Devil of an opener

Penns Grove opens season at home with Burlington City in a game that might loom large at end of the year

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNS GROVE – It might only be the first game of the season, but Penns Grove football coach John Emel is treating it as the most important game of the year.

Because it just might be.

It was last year.

FRIDAY: Burlington City
at Penns Grove, 10:30 AM

The Red Devils open their season Friday with a 10:30 a.m. home game with Burlington City. In a game that, even though early, truly could have end-of-season implications.

Emel is hoping the Red Devils have improved enough that it won’t come down to this again, but this game last year basically was the reason they got in the playoffs and the Blue Devils didn’t. Penns Grove won the head-to-head battle in the opener 48-14 giving them the tiebreaker to grab the last spot in the South Jersey Group I playoffs.

The Red Devils went on to lose to eventual state champion Woodbury in the first round of the South Jersey Group I playoffs, while Burlington City grabbed a 3 seed and won the SJ Group 1 regional invitational tournament.

“With the (WJFL) league we play in, this is a playoff game,” Emel said. “The winner of this game – I think we both feel the same way – whoever wins this game is going to, I don’t want to say qualify right away, but … will get ahead of the other one when it comes to qualifying for the playoffs.”

The game appears evenly matched with Penns Grove opening the season with a 55.82 strength index to Burlington City’s 55.23. The Red Devils were able to separate themselves in last year’s game by taking advantage of Burlington City mistakes and that will be a factor Friday.

“When a team like them is explosive on offense and has a veteran quarterback, you don’t want to give them extra possessions,” Emel said. “It’s going to be who’s going to make those first-game mistakes you see every year.

“I think they’re looking forward to getting a chance to get back at us. Even though we beat them pretty good (last year), the first game of the season you’re not looking past anybody. We’ve been preparing for them all season.”

The Red Devils do have a couple things going for them. They’re playing at home, where they’re 39- 17 in Emel’s nine years (including a 26-2 run from 2017-2020) and they haven’t lost a season opener since 2016. The two openers they’ve lost in Emel’s tenure have been by a combined eight points.

One of the biggest missions in the Red Devils’ camp this summer was determining their starting five on the offensive line. It shook out quickly with center Damani Brice, guards Isaiah Upshur and Tony Cooper, and tackles Wayne Scott and lone senior Misa Nieves.

Bryce Wright returns from a 600-yard rushing season to take over as the lead back, ready for a big year. The Red Devils have several other weapons, including Knowledge Young, Khiry Higgs and Karon Ceasar, the team’s first true freshman skill position opening day starter since 2005. Sophomore Remello Erickson is the quarterback with two previous starts under his belt.

The defense will be the strength of the team with a front seven that projects as good as any team around in Group 1.

The Red Devils have high expectations, but they still have to negotiate the tough WJFL Diamond Division, the SEC West of the league. All five teams from the division made the playoffs last year.

But they have to get past Burlington City first.

“All our scrimmages were away, so this is the first time we’ve been on the game field since last November, so it’s just an opportunity to start the season off on a high note,” Emel said. “You want to play at home. You want to play a good team at home and this is a quality opponent. The Red Devils and Blue Devils are going to get it on Friday.”

Devilish in openers

Penns Grove record in season openers under head coach John Emel

YEAR	OPPONENT	SCORE
2022	at Burlington City	W 48-14
2021	Bernards	W 40-20
2020	at Woodstown	W 48-7
2019	at Pennsville	W 68-7
2018	Pennsville	W 63-3
2017	at Deptford	W 51-34
2016	Deptford	L 27-20
2015	at Woodstown	W 18-6
2014	Woodstown	L 21-20

Photo: Penns Grove senior Nasir Stewart picks out the No. 52 jersey he has worn for three seasons as the Red Devils distribute game jerseys in the run up to Friday’s season opener with Burlington City.

Rams mean business

Season opener on a college campus will be a business trip for Salem in new coach Danny Mendoza’s debut

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

The Salem Rams may still have some questions about their second game of the season next week, but there’s no question what their season opener is all about.

Under first-year coach Danny Mendoza, the Rams open the season Friday night in a college stadium some two hours away against a team whose coach runs his program by the major-college principles he learned as a P5 player.

FRIDAY: Salem vs. Executive Education,
at Lafayette College, Easton, Pa., 7 p.m.

With all that as a backdrop, suffice to say the game against Executive Education Academy of Allentown, Pa., in Lafayette College’s Fisher Stadium is no sight-seeing trip.

“For them it’s a great thing because they’re going to understand what a business trip is,” Mendoza said. “Locked in on the way up. When we get there, the atmosphere of the stadium and the locker room. Coming out of the tunnel. Getting that experience now.

“These guys have been at Rutgers, they’ve been at the big stadium, so I think getting that experience early as opposed to later will help us handle certain atmospheres throughout the year.”

The Rams are going to be a lot of places this season as their stadium moves closer to completion, racking up nearly 700 round-trip miles before the regular season ends. It took them weeks to find this Week Zero game and now they’re in a similar search mode to find a venue for next week’s game against Camden after logistics issues within the event forced led to the teams pulling out of the Mid-Atlantic Pigskin Classic in Wilmington.

The players are looking forward to the adventure.

“It’s a great opportunity to show everybody what we can do,” senior lineman Darius Brooks said. “With a new coach everybody’s doubting us pretty much and it gives us an opportunity to let everybody know we’re still here.”

“It’s time to set a statement for everybody,” added quarterback Ramaji Bundy. “Let them know what we’re going to do, how we’re coming this year.”

And it might be a little different than people remember. Mendoza was approved as the Rams’ head coach in mid-June, charged with keeping the train moving after two straight sectional titles. He’s trying to infuse the flash of his Florida football background with Jersey grit already in place while installing new schemes on offense and defense. It’s catching on.

“It was a little different for me at first, but now we’re just rocking and rolling,” massive lineman Detric Simmons said.

In their only outside scrimmage of camp, the Rams demonstrated an ability to move the ball with decorated receiver Bundy moving to quarterback and an aggression and cover package on defense that isn’t inclined to give up much.

It should be a good test for the secondary. The Raptors, a third-year program coming off its first district title, are a spread team that averaged 354 yards a game last year, 256 through the air. Kris Cruz moves into their starting quarterback slot after backing up a 2,900-yard passer last year. Their top returning receiver, 6-4 Damon Young, had 684 yards receiving and seven touchdowns last season.

Mendoza said his secondary – Omarion Pearce, Terrance Smith, Kaden Robinson and Raymere Jones – has played “very well” in camp as they adjust to the new concepts.

“We’re ready to get up there, test the waters up there in a different state and get our guys in that atmosphere,,” Mendoza said. “It’s going to be a fun deal for them.”

Fun, but all business.

Legacy opener

Schalick has a lot of history with opening-night opponent Gloucester City; Cougars to recognize 2003 title team, former player

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PITTSGROVE – If Mike Wilson weren’t coaching football, chances are you’d find him wandering around some old Civil War battlefield soaking in all the history it has to offer.

He’s been to almost all of them. The self-described “history nerd” could probably give you a tour of Gettysburg off the top of his head and make it just as real as if he were standing under a witness tree watching the battle unfold in front of him.

**Friday: Gloucester City**
**at Schalick, 7 p.m.**

History is a big part of the talks he gives his Schalick football team and it’s the underlying theme as the Cougars open their season at home Friday night against Gloucester City.

The teams may be 30 miles apart but have a rich history together. The Cougars have played the Lions more than any team in their football history (43 times). You could look it up. Assistant coach Frank Amar did.

“One of the coaches said we’ve played them so much how come they’re not our trophy game,” Wilson said.

The teams have played almost continuously since 1977, missing only in 1989 and 1990 and 2018-21. Gloucester won the first meeting 12-0 and leads the series 29-13-1, but the tide has turned in recent years with Schalick winning 12 of the last 18. The Cougars’ first win came in 1984.

There’s more history than that surrounding this game and this season. The Cougars will recognize the 20^thanniversary of their 2003 South Jersey Group I championship team and honor the memory of former player and local legend Anthony Allen, who lost his battle with cancer during the offseason.

No Schalick player will wear Allen’s jersey number this season and the team will wear a commemorative “42” decal on the back of their helmets in tribute to a player whose legacy in the community goes beyond the football record book.

“I think it’s important to remember history,” Wilson said. “We talk about that a lot with the kids, the history of our program. It’s important for the kids to know what came before them so they can build on that.”

The Cougars will be out to make some new history Friday night. They haven’t won a season opener since 2019 (Palmyra 30-8) – the year before Wilson became head coach – and lost to the Lions in last year’s opener 21-0 when the series renewed after a four-year break.

“We’ve been preparing for this game probably the past month,” fullback Riley Papiano said. “We’re more than ready for this game, getting every single player as we can the most ready we can be for any team we’re going to be playing.”

It’s certainly not an easy opener. The Lions are a hard-nosed, blue-collar type team that went 9-3 last year and return 13 starters from a group that lost to Willingboro in the Central Jersey Group II final.

“We felt looking at our division schedule and our goal is to play playoff football; we needed to somebody with a higher strength index,” Wilson explained. “They were junior heavy last year, we were kind of senior heavy and this year we’re switched. They were last year what we are right now.”

The Cougars may be a little younger than their opening-night opponent, but they have a returning group Wilson says “who can play with anybody.” They’ve also added a dimension the Lions didn’t see last year.

They have injected enough of a passing element to their offense to make teams respect that part of their game and Kenai Simmons has come along to become an effective dual threat. Simmons says it will make them “way harder” for teams to stop them this season.

“We’re ready,” Wilson said. “As a coach you always want more preparation, but we’re ready to go.”

Photo: Kenai Simmons (L) has moved to quarterback with an increased role as a passer for the Cougars and Riley Papiano is in a new role at fullback.

Salem-Camden moving

Logistical issues within the event prompt move of Mid-Atlantic Pigskin Classic game to a yet-to-be-determined alternate site

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

SALEM – The Salem Rams were looking forward to another early-season game on a big stage, but now find themselves in a game without a home.

Logistical conflicts at the site prompted a change in game times that will prevent the Rams’ Sept. 2 game with Camden from being played in the Mid-Atlantic Pigskin Classic at Abessinio Stadium in Wilmington.

“It’s just unfortunate,” director of operations John Schmid said. “We had to make some logistical changes because of the streaming and the stadium and we were unable to work out a time that fit both schools.”

The changes would have prompted a time change to 11 a.m. or 2 p.m., but the schools couldn’t agree on a compromise. It was originally scheduled for a noon start.

The game is Salem’s home game, but the Rams are still working on their stadium so it can’t be played there, so an alternate site must be found.

It is still expected to be played Sept. 2 at its original noon start time, but at a site to be determined. Several nearby college and high school sites are being considered, making an already lengthy team travelogue that much longer.

“Right now we’re trying to find a place to play since technically it’s our home game,” Salem athletics director Darryl Roberts said. “If we can’t find anywhere to host, we’ll play at Camden.”

The Rams already are putting nearly 350 one-way miles on their team bus this season, not counting last weekend’s scrimmage in Wilmington. Camden’s home stadium is 18 miles farther from Salem than Abessinio Stadium.

The Rams open their season Friday night at Lafayette College’s Fisher Stadium against Executive Education Academy of Allentown, Pa. Later this season they will play at Rutgers University.

This story will be updated.

Cleared, but cautious

Woodstown RB Hill will rejoin team Tuesday without contact, isn’t likely to play until third game

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODSTOWN – The news wasn’t exactly what James Hill hoped to hear, but it was at least on the positive end of what he could have expected.

The senior Woodstown running back was cleared by his doctors Monday morning to return to football practice, but without contact. He was hoping to return without restrictions, but he also could have been held out longer.

“I got cleared to go to practice and everything, but me and my mom and my family and my doctor have waited on a decision of returning ASAP,” Hill said.

Hill, a 3,000-yard career runner, tore an ACL jumping in the Wolverines’ wrestling room this past winter. Typical recovery time is between six and nine months. His aggressive approach to recovery, which impressed both his coaches and his teammates, got him back on the front end of the window.

Wolverines coach John Adams was the first person Hill called after getting the report. He was “very excited” about the news Hill can return.

Despite taking the conservative approach, Hill called it “definitely a great day.”

“For the past couple weeks, all camps, I’ve been sitting at practice watching everybody,” he said. “Now I’m able to participate and push everybody else hard as I want to push. Push but don’t push over their limits.”

He plans to be at 8 a.m. practice Tuesday and participate in non-contact drills and be in uniform with his team for Thursday’s home scrimmage with Delsea, but it’ll be at least three weeks before he’ll see live action. His next doctor’s appointment is Sept. 13 and that, he says, is “my (date to) go play high school football.”

That means he’ll miss at least the Wolverines’ first two games against Haddon Heights and Paulsboro. He rushed for 540 yards and five touchdowns on 56 carries in those two games last season. In that scenario, his season debut would be Sept. 15 at Deptford.

“I said before Bryce (Belinfanti) and Bobby (Donahue) and everybody can take care of them, so I really didn’t need to rush myself back for them,” he said.

Adams has said throughout Hill’s rehab the plan was to go slow with the player’s return. Hill was expected to start out playing defense before being thrown into the rigors of the Wolverines’ WJFL Diamond Division schedule.

“When he first got surgery they said probably Week 4 as a timeline of getting him back and then he was doing great so we got our hopes up for Week 1,” Adams said. “The doctor said he looks amazing, but doesn’t want to jump the gun and now we are looking at having him out only two games, which is still tremendous and ahead of the original timeline.

“It gives us a chance to ease him back in more and make sure he’s ready. In the end I think it is what is best for him and his future.”

Defense isn’t resting

Pennsville defense moving in right direction after offseason overhaul; Eagles show overall improvement in scrimmage with Buena

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – As a defensive coach at heart, it absolutely gored Pennsville head coach Mike Healy to see what was happening to the Eagles’ defense last year.

Since defense wins championships, Healy knew things had to change for his team to get back in a position to do just that.

He took things to the extreme, breaking down tackling technique to the most minute of details. He brought in new coaches to change the mindset and drill the concepts. Just as big a factor was the players, most of them freshmen and sophomore starters by the end of the season, got older.

“Last year we were not good on defense, or offense; it was just a frustrating year all around,” Healy said. “I knew for my own sanity in order to come back there had to be some changes in how we were going to do things. I brought guy in for the offense who does a great job and I had to rework things on defense to get us in a better position regularly.

“We changed up what we’ve done in practice, we’ve added some things. Schematically we changed some things we do to help us better and the way we practice it has helped us and made us much better. We’re still kind of toying with some things out there and seeing what works, what we like, but overall I’m very happy with the direction of our defense. We’re going in the right place.”

There was a marked difference in the Eagles’ scrimmage Monday with Buena. In three quarters of varsity action, Pennsville held the Chiefs to 164 net yards, out of the end zone in seven of eight possessions and made three fourth-down stops, including sophomore Hunter Hiles’ second interception in as many scrimmages.

The only thing that spoiled their day was a 60-yard burst in the second half shortly after the teams returned to the field from a simulated halftime.

Buena ended the Eagles’ season in last year’s regional invitational tournament, 28-14.

The offense, meanwhile, opened the game with a 80-yard touchdown drive, scored twice and moved the ball enough for more but stalled under the weight of some self-inflicted wounds. Sky Eppes rushed for 163 yards and scored both touchdowns, but lost the handle at the end of a 28-yar run that cost him another score. Quarterback Robbie McDade was 9-of-13 passing for 128 yards, but was intercepted on a pass over the middle that killed another drive.

“Overall we did better than we did in the first scrimmage (against Bishop Eustace and Pemberton); we had a lot of improvement on places,” Healy said. “We did good today the first two quarters and once we got to the third quarter we struggled. We’ve just got to understand we’re going to be playing four full quarters and we’ve got to be ready to go mentally.”

The Eagles were 1-8 last year, their worst year since 2004. They won their season opener by outscoring Lindenwold 34-26, but in the weeks that followed the offense had a hard time scoring and the defense continued giving up points.

“Last year, egos were a big thing,” 6-6 senior defensive end Daniel Saulin said. “The first game was fine, everyone was on the same page, then egos started getting in the way, stuff outside the team started getting in the way. This year we’re changing that. We’re all in the same spot. We’re all starting at the beginning. We’re all trying to work towards a goal and that’s going to the playoffs and win state. We want that state title.”

It didn’t take long for Hiles to notice the change.

“It’s gotten way better,” he said. “In the beginning of the season we were still trying to figure out alignment and assignments and this year when camp started we knew what we were doing for the most part. Over the practices we’ve gotten way better.

“Last year, we did a lot of it to ourselves. This year we’ve got that all figured out it seems like. It seems like everybody’s having more fun.”

The Eagles scrimmage again in three days against Group II Haddon Heights. It’s a game-like 6 p.m. Thursday scrimmage to keep the Eagles on track for their season opener the following Thursday.

“I’m excited because it’s another step up for us in competition,” Healy said. “We know if we can compete with them and play well then we’re going in the right direction for the season.”

Photo: Pennsville’s Perry Meranti (30) stops a Buena ballcarrier in his tracks during Monday’s scrimmage.

**Pennsville’s Hunter Hiles races upfield with his second interception in as many scrimmages. (Photo by Lorraine Jenkins)**

This week’s schedule

Here is the Salem County high school sports schedule for the week of Aug. 20-26. The football games of Aug. 25 are regular-season openers, everything else listed is a scrimmage

Aug. 21
FOOTBALL
Buena at Pennsville, 10 a.m.

Aug. 23
GIRLS TENNIS
Millville at Schalick, 9 a.m.
Vineland at Pennsville, 10 a.m.

Aug. 24
FOOTBALL
Haddon Heights at Pennsville, 6 p.m.
Delsea at Woodstown, 7 p.m.
BOYS SOCCER
Pleasantville at Penns Grove, 10 a.m.
GIRLS TENNIS
Salem at Deptford Twp., 9 a.m.
Woodstown at Triton Regional, 9 a.m.
West Deptford at Pennsville, 10 a.m.

Aug. 25
FOOTBALL
Burlington City at Penns Grove, 10 a.m.
Gloucester City at Schalick, 7 p.m.
Salem vs. Executive Education Academy at Lafayette College, 7 p.m.
GIRLS TENNIS
Penns Grove at Pleasantville, 10 a.m.
Pennsville at Millville, 10 a.m.

Cover photo by Ellen Sickler

Rams settle in

Salem’s only preseason scrimmage before season opener nets good results for new coach Mendoza; Schalick, Woodstown also scrimmage Saturday

TRI-STATE SCRIMMAGE
at Thomas McKean HS, Wilmington
McKean 8, Olney 0
Salem 0, Olney 0
Salem 14, McKean 0

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WILIMINGTON, Del. – It was about an hour before the not-so-meaningless preseason scrimmage and new Salem football coach Danny Mendoza was standing in the end zone inspecting the field on which his team was about to play.

As he watched the other two teams on the program – Philly’s Olney High and host Thomas McKean – warm up, he didn’t mind saying he was feeling butterflies for the first time in a while. It was a lot like the feeling he had before his first spring game as a head coach in Florida.

Here he was, a new coach with a new team, teaching a whole new offense and defense to a team that was about to face a couple outside opponents in live action for the first time – and only time before opening the season for real next week. What was there to be nervous about?

“It’s the new beginnings, taking over a program with the tradition that we have here,” Mendoza said. “It’s the unknown right now and seeing if they bought into what we were selling and what we were doing and hoping all the work we put and the belief that we have in them showed and it came to fruition.

“That’s always the deal. Not nervous for myself, more nervous for them and it worked out well at the end.”

Outside of the usual glitches that accompany a first time on stage, the Rams acquitted themselves well in their two halves of action.

They dominated Olney in their first half and by rights should have scored two touchdowns, but had to settled for a scoreless tie after two fumbles from inside Trojans territory killed their possessions. They came back and beat McKean 14-0, yielding only 31 net yards, with most of those coming on one disputed pass completion late in the game.

“I think they were a little nervous going out there and once we warmed up a little bit and got it going … we definitely saw what we wanted to see in the second half,” Mendoza said. “The offense we’ve got to clean some stuff up, kind of believe in what we’re doing, but at the end of the day solid performance from everybody. Without the mishaps, we should be a team to be reckoned with.”

**Salem QB Ramaji Bundy watches his defense at work in Saturday’s scrimmage.**

One of the more intriguing parts of Mendoza’s first camp in Salem is implementing a new offense while replacing an All-Diamond Division quarterback with an All-Diamond receiver.

Ramaji Bundy, who has nearly 1,500 receiving yards the last three seasons, has been handed the keys to the Rams’ offense and even though he’s learning on the go, it’s as if he’s never left.

“I like it well,” Bundy said of the transition. “I played quarterback all my life since pee-wee league, so coming up playing quarterback again, it’s not really too hard. I just have to get that experience again because it’s on the high school level this time.

“(The offense) kind of fits me well. We’ve got a 50-50 pass-run offense and we’re mixing in a lot of stuff. Everything is running well, to be honest. It’s like the Baltimore offense and (he’s like) Lamar Jackson … I’m a big Lamar fan, but I like Jalen Hurts better.”

Bundy was 1-for-5 passing in the scrimmage with a 36-yard completion to Omarion Pierce against Olney, and had a couple other nice throws that didn’t connect. He rushed for 57 yards in the two halves and scored on a 13-yard run against McKean. He would’ve had more against Olney, but was charged with a big loss when he lost the handle preparing to pass and tried to kick the ball out of bounds.

“He’s a ballplayer and we knew that coming into it,” Mendoza said. “We saw a hell of a player that’s going to have a hell of a season and we just look forward to watching that kid shine.”

Terrance Smith scored the first touchdown of the Mendoza era with a 25-yard burst in the first series against McLean. Ethan Young kicked both extra points. Smith rushed for 38 yards and Jared Pew had 44.

The defense made several big plays with Markhai Brown delivering a bone-jarring hit, Kyree Little packing a sack, Detric Simmons making life miserable for opposing ballcarriers and Kaden Robinson snaring an interception. The Rams held their two opponents to a combined 1 net yard rushing on 10 total carries.

“Seeing guys fly around like that, I’m excited for our defense,” Mendoza said.

The Rams play their first real game of the Mendoza era Friday in Lafayette College’s Fisher Stadium against Executive Education Academy of Allentown, Pa.

**Terrance Smith (4) is congratulated by his teammates after scoring Salem’s first touchdown for new coach Danny Mendoza in Saturday’s scrimmage.**

Cougars come alive

DEPTFORD – Schalick played two live-ball varsity quarters against Deptford Twp. and after a slow start scored on its last two possessions to win that portion of the scrimmage 14-6.

Deptford opened the scrimmage with a 19-play drive, pushing it in from the 1, and then held the Cougars to a three-and-out. Once the Cougars got comfortable, they came alive.

Quarterback Kenai Simmons found the end zone from the red zone and Reggie Allen scored from the goal line. The defense had a three-and-out and takeaway on downs after the opening drive.

Sophomore kicker Hunter Dragotta hit both extra points, including a long first one backed up by a celebration penalty. Dragotta was 19 of 23 on PATs last season and at one point made 16 in a row.

“We kind of woke up a little bit, shook the cobwebs off and generated a lot of pressure,” Schalick coach Mike Wilson said. “We could’ve played a whole game today. Our kids aren’t even tired. I like our conditioning. We’re definitely in football shape.

“We’ve got to clean stuff up, there’s things we have to get better, but for a game scrimmage we got better since Wednesday. Just get better next week and get ready for when it gets real.”

The Cougars open their season at home Friday 7 p.m. against Gloucester City.

Woodstown focuses on passing

PINE HILL – Woodstown continues to work towards enhancing its passing game and that was its main focus at Overbook. During some evenly matched 10-and-10 segments with the 1s, the Wolverines ran it only a couple times.

“We threw the ball a ton,” Wolverines coach John Adams said. “We really didn’t work our run game in much and when we did work our run game in we had some good runs.”

Garrett Leyman caught a touchdown pass from Max Webb and had another big play on a nice screen.

“I thought we got what we wanted out of it,” Adams said. “We really wanted to see the on film the route running, making sure our spacing’s correct, the timing’s correct, the O-line pass block a lot and set the pocket for Max and I thought we did really, really well with it.”

The defense also continued its progression. For the second scrimmage in a row it didn’t give up a live-ball touchdown.

“The last scrimmage was more split, pass and run, this one was more pass and the next one (Thursday against Delsea) will be more game-like, like calling it in the flow of the game,” Adams said.

Top photo: New Salem football coach Danny Mendoza gives his team a thumbs up after it dominated two opponents in Saturday’s scrimmage.

Familiar feel

Salem goes through its only preseason scrimmage Saturday in a jamboree format embraced by new Rams coach

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

When it’s the only scrimmage you’re going to have in the preseason you want to make sure it suits your needs to a tee.

Much like he did with his Week Zero game, new Salem football coach Danny Mendoza had a devil of a time finding a good preseason scrimmage for his team.

He didn’t want the usual 10-and-10 exercises followed by some situational work. He could get that in a typical practice. He wanted something that would simulate a game.

When he found a spot in Saturday’s tri-state scrimmage at Wilmington’s McKean High School, he suggested a style he favored from his days coaching in Florida – a preseason jamboree similar to a spring game.

Each team will play two 12-minute quarters of real football against each other. McKean and Philly’s Olney Charter will start it off at 5 p.m., followed by Salem and Olney, then Salem and McKean.

“When I talked to (McKean head coach Avery McMullin), he didn’t really know about the idea, but I thought it would be great for us to get that game scrimmage feeling,” Mendoza said. “We’ve got a Week Zero game, so we need that.

“I don’t do the tri-scrimmages. I don’t do quad stuff. The only reason I did them when I was here before was because I wasn’t the head coach. Now that I’m the head coach I want to do it how I’ve always done it: Have a kickoff classic, which is a preseason exhibition, and then we get into our season.

“Playing all these quads among all these other teams doesn’t really benefit me. I lose a day of practice. We don’t want everyone to see our stuff and we don’t want to give guys free film pretty much. I’ve never been a fan of that, so I got an opportunity to do it this way. Coach McMullin was on board.”

Mendoza found the scrimmage the same way he found the Rams’ Week Zero opponent, Executive Education Academy Charter School of Allentown, Pa.: On an Eastern Pennsylvania football website that lists team’s open dates. He called it “unfortunate” the Rams couldn’t get something with an in-state team, but a “blessing” they were able to find something.

“It’s just as important as any other game,” Mendoza said. “Obviously, it’s a game that doesn’t count, so it’s a game you just want to get better at and get your guys as much live looks and different scenarios that you can within a non-controlled scrimmage. We’d rather do this moreso than anything else and it worked out just the way we wanted to.

“This will let us know where we stand and what we need to work on and correct before we go up to Lafayette (for the opener) and it counts for real. It’s super important, our kids are fired up for it and we’re going to make the most of it.”

Several players are emerging as ones to watch since Mendoza opened his first camp. Senior RaMaji Bundy has moved from being the Rams top returning receiver to replace an All-Diamond Division quarterback and has picked up the offense well. Detric Simmons, a 6-3, 320-pound senior, has shown explosive quickness and a mean streak on the line, junior Jarred Pew has shown flashes of being a special talent at running back and junior Daveon Jackson is developing into a leader on the defense.

On the cover: New Salem football coach Danny Mendoza

Fingers crossed

Dynamic Woodstown running back looking forward to a positive report from doctor for return to practice from offseason knee injury

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

WOODSTOWN — James Hill is looking forward to Monday as much as any Opening Day he’s ever had before.

That’s the day he, his coaches and the South Jersey football world should learn whether the dynamic Woodstown running back gets to return to the field for his senior football season — six months after a devastating knee injury that threatened his high school playing career.

If he gets the positive report, the 3,000-yard career rusher could be back on the field as soon as the Wolverines’ Monday afternoon practice — 10 days before their season opener against Haddon Heights.

The options are return to football with no restrictions, return to football with no contact, or wait a while longer. He anticipates a good report and is eager to return.

“Monday will be my return back to sports,” Hill said. “I knew I had a great sophomore year, junior year, and I knew my senior year would be my breakout year, my time to go rush for 2,000 yards, go break more records than I’ve already broken.

“I broke the record I set last year but that wasn’t good enough for me. I knew my senior year was a make or break year, especially recruiting. People were skittish (after the injury) but now I have to prove to them I’m the same James Hill you were recruiting my junior year. I’m actually better than I was.”

He was pretty good then, rushing for 1,636 yards and 16 touchdowns. Then a few months later it all changed.

Hill tore an ACL jumping around in the wrestling room. Conventional wisdom suggests a recovery time of six to nine months. He was in therapy the day after his surgery and has continued an aggressive rehab for a return in an amazing six months.

Coaches and teammates have marveled at his commitment to rehab, which often has included three- and four-times-a-week therapy sessions. “Crazy recovery,” quarterback Max Webb told Riverview Sports News in July. “There’s not too many guys, even at the professional level, who are recovering in six (months).”

Hill’s most recent testing indicates only a three-percent difference in strength between his two knees and if the surgically repaired knee matches or exceeds the other in Monday’s test, he should be good to go.

He got around pretty good at Thursday’s scrimmage, where he was on the sidelines serving in a support role. Shortly before the start of the exercise, he checked something on his phone, then ran as naturally as ever down the path, over the pedestrian bridge and back to the school building before returning with two racks of water bottles.

“Right after surpery I had PT the next day and that day I knew I could make it to come back,” he said. “I knew that being James, I’m a kid of perseverance, I’ll battle through anything to get back to high school football because I love playing high school football. I love playing football in general.

“When I got told recovery time is between six and nine months I knew I’d be that type of athlete who’s gonna be making it back in six because I have trust in everybody around me. I knew it was going to be tough. It’s all a mental battle and if you’re mentally strong you’ll be able to do it and I was able to do it because I was mentally strong.

“I’ve had tons of people tell me you’re going to be able to do it James and I believed them because they believed in me.”

The plan for his return to the lineup will be a measured one. It likely will involve starting out on defense only to work back into in the game before subjecting his knee to the pounding that goes with being an elite back.

They won’t be giving him 28 carriers in each of the first two games like they did last year, when he rushed for 540 yards and five touchdowns. Saying he’s “1000 percent confident” in his knee, he’s OK with that, just as he’s confident in the other guys in the running backs room to keep the offense on track until his full return.

“We’ve got to take it day by day,” Wolverines coach John Adams said. “We’re gonna make sure he’s there by the end of it.”

“I’m fine with that; as long as I’m playing high school football,” said Hill. “Sometimes you’ve got to go slow to win the race. You can’t go speeding because if you go speeding you might blow a tire.

“I’ve got eight games. I know we’re going to make the playoffs as a good team, so there’s no reason to rush and go rush for 312 yards a game (like he did in last year’s season opener) where I know that the rest of my running back crew is going to be able to just handle it just as well.”

And just in case you’re wondering about wrestling, where he was undefeated at the time of the injury, he’ll be back on the mat this winter as well.

Photo: Woodstown running back James Hill works the Wolverines’ sideline in a support role during a recent scrimmage as he awaits his return to practice.

The James Hill File

YEAR	RUN	YDS	TD	REC	YDS	TD
2020	41	183	1	9	60	0
2021	166	1374	15	5	110	2
2022	237	1636	16	7	110	3
TOTAL	444	3193	32	21	280	5

Career defense: 135 tackles, 3 interceptions (2 TDs)