Passing the test

McDade connects on 20 of 23 passes, Pennsville wins consolation tournament opener to guarantee .500 season

SJ GROUP I
CONSOLATION TOURNAMENT
Thursday’s games
Pennsville 41, New Egypt 14
Keansburg 48, Manville 20

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE — Robbie McDade has worked hard this season to make himself a better passer and all that work came to a head Thursday night.

The Pennsville sophomore quarterback had one of the best passing efficiency games in program history. He completed a career-high 20 of 23 passes for a second-best 179 yards and two touchdowns in the Eagles’ 41-14 victory over New Egypt in the South Jersey Group I regional consolation semifinals.

In a game that might be an afterthought to some teams shut out of the NJSIAA playoffs, McDade and the Eagles were as sharp as they’ve been all season.

McDade was 14-of-15 passing in the first half and completed his last 11 in a row (a stretch that extended to 12 in the third quarter). He directed the Eagles to touchdowns on each of their last four possessions of the half for a 28-6 halftime lead.

Of the three passes he missed, two were dropped and the third was thrown out of bounds after he was flushed from the pocket. He had an NCAA-style passer rating of 181.03 for the game.

“I had a lot of good receivers who got open,” McDade said. “It’s a team game. The receivers did their job. Got open. I’ve just got to deliver the ball.”

And he spread the wealth. He hit six different receivers throwing a combination of mid-range possession passes and flippy shuttle tosses. Hayden Sherman caught eight balls for 47 yards. Malik Rehmer caught six for 62 yards. The touchdown passes went to Caden Thomas and Ty Young.

“I’m just trying to throw it to the open guy and lot of people got open today,” McDade said. “The receivers did a good job.”

He’s been finding his receivers a lot lately. McDade has had a 50 percent or better completion rate in three of his last four games and has passed for more than 100 yards in every game this season. For the year he is 97-of-184 for 1,238 yards, making him the Eagles’ first 1,000-yard passer since 2019 (Blayne Swaffar, 1149 yards) and their most productive since 2017 (Brandon Morris, 1507 yards).

“He’s getting better at getting the ball to the open guy, make the easy throw, take the easy throw and let our kids try to make plays, and that’s what he did a good job with tonight,” Eagles coach Mike Healy said. “Every game he’s getting better. He had a tough game last week and he was frustrated, but with him he’s going to come back and keep working hard and fix some things, which is good.”

The win guaranteed the Eagles (5-4) a .500 season. They will host Keansburg (4-5) for the South Jersey Group I consolation final Thursday. The Titans, located on the Raritan Bay a lot closer to Yankee Stadium than Lou D’Angelo Stadium, beat Manville 48-20 in the other semifinal.

“We’re using this for kind of two things,” Healy said. “One, we want to send the seniors out right. Two, we were 1-8 last year. If we have the opportunity to keep winning and get a winning record that’s a huge improvement. We bring back so many kids also, we want to keep trying to get better.

“We came out to play. I didn’t feel like we treated it as a game like it didn’t mean anything to us. Kids were running around making plays. We had goals at the beginning of the season. We didn’t achieve them all, but still we had a bunch of goals that show our progress and that’s what we need to keep doing, so overall there was a lot of good stuff.”

***Pennsville quarterback Robbie McDade got hot in the first half and stayed hot, completing 20 of 23 passes in the Eagles’ 41-14 victory over New Egypt Thursday night. (Photos by Lorraine Jenkins)***

Pennsville 41, New Egypt 14

NE		PVL
5	1st Downs	23
14-43	Rushing	38-183
7-18-2	Passes	20-23-0
88	Passing	179
2-0	Fum-lost	1-0
4-25.3	Punts-avg	2-38.5
3-18	Penalties	4-35

New Egypt (3-7)	6	0	0	8 –	14
Pennsville (5-4)	7	21	7	6 –	41

Scoring plays:
P – Sky Eppes 5 run (Jackson Leino kick), 6:01 1Q
N – Connor Fischer 22 pass from Caleb Kowaleski (kick failed), 3:02 1Q
P – Caden Thomas 14 pass from Robbie McDade (Jackson Leino kick), 11:50 2Q
P – Rylan Hardy 8 run (Jackson Leino kick), 6:03 2Q
P – Sky Eppes 3 run (Jackson Leino kick), 0:21 2Q
P – Ty Young 14 pass from Robbie McDade (Jackson Leino kick), 1:56 3Q
N – Lucas Burgos 4 run (Brayden Nelson pass from Caleb Kowaleski), 6:20 4Q
P – Rylan Hardy 30 run (kick failed), 1:21 4Q

**Rylan Hardy (19) ran for two touchdowns in Pennsville’s victory. (Photo by Lorraine Jenkins)**

Big ‘steak’ in winning

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

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

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

GOALS – A: Ronald Homa.

On a roll

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

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

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sectional tournaments

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

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

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

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

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

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

County leaders

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

Rushing

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

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

Passing

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

Receiving

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

Kicking

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

Defense

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

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

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

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

This week’s schedule

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oct. 28
South Jersey Group I Tournament
Second round games

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

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

CROSS COUNTRY
Oct. 28
Sectionals, DREAM Park

Playoff pairings

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

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Soccer, field hockey projections

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

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

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

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

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

How they stand

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

Diamond Division

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

Horizon Division

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

Royal Division

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

Waiting and hoping

Pennsville had a chance to likely lock up a Group I playoff berth, but lost to Pitman 35-14 and now holds its breath awaiting the final UPR numbers Saturday

ROYAL DIVISION GAMES
Pitman 35, Pennsville 14
Gateway vs. Lower Cape May, Sat.
Clayton 40, Cumberland 14

By Al Muskewitz
Riverivew Sports News

PITMAN – Pennsville had its post-season map all laid out in front of it. All the Eagles had to do was follow the signs.

A win would have set them up well for a Group I playoff berth. But now, after losing to Pitman 35-14 in their final regular-season game, they’re holding their collective breath hoping for some good news Saturday afternoon.

“We had a ton of mistakes today and they definitely capitalized on them,” Pennsville coach Mike Healy said. “We turned the ball over, they didn’t turn the ball over. They made big plays when needed and we really didn’t. We struggled across the board.

“To have an opportunity like this where we really kind of control our own future and not take advantage of it is disappointing and frustrating.”

It started out well. The Eagles (4-4) got a stop on the opening possession and then scored within a minute of getting the ball for the first time, but it was a struggle from there.

Pitman quarterback Kyle Kubat threw three touchdown passes in the second quarter – two in the final 90 seconds – and four in the game to put the Eagles in catch-up mode the rest of the night.

Quarterback Robbie McDade scored both of Pennsville’s touchdowns, on runs of 10 and 7 yards. He was the Eagles’ leading rusher with 83 yards, most of it coming on a 46-yard run. He also passed for 111 yards, but was intercepted three times.

“This is one of the hardest losses I’ve ever had a coach, for sure,” Healy said. “It’s tough to look at it from a wider perspective right now. Obviously, this year we accomplished a lot stuff we wanted to, but to work all season to try and get in the playoffs and now possibly lose it because we played bad, it’s tough.”

The Eagles came into the game holding the 16th and final qualifying spot for the South Jersey Group I playoffs and a four-point lead over his closest pursuer.

If the Eagles don’t make the 16-team sectional playoff field, they will play in the consolation tournament next week.

“I did go back and talk to them during the bus ride,” Healy said. “I said one way or another we’re playing next week and whether it’s in the playoffs or the consolation tournament we need to be ready to go.

“Whatever happens we want to finish the season correctly. We’re on a two-game slide right now and if it’s playoffs we want to go out there and give our best performance or if it’s the other thing we just want to play good football and finish the season on a high note.”

Pitman 35, Pennsville 14

Pennsville (4-4)	7	0	0	7 –	14
Pitman (3-4)	0	21	7	7 –	35

Scoring plays:
Pe – Robbie McDade 10 run (Jackson Leino kick), 9:14 1Q
Pi – Porter Kostiuk 5 pass from Kyle Kubat (PAT kick), 11:48 2Q
Pi – Stephen Devanney 20 pass from Kyle Kubat (PAT kick), 1:28 2Q
Pi – Trey Tinges 10 pass from Kyle Kubat (PAT kick), 0:01 2Q
Pi – Chris Wyllie 2 run (PAT kick), 4:00 3Q
Pe – Robbie McDade 7 run (Jackson Leino kick), 11:53 4Q
Pi – Stephen Devanney 5 pass from Kyle Kubat (PAT kick), 7:35 4Q

The final push

All 5 Salem County football teams playing to nail down playoff spots; Woodstown, Penns Grove playing for division title, Schalick chasing an undefeated season, No. 1 seed

SALEM COUNTY FOOTBALL
Friday’s games
Gloucester Catholic at Schalick, 7 p.m.
Pennsville at Pitman, 7 p.m.
Saturday’s games
Salem at Woodbury, 10:30 a.m.
Woodstown at Penns Grove, noon

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

All any team wants is to have a chance to play for something at the end of the season. All five Salem County football teams will be playing for something this week.

Above all, they’ll all be playing for their playoffs lives or at the very least to better their positions in the Group I South/Central Jersey bracket.

Penns Grove and Woodstown will be playing Saturday morning for the Diamond Division title. A Woodstown win would give the Wolverines the title outright. A Penns Grove win could give the Red Devils a share and Woodbury beats Salem (also on Saturday), it would be a three-way tie.

But like Penns Grove coach John Emel said, “I don’t think anybody goes around saying we were co-champs. We’ll let the naysayers worry about the technicalities.”

A potential No. 2 overall seed (and No. 1 in Central Jersey) could also be awaiting the Woodstown-Penns Grove winner.

Salem will be looking to enhance its playoff position. According to the latest South Jersey Group I UPR ratings, the Rams are in, it’s just a matter of where they’ll place.

Pennsville is looking to nail down its place in the bracket as well. The Eagles are No. 16 this week and a win at Pitman would solidify its spot.

Schalick has a lot on the line. When the Cougars play Gloucester Catholic at Homecoming, they will be looking to complete their first undefeated regular season since 2006, secure the most wins in a season since 2004 (12-0), close out the Horizon Division title undefeated for the second year in a row and nail down the No. 1 seed for complete home-field advantage in the South Jersey playoffs.

“If we win Friday night I don’t see us dropping,” Cougars coach Mike Wilson said.

Schalick was last a No. 1 playoff seed in 2006. In the wacky world of mathematics that now controls the playoff criteria, there’s speculation the Cougars could get jumped if a couple things happen over the weekend. A big consideration is if Shore Regional upsets undefeated Group III Holmdel.

“I think it’s wide open, really,” Woodstown coach John Adams said. “When they started using this method I told our coaches you can’t even predict who you’re going to play anymore, so go out and try to take care of what you can control and hopefully go out a win and hope it falls right when they do the seedings.”

WOODSTOWN (5-2) at PENNS GROVE (4-4): Even when his team was 1-4 and trailing by 19 at halftime in its sixth game, Penns Grove coach John Emel believed his team had what it took to be a viable playoff team in Group I. They were skilled enough in most areas, all they had to do was tighten up a couple things.

The Red Devils have come around, justifying their coaches belief, and in the final game of the season have a chance to do what many didn’t think possible a month ago – win the WJFL Diamond Division and secure a prominent position in the South Jersey Group I playoffs.

The Red Devils have won three in a row to get to .500 for the first time since the second game of last season. They’ve gotten healthy and all their players available, cut down on their turnovers and have held the opposition out of the end zone the last 10 consecutive quarters. If they win Saturday, they’ll claim a share of the Diamond Division title.

“The big one for us was having Woodstown beat Woodbury and now we have an opportunity to, depending on what happens, earn a share of the division,” Emel said. “It’s just exciting to be playing well at the right time of year and to be able to play for a lot of things. This is a one-game season with an opportunity to win a division championship. For us, this is our Super Bowl.

“Any way you split it, we control our own destiny. I’m excited for our guys to be in this position. When we were 0-3, 1-4 and down at the half (against Paulsboro) and things could’ve gone the other way, we didn’t allow it to. We’re excited to play a big game. You want to be in contention; we’re in contention on the last game of the regular season … I just want our guys to be up for the task.”

Bryce Wright, the Red Devils’ leading rusher (783 yards) and tackler (48), is excited about the way the season has turned and what could be waiting for his team after Saturday’s game. It also excites him the game could turn into a Battle of the Bryces. Woodstown’s leading rusher in Bryce Belanfanti.

“They’ve got a running back named Bryce; he’s got my name, so I’m coming. I’m really excited,” he said. “I never lost faith in my team. After the first game (a turnover-laden 33-22 loss to Burlington City), that was just a battery for me being a leader on my team. I just came in on Monday and told the guys you don’t want this to happen every game, it’s not the team we’re going to be and I think they turned it around themselves.”

The Wolverines, meanwhile, have beaten the Red Devils each of the last two years. A victory Saturday, regardless of the Salem-Woodbury outcome, would give them a sweep of the Diamond Division and their first outright division title since 2013.

“Our division is like the SEC of Group I, so to be able to play a meaningful game for the division, to win it outright this late in the season, is awesome,” Woodstown coach John Adams said. “We always talk to the kids about wanting to play meaningful games late in the season and we see ourselves right in front of one.

“I just love the fact we are to this game because kids specifically look past the game and look to playoffs, so having this meaningful game is something that could really help us out.”

GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC (2-4) at SCHALICK (8-0): This is a true Homecoming game for the Cougars. Because of the schedule and two forfeits the last two weeks, they haven’t played on home turf since Sept. 15.

The Rams provided coach Mike Wilson his first victory as Schalick’s head coach in 2020 and now they could provide him with one of his most important victories, one that would bring his program full circle.

“You look at the growth of the program, my first year we were 0-7, so we can finish three seasons later at 9-0 I think it shows the testament to the kids’ hard work over the last couple years,” Wilson said. “It just shows the growth of the program and what we’ve been able to accomplish in a short amount of time.”

But it won’t be without challenges. The Cougars lead the series 8-3 and have won the last two meetings, but last year even while rushing for 345 yards they needed to recover an onside kick in the final minute to hold off a furious fourth-quarter rally.

With all the distractions that come with the week, Wilson is trying to keep things “as normal as possible.”

“We discussed those as a team this week, but as I told the kids the most important thing is you’ve got to treat every game the same; you just have to play football,” he said. “We’re all going to be amped up, we’re all going to be excited, we’re all going to be a little stressed out this week because so much is on the line, but the sooner you get settled into a normal game the better.”

PENNSVILLE (4-3) at PITMAN (2-4): For the Eagles, the playoffs start this week. They currently occupy the 16th and final qualifying spot in the UPR, but figure they need a win to solidify their spot.

“We’ve treated this week just like a playoff week,” Eagles coach Mike Healy said. “In our mind it’s win to get in for us and that’s really the only way to approach it. With where we are in the stack and knowing the teams around us, we can’t feel safe with anything. Also part of it is let’s try and move up a couple spots if we can.”

The Eagles would be “shocked” if they won Friday and were on the outside looking in when the final numbers are crunched Saturday. They would have their winningest team since 2016 with losses coming to current SJ-1 Schalick, rapidly rising Penns Grove and once-beaten Royal Division champion Lower Cape May. They hold a four-point UPR edge over current No. 17 Dunellen, which beat No. 19 NJ-I Brearley Thursday night.

But they aren’t overlooking Pitman and they’re pulling out all the stops to make sure the math works. The Panthers may have won only two games, but the Eagles are approaching them with the respect of a team that came within a failed two-point conversion of beating projected No. 1 seed Schalick rather than the one with a losing record.

“We basically told them no one is leaving the field at all for any reason, you’re going to be out there for every play of every thing,” Healy said. “We need everyone to play every snap this week. If we don’t win this week, for us, there is really no next week because we’re not in the playoffs and that’s everyone’s goal so we have to do everything possible to get in that position.”

SALEM (2-6) at WOODBURY (3-3): There is some belief that with two wins and playing in the tough Diamond Division Salem already has a spot in the playoffs, but Rams coach Danny Mendoza is taking nothing for granted.

The Rams have their qualifying two wins, one win in the division and have played a demanding schedule even outside the division. They entered the week 15th in the South Jersey Group I UPR, nearly 5.5 points ahead of the first spot out, but until it all shakes out Saturday there’s no time to relax.

“For me, until it’s said and done you really don’t know,” Mendoza said. “Being in the bottom quarter you’re never comfortable. It’s a must win for us, for sure. This game is the biggest game of the year for us, not just because it’s the next game, but it’s an opportunity for us to show that we can still play with the big boys.”

The Thundering Herd hasn’t won a game since Sept. 16 and they haven’t been at full strength. Quarterback Dante Viccharelli hasn’t played during their three-game losing streak and running back Anthony Reagan Jr. turned an ankle in the second half of their Woodstown game two weeks ago. The Herd was open last week and Mendoza won’t know if they’re playing until Saturday morning.

“We’re going to find out like everybody else, I guess,” Mendoza said.

Meanwhile, the Rams have played their best football the last month and could be a dangerous opponent for an upper seed if they get in. The resurgence has coincided with the emergence of Pop Jackson. The junior has rushed for 868 yards in the last four games and went over 1,000 for the season last week in the win over West Deptford.

“We’re getting better day by day,” Mendoza said. “We’ve found an identity and once you have an identity you can build off of that.”