second quarter they turned it up a notch with Leamy making the call that defined the game.
He turned to one of his assistants and said the Cougars could play it safe the rest of the game and try to keep it close or they could go for it and live with the consequences.
He conveyed the message to his players and they let it all hang out. They threw it deep, they took their shots, they went for it on fourth down. They already played a little mind game with their undefeated hosts, warming up at school and then arriving shortly before kickoff, and they figured a little physicality piled on top might just do the trick.
The Cougars didn’t lay down, but eventually got worn down and the Bulldogs scored three more touchdowns in the fourth quarter to set off the running clock.
“We weren’t going to give up, we were going to keep fighting regardless what the score is,” Leamy said. “There was a lot of shock from the other side. They weren’t expecting for this to be a game at any point. They thought it was going to be a blowout from the first quarter on. I think the kids made a statement that Schalick isn’t just a pushover.
“I couldn’t be more proud of this group of kids. For them to come out and give that kind of effort, I think everyone in attendance tonight saw the true story that isn’t on that scoreboard: This team has a lot of guts, we just don’t have as many dudes as they do.”
Glassboro’s Xavier Sabb (1) goes over Schalick’s Sherrod Jones to haul in a fourth-quarter touchdown pass. (Photo by Heather Papiano)
Among the dudes at Glassboro’s disposal , Amari Sabb rushed for 242 yards and scored four touchdowns on runs of 49, 24, 31 and 32 yards. Quarterback Jack O’Connell threw two touchdown passes to break the school record for passing touchdowns. He put up a 32-yarder to Mekhi Parker on the final play of the second quarter and a 27-yarder to Xavier Sabb in the fourth quarter to break the record.
“He’s a gamer,” Glassboro coach Timmy Breaker said. “Amari, when the lights are on, he’s gonna perform. He doesn’t mind it, he loves it. He’s one of those kids like when you’re looking to count on him he can give you, No. 1, everything he’s got and, No. 2, he loves to be the guy who makes the play that change the game. Every moment to shine he’s going to step in that light, for sure.”
Schalick quarterback Kenny Bartee was a certified dude as well. He played the whole game on a bad ankle that made walking difficult as late as Tuesday. He courageously ran it 18 times, rushed for one touchdown and threw a touchdown pass to Simonini for their first score. Leamy said he was “phenomenal.”
“It was a group effort (to get back on the field),” Bartee said, even more eager to play having missed the regular season game with Glassboro because of a concussion. “I told them Saturday after the (Paulsboro) game when it happened that no matter how much pain I’m in I’m going to play Friday. No matter how much therapy I’ve got to do, no matter how much icing and heating I’ve got to do, I’m playing Friday just to be here with my boys one last time.”
The teams battled to a scoreless first quarter thanks in part to Schalick defensive back Gio Alicea’s interception in the end zone –one of three picks the Cougars had in the game – but Glassboro broke the ice with Sabb’s first touchdown early in the second.
The Bulldogs missed the extra point, opening the door for the Cougars to take the lead if they could execute. They were handed a short field after making a fourth-down stop deep in Glassboro’s end and three plays later Bartee escaped traffic in the backfield and flipped a pass to a wide open Simonini at the 2 and he easily stepped into the end zone. Hunter Dragotta’s PAT gave the Cougars a 7-6 lead with 1:07 left in the half.
Gary Simonini (9) leaves a Glassboro defender in his wake as moves into the end zone for Schalick’s first touchdown and a 7-6 lead in their South Jersey Group I football playoff game Friday. (Photo by Heather Papiano)
All that did was enflame the Bulldogs. They regained the lead when Sabb went up the middle for a 24-yard touchdown with less than 30 seconds left in the half and then after a Sabb interception Mekhi Parker pulled in a jump ball from O’Connell on the final play of the half to make it 20-7.
“Adversity is the best teacher,” Breaker said. “You always find out who your kids are, you always find out who your staff is when you hit adversity.
“I think we were down maybe one time this year, against Woodbury, and the kids they enjoy that part. I think Schalick was hooting and hollering and the kids saw that. We were down and they said now we know we’re not playing Glassboro football. They were able to bind together off that adversity. They did a great job of responding off of that.”
The Cougars, though, let everyone know they came to play.
“We all wanted it, we all wanted it for our seniors, we all wanted it for ourselves, we all wanted it for Schalick,” Bartee said. “We all wanted it because Schalick gets slept on. We wanted to make a name for ourselves. Although we didn’t win, as bad as the score looked, that’s not how the game turned out. Glassboro hasn’t played anybody as hard as they played us, so I feel like everybody gave their all today.”
“We all put our hearts on the field and that’s really it,” safety Dylan Sheehan said. “No matter what the score shows, that was a tight game. If you were watching the game I was watching we put our hearts out on the field and that’s the best we could do.”
Top photo: Glassboro’s Amari Sabb (3) rushed for 242 yards and four touchdowns in Friday’s South Jersey Group I championship game against Schalick. (Photo by Heather Papiano)
Glassboro 47, Schalick 14
SCHAL
GLASS
7
1st Downs
16
29-34
Rushing
31-371
5-16-2
Passing
6-14-3
75
Passing yds
99
0-0
Fum-lost
0-0
5-31.0
Punts-avg
0-0
4-45
Penalties
13-110
Schalick
0
7
7
0-
14
Paulsboro
0
20
7
20-
47
SCORING SUMMARY G – Amari Sapp 49 run (pass failed), 9:40 2Q S – Gary Simonini 14 pass from Kenny Bartee (Hunter Dragotta kick), 1:07 2Q G – Amari Sabb 24 run (Amari Sabb run), 29.8 2Q G – Mekhi Parker 32 pass from Jack O’Connell (kick failed), 0:00 2Q S – Kenny Bartee 1 run (Hunter Dragotta kick), 6:44 3Q G – Amari Sabb 31 run (Sal Esgro kick), 4:24 3Q G – Amari Sabb 32 run (run failed), 9:51 4Q G – Xavier Sabb 27 pass from Jack O’Connell (Sal Esgro kick), 7:09 4Q G – Davon Barr 12 run (Sal Esgro kick), 3:04 4Q
Jenkins, Elliott came back to Schalick fold after other plans in offseason, played big roles in getting the Cougars to the South Jersey Group I championship game
SJ GROUP I CHAMPIONSHIP Friday (6) Schalick (5-6) at (1) Glassboro (11-0), 6 p.m.
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE – Ayden Jenkins and Evan Elliott didn’t know how much they missed football until they sat out through the summer and watched their teammates play in the season opener, and their team didn’t know how much it missed them until Saturday.
Both juniors played key roles in Schalick’s 35-28 win over Paulsboro that sent the Cougars into Friday’s SJ Group I championship game at Glassboro.
Elliott, the team’s fullback, volunteered at the start of the week to play center despite never playing offensive line in his life when the team’s regular snapper went out of town and played the whole game.
Jenkins, a slot receiver trained at multiple positions, went to fullback with Elliott’s move, but switched back to slot when Sherrod Jones got hurt in the first series and caught two touchdown passes on consecutive series in the second quarter.
“That’s just the type of kids they are,” head coach Kevin Leamy said. “They want to do whatever they can to win; that’s their goal. If it’s going to help us win, they will do anything.”
But there was a time when they might not have been part of the picture at all.
Evan Elliott (54) is usually Schalick’s fullback, but he took one for the team last week and volunteered to play center in the sectional semifinal and snapped the whole game despite never playing the position before.
Both had differing reasons for not playing and stayed away through training camp and the first couple games of the year. One was done with the school and was heading off to play another sport, the other was just done with the sport.
But they ultimately came back and they’re glad they did.
“Extremely,” Jenkins said. “I don’t think I could’ve made a better choice to come back. I really think I would’ve missed out on a lot if I didn’t come back.”
“Definitely,” added Elliott.
It wasn’t a guarantee they would be back. Both went to Leamy after the season opener, but the new coach left it to their teammates to decide. Leamy put their return to a vote and the players voted unanimously to allow them back.
They haven’t disappointed since. Elliott has provided with Cougars with power in the backfield and Jenkins has been their version of a Swiss Army knife.
“(They’ve added) a ton,” Leamy said. “You never know what would’ve been if they didn’t come out, but I know we are a much, much better team having those two kids on the team than not having them on the team.
“I don’t know what our record would’ve been or anything like that, but I do know we are a much better team with those two kids on the field than not having them on the field.”
Ayden Jenkins (22) started out as the Cougars’ fullback Saturday after Elliott’s move, then went to slot receiver during the game and caught a pair of touchdown passes. (Photos by Heather Papiano)
Jenkins was outta here.
He was headed to Delsea to wrestle and had been wrestling all summer without practicing any football, and then fate intervened. Every time he tried to get the paperwork together something glitched in the process. The deal eventually fell through and Jenkins was back at Schalick.
“I am glad I came back to play football,” he said.
Give Elliott – and maybe the fullback’s mother – an assist on that.
Elliott was about to give up the game altogether, frustrated by playing opportunities he didn’t see when he believed he had the talent to be out there. His mother convinced him to stick it out.
“She said I’m always going to regret it not playing,” he said. “I told her I was over it, but she knows I love playing. I’ve been playing since I was 5 years old; I just loved playing. She kept trying to (convince me).
“I was kind of angry. I wasn’t missing it in the summer because I didn’t get the opportunity to play the two years before, but when I came and watched them play I realized how much I did miss playing.”
The first person Elliott told when he changed his mind was Jenkins, who was still trying to get to Delsea. He basically told him if his Delsea plans fell through “you might as well just play football.”
Well, those Delsea plans did fall through and the two were back on the football field together again. But it wasn’t automatic.
They had to approach Leamy and then had to go through the team vote. Everything worked out
They watched the season opener together, were on the sideline for the second game and then after being welcomed back to the fold got their required six practices in to be eligible for the Penns Grove game.
All roads converged Saturday.
Jenkins had 40 yards rushing, including a 28-yard burst to set up Gary Simonini’s game-tying 2-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, and three catches for 50 yards. His touchdown catches covered 25 and 24 yards on successive drives to give the Cougars a two-touchdown lead.
“One was a pre-snap read,” he explained. “It actually was supposed back side to Dylan (Sheehan), but we had a mismatch on my side so I called Pop (Kenny Bartee) to it and the second one was a broken play. I know all the positions, but I didn’t know my route on that play so I hesitated and ran out and turned it into a wheel for a touchdown.”
It was Elliott who approached Leamy about playing center because he didn’t know who would have done it if he hadn’t offered. After a week of practice, he played the whole game. The Cougars amassed nearly 300 yards of offense.
“I wasn’t nervous, but it was definitely challenging playing a whole new position; I’d never done anything like that before,” he said. “I did my best, a couple mistakes here and there, but I did the best I could. There definitely were some things I could do better, but I was proud of myself.”
He’ll remain at center for as long as the Cougars remain in the playoffs. Does that mean he’s an offensive lineman for the rest of his high school career? No, and no need for anyone to convince him otherwise.
“Definitely not,” he said. “I’m going back to fullback next year.”
Here is the Salem County sports schedule for the week of Nov. 10-16
TUESDAY, NOV. 11 BOYS SOCCER South Jersey Group I semifinals Palmyra at Haddon Twp. Audubon at Schalick, 2 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 12 GIRLS SOCCER South Jersey Group I semifinals Audubon at Schalick, 2 p.m. Woodstown at Haddon Twp.
THURSDAY, NOV. 13 COLLEGE BASKETBALL Bergen at Salem CC, 7 p.m.
FRIDAY, NOV. 14 FOOTBALL South Jersey Group I Championship Schalick at Glassboro, 6 p.m.
Central: Shore at Burlington City, 6 p.m. North II: Cedar Grove at New Providence, 6:30 p.m. North I: Kinnelon at Butler, 7 p.m. BOYS SOCCER South Jersey Group I Championship Palmyra-Haddon Twp. vs. Audubon-Schalick
SATURDAY, NOV. 15 GIRLS SOCCER South Jersey Group I Championship Audubon-Schalick vs. Woodstown-Haddon Twp. COLLEGE BASKETBALL Penn Highlands Turkey Classic Salem CC vs. Bryant Stratton, 5 p.m. Sandhills at Penn Highlands, 7:30 p.m.
SUNDAY, NOV. 16 COLLEGE BASKETBALL Penn Highlands Turkey Classic Salem CC at Penn Highlands, 3 p.m.
Schalick scores in the closing minutes to outlast a courageous Paulsboro effort that, in the end, just ran out of time
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
PAULSBORO – Kevin Leamy admitted he really didn’t know what to expect from the team that was lined up on the other side of the field. The Schalick coach practiced his team all week like they were playing a Paulsboro team at full strength, but truthfully when you’ve facing a team that’s lost almost half the roster and potentially 12 starting positions it’s anybody’s guess what the product will be on game day.
And Paulsboro gave a courageous effort in Saturday’s South Jersey Group I semifinal for the hand it was dealt, missing 16 players suspended after last week’s altercation with Woodbury and losing their lead running to an ankle injury early in the game, but in the end Schalick was able to make adjustments on the fly and pulled out a 35-28 victory to reach the sectional final – against Glassboro – for the third straight year.
“I give (Coach Kevin) Harvey and that Paulsboro group a lot of credit,” Leamy said. “When something happens, like all those kids being suspended, it’s easy to throw in the towel and not give your best effort ,but they came out and played (hard).
“They caught us off guard a little bit in the first half. We didn’t know what to game plan for, we didn’t know what they were going to go do. We didn’t know who was going to play quarterback. They came out in that Wildcat and had us outnumbered at the point of attack a couple times and it took us a while to make an adjustment, but in the second half we made adjustments and was able to shut it down.
“(His team has) built a lot of resiliency this year. They trust that we’re going to have an answer and when push comes to shove we’re going to put them in a position to win. I think they knew we were going to make an adjustment (and) they knew the adjustment was going to work, it just took us a little longer to make that adjustment.”
Six starters were among the 16 players suspended because of the fourth-quarter fight with Woodbury, including starting quarterback Malakhai McKenzie and several all-conference linemen. The Red Raiders took another hit during the game when running back Kyaire Harvey was carried from the field with an ankle injury after a 14-yard gain on the team’s second offensive snap.
That increased the burden of production on Jahsir Johnson, Jeremiah Carr and Zay Mears. Johnson played quarterback when the Red Raiders weren’t running the Wildcat. Carr scored three touchdowns, including the tying score early in the fourth quarter. And Mears had an 80-yard touchdown run after an interception in the end zone to give the Red Raiders a 14-7 lead.
The Cougars said Paulsboro’s personnel problems didn’t affect them during the practice week. They went about their business preparing as if the Red Raiders were going to have everyone available.
“We were ready to play their full roster, the team we played three weeks ago, and we practiced like it all week,” backup quarterback and linebacker Gary Simonini said. “It prepared us for what we did today.”
Schalick quarterback Kenny Bartee scored the game-winning touchdown on a 1-yard run with 2:04 to play. It capped a 14-yard drive made short when the Red Raiders interfered with Dylan Sheehan’s fair catch of a punt inside the Paulsboro 30.
Bartee also ran for another touchdown and threw a pair of second-quarter touchdown passes to Ayden Jenkins.
Ayden Jenkins caught two touchdown passes from the slot during Schalick’s 21-point second quarter.
The Red Raiders got the last shot to win it after Bartee’s go-ahead touchdown, but they had to go 67 yards and they most assuredly would have gone for two had they scored. And they went down fighting. They had driven deep into Schalick territory, stopping the clock on occasion with a couple strategic spikes.
The final spike came with 15 seconds to play and the ball at the 23. On what proved to be the final play of the game, Johnson took off towards the Schalick sideline where he was met head on by Sheehan.
Their collision came with about six seconds left and although it ended with Johnson physically out of bounds after contact, the clock kept running and ultimately expired with Paulsboro’s coaches on the field pleading they should have more time. The explanation given was Johnson was knocked sideways by the contact, his forward progress stopped in bounds and it didn’t matter if he ran out, the clock kept moving and it ran out.
“It was just me and him,” Sheehan said. “It was isolated. He had a choice to either run out of bounds or stay in. He decided to try to head-fake me, basically. I knew I could bait him to try it. That was my objective. It worked. He actually sent me out of bounds. He had to make a choice and he chose wrong.”
The season ended for the Red Raiders on the Schalick 17.
“That’s wrong, man,” Paulsboro coach Kevin Harvey said. “We played our ass off today, man. It’s wrong. It’s wrong to give it to them like that. For it to come down to that, something like that. We had our chances, but I’ve never heard of that call.”
“I think it was the right call,” Leamy said.
As for the interference on the punt, Sheehan said he always knew he was going to signal a fair catch.
“As soon as I saw the ball up high and short I threw the fair catch (sign) early because I knew it and their guy made a mistake and hit me,” he said.
Schalick’s Dylan Sheehan (15) tries to keep Paulsboro’s Jeremiah Carr from gaining any more yardage. Sheehan made several big defensive plays for the Cougars during the game.
The penalty took the ball inside the 15 where the Cougars set off in their heavy package daring the Red Raiders to stop it. Not even a penalty to push them back near the 10 was going to deny the quarterback.
“The last drive with the game on the line, in my head I’m thinking win or go home and we’re not ready to go home yet,” Bartee said. “We made it our goal to get to the sectional championship; that was our goal and we plan on winning it.
“On that last drive I’m just thinking let’s win. Even if I have to go 100 carries, 100 yards, this is for my boys. We’re winning this game.”
Paulsboro tied the game at 28 on Johnson’s 39-yard pass to Carr with 10:41 left in the fourth quarter. But the Red Raiders were penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct on the touchdown, which brought the most brilliant coaching decision of the game.
Knowing the Red Raiders didn’t have reliable kicker, Leamy had the penalty assessed on the point after try instead of the kickoff. Now Paulsboro needed to go 18 yards to get the go-ahead points instead of 3 and Sheehan batted away the pass they had to throw keeping the game tied.
“That really helped us,” Leamy said. “I give (assistant coaches) Doug (Volovar) and Henry (Papiano) credit for that.”
“Ultimately Kevin made the decision, I just offered a suggestion; that’s what assistant coaches do,” Volovar said. “Thought the decision was simple. Would have been a terrible way to lose if we took the yardage on the kickoff, they converted (the try) and we lost by 2.”
Top photo: Schalick quarterback Kenny Bartee celebrates with lineman Noah Bermudez. (All photos by Heather Papiano)
Schalick 35, Paulsboro 28
SCH
PAUL
15
1st Downs
12
28-180
Rushing
38-258
10-18-1
Passing
6-11-1
112
Passing yds
74
1-1
Fum-lost
1-1
4-44.0
Punts-avg
4-22.0
9-75
Penalties
5-36
Schalick
7
21
0
7-
35
Paulsboro
8
14
0
6-
28
SCORING SUMMARY S-Kenny Bartee 6 run (Hunter Dragotta kick), 8:06 1Q P-Jeremiah Carr 9 run (May Mears run), 4:46 1Q P-Zay Mears 80 run (run failed), 10:44 2Q S-Gary Simonini 2 run (Hunter Dragotta kick), 7:03 2Q S-Ayden Jenkins 25 pass from Kenny Bartee (Hunter Dragotta kick), 5:33 2Q S-Ayden Jenkins 24 pass from Kenny Bartee (Hunter Dragotta kick), 2:10 2Q P-Jeremiah Carr 3 run (Jeremiah Carr run), 0:20 2Q P-Jeremiah Carr 41 pass from Jahsir Johnson (pass failed), 10:41 4Q S-Kenny Bartee 1 run (Hunter Dragotta kick), 2:04 4Q
William Johnson (60) and DezYon Purnell (2) lead Schalick off the field after the Cougars completed their 35-28 win over Paulsboro.
Salem wanted another bite at the apple after losing to Glassboro in the regular season, gave top-seeded Bulldogs a battle for three quarters
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I PLAYOFFS Semifinals Glassboro 35, Salem 0 Schalick at Paulsboro, Saturday, noon
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
GLASSBORO — Abdullah Jenkins carried the sentiment of every Salem player on the field on the plate of his back pad.
“Shock the world” he had written in bold black letters. It was a message the senior lineman had been carrying all season but it was particularly poignant Friday night.
The Rams came into their South Jersey Group I semifinal heavy underdogs to top-seeded Glassboro, but they believed more than ever they could win.
They almost pulled it off, too, holding their hosts to two touchdowns through the first three quarters before the Bulldogs did what they invariably do to everyone. They scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to turn a tight game into a 35-0 victory.
“We had our shots,” Salem coach Kemp Carr said. “We had our shots early, didn’t take advantage of it. When you’ve got your shots against a good team you have to cash in and we didn’t cash the check.
“We turned them over early. We had ‘em. We put a lot of fear in that team, I guarantee that.”
Abdullah Jenkins’ back plate says it all. (Photo by Kaitlyn Khairzada)
The Rams (6-5) were all over their hosts in the first half. They held the Bulldogs to less than 100 yards of offense in the half and a lot of that came on a 38-yard touchdown pass to Mekhi Parker on the last play of the first quarter.
It was the only offensive touchdown Glassboro scored until the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs’ other touchdown came on a 50-yard interception return by Parker. Beyond that, they got nothing in the half.
The Rams say they didn’t do anything different schematically than they did in their 42-0 loss in September that was over at halftime. They just got better as the season progressed.
“Earlier in the season we didn’t know what heart we had,” senior edge rusher Antwuan Rogers said. “But throughout the season we worked … and we gave it all out there today. We played harder.
“We had them. They were worried. We couldn’t get it done.”
The Rams kept them out of the end zone in the third quarter, too, despite the Bulldogs having the ball for all but six plays in the quarter. Still, they started to wear the Rams down before finally erupting in the fourth quarter. Glassboro rushed for 221 yards in the second half after being held to 12 in the first.
The game followed a recent pattern for the Bulldogs. Each of their previous three games were tight at halftime and into the third quarter before the Bulldogs turned it into a rout in the fourth.
Bulldogs coach Timmy Breaker said it wasn’t the way Salem was stifling his team that was frustrating, but rather all the penalties that kept it from moving forward. The Bulldogs were flagged for 155 yards in penalties, 90 in the third quarter alone. There were 30 accepted penalties for 263 yards in mark-offs between the two teams.
“It was more the mistakes on our side,” Breaker said. “Penalty after penalty. We’re starting first-and-twentysomething, so the playbook condenses at that point. We had some decisions in there that could’ve been made that would change the first half, but even when we made a big play, run after run, we’re back another 15.
“The third quarter would have been an explosive quarter (if not for the penalties). That changes the entire landscape of how you call it. We were getting what we wanted to get, but we couldn’t sustain the drive penalty-wise. It was something we had to clean up.”
They did in the fourth quarter. Amari Sabb rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns in just the quarter for the Bulldogs. He finished with 130 yards on 12 carries.
One has to wonder how things might have turned out had the Rams scored on their opening possession. A fumble recovery created by another Rogers sack set them up at the Glassboro 40. They got all the way down to the 12 when two sacks and two penalties derailed the drive and they had to punt from just about where they started.
“For two years we haven’t scored on Glassboro, so I felt like if we would’ve scored then their momentum would have gone down seeing that we were a different team,” Jenkins said. “We just couldn’t replicate practice to the field.”
“If we put up any points, their whole momentum goes, we win,” said Rogers.
The Bulldogs (11-0) will now host the winner of Saturday’s Schalick-Paulsboro game in next week’s sectional final. Schalick is expected to be a heavy favorite in its semifinal with Paulsboro having suspended 16 players, including at least six starters (and in Group 1 that’s typically 12 positions), for their part in a fourth-quarter brawl last week with Woodbury.
In a sense, the Rams did shock the world this season. They turned an 0-9 first year under Carr into a winning second campaign that included their first playoff win since 2022. And they anticipate even better things going forward.
“From going 0-9 last year to 5-4 and the second round of the playoffs, it’s definitely a jump,” Jenkins said. “I feel next year the championship is ours. We’re going to shock the world again.”
Glassboro 35, Salem 0
SALEM
GLASS
7
1st Downs
15
25-33
Rushing
29-233
3-16-1
Passing
7-15-0
47
Passing yds
82
2-1
Fumbles-lost
3-1
7-25.9
Punts-avg
2-19.5
12-108
Penalties
18-155
Salem
0
0
0
0-
0
Glassboro
7
7
0
21-
35
SCORING SUMMARY G-Mekhi Parker 38 pass from Jack O’Connell (Sal Esgro kick), 0:07 1Q G-Mekhi Parker 50 interception return (Sal Esgro kick), 3:36 2Q G-Amari Sabb 5 run (Amari Sabb run), 6:52 4Q G-Amari Sabb 10 run (run failed), 4:10 4Q G-Davon Barr 6 run (Sal Esgro kick), 2:50 4Q
GROUP I PLAYOFFS NORTH I Butler 49, New Milford 13 Kinnelon 37, Kittatinny 7 NORTH II Cedar Grove 22, Mountain Lakes 15 New Providence 28, Hasbrouck Heights 21 SOUTH Glassboro 35, Salem 0 Schalick at Paulsboro, Saturday CENTRAL Burlington City 52, Manville 14 Shore 30, Pt. Pleasant Beach 6
Riverview Sports News 