Here is the Salem County sports schedule for the week of Sept. 30-Oct. 5; events start at 4 p.m. unless noted
MONDAY FIELD HOCKEY Hammonton at Schalick Woodstown at Cumberland BOYS SOCCER Penns Grove at Schalick Pennsville at Gloucester Catholic Pitman at Woodstown Salem at Salem Tech GIRLS SOCCER Salem Tech at Salem Schalick at Penns Grove Woodstown at Pennsville GIRLS TENNIS South Jersey Group I Tournament Audubon at Glassboro Salem at Lower Cape May, 3 p.m. Palmyra at Gateway Wildwood at Haddon Twp. West Deptford at Woodstown, 3 p.m. Buena at Schalick, 3 p.m. VOLLEYBALL Timber Creek at Salem Tech
TUESDAY FIELD HOCKEY Pennsville at Clayton Salem at St. Joseph Academy Schalick at Gloucester City Woodstown at Glassboro CROSS COUNTRY Pennsville, Penns Grove, Salem, Schalick, Woodstown at Salem Tech, 3:30 p.m. GIRLS SOCCER Cumberland at Penns Grove GIRLS TENNIS Cumberland at Schalick Pennsville at Woodstown
WEDNESDAY BOYS SOCCER Glassboro at Salem Penns Grove at Gloucester Catholic Pitman at Salem Tech Schalick at Wildwood Woodstown at Pennsville GIRLS SOCCER Gloucester Catholic at Penns Grove Pitman at Woodstown Salem at Glassboro Salem Tech at Pennsville GIRLS TENNIS Overbrook at Pennsville VOLLEYBALL Salem Tech at Clearview
THURSDAY BOYS SOCCER Collingswood at Pennsville GIRLS SOCCER Glassboro at Schalick, 6 p.m. FIELD HOCKEY Schalick at Pennsville Woodstown at Salem GIRLS TENNIS Pennsville at Glassboro Wildwood at Salem
FRIDAY FOOTBALL Haddon Heights at Camden Catholic Deptford at Glassboro Penns Grove at Pennsville Pleasantville at Woodstown Sterling at Collingswood West Deptford at Haddonfield Woodbury at Gateway BOYS SOCCER Gloucester City at Salem Tech Penns Grove at Cumberland Sterling at Schalick GIRLS SOCCER Penns Grove at Cumberland
SATURDAY FOOTBALL Schalick at Paulsboro, 10:30 a.m. Clayton at Overbrook, 11 a.m. Middle Twp. at Salem, noon BOYS SOCCER Northern Burlington at Woodstown, 10 a.m. CROSS COUNTRY Schalick, Woodstown at Shore Coaches Invitational, Holmdel, 10 a.m.
Woodstown kicker Jake Ware keeps Wolverines in front until they get a TD late in the fourth quarter to put away Penns Grove; Pennsville misses chance to get back in Patriot race; Schalick, Salem go head to head Saturday
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
PENNS GROVE – In the football land where yards were hard to come by, a player with a big leg is king.
Woodstown kicker Jake Ware was the biggest element for the longest time for the Wolverines Friday night.
The senior kicked an extra point that gave his team its halftime margin and nailed a not-so-routine field goal in the third quarter before Bryce Belinfanti put it away with his second touchdown of the game late in the fourth and the Wolverines turned back Penns Grove 17-6 to remain undefeated (4-0).
“Coming into this game I knew it was going to be tough, but once I saw how the first half was going I knew it was going to come down to a pretty close game and the kicks were going to be crucial,” Ware said. “You saw in the first half we were leading by one and getting that field goal in there helped us separate our lead a little bit more and build some momentum.”
“Having Jake is a huge weapon for us,” Wolverines coach Frank Trautz said. “I’ve said that since the beginning of the season. He just gives us a dynamic that can win us football games. That (field goal) was a huge kick and it was not a short kick. It’s a big-time kick in a big-time moment and he delivered. And I have complete confidence he will.”
Yards were at a premium in the rare Friday night game at Jim Devonshire Field. Penns Grove got the best of it in the second quarter behind Karon Ceaser, putting together two time-consuming possessions for 124 total yards.
The first one, which would have answered Woodstown’s first touchdown, ended in a costly fumble in the red zone — one of three turnovers they had in the game. The other did produce their touchdown in the final minute of the quarter, but the Red Devils failed on the extra point to leave it 7-6 at halftime.
Each drive had a big run – a 36-yarder by Karon Ceasar on the first play of the first and a 26-yarder by Tre Brown midway through the second.
“I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage fairly well defensively, but you can’t turn the ball over against good teams,” Penns Grove coach Mark Maccarone said. “You can’t lose the turnover battle against bad teams, but you really can’t lose the turnover battle against good teams.
“Obviously things are starting to click (offensively). Last week we were missing five starters. It’s tough to win when you’re missing five starters. This week we had all of our starters back, but, again, turnovers are our killers. If we don’t have turnovers, maybe the outcome comes in our favor.”
Woodstown’s Corbin Walz (54) gets himself in position to take on whichever Penns Grove player comes out of the backfield with the ball. The Wolverines defense gave up only 22 yards and no first downs in the second half. (Photo by Ellen Sickler)
Woodstown didn’t fare much better moving the ball in the first half. The Wolverines scored their touchdown on the first play of the second quarter when Belinfanti worked through some traffic in the backfield and then raced 44 yards to the end zone, but they only had 16 more yards and one other first down the rest of the half.
“Yards were hard,” Belinfanti said. “If I made a move somebody else was there, and then the hard yards were there, but I was getting hit hard every time.”
The Wolverines had better luck in the second half. Their defense got even stronger, holding Penns Grove to zero first downs and 22 net yards while holding their opponent out of the end zone in the second half for the third week in a row. Ceaser rushed for 83 yards in the first half, but had none in the second.
“I think we played really good,” senior defensive lineman Braden Gould-Rugenus said. “Everyone was where they were supposed to be. No one tried to do something they weren’t supposed to. We just played as a unit and together we can stop any team.
“(Ceaser) was the main threat. We had to watch him, make sure we didn’t give him any open looks. Besides that second quarter I think we stopped them really good.”
But their offense came to life. They amassed 144 net yards in the half, largely behind the running of Belinfanti.
Ware kicked a 35-yard field goal in the third quarter complicated by a bad snap to extend the lead to 10-6 and Belinfanti bounced in from the 3 with four minutes left (and Ware hit the PAT) for the final margin. Belinfanti had 107 of his 169 rushing yards and one of his two touchdowns in the second half.
“From the first half we kind of came out dry,” Belinfanti said. “We just have to step it up and not feel our opponent out; we’ve got to come out and just work, really. So at halftime we just had a gut check, really, to see who we were and it was just ground and pound from there.”
Trautz agreed with his senior running back’s terminology.
“I like the word ‘gut check,’” he said. “They’re a tough defensive line. They were tough coming in, they do a lot of tough things to pick up. We made some slight adjustments but ultimately our kids answered the bell. They came out I think with a little attitude in the second half and they were ready to go. I challenged them to come out in the second half and play Woodstown football and that’s what they did.”
Cover photo: Woodstown kicker Jake Ware connects on his 35-yard field goal that gave the Wolverines a 10-6 lead in the third quarter. (Photo by Ellen Sickler)
Woodstown 17, Penns Grove 6
WOODS (17)
PG (6)
11
1st Downs
5
36-183
Rush-yards
23-148
2-6-0
Passing (C-A-I)
2-8-1
21
Passing yds
13
1-0
Fum-lost
4-2
4-33.5
Punts-avg
3-34.3
3-30
Pen-yds
3-20
Woodstown
0
7
3
7-
17
Penns Grove
0
6
0
0-
6
SCORING SUMMARY WO-Bryce Belinfanti 44 run (Jake Ware kick), 11:47 2Q PG-Melo Erickson 6 run (kick failed), 1:03 2Q WO-Jake Ware 35 FG, 7:17 3Q WO-Bryce Belinfanti 3 run (Jake Ware kick), 4:07 4Q
Bad night in a big game
CHERRY HILL – Pennsville had an opportunity to turn the WJFL Patriot Division into a bottleneck and climb back into the title chance, but Camden Catholic never gave the Eagles a chance.
The Irish jumped out to a 30-0 halftime lead and carried on to complete the shutout 44-0.
Had they won, the Eagles (2-3) would have turned the division race into a four-way tie at the top with all the contenders having one division loss. Instead, they are two games down to the division-leading Irish in the loss column.
“They are a really good football team (and) we did not play our best game today, for sure,” Pennsville coach Mike Healy said. “We’re a better team than that.”
About the only highlight from the Pennsville perspective was freshman Kane Green had his first career interception. The Irish, meanwhile, had two quarterbacks throw for 227 yards and three touchdown and Michael Moritz rushed for two scores.
“We just were not able to get going on offense, get the ball moving, and defensively we weren’t able to get off the field on third and fourth down,” Healy said. “We didn’t get done what we had to get done tonight.
“Obviously, this is a road bump for us, but we still have a good amount of season left; we can still do a lot of good things. We wanted a chance at the division, which is now out of our hands and going to be tough to do, but there’s still a lot to play for in terms of playoffs and seedings and all that stuff. It was a frustrating night, but I still believe in our kids and what we’re doing and can bounce back.”
WJFL DIAMOND DIVISION
DIV
ALL
Glassboro (4)
3-0
4-0
Woodstown (1)
3-0
4-0
Schalick (7)
1-1
2-2
Woodbury (13)
1-2
1-3
Salem (21)
0-2
0-4
Penns Grove (19)
0-3
1-4
NOTE: Number in parenthesis is South Jersey Group I UPR power ranking through Sept. 21
FRIDAY’S GAMES Glassboro 34, Woodbury 0 Woodstown 17, Penns Grove 6 SATURDAY’S GAME Schalick at Salem, noon
WJFL PATRIOT DIVISION
DIV
ALL
Camden Catholic
3-0
4-0
West Deptford
2-1
2-2
Paulsboro (6)
2-1
3-1
Pennsville (10)
2-2
2-3
Collingswood
1-2
2-2
Audubon (14)
0-2
1-2
Overbrook
0-2
2-2
FRIDAY’S GAME Camden Catholic 44, Pennsville 0 SATURDAY’S GAMES Collingswood at Haddon Twp., 10:30 a.m. Overbrook at Paulsboro, 11 a.m. West Deptford at Audubon, 11 a.m.
Despite being lone undefeated team in group section, Pennsville installed as No. 2 seed in girls tennis tournament; Salem Tech’s Seiden wins South Jersey Vo Tech girls race; includes results of Thursday’s high school games involving teams from Salem County
By Riverview Sports News
The Pennsville girls tennis team, despite being the only undefeated team in South Jersey Group I, one of three statewide in Group I and one of six in all of South Jersey, was installed as the No. 2 seed in the South Jersey Group I girls tennis tournament Thursday. Pitman bumped the Eagles for the No. 1 spot.
The Eagles are 9-0 for the first time since 2021 when they started 11-0. They were No. 1 in the South Jersey Group I power points standings before the seeding meeting.
Woodstown, defending state semifinalist Schalick and Salem also made the field. They were seeded 6, 7 and 12, respectively, and play their first matches Sept. 30.
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT Sept. 30 Matches No. 1 Pitman bye No. 9 Audubon at No. 8 Glassboro No. 12 Salem at No. 5 Lower Cape May No. 13 Palmyra at No. 4 Gateway No. 3 Haddon Twp. bye No. 11 West Deptford at No. 6 Woodstown No. 10 Buena at No. 7 Schalick No. 2 Pennsville bye
Second-round matches Oct. 8
Cross country
Salem Tech’s Sarah Seiden ran 22:24.14 and won the girls race in the South Jersey Vo Tech Cross Country Championships. She was nearly 45 seconds ahead of runner-up Natalie Pandolfo of GCIT.
GCIT swept the boys and girls team titles. The girls placed five runners in their top 10, while the boys’ five counters all finished in the top 12.
THURSDAY’S RESULTS BOYS SOCCER Pennsville 5, Clayton 0 Penns Grove 2, Overbrook 1 Schalick 2, Pitman 0 Wildwood 9, Salem 0 Salem Tech at Gloucester Catholic GIRLS SOCCER Schalick 4, Pennsville 0 Woodstown 2, Glassboro 2 Gloucester Catholic at Salem Tech Salem at Wildwood GIRLS TENNIS Pennsville 5, Penns Grove 0 Schalick 5, Overbrook 0 Woodstown at Cedar Creek
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL Kingsway at Salem Tech
CROSS COUNTRY South Jersey Vo Tech Championship BOYS GCIT 32, Medford Tech 53, Camden 63, Salem 105, Cape May 129, Westhampton 130 GIRLS GCIT 31, Atlantic 54, Camden 72, Cape May 100, Salem 113
Player-driven meeting last week shakes life into Penns Grove soccer team, Red Devils respond with big win over Pitman
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
The Penns Grove boys soccer team just scored one of its biggest wins in Mano Massari’s short tenure as head coach in a 3-1 thriller over Pitman. It may have come on a Homecomiing Tuesday night, but the seeds were actually planted five days earlier.
Roll the tape.
The Red Devils had just dropped a 4-2 loss to Wildwood for a third loss in a row that flew in the face of their high expectations. It was such an uninspired effort, the coach had the players run more than a dozen suicides in front of their waiting parents after the game.
At the end of the session, as the players were catching their breath and collecting their things, Massari reminded them there would be a mandatory meeting the next day in Room 66.
At the appointed hour, the players slowly started to gather and when they all got settled the coaches came in and locked the door. But instead of spending the next however long it was going to take reading the riot act hoping that would get their attention, Massari turned it all over to the players.
Say whatever you want, he told them, no matter your class or station. Everybody has a say. Clear the air.
The coaches stayed in the room, but remained silent observers. The meeting was all player-driven. Everybody talked – seniors, freshmen, captains, junior varsity. The Red Devils left that room a different team than when they went into it.
“It was a reality check for the team,” Massari said after the win over Pitman. “We sat down in the classroom. I shut the door. I locked the door. And I told them we’re not coming out until we figure this out together.
“I let them talk. I let them handle it. Say what was going wrong, what people need to do better, what’s working, what’s not working. I wanted them to take the reins and hold each other accountable. Watching them handle it like men and figuring it out, it was beautiful to watch.
“We went out to practice after the meeting and we were flabbergasted at how well it went. Usually it’s hard to get these kids to have face-to-face communication, it’s all text and stuff these days, but that’s what you need to do as a team and they did it. Since then we’ve had great practices, intense practices and it translated on the field today.”
Tuesday was the Red Devils’ first game since the meeting and the first real test of whether all they talked about registered. They fell behind in the first 10 minutes on a penalty kick by Jake Bowen-Ashwin, but they weren’t discouraged. In fact, it made them even more determined.
Senior Jayden Murga Santos, who missed the first three games in concussion protocol, tied the match with his second goal in as many games. It remained tied until freshman Juan Ortiz scored the goal of the game with less than 10 minutes left in the half, taking a sliding shot on a charging goalie and burying it in the side panel .
Senior captain Frankie Juarez Reynoso usually sets up the Red Devils goals, but he found the back of the net in the second half for a big insurance goal. And keeper Dwayne Guzman kept the Panthers out of the goal to make it all stand.
“I told them we’re playing for ourselves; everyone’s playing for themselves,” Massari said. “I said an open hand is weaker than a fist and we’ve got to start playing like a fist. Really, just telling them the name on the front of the jersey is more important than the name on the back.
“Let me tell you, they took that to heart, they really did. They’ve been working together as a team. Man, it translated on the field today. It was awesome to see them play for each other, play hard for each other, celebrate together. It’s hard watching these guys lose, lose together, they take it to heart. Man, it is euphoric watching them win together. It’s awesome, absolutely awesome.
“Something’s clicking after that meeting we had. I can’t express enough how important that meeting was for this team. That’s the turning point.”
The Red Devils are back at it Thursday at Overbrook, starting a stretch of five straight (and seven of the next eight) road matches.
Algerian import scores 4 more goals in Wildwood’s soccer win over Pennsville; includes results, details of Tuesday games involving Salem County high school teams
BOYS SOCCER Clayton 3, Salem Tech 0 Penns Grove 3, Pitman 1 Salem 1, Gloucester Catholic 0 Schalick 8, Glassboro 0 Woodstown 1, Overbrook 0 Wildwood 6, Pennsville 1
GIRLS SOCCER Clayton 7, Salem Tech 0 Gloucester Catholic 7, Salem 0 Pennsville 2, Penns Grove 0 Schalick 2, Glassboro 0 Woodstown 3, Overbrook 0
GIRLS TENNIS Woodstown 5, Salem 0 Glassboro at Pennsville Penns Grove at Gloucester Catholic Pitman 5, Schalick 0
FIELD HOCKEY Pennsville 4, Bridgeton 0
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – You know you’ve got to be living right when a generational talent lands on your doorstep to add to an already generational team.
That’s just how Wildwood soccer coach Sal Zamperri must have felt this summer when Noureddine Bedderi decided to stay in the States, enroll in school and sign on to the Warriors’ soccer team.
“Nunu” has scored at least one goal in six of Wildwood’s first seven games. He scored a career-high four Tuesday – two in each half – as the Warriors overwhelmed Pennsville 6-1 and had several good chances for more.
“Nunu’s a great player, but I would say as a whole we kind of had a generational thing,” Zamperri said. “Nunu’s a new face for us and he just happened upon us and we got lucky with that, but as a class, this senior group that we have I would call generational as a group.
“But Nunu is a fantastic player and we are very fortunate to have come upon him via one of our boys.”
Bedderi had been working in a bike shop right off the boardwalk during the summer and went back to his native Algeria when the Jersey Shore tourist season ended. This year he stayed in town and the Warriors have reaped the benefit.
His impact was felt almost immediately, scoring his first goal in the third minute of the Warriors’ season opener and he hasn’t stopped scoring since. His four goals against the Eagles gave him 12 this season. Their leading scorer last year only had 13 goals.
“I’m really happy about today and there’s more to come this season,” Bedderi said with Warriors center back Ahmed Djellal, his cousin, serving as interpreter. “Over here, I have a lot more motivation to play at the game and I want to go far here. I just want to play.”
The match was arguably the Eagles’ biggest of the season. A win would have kept them in the hunt to win the Tri-County Classic Division crown. Instead, they didn’t answer the bell, giving up two quick goals and falling behind 4-0 in the first 11 minutes.
“The reality is we knew coming in that they jumped on us in the first one and we had to be ready to go; we were down 4-0 in the first 12 minutes of the game,” Pennsville coach Derek Foglein said. “We knew No. 9 (Bedderi) was a player. We had multiple conversations about it. He had four goals and an assist today.
“Those were the things we talked. We didn’t execute on the things we talked about, so we have to get better. We’ve still got a long season ahead of us. We have to keep getting better.”
Maddox Efelis scored the Eagles’ lone goal on a free kick with 4:07 left in the first half. It was his first goal of the season. He has scored one each of the last three seasons.
SCHALICK 8, GLASSBORO 0: Steve Chomo had a hat trick and Anthony Sepers scored twice as the Cougars rolled to their fourth straight win and moved coach Joe Mannella within three of 300 career victories. Nolan O’Toole, Luke Price and Louis Sepers had the other three goals.
PENNS GROVE 3, PITMAN 1: Freshman Juan Ortiz broke a 1-1 tie with a sliding goal of the game with just under 10 minutes left in the first half and Frankie Juarez Reynoso buried an insurance goal in the second half to lift the Red Devils out of a three-game losing streak. Pitman opened the scoring on a penalty kick, but Jayden Murga Santos tied it five minutes later. (See related story)
SALEM 1, GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC 0: Josthen Jimenez scored in overtime off a Jon Bower corner kick for the Rams’ first win of the season. It was the Rams’ first goal of the season after three straight shutouts and Eric Fizur’s first win as head coach.
WOODSTOWN 1, OVERBROOK 0: Blake Bialecki broke a scoreless tie when he converted a pass from Adrian Ibarra in the second half to lift the Wolverines to their second 1-0 win in a row. Ben Stengel made five saves to record his second straight shutout.
Before the game, the parents of the Woodstown program recognized coach Darren Huck for 25 years as head coach. They erected a banner behind the bench that Huck saw for the first time when he arrived at the field and presented him a plaque after the game. Now in his 26th season, Huck has 290 career wins – all at Woodstown.
Woodstown soccer coach Darren Huck was greeted by this banner commemorating his 25 years in coaching when he got to the bench for Tuesday’s match with Overbrook. The Wolverines won it 1-0.
Girls soccer
SCHALICK 2, GLASSBORO 0: Olivia Devoe and Abby Willoughby scored second-half goals and Eve Berger posted the shutout as the Cougars (4-1) won their fourth in a row.
WOODSTOWN 3, OVERBROOK 0: Talia Battavio scored two goals and Gina Murry scored once for the Wolverines (4-3). Ellie Wygand posted her second shutout of the season. Battavio now has 53 career goals.
PENNSVILLE 2, PENNS GROVE 0: The Eagles (2-5) won their second game in a row.
Field hockey
PENNSVILLE 4, BRIDGETON 0: Sophia Marandola scored two goals and Laura Tamberella and Kylie Harris each scored once as the Eagles (2-5) snapped a four-game losing streak. The Eagles scored a goal in each quarter. Kelsey Cook made seven saves for the shutout.
Here is the Salem County sports schedule for the week of Sept. 23-28; all games 4 p.m. unless noted, all football games 7 p.m. unless noted
MONDAY BOYS SOCCER Paulsboro at Pennsville (Foglein Bowl) GIRLS SOCCER Pennsville at Paulsboro FIELD HOCKEY Clayton at Salem Pennsville at Woodstown Schalick at Overbrook GIRLS TENNIS Pitman at Woodstown Schalick at Pennsville, 3:45 p.m. Cumberland at Penns Grove, 6:30 p.m.
TUESDAY BOYS SOCCER Glassboro at Schalick Gloucester Catholic at Salem Overbrook at Woodstown Wildwood at Pennsville Pitman at Penns Grove, 6:30 p.m. Salem Tech at Clayton, 7 p.m. GIRLS SOCCER Penns Grove at Pennsville Salem at Gloucester Catholic Schalick at Glassboro Woodstown at Overbrook Salem Tech at Clayton, 5 p.m. GIRLS TENNIS Glassboro at Pennsville Penns Grove at Gloucester Catholic Schalick at Pitman Woodstown at Salem FIELD HOCKEY Bridgeton at Pennsville
WEDNESDAY FIELD HOCKEY Deptford at Schalick, 6 p.m. Gloucester Catholic at Salem Overbrook at Woodstown GIRLS SOCCER Overbrook at Penns Grove, 6:30 p.m. GIRLS TENNIS Woodstown at Pennsville, 3:45 p.m. GIRLS VOLLEYBALL Triton at Salem Tech
THURSDAY BOYS SOCCER Clayton at Pennsville Penns Grove at Overbrook Salem Tech at Gloucester Catholic Schalick at Pitman Wildwood at Salem Woodstown at Glassboro GIRLS SOCCER Glassboro at Woodstown Gloucester Catholic at Salem Tech Pennsville at Schalick Salem at Wildwood GIRLS TENNIS Overbrook at Schalick Penns Grove at Pennsville Salem at Gloucester Catholic Woodstown at Cedar Creek CROSS COUNTRY Salem Tech at Burlington Tech GIRLS VOLLEYBALL Kingsway at Salem Tech
FRIDAY FOOTBALL Woodbury at Glassboro, 6 p.m. Woodstown at Penns Grove, 6:30 p.m. Pennsville at Camden Catholic FIELD HOCKEY Schalick at Cumberland GIRLS TENNIS Woodstown at Kingsway BOYS SOCCER Salem at Overbrook
SATURDAY FOOTBALL Collingswood at Haddon Twp., 10:30 a.m. Overbrook at Paulsboro, 11 a.m. West Deptford at Audubon, 11 a.m. Schalick at Salem, noon BOYS SOCCER Schalick at Cinnaminson, 11 a.m. GIRLS SOCCER Schalick at Cinnaminson, 9:30 a.m. CROSS COUNTRY Schalick at Six Flags Great Adventure, 9 a.m.
Melo Erickson and his Penns Grove teammates play another Salem County rival Friday night when they host Woodstown. (Photo by Heather Papiano)
Senior transfer makes a splash in season debut, helps Schalick end 14-game losing streak over 18 years to Penns Grove; McDade has big game in Pennsville rout, Belinfanti breaks out for Woodstown
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE – Roneem Thomas has been waiting all summer for Friday night to get here. When he finally got the chance to play, he definitely made an impression.
THOMAS
Thomas had to sit Schalick’s first three games of the season to satisfy the state’s senior transfer rule, so his senior debut came Friday against Penns Grove. He was a factor on both sides of the ball and played a big role in helping the Cougars win 21-2 and end 18 years of frustration against the Red Devils.
It was Schalick’s first win over Penns Grove since Oct. 7, 2006 (a span of 6,558 days) and snapped a 14-game losing streak in the series.
“That’s nice to know, history and stuff like that,” Cougars coach Mike Wilson said, “but it’s all about winning tonight; that’s what matters.”
Thomas was back on familiar ground when he joined the Cougars. He went to school with most of the current players on the team through eighth grade (he’s the cousin of junior slot/safety Levi Feeney-Childers). He moved away to Brunswick, Ga., came back to New Jersey last year and played at Williamstown, then returned to Schalick this summer so he could finish his high school career with the players he started with.
Wilson knew the versatile 5-foot-7, 170-pounder was going to be a factor on offense — he had a run for 3 yards and a catch for 13 Friday — but Thomas made his biggest impact in his first game on defense.
Pressed into a start at MIKE linebacker because of an injury, Thomas was credited with 10 tackles, two assists and stopped Penns Grove quarterback Melo Erickson on back-to-back runs inside the 3 early in the fourth quarter. The last one stymied Erickson on fourth down short of the goal line to keep it a 7-0 game. He got the defensive game ball for his efforts.
“I just was hungry, man,” he said. “That senior transfer (rule) kind of stuck me back a little bit, but I was just ready, ready to go.
“I was just locked in. I stayed locked in, stayed focused, stayed to my grind, stayed with my keys, just focused. My coach told me I know you’ve been waiting for this moment, stay focused and be ready to play.”
He showed he was right from the start. On his first play on defense he came up and put a big hit on the center. From that point on, safety Reggie Allen knew the Cougars had something special in Thomas.
“He’s a ballplayer,” Wilson said. “He grew up playing with these guys before he moved to Georgia. Came back, got hit by the senior transfer rule – not his fault – and he’s a big part of the team now.”
Schalick’s Reggie Allen (4) rushed for more than 100 yards and a touchdown against Penns Grove. On the cover, senior transfer Roneem Thomas (25) watches the action before going into his first game with the Cougars. (Photos by Heather Papiano)
Penns Grove was position to get the tying touchdown after a bad punt snap was smothered at the 6 with 1:35 left in the third quarter. On second-and-goal from the 3, Allen anticipated the dive and stopped Knowledge Young for no gain, setting the stage for Thomas’ two big stops on Erickson.
The Red Devils did score out of the exchange. With the Cougars backed up against the goal line, the Devils wrapped up quarterback Kenai Simmons in the end zone for a safety to make it 7-2 with more than 10 minutes to play.
Schalick went 11-1 last year and earned a promotion into the tougher WJFL Diamond Division as a result. But the Cougars have struggled out of the gate and lost to their two most difficult opponents causing folks to wonder if the move was too big for them.
Cougars coach Mike Wilson rebuffed that assertion, saying the Cougars just had to “learn to play in bigger games every week.”
“It’s just the maturity of the program,” he said. “When you’re playing playoff competition every week, you have to be able to meet that level of expectation every game. We did that today. Now, we have things to clean up, but overall we played much better tonight than we have all year.”
“We showed everybody that we could play with anybody,” Allen said. “They’ve been doubting us from Woodstown, Cedar Grove. Those were two tough losses, but we bounced back tonight. It was a big win.”
The Cougars came to life in the fourth quarter, scoring two touchdowns, collecting three of their four interceptions and making their goal line stand. They held Penns Grove’s struggling offense to 75 total yards, but the Red Devils also were missing two key pieces, Isaiah Hill and KaRon Ceaser.
Schalick’s touchdowns came on a 15-yard run by Allen and a 53-yard pass from Simmons to Nylan Sutton. Allen rushed for 104 yards on eight carries and had Schalick’s three biggest gains of a night where yardage was hard to come by for either team before Sutton’s touchdown play.
“We’re usually a second half team,” Allen said. “We might score a touchdown or two (early), but then we’ll come out the second half and dominate them because we finally realize what we have to do.”
“We just wore them out as the game went on,” Wilson said.
The Red Devils had an 81-yard touchdown called back by a penalty in the first quarter. When the Cougars took possession they went 58 yards in 12 plays and two negative penalties capped by Simmons walking on from the 1 for the game’s first touchdown one play after being stopped at the 1 by Najee Paynter.
Schalick 21, Penns Grove 2
PG (2)
SCHAL (21)
4
1st Downs
10
24-57
Rush-yards
32-146
6-18-4
Passing (C-A-I)
6-10-0
18
Passing yds
95
1-0
Fum-lost
5-2
4-26.3
Punts-avg
1-38.0
6-40
Pen-yds
7-55
Penns Grove
0
0
0
2-
2
Schalick
7
0
0
14-
21
SCORING SUMMARY S-Kenai Simmons 1 run (Hunter Dragotta kick), 2:38 1Q PG-Safety, Kenai Simmons tackled in end zone, 10:49 4Q S-Reggie Allen 15 run (Hunter Dragotta kick), 5:55 4Q S-Nylan Sutton 53 pass from Kenai Simmons (Hunter Dragotta kick), 1:33 4Q
Schalick’s David Stewart (0) tries to get past Penns Grove’s Knowledge Young (7) with one of his two interceptions with Kylee Goodson in hot pursuit. (Photo by Heather Papiano)
Pennsville 46, Audubon 0
PENNSVILLE – Eagles head coach Mike Healy called it “the closest to a complete game” his team has played this season.
Quarterback Robbie McDade threw three touchdown passes, Malik Rehmer had a TD run and catch, Rylan Hardy ran for two scores, Jovanni Rios had a pick-six and the defense pitched its first regular-season shutout since 2021.
“We just did a great job playing how we feel we were capable of,” Healy said. “We’ve still got some stuff to fix, but if felt great to kind of get things rolling finally.”
The three touchdowns by McDade were a career high. They went to Cole Campbell, Luke Wood and Rehmer. For Wood and Campbell, they were the first TD catches of their careers.
“We’ve been rushing the ball great, but we were not effective in the passing game,” Healy said. “But tonight (McDade’s) passes downfield were on point; we were able to take advantage of some stuff and just really be more balanced on offense. He played great tonight. That’s what we needed to be able to do to go forward.”
The Eagles scored a shutout over Keansburg in last year’s regional consolation final, but Friday was their first in the regular season since blanking Cumberland in October 2021. It was their widest margin of victory against an opponent since beating Penns Grove by 49 on Thanksgiving Day 2013.
Given Camden Catholic’s win over West Deptford, the win pulled the Eagles into a three-way tie for second place in the WJFL Patriot Division and they have division-leading Camden Catholic next week.
“Winning your division is one of our goals preseason and the fact now we still have a chance to do it hopefully it’s a little extra motivation for the kids because that’s something we want to be able to do,” Healy said. “The ability to still be in the division race is awesome. Losing that first game (to West Deptford) took things out of your hands is tough, but it’s awesome to heard we’re still in it.”
Woodstown’s Bryce Belinfanti (3) rushed for 200 yards against Woodbury for the second year in a row. His only 200-yard games have come against the Thundering Herd. (Photo by Ellen Sickler)
Woodstown 28, Woodbury 16
WOODSTOWN – New Woodstown coach Frank Trautz has a pretty good ride home after football Friday nights so anything that makes those rides enjoyable is a plus. The last three weeks that ride has been quite enjoyable.
Bryce Belinfanti rushed for 204 yards and scored three total touchdowns and the defense posted a shutout in the second half as the Wolverines rallied to turn back Woodbury 28-16 for their third straight win to open the season.
“It was close the whole game, it was a dogfight, for sure,” Trautz said. “We just made some adjustments (at halftime) on what I wanted to do and attack them offensively with. The kids came out and executed what we talked about both offensively and defensively.
“It was a real physical, tough football game, kind of like the games we’ve played with them in the past. It was a fight to the end. To get a win against an opponent of that quality is awful big.”
The Wolverines, 3-0 for the third year in a row, led twice in the first half, but each time the Thundering Herd answered to take the lead.
Belinfanti had an 85-yard TD run to open the scoring, but the Wolverines missed the extra point. The Herd answered with a 24-yard touchdown pass to go up 8-6.
Belinfanti’s second touchdown, a 37-yard pass from Jack Holladay, put Woodstown up 13-8, but Woodbury answered with a big pass play right before the half to take a 16-13 lead into the break. Woodbury quarterback Tim Holmes was 16-of-29 passing for 272 yards.
Belinfanti rushed for a career-high 204 yards on 27 carries. It was the second year in a row he rushed for more than 200 yards against the Herd. He went for 203 yards and three TDs on s career-high 30 carries against them last season.
“Wow, I didn’t even know I had 200 because the stat keeper couldn’t make the game,” he said. “We came in the game knowing Woodbury was going to take big shots.”
It was all Woodstown in the second half. The defense bottled up the Herd’s offense. Belinfanti scored his third touchdown on a 13-yard run and the Wolverines put it away on an 8-yard shuttle pass from Holladay to Garrett Leyman that capped a long fourth-quarter drive.
“Coming out of halftime I knew I was going to have to hit bit for sure and we took a lot of time off the clock,” Belinfanti said. “The score that put the game away was an amazing call by Coach Trautz.”
One of those type things that give you a warm and fuzzy feeling for a long ride home.
Woodstown 28, Woodbury 16
WBURY (16)
WTOWN (28)
8
1st Downs
14
21-1
Rushing
37-224
16-29-0
Passes
3-6-1
272
Passing
90
2
Fumbles
1
4-25.0
Punts
3-37.0
6-54
Penalties
2-15
Woodbury
0
16
0
0-
16
Woodstown
6
7
7
8-
28
SCORING SUMMARY WT-Bryce Belinfanti 85 run (kick failed) WB-Elijah Young 24 pass from Tim Holmes (Thomas Lewis run) WT-Bryce Belinfanti 37 pass from Jack Holladay (Jake Ware kick) WB-Shiwoe Varpilah 74 pass from Tim Holmes (Tim Holmes run) WT-Bryce Belinfanti 13 run (Jake Ware kick) WT-Garrett Leyman 8 pass from Jack Holladay (Brett Rowand pass from Jack Holladay)
Woodstown’s Bump Carter (71) brings down Woodbury quarterback Tim Holmes for a sack. The Wolverines’ defensive line was particularly stout in the second half. (Photo by Ellen Sickler)
WJFL DIAMOND DIVISION
DIV
ALL
Glassboro
2-0
3-0
Woodstown
2-0
3-0
Schalick
1-1
2-2
Woodbury
1-1
1-2
Penns Grove
0-2
1-3
Salem
0-2
0-4
THURSDAY’S GAMES Glassboro 46, Salem 0 FRIDAY’S GAMES Schalick 21, Penns Grove 2 Woodstown 28, Woodbury 16
WJFL PATRIOT DIVISION
DIV
ALL
Camden Catholic
2-0
3-0
West Deptford
2-1
2-2
Paulsboro
2-1
3-1
Pennsville
2-1
2-2
Collingswood
1-2
2-2
Audubon
0-2
1-2
Overbrook
0-2
2-2
THURSDAY’S GAME Paulsboro 47, Collingswood 7 FRIDAY’S GAMES Overbrook 26, Florence 0 Pennsville 46, Audubon 0 Camden Catholic 38, West Deptford 20
Pennsville gives its best effort in Foglein’s six seasons as coach, but falls on an overtime golden goal; includes full schedule of Salem County games
WEDNESDAY’S BOYS SOCCER Pitman 2, Pennsville 1 (OT) Schalick 7, Clayton 0 Woodstown 8, Gloucester Catholic 1 Wildwood 4, Penns Grove 2 Salem at Overbrook Salem Tech at Glassboro
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – Coen Rinnier buried his head in his hands as he sat in the middle of the bench after the game. He was brilliant in the Pennsville goal all afternoon, but there was one shot he just couldn’t get at.
The Eagles had one of their best chances to beat long-time nemesis Pitman and, in fact, played what Derek Foglein called their best full-game effort in his six years as coach. But it just wasn’t to be as Panthers senior Jaiden Ammons headed back a rebound just beyond the keeper’s reach five minutes into overtime to send the Eagles to a bitter 2-1 defeat.
“That was the best 80 minutes of soccer I’ve seen in my six years,” Foglein said. “We were already down guys because I have a guy who was suspended from the first game with Wildwood, one of our center mids went down in the first half with an injury and never came out.
“I made zero subs in the second half. Every single guy on the field gutted out the second half and overtime. And that’s because they were fit. They played soccer every day since May and they were fit enough to hang with them.
“All I needed them to do was battle. We knew this was going to be a battle and they really battled. They battled really hard for 85 minutes.”
The Eagles (2-2) were trying to buck a lot of history. They hadn’t beaten the Panthers since Sept. 13, 2017 – that’s 11 in a row now – and hadn’t beaten them at home since before 2010. But they gave the Panthers (4-1) all they could handle.
And they struck first, and early to show they meant business. Shane Puckett took a through ball from freshman J.P. Laughrey, found Pitman keeper Joey Zubert out of position and ripped it into the back of net just 4:41 into the game.
“We specifically talked in film today about the fact off the tap and early we didn’t want to give up possession in the defensive third,” Foglein said. “We wanted to send the ball down their way quickly and force them to defend or do something with it.
“We’ve seen that other teams have been able to get on them quick. We saw Wildwood scored on them in the first five minutes as well. The first five minutes is going to be our chance to jump on them and then we’ve got to see if we could hold on and we held on for as long as we could.”
The Eagles kept the lead until Owen Hurley converted a throw-in from Nate Newcomb that bounced crazily in the box to tie it. After that the teams battled to keep the other from scoring again, with the Pennsville defense clearing numerous Pitman challenges and Rinnier turning back several shots to keep the game tied.
Newcomb got the game-winning exchange started with a throw-in from deep down the left sideline. Pitman’s Jake Bowen-Ashwin fought through the defensive challenge of Stevie Fatcher to keep it alive along the baseline and flicked it into the middle of the box. It deflected into the air off Pennsville senior Maddox Efelis’ foot, Trevor Leach moved in and headed it off the middle of the crossbar, Eagles’ back Jake Steiner appeared to clear it away, but Ammons charged in from the right side and headed it back into the left side of the goal just past the outstretched arms of a diving goalie.
“It was very hard,” Rinnier said. “It was deflected I think twice. There was just so much going through my head when that happened and unfortunately it just went in.
“As a goalie you know when the ball is going to go in. As soon as he headed that second ball in I know the game’s over. I still dove for it, but as soon as he heads the ball I know the game’s over.”
The goalie agreed with his coach that it was the best the Eagles have played in a while and the loss notwithstanding it bodes well for their fortunes going forward.
“We’ve never been close to Pitman, never, well, besides last year it was 1-0, but we didn’t play well,” he said. “This year we played amazing. He’s right, it’s the best soccer we ever played today.
“I’m just looking forward to the next games now. If we can compete with Pitman, we can compete with every other team. Competing with Pitman, we can beat Wildwood and win our division for the first time in God knows how long.”
Cover photo: Pitman’s Jaiden Ammons heads a shot back towards the Pennsville goal for the game-winner in overtime.
SCHALICK 7, CLAYTON 0: Freshman Marco Spinnato assisted on the Cougars’ final goal against Woodstown in its last game Monday and he followed that with the first two goals of his career against the Clippers. Anthony Sepers also scored twice for the Cougars (3-0), while Steve Chomo, Mikey Nelson and Louis Sepers all scored once.
The shutout was coach Joe Mannella’s 296th career win. The earliest he could reach the 300-win milestone is Sept. 30 against Penns Grove.
WOODSTOWN 8, GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC 1: The Wolverines got goals from eight different players. Bryce Ayers, Blake Bialecki, Adrian Ibarra, Great Prater, Tyler Szatny and Brendon Curtis scored in the first half. Sid Leevy and Connor Williams scored in the second half.
The win was the 288th of coach Darren Huck’s career. The earliest he could reach the 300-win milestone is Oct. 16 at Salem Tech.
WILDWOOD 4, PENNS GROVE 2: The Warriors (4-1) scored a pair of goals in each half to win its fourth game in a row. Noureddine Bedderi broke a 1-1 tie in the first half and extended the lead to 3-1 with the first goal of the second half. Edwin Aviles and Edward Swank scored Penns Grove’s two goals.
Girls soccer
WEDNESDAY’S SCORES Glassboro 6, Salem Tech 0 Pitman 2, Pennsville 0 Schalick 2, Clayton 1 Woodstown 2, Gloucester Catholic 1 Overbrook 7, Salem 1 Penns Grove at Wildwood
SCHALICK 2, CLAYTON 1: Quinn Berger scored the game-winner on a free kick in the final 20 minutes of the second half. Abby Willoughby scored the Cougars’ first goal. It was their third straight win.
WOODSTOWN 2, GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC 1: Lia Covely and Emma scored goals in the first half for the Wolverines (3-2). Ellie Wygand made 10 saves to turn the Rams away.
PITMAN 2, PENNSVILLE 0: Emery Sharpnack scored her fifth goal of the season in the first half and Madison Peek got her fifth in the second half.
GLASSBORO 6, SALEM TECH 0: Marianna Dempster and Amina Brown both scored a pair of goals for the Bulldogs.
OVERBROOK 7, SALEM 1: Gianna Simon and Maria Olea-Vinalay scored two goals apiece for Overbrook. Isla Bohn scored Salem’s goal in the first half.
Schalick scores 4 goals in second half to turn back Woodstown in boys soccer; results of Monday’s sports action involving Salem County teams BOYS SOCCER Schalick 5, Woodstown 2 Pennsville 6, Salem 0 Wildwood 5, Salem Tech 2 Penns Grove at Glassboro
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE – Mikey Nelson admitted he was way too anxious about the game later in the day to be any good in class today. The anticipation of playing in a rivalry with so many connections just made it too difficult to stay focused.
NELSON
“I couldn’t sit still in school; I was thinking about this game way too much,” the junior midfielder said. “All I wanted to do was get out on the field and play today.
“I have a cousin of the team and I have teammates from a club team on the team. I know Woodstown is a good rival. It’s one of the best competitive games all season. I’ve been trying to recreate my goal from last year at the night game against Woodstown because that was Coach’s favorite goal of the season, so I want to get some more of those.”
Nelson might not have recreated that one Monday, but he did notch a pair of goals in the second half to help the Cougars turn back the Wolverines 5-2 in a way-too-early-in-the-season showdown between Tri-County Diamond Division rivals.
Actually, Nelson’s anticipation for the game began the night before and carried over into the school day. The toughest part about it was he had to find ways to release all that energy without being disruptive. He can’t remember ever being so amped for a game. He admitted he expended a lot of energy in the first half, too.
“I had Jax Weber and Ant Sepers in my second period (U.S. History) class and me and Ant were both shaking our tables pretty much the whole class trying to get out of school to play soccer; we love the game,” Nelson said. “I kept looking up at the clock a lot, I kept tapping my feet and moving my leg a lot. I got most of my schoolwork done, so that’s good.”
The game was a lot closer than a three-goal margin would indicate, as you might expect in a battle between rivals. It was as close to a chess match on grass you could find, but it always has been when these teams and their veteran coaches who go way back get together.
“It was a great test of our toughness,” Schalick coach Joe Mannella said. “We said beforehand in the intensity of a game like that you’ve gotta be cool, you’ve gotta keep your cool and just know, be confident, that we’re gonna find a way to win.”
The Cougars never trailed after Jaxon Weber converted a penalty kick with 5:34 left in the first half for the game’s first goal, but they never shook the Wolverines until a pair of beautiful goals by Eli Cummings and Oscar Hernandez 10 minutes apart in the second half gave them some separation.
Whenever Schalick went ahead Woodstown quickly got the equalizers. The Wolverines tied it at 1-1 on Grant Prater’s free kick from 25 yards out three minutes after Weber’s PK and Bryce Ayars tied it 2-2 two minutes after Nelson’s first goal. And they had two good chances to take the lead early in the second half.
“They hit two unbelievable shots there to make it 4-2,” Woodstown coach Darren Huck said. “Those two goals were gamechangers.
“I told my team at the end of the game one thing I’m proud of is we came back twice. I was proud about how handled the situation of being down, coming back, being down again, coming back. And even down 3-2 we had an opportunity to tie it 3-3.”
Cummings doesn’t get the chance to score many goals because he’s such a reliable defender – a role he took on when the Cougars needed to rebuild their backline last season — but when he does he delivers some beauties. The tie-breaking goal he scored with 21:32 left in the second half Monday came as a result of staying with his man and was a carbon-copy of his only goal last season.
He had his back to the goal, spun and while falling backwards floated a shot with his right foot into the upper right corner just out of the reach of the keeper. It was such a glorious goal one of his teammates exclaimed he didn’t think the senior could do that and then remember his similar goal last year against Wildwood.
“I knew Bryce (Ayars) was on my back so if I wanted to get it out I had to get it out quick,” Cummings said. “There weren’t many options for me at that point so I knew I just had to take a shot. It would’ve been fine with it just going over the net and us resetting, but it luckily found the net.
“I just happened to be up there. I followed my man. I didn’t want (Ayars) to turn on the ball so I just stayed with them and I happened to have a chance to step in front of him and I knew once I’m in that outside-of-the-box range, close enough, I’m going to have a rip. I don’t know, after scoring that I might get put up top.”
Hernandez’ goal 10 minutes later was equally a thing of beauty. He took a long pass from Cummings, then took a long shot with his left foot that followed the same flight as the goal before his. Nelson wrapped up the scoring with 2:13 to play.
There’s a healthy respect between the two programs and the two coaches, who were Woodstown assistants together back in the day and are now closing in on 300 career head coaching wins (Mannella is at 295, Huck at 287). But the tension of the rivalry doesn’t extend beyond the white lines.
Later in the evening, Mannella was heading over to Huck’s house to watch the Eagles’ game on Monday Night Football.
Woodstown (1-1)
1
1-
2
Schalick (2-0)
1
4-
5
GOALS: 1. Schalick, Jaxon Weber (penalty kick), 34:26; 2. Woodstown, Grant Prater, 37:22; 3. Schalick, Mikey Nelson (Anthony Sepers), 45:41; 4. Woodstown, Bryce Ayars, 47:49; 5. Schalick, Eli Cummings, 58:28; 6. Schalick, Oscar Hernandez (Eli Cummings), 68:34; 7. Schalick, Mikey Nelson (Marco Spinnato), 77:47.
PENNSVILLE 6, SALEM 0: Eagles freshman Sam Hassler scored a pair of goals two minutes apart in the second half to complete his first career hat trick. His first goal gave the Eagles a 3-0 halftime lead. Stone Mumink, Stephen Fatcher and John Sassi scored Pennsville’s other goals.
Salem (0-2)
0
0-
0
Pennsville (2-1)
3
3-
6
GOALS: 1. Pennsville, Stone Mimink (Maddox Efelis), 4th minute; 2. Pennsville, Stephen Fatcher (Shane Puckett), 7; 3. Pennsville, Sam Hassler (JP Laughrey), 37; 4. Pennsville, Sam Hassler, 47; 5. Pennsville, Sam Hassler, 49; 6. Pennsville, John Sassi (Brant Regner), 75.
WILDWOOD 5, SALEM TECH 2: Aiden Bobo and Graham Fields scored second-half goals for Salem Tech.
Schalick’s J.T. Fleming (23) heads a ball out of harms way in the first half against Woodstown. On the cover, Schalick’s Luke Price goes on the attack before being taken down in the box to set up a penalty kick.
GIRLS SOCCER Glassboro 5, Penns Grove 0 Overbrook 4, Pennsville 0 Pitman 6, Salem 0 Schalick 2, Woodstown 1 Salem Tech at Wildwood
SCHALICK 2, WOODSTOWN 1: Olivia Vanacker and Kyleigh Cutler scored second-half goals as the Cougars (2-1) rallied from a 1-0 halftime deficit.
“It’s just an emotional rivalry,” Schalick coach Will Kemp said. “The girls calmed down in the second half and started to take control. It was great to see their determination in moments such as that.”
GLASSBORO 5, PENNS GROVE 0: Alana Figueroa scored a hat trick from the Bulldogs (2-1).
PITMAN 6, SALEM 0: Teagan Canna scored two goals and assisted on two others for the Panthers (3-2). Emery Sharpnack assisted on three of Pitman’s five goals in the first half.
OVERBROOK 4, PENNSVILLE 0: Gianna Simon scored two goals for the second game in a row and Victoria Bupp had two assists. GIRLS TENNIS Schalick 5, Penns Grove 0 Woodstown 4, Overbrook 1 Glassboro at Salem
SCHALICK 5, PENNS GROVE 0 Miya Watkins (S) win Julia Langley (S) win Helana Tyers (S) won by forfeit Kayleigh Veach-Annie Podeh (S) win Schalick won by forfeit Records: Schalick 4-1, Penns Grove 0-5
Glassboro takes ‘couple steps forward’ in getting its offense right, Pennsville scores its first win of the season, Salem staying positive
SALEM COUNTY SCORES Glassboro 24, Penns Grove 0 Pennsville 39, Overbrook 22 Woodbury 25, Salem 0
By Al Muskewitz Riverview Sports News
PENNS GROVE – This week was all about cleaning up the offense for the Glassboro football team.
It got a little closer to where the Bulldogs would like it Saturday, but when you’ve got the Sabb brothers in the mix and play defense the way they do, what they had was good enough to get by a team like Penns Grove, itself a team trying to find an offensive identity.
Xavier Sabb grabbed a touchdown pass, Amari Sabb had a touchdown run and Brandon Simmons fell on a blocked punt in the end zone — all in the first half — to give the Bulldogs control of an eventual 24-0 victory over the Red Devils and their former coach Mark Maccarone.
“We took some steps today,” Bulldogs coach Timmy Breaker said. “We were hitting on all cylinders. It just comes down to execution. I tell them all the time we’ve got to execute at a high level and make the plays that are supposed to be made.
“There were a couple plays that were left on the field that obviously could have blown this game wide open, but it’s something you can fix. But we did turn a corner today. We did take a couple steps forward.”
The thought at the start of the year was the Bulldogs were going to have their way with Haddon Heights in their season opener and they did jump out to a 22-0 lead, but they didn’t score any more after that early surge. They still won the game, but had only 237 yards of offense in the game, 63 on the ground.
They got off to a fast start against the Red Devils, too, finding the end zone on two of their first three possessions, but they managed just 265 yards for the game. Unlike the week before, they did have 199 yards on the ground.
Penns Grove, meanwhile, managed only 87 yards on offense, and most of it came on a 13-play drive in the fourth quarter that reached into the red zone before being thrown back by two losses.
“We were outphysicalled, which is about as plain as I can put it on the offensive side of the ball,” Maccarone said.
Breaker could sense his offense turning the corner on the opening drive when Xavier Sabb hauled in a 20-yard touchdown pass from Jack O’Connell. The Bulldogs added another touchdown later in the quarter when Amari Sabb ran in from the 5.
Amari Sabb rushed for 74 yards on seven carries. Davon Barr had 67 yards on six carries. And freshman Hakim Theresa had 78 yards on 10 carries. Xavier Sabb had three catches for 21 yards.
Quarterback Melo Erickson was Penns Grove’s leading rusher with 22 yards. He also completed seven passes, including one to himself on a batted ball, for 50 yards.
The turning point of the game came on the final play of the first half when DayShaun Day snuffed a punt and Brandon Simmons fell on the loose ball in the end zone for a touchdown with no time left on the clock. It was the worst possible outcome for the various options the Red Devils had for the situation.
“DayShaun blocked it, it just bounced off the ground and went right into my hands,” Simmons said. “It was like early Christmas.”
It was the third year in a row the 270-pound junior defensive tackle has scored a defensive touchdown and the second time he did it against the Red Devils at Jim Devonshire Field. He had a 30-yard scoop-and-score in the fourth quarter of the 2022 game here as a freshman and a 10-yard fumble return last year against Deptford.
“I’m trying to get at least one every year,” he said.
With his team pinned against its end zone and only six seconds left in the half, Maccarone said he contemplated just taking the safety and letting the clock run out, then decided to punt figuring to go into the break down only 12-0.
Day broke through up the middle to block the kick. He was looking for the ball after the play but couldn’t find it. That’s because Simmons had already fallen on it.
Breaker said the players called the block and he was OK with granting it as long as they could explain to him what they were doing and why they wanted to do it.
“The kids called me and we talked about it yesterday,” he said. “I said if they’re backed up we’ll go for it. DayShaun Day was the one who was like, ‘Coach, I think it’s that time.’”
It stayed an 18-0 game until the final 20 seconds when Jack O’Connell hit Mekhi Parker with a 37-yard touchdown pass against a makeshift Penns Grove secondary that had three of its starters injured on the sideline.
Glassboro 24, Penns Grove 0
GLASS (24)
PG (0)
17
1st Downs
4
29-199
Rush-yards
18-37
8-24-1
Passing (C-A-I)
7-15-1
66
Passing yds
50
1-1
Fum-lost
1-1
1-22.0
Punts-avg
5-24.0
14-125
Pen-yds
15-133
Glassboro (2-0)
12
6
0
6-
24
Penns Grove (1-2)
0
0
0
0-
0
SCORING SUMMARY G-Xavier Sabb 20 pass from Jack O’Connell (run failed), 8:56 1Q G-Amari Sabb 5 run (kick failed), 2:24 1Q G-Brandon Simmons recovered block punt in end zone (PAT failed), 0:00 2Q G-Mekhi Parker 37 pass from Jack O’Connell (pass failed), 0:17 4Q
Laurels to Hardy
PINE HILL – After coming close in each of its first two games, Pennsville broke through for its first win of the season, pulling away in the fourth quarter to turn back Overbrook 39-22.
“After that unfortunate loss last week it was really good to come back and show what we can do,” junior running back Rylan Hardy said. “I knew it was going to happen. I knew what we were capable of.”
And he was a big part of it. Hardy scored three touchdowns for the second week in a row and had two huge runs in the fourth quarter after the Rams pulled within 27-22 with 6:35 to play.
His 78-yard run set up Jovanni Rios’ 2-yard touchdown run to give Pennsville a 33-22 lead. He broke off a 28-yard touchdown run with 2:58 to play for the final score of the game. His first score tied the game in the first quarter.
“Rylan is very instinctive with just finding space to run to,” Eagles coach Mike Healy said. “He just finds the area to go to. His vision and his ability to find the open area is incredible.”
“I’ve been waiting to show what I can do out there,” Hardy said, adding he’s just been following his blockers. “I think it’s showing that I am capable of doing some great stuff out there.”
Malik Rehmer scored a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter to give the Eagles a 20-14 halftime lead. His second was an 89-yard pass play from Robbie McDade.
The Eagles came into the season with high expectations, returning a veteran team and moving into a more competitive division to help enhance their playoff posture. But they lost their first games – a 14-0 dud at Gloucester and their home opener against West Deptford after leading 20-7 in the third quarter.
“Obviously last week was a heartbreaker; we played well for the most part and thought we played well enough for a win, but that’s football,” Healy said. “Coming back this week and not having a letdown after that and being able to come out and get done what we know we can do, I’m very proud of the kids.
“As a coach anytime you start off 0-1 you have a slight worry, but on the other side you also know what your team is capable of and you know we are better than our record might show. I thought we had our best week of practice this week and it showed in the game. We knew we were good enough to win some games, we just have to keep working, keep getting better every week.”
Pennsville 39, Overbrook 22
Pennsville (1-2)
6
14
7
12-
39
Overbrook (1-2)
6
8
0
8-
22
SCORING SUMMARY O-Teriq Moore run (run failed) P-Rylan Hardy run (kick failed) P-Malik Rehmer run (Luke Wood kick) P-Malik Rehmer 89 pass from Robbie McDade (Luke Wood kick) O-Axcel Bailey 6 pass from Teriq Moore (Teriq Moore kick) P-Rylan Hardy run (Luke Wood kick), 6:53 3Q O-Axcel Bailey 80 run (Teriq Moore run), 6:35 4Q P-Jovanni Rios 2 run (kick failed), 6:03 4Q P-Rylan Hardy 28 run (kick failed), 2:58 4Q
Salem still searching
WOODBURY – Kemp Carr finds himself in some uncharted territory, but he isn’t discouraged. If anything, it’s made him more determined.
Carr has never been 0-3 as a head coach before, but that’s where he is with his new Salem team after the Rams fell at Woodbury 25-0. In fact, in all his years as a head coach, he’s only had losing streaks of three or more games four times.
Though the score looked one-sided, the Rams gave their hosts a battle. They moved the ball all day between the 30s, but just couldn’t get it in the end zone. Pop Jackson rushed for 133 yards.
The teams played to a scoreless first quarter and it was 7-0 at halftime and 13-0 after three quarters. Marquis Taylor scored the Herd’s first two touchdowns, on a 22-yard run late in the second quarter after a short Salem punt and a pick-six.
“The guys are playing hard, they can see they’re playing hard,” Carr said. “We have all the pieces to be successful. I think they’ve got to believe.”
Woodbury 25, Salem 0
Salem (0-3)
0
0
0
0-
0
Woodbury (1-1)
0
7
6
12-
25
SCORING SUMMARY Wo-Marquis Taylor 22 run (kick good), 2:22 2Q Wo-Marquis Taylor interception return (PAT failed), 4:43 3Q Wo-Elijah Young 42 pass (PAT failed), 6:55 4Q Wo-TD run (PAT failed)
WJFL DIAMOND DIVISION
DIV
ALL
Woodstown
1-0
2-0
Glassboro
1-0
2-0
Woodbury
1-0
1-1
Penns Grove
0-1
1-2
Salem
0-1
0-3
Schalick
0-1
1-2
FRIDAY GAMES Woodstown 26, Schalick 0 SATURDAY GAMES Woodbury 25, Salem 0 Glassboro 24, Penns Grove 0 NEXT WEEK’S GAMES THURSDAY Salem at Glassboro, 6 p.m. FRIDAY Penns Grove at Schalick, 7 p.m. Woodbury at Woodstown, 7 p.m.
WJFL PATRIOT DIVISION
DIV
ALL
West Deptford
2-0
2-1
Camden Catholic
1-0
2-0
Paulsboro
1-1
2-1
Collingswood
1-1
2-1
Pennsville
1-1
1-2
Audubon
0-1
1-1
Overbrook
0-2
1-2
FRIDAY GAMES Audubon 8, Bordentown 7 West Deptford 46, Collingswood 6 SATURDAY GAMES Camden Catholic 29, Paulsboro 28 Pennsville 39, Overbrook 22 NEXT WEEK’S GAMES THURSDAY Paulsboro at Collingswood, 6 p.m. FRIDAY Overbrook at Florence, 6 p.m. Audubon at Pennsville, 7 p.m. West Deptford at Camden Catholic, 7 p.m.
Riverview Sports News 